Prefix B-Trees

Abstract

Two modifications of B-trees are described, simple prefix B-trees and prefix B-trees. Both store only parts of keys, namely prefixes, in the index part of a B*-tree. In simple prefix B-trees those prefixes are selected carefully to minimize their length. In prefix B-trees the prefixes need not be fully stored, but are reconstructed as the tree is searched. Prefix B-trees are designed to combine some of the advantages of B-trees, digital search trees, and key compression techniques while reducing the processing overhead of compression techniques. © 1977, ACM. All rights reserved.