> >I'm going at it again with our DBA but I can swear that I learned
> >somewhere that TurboImage can hash faster with an X item
> >rather than an I item.
>
> As long as the key size is less than or equal to 4 bytes, the
> performance
> can essentially be considered equal.  However, when the

No way, no how. Read page 484 of the Image manual (that's the page in
the March 2000 edition; the contents path is Chapter 10, Internal
Techniques, Primary Address Calculation). As long as the key values
are less than the hashing capacity of the set, a numeric key is
essentially a direct lookup:
  "If the application provides key values whose right-most 32 bits
take on values between 1 and N (where N is no greater than the data
set hashing capacity), the corresponding entries will be assigned
primary addresses 1 through N which is identical to the Direct Access
Method (DAM). In this event, there are no secondaries and performance
is outstanding."



Steve Dirickson   WestWin Consulting
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