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Partition files are easily created with user-defined conditional expressions. Partitioned tables are fully supported via both SQL and c-treeACE ISAM applications.
A partitioned file logically appears to be one data file (and its associated index files). It is actually a set of files whose contents are physically partitioned by the value of a partition key.
Partitioned files are intended for applications requiring fast purging and archiving of large amounts of data at once. As both data and index files are partitioned, this permits data within a defined range of partition key values to be rapidly purged or archived (rather than deleting each record within this range).
Consider rapidly acquired log data. Frequently, this data has a lifespan of days to months. After this time it is usually purged or archived for permanent storage. This can take time with large amounts of new data that have since been acquired. By avoiding lengthy key searches for expired data over the entire data set, it is much better performing to have all related data in a single silo and operate on it with a single operation. Partitioned files give you this powerful ability.
For background information regarding partitioned files, refer to Partitioned Files in the c-treeACE Programmer's Reference and Function Reference Guide.
