Patent ID: 6298414
Filing Date: 2001-10-02
Classification: G06F,G11B

Abstract:
A method for recording a sequence of fixed length data records that has been compressed into a sequence of respective variable length units according to a dictionary, said units being recorded on a recording medium in the form of a sequence of fixed length groups, said method comprising the steps of:dividing said plurality of variable length units into a sequence of entities, each of said entities including a plurality of said units;associating said sequence of entities with said sequence of fixed length groups, wherein when one of said entities extends over a boundary between two of said groups by more than one variable length unit and not by an integer number of variable length units, said entity is terminated at the end of the variable length unit that spans the boundary and a new entity is begun at the beginning of the variable length unit immediately following the variable length unit that spans the boundary; andrecording, said entities Generated in said dividing and associating steps into said groups such that the sequence of said variable length units is not changed;wherein each group includes at least two index tables, a fixed size index table of a predetermined size and a variable size index table of a size that may vary from group to group.