Patent ID: 8566300

Claim:
A method comprising: when changes are made to indexed information, storing one or more indications that an index has to be changed, wherein the step of storing one or more indications is performed in a first operation that is synchronous relative to the changes, wherein the index is not changed during said first operation; in response to detecting that certain conditions have been satisfied, performing a second operation that updates the index and removes the one or more indications that the index has to be changed, wherein the second operation is performed asynchronously relative to the changes made to the indexed information; and after the first operation has been completed and before the second operation is performed: receiving a request to access the indexed information; and in response to receiving the request: obtaining accessed information by using the index to access the indexed information even though the changes are not yet reflected in the index; reading data to determine whether the index is maintained in asynchronous stale mode or in asynchronous current mode; if the index is maintained in asynchronous stale mode, then using the index to return the accessed information; and if the index is maintained in asynchronous current mode, then: determining, from the one or more indications, whether any portion of the accessed information has been deleted or updated, if a portion of the accessed information has been deleted or updated, responding to the request after removing said portion of the accessed information from the accessed information; and examining the one or more indications for inserted and updated information that relates to the request.