Patent ID: 7383270

Claim:
A method for use in a database system, comprising: performing value list compression, using a first value list, of a column of a first table based on frequently occurring values of the column, wherein the first value list contains the frequently occurring values, wherein performing compression of the column of the first table causes encoded values to be stored in the first table instead of data values of the column of the first table; inserting data into a second table as a result of a database operation involving the first table; performing value list compression, using a second value list, of a column of the second table by inheriting the frequently occurring values of the column of the first table, wherein the second value list contains at least a subset of the first value list, wherein performing compression of the column of the second table causes encoded values to be stored in the second table instead of data values of the column of the second table, wherein the database operation specifies one or more conditions to apply to the column of the first table; and generating the second value list from the first value list based on the one or more conditions to apply to the column of the first table.