Patent ID: 7970742

Claim:
An index object in a relational database management system, the relational database system being implemented using a data storage device and a processor that has access thereto and the index object comprising: an index organized table that is stored in the data storage device and manipulated by the processor, the index organized table containing a B+ index for a time period table object that is stored in the data storage device and manipulated by the processor, the time period table object having one or more time period columns from whose values in the time period table object's rows periods of time are determinable and the index object having leaf nodes which index the rows of the time period table object by the periods of time, the periods of time having a range of sizes and the index organized table including a row for each leaf node in the index and columns including a column for subrange specifiers, the subrange specifiers specifying disjunct subranges of the range of sizes, a column for period representations for periods of time in corresponding rows of the time period table object, and a column for row identifiers for the corresponding rows in the time period table object, the row for a given leaf node having in its row identifier column the row identifier for the time period table object row indexed by the given leaf node, in its period representation column a representation of the period of time which is determinable from the time period table object row indexed by the given leaf node, and in its subrange specifier column the subrange to which the size of the period of time specified by the representation of the period of time belongs, the rows for the leaves of the index being grouped in the index organized table according to the sizes specified by their subrange specifiers, and the relational database management system using the index organized table to obtain rows of the time period table object that satisfy a temporal query; and the index organized table employs representations of open-ended time intervals, the open-ended time intervals beginning with start time values to index a set of current rows.