Patent Document ID: 7480662
Application ID: 10719819
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A machine implemented method comprising: accessing rows in a database table, wherein: each row in the database table corresponds to a dimension-value combination for a set of one or more dimensions; the database table is composed of a plurality of segments, wherein each segment of the plurality of segments (a) corresponds to a different contiguous range of dimension-value combinations and (b) includes a different set of one or more rows, wherein at least one segment of the plurality of segments includes multiple rows; the boundaries of each segment, of the plurality of segments, are established based on gaps in dimension-value combinations associated with rows stored in the database table; each gap covers at least one valid dimension-value combination that is not associated with any row in the database table; the segment into which a row of the database table is stored is the segment that corresponds to the contiguous range that includes the dimension-value combination to which the row corresponds; within each segment of the plurality of segments, rows of the database table are stored at locations based on the dimension-value combination to which the rows correspond; and wherein accessing rows in the database table includes, in response to receiving a request that indicates a particular dimension-value combination: using the particular dimension-value combination for determining a segment of the plurality of segments that stores a particular row that corresponds to the particular dimension-value combination; and accessing the particular row within the segment.