Re: Not-So-New Bit-Mapped Indices (WAS Re: Bit-Mapped Indexing Routines---Beta Testers Wanted)

Dave Bridger wrote:

> Actually bitmap indexes existed in the punch card era.

        Yeah, they were the holes!

> They were called (I
> believe) "Keysort" a trade name of (I believe) Royal-McBee. Holes were
> punched around the edges of a card upon which was written the information.
> The "bits" were turned from "zero" to "one" by notching the edge of the
> card to the hole. A query was made by running a sorting needle through the
> stack of cards and shaking the deck.

        And the whole process was known as a quick sort! ;-)

-am Received on Thu Dec 19 1996 - 00:00:00 CET