On Wed, Mar 15, 2006 at 09:36:04AM -0700, Brendan Duddridge wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Is it possible to put an index on an array column?

Apparently yes (I just did it as a test).  However, consider the
following from the manual.

   Tip:  Arrays are not sets; searching for specific array elements
   may be a sign of database misdesign. Consider using a separate
   table with a row for each item that would be an array element. This
   will be easier to search, and is likely to scale up better to large
   numbers of elements.[1]

Arrays are attractive, but it seems they most often aren't the best
solution. FOr instance, I beleive I read somewhere that the index
will be on the whole array, and the individual elements are not
indexed, so 
   
   WHERE ary = {foo,bar} 
   
might benefit from your index, but 

   WHERE 'foo' = ANY(ary)

probably wouldn't.  At least that's the impression I got from
reading the archives of this list.  I haven't done any testing of
it.


-karl



1. http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.0/interactive/arrays.html#AEN5491

> 
> Thanks,
> 
> ____________________________________________________________________
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