I know how partitioning in DB2 works but I am unaware about where this partition values exactly get stored. After writing a create partition query, for example:
CREATE TABLE orders(id INT, shipdate DATE, …)
PARTITION BY RANGE(shipdate)
(
STARTING '1/1/2006' ENDING '12/31/2006'
EVERY 3 MONTHS
)
after running the above query we know that partitions are created on order for every 3 month but when we run a select query the query engine refers this partitions. I am curious to know where this actually get stored, whether in the same table or DB2 has a different table where partition value for every table get stored.
Thanks,
table partitions in DB2 are stored in tablespaces.
For regular tables (if table partitioning is not used) table data is stored in a single tablespace (not considering LOBs).
For partitioned tables multiple tablespaces can used for its partitions.
This is achieved by the "" clause of the CREATE TABLE statement.
CREATE TABLE parttab
...
in TBSP1, TBSP2, TBSP3
In this example the first partition will be stored in TBSP1, the second in TBSP2, The third in TBSP3, the fourth in TBSP1 and so on.
Table partitions are named in DB2 - by default PART1 ..PARTn - and all these details can be looked up in the system catalog view SYSCAT.DATAPARTITIONS including the specified partition ranges.
See also http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSEPGG_10.5.0/com.ibm.db2.luw.sql.ref.doc/doc/r0021353.html?cp=SSEPGG_10.5.0%2F2-12-8-27&lang=en
The column used as partitioning key can be looked up in syscat.datapartitionexpression.
There is also a long syntax for creating partitioned tables where partition names can be explizitly specified as well as the tablespace where the partitions will get stored.
For applications partitioned tables look like a single normal table.
Partitions can be detached from a partitioned table. In this case a partition is "disconnected" from the partitioned table and converted to a table without moving the data (or vice versa).
best regards
Michael
DB2 will create separate Physical Locations for each partition. So each partition will have its own Table-space. When you SELECT on this partitioned Table your SQL may directly go to a single partition or it may span across many depending on how your SQL is. Also, this may allow your SQL to run in parallel i.e. many TS can be accessed concurrently to speed up the SELECT.
After a bit of research I finally figure it out and want to share this information with others, I hope it may come useful to others.
How to see this key values ? => For LUW (Linux/Unix/Windows) you can see the keys in the Table Object Editor or the Object Viewer Script tab. For z/OS there is an Object Viewer tab called "Limit Keys". I've opened issue TDB-885 to create an Object Viewer tab for LUW tables.
A simple query to check this values:
SELECT * FROM SYSCAT.DATAPARTITIONS
WHERE TABSCHEMA = ? AND TABNAME = ?
ORDER BY SEQNO
reference: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSEPGG_9.5.0/com.ibm.db2.luw.sql.ref.doc/doc/r0021353.html?lang=en
