Representing an outlier value in a non-nullable column as null in metadata

摘要

According to embodiments of the present invention, methods, systems and computer-readable media are presented for accessing data within a database object, wherein an element of the database object is stored among a plurality of different storage regions with each storage region being associated with first and second range values indicating a value range for element values within that storage region. One or more element values within a storage region are identified residing outside a range of values of remaining elements within that storage region. Each identified element value is mapped to a second value. The first and second range values are determined for the storage region in accordance with the range of values of the remaining elements within that storage region. The storage region is scanned in accordance with a comparison of a requested value to at least one of the determined first and second range values of those storage regions.