sysindexes table and data access

The sysindexes table stores information about indexed and unindexed tables. sysindexes has one row for each:

Each row in sysindexes stores pointers to a table or index to speed access to objects. Table 8-2 shows how these pointers are used during data access.

Table 8-2: Use of sysindexes pointers in data access

Column

Use for table access

Use for index access

root

If indid is 0 and the table is a partitioned allpages-locked table, root points to the last page of the heap.

Used to find the root page of the index tree.

first

Points to the first data page in the page chain for allpages-locked tables.

Points to the first leaf-level page in a non clustered index or a clustered index on a data-only-locked table.

doampg

Points to the first OAM page for the table.

ioampg

Points to the first OAM page for an index.