sa_index_density( 
  [ tbl_name
  [, owner_name ] ]
)

Use the sa_index_density system procedure to obtain information about the degree of fragmentation and skew in indexes. For indexes with a high number of leaf pages, higher density values and lower skew values are desirable.

Index density reflects the average fullness of the index pages, as a percentage. A density of 0.7 indicates that index pages are, on average, 70% full with index data. Index skew reflects the typical deviation from the average density. The amount of skew is important to the optimizer when making selectivity estimates.

When the number of leaf pages is low, you do not need to be concerned about density and skew values. Density and skew values become important only when the number of leaf pages are high. When the number of leaf pages is high, a low density value can indicate fragmentation, and a high skew value can indicate that indexes are not well balanced. Both of these can be factors in poor performance. Executing a REORGANIZE TABLE statement addresses both of these issues. See REORGANIZE TABLE statement.

If you do not specify a table when calling this procedure, the information for all indexes on all tables in the database is returned.

You can also use the Application Profiling Wizard to determine whether index density and skew are at acceptable levels. See Application Profiling Wizard.

DBA authority

None

• Reduce index fragmentation and skew

The following example uses the sa_index_density system procedure to return a result set summarizing the amount of fragmentation and skew within all the indexes in the database.

CALL sa_index_density( );