Method of updating data in a compressed data structure

1. A method of updating data stored in a compressed data structure, wherein the data is stored in entries in one or more uniquely identified data pages, based on a change entry in a delta file, the method comprising:

decompressing an existing data page;

comparing an entry from the existing data page with a change entry in the delta file; if the change entry identifies the existing data page entry, updating the existing data page entry and writing the updated data page entry to a new data page; if the change entry does not identify an existing data page entry, writing a new data page entry to the new data page;

after comparing existing data page entries with change entries, compressing the new data page.

2. A method of updating data stored in a compressed data structure, wherein the data is stored in compressed form in one or more uniquely identified data pages, the method comprising:

decompressing a data page;

reading an entry from a delta file, wherein the delta file entry has an identifier;

reading an entry from the decompressed data page;

determining if the delta file entry identifier identifies the data page entry;

if the identifier identifies the data page entry, updating the data page entry based on the delta file entry;

if the identifier does not identify a data page entry, creating a data page entry based on the delta file entry;

if all delta file entries and data page entries have been read, compressing the data page entries.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of:

writing the updated or created data page entry to a second data page, and wherein the compressed data page entries are in the second data page.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of:

after the second data page is compressed, deleting the data page.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the identifier is a line number.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the delta file includes version information and the compressed data structure includes version information.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising the steps of:

comparing the delta file version information with the data structure version information; and

if the delta file version information is more recent than the data structure version information updating the data structure based on the delta file.

8. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of:

generating an index of the compressed data page entries.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the updating the data page entry step includes at least one of modifying the data page entry and deleting the data page entry.

10. A computer-readable medium comprising:

a data structure for a compressed database comprising:

one or more uniquely identified, compressed data pages structured for storing one or more uniquely identified data page entries; and

a delta file structured for storing a change entry having a unique identifier;

at least one sequence of machine executable instructions in machine form, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor cause the processor to:

(A) read a change entry from the delta file;

(B) decompress a data page from the compressed database;

(C) search for a data page entry in the decompressed data page matching the change entry identifier;

(D) if a match is found, update the matching data page entry based on the delta file entry;

(E) if a match is not found, create a data page entry based on the delta file entry; and

(F) compress the data page entries.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions to compress the data page entries further comprise instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

compress the updated, created, and unmatched data page entries in a second data page.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

replace the decompressed data page with the second data page; and

compress the second data page with the compressed database.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

after decompressing the data page, copy the decompressed data page to a second data page and perform steps A, C, D, and E for each change entry in the delta file.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

replace the decompressed data page with the second data page; and

compress the second data page with the compressed database.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the change entry identifier is a line number.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the delta file includes version information and the compressed database includes version information.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

compare the delta file version information with the data structure version information; and

if the delta file version information is more recent than the data structure version information, update the data structure based on the delta file.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

generate an index of the compressed data page entries.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

generate an index of the compressed database.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the update the data page entry step includes at least one of modify the data page entry and delete the data page entry.