Canonical Structure in Attribute Based File Organization
A new file structure for attribute based retrieval
is proposed in this paper.  It allows queries 
involving arbitrary Boolean functions of the attribute-value
pairs to be processed without taking intersections 
of lists.  The structure is highly dependent on the
way in which the file is to be used and is uniquely 
determined by the specification of the allowed queries.
 Thus, for example, the structure for retrieval 
on the basis of ranges of values of a given attribute would
be very different from one where only retrieval 
on the basis of a single value is permitted.  The file
organization being proposed is based on the atoms 
of a Boolean algebra generated by the queries.  The desirable
properties claimed for this structure are 
proved, and file maintenance questions are discussed.
CACM September, 1971
Wong, E.
Chiang, T. C.
