Reordered Row Format [DB2 9 for z/OS]

If you’ve worked with DB2 for awhile, especially as a DBA, you’ve probably heard the advice to re-arrange the columns of your tables to optimize logging efficiency. Basically, the more data that DB2 has to log, the more overhead your programs will incur, and performance will degrade. DB2 will log data from the first byte changed to the last byte changed – unless the row is variable, in which case DB2 will log from the first byte changed to the end of the row – unless the change does not cause the length of the variable row to change, in which case DB2 goes back to logging from the first byte changed to the last byte changed.

So, the advice goes something like this: put you static columns (those that do not change frequently) at the beginning of the row and your dynamic columns (those that will change more frequently) at the end of the row. And put your variable columns at the end of each. This would make your row look something like this:

[Static fixed-length cols]
[Static variable cols]
[Dynamic fixed-length cols]
[Dynamic variable cols]

Make sense?

Well, DB2 9 for z/OS takes this advice to heart (sort of). In New Function Mode (NFM), for new table spaces, DB2 will automatically put the variable columns at the end of the row. This is called reordered row format (RRF); the row format we are all familiar with today is now referred to as basic row format (BRF). This is all how the row is stored – it does not mean that your DDL is changed nor does it require changes to anything external or how you access the rows.

To summarize, this means that a row in RRF will store the fixed-length columns first and the variable columns at the end. Pointers within the row will point to the beginning of the variable columns.

So far so good, right? Well, we DB2 will also convert our old table spaces to RRF over time. Once we are in DB2 9 NFM, a REORG or a LOAD REPLACE will cause a change from BRF to RRF. So run a LOAD REPLACE a table space in NFM and the row format changes. REORG a partition and the row format for that partition changes. And yes, you can have a partitioned table space with some partitions in BRF and some in RRF.

With BRF we can be sure that DB2 is putting our variable columns at the end of the row – where they belong. But it still is not helping us with placing static columns before the dynamic ones. You’ll still have to guide DB2 to do that.