VACUUM TABLE

VACUUM TABLE reclaims storage by scanning file systems and deleting duplicate directories and files.

Syntax

Description

This command provides a manual mechanism to reclaim the disk space. The implementation scans file system to detect duplicate directories and files. Frequent usage of the command can be relatively expensive. Thus, VACUUM TABLE has to be executed sparingly.

When a table is appended in an out-of-order manner, the VACUUM TABLE command writes a new partition version to the disk. The old partition version directory is deleted once it is not read by SELECT queries. In the event of file system errors, physical deletion of old files may be interrupted and an outdated partition version may be left behind consuming the disk space.

When an UPDATE SQL statement is run, it copies column files of the selected table. The old column files are automatically deleted but in certain circumstances, they can be left behind. In this case, VACUUM TABLE can be used to re-trigger the deletion process of the old column files.

The VACUUM TABLE command starts a new scan over table partition directories and column files. It detects redundant, unused files consuming the disk space and deletes them. VACUUM TABLE executes asynchronously, i.e. it may keep scanning and deleting files after their response is returned to the SQL client.

Example

VACUUM TABLE trades;