[htdig-dev] word_db_cmp & WordKey::Compare

[Neal R. <ne...@ri...>]

Hey,
	Here's a question motivated by my quest to make the WordDB faster:

word_db_cmp (which uses WordKey::Compare) is the functions passed into
BDB for the compare function for the binary database tree used in our
db.words.db.

Do we REALLY need this function to goto the complexity of calling 'Unpack'
and comparing the keys?  Why not treat the entire key bitstream after the
word-string as a binary compare and return?

Can you think or a situation where this kind of high-speed comparision
would screw something up?  Basically it comes down to a question of does
the BDB internal binary tree really need a 100% logically correct key
comparison?

Given that most of the bits after the word/id section are zeros until the
latter part which is the word-location.. we REALLY don't need to be
calling unpack.

Eh?

Thanks!

Neal Richter
Knowledgebase Developer
RightNow Technologies, Inc.
Customer Service for Every Web Site
Office: 406-522-1485