The attribute that is assigned to a table whose row size is fixed is called the FIX attribute. Specifying the FIX attribute for a fixed-size table that contains no null values speeds up column retrieval processing. Use of this technique improves access performance even when there is a large number of columns. The FIX attribute should be specified when all the following conditions are satisfied:

• No columns will be added
• No columns contain the null value
• There are no variable-size columns

The FIX attribute is assigned to a table by specifying the FIX option in the CREATE TABLE of the definition SQL. For details about the FIX attribute, see the HiRDB Version 8 Installation and Design Guide.