Data Container Access in a Database System

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one programmable processor, cause the at least one programmable processor to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, in a database system, a request to access one of a plurality of data containers, the request comprising a file identification (ID) corresponding to the requested data container;
• accessing metadata associated with the requested data container based on the file ID, the metadata being stored in a page of a page chain and identifying a location of the requested data container;
• and
• using the metadata to enable access to the requested data container.

A system comprising:

• at least one data processor;
• memory coupled to the at least one data processor, the memory storing instructions, which when executed, cause the at least one data processor to perform operations comprising
• receiving, in a database system, a request to access one of a plurality of data containers, the request comprising a file identification (ID) corresponding to the requested data container;
• accessing metadata associated with the requested data container based on the file ID, the metadata being stored in a page of a page chain and identifying a location of the requested data container, wherein the file ID encapsulates a page number and at least one index, the page number identifying a page in the page chain storing the metadata and the index identifying a location within the identified page where the metadata can be found;
• and
• using the metadata to enable access to the requested data container.