Can I set column attributes for a kdb partitioned table?

Question

Is it possible to set column attributes for a partitioned table?

q)h "update `g#ticker from `pmd"
'par
q)h "update `s#ts from `pmd"
'par
q)

Should I set the attributes on the memory table, before I run the partitioning? Will the attributes be preserved after the partitioning?

Answer 1

Take a look at the setattrcol in dbmaint.q. This script is very very useful when working with partitioned databases.

Answer 2

In order for the partitions on disk to be sorted, you need to iterate through the partitions and use xasc as follows: for each partition .. assuming you have a quote table partitioned by date to sort by `timestamp

{`timestamp xasc `$":./2014.04.20/quote/"}

Once you've finished sorting each partition, the s attribute will appear ontimestamp column..

q)meta quote
  c        | t f a
  ---------| -----
  date     | d    
  timestamp| p   s
  pair     | s    
  side     | c    
  ...