FULL TEXT INDEX REFERENCE COMPRESSION

A system and method for compressing a text index. The method includes determining which indexed items have been deleted, and forming a new index which does not contain references to deleted indexed items. Portions of the index are regenerated to eliminate references to deleted indexed items, and a remap structure is created and used during the compression process to remap references from the old portions of the index to the newly generated portions of the index. The method runs relatively quickly, even with a large number of indexed items. The method also works with indexes which use a granularity other than document-level granularity, through the use of a remap array which remaps references to documents as well as references to granules.