50. A database structure according to claim 41, which further comprises a translation table containing a plurality of entries, each entry associating a specific compacted data value to an equivalent uncompacted data value.
41. A compaction method according to claim 40 wherein the designation is a type byte appended to the compacted record and specifying a subpartition, the compacted record being stored in the subpartition, the subpartition being associated with the pack method.