13. The computer apparatus of claim 10 wherein the query optimizer determines to reorganize data in the record to move data corresponding to the search string closer to the beginning of the record, where the determination is based on the location of locating the search string in previous queries.
10. A computer apparatus comprising: at least one processor; a memory coupled to the at least one processor; a database residing in the memory having a record with a beginning position; a query to the database that specifies a sequential string search of the record for a string; a query optimizer that optimizes the query by determining a starting position other than a beginning position of the record to start the string search, wherein the starting position is determined based on a starting position table containing historical information of previous text string searches, and wherein the query optimizer determines the starting position for the search based on positions where previous queries found the string in a predetermined number of records in the starting position table that match the query; and wherein the query optimizer updates the starting position table with each query that does a text string search to provide historical information for future searches; and wherein the starting position is further determined based on a starting position in an override starting position table containing start positions specified by a system administrator.