A partial update modifies only those portions of the MDEX Engine index that have changed since the last baseline update. Partial updates can affect any number of records in the system, and the update may be run frequently. A partial update does not require restarting the MDEX Engine.

The MDEX Engine processes partial updates concurrently with processing incoming queries. This function is also known as continuous query.

A partial update lets you implement a number of the source data changes, but does not affect project configuration. For project configuration changes, run a baseline update. Even if you are only making source data changes, keep in mind that some configuration information that is derived from the data, such as dictionary or wildcarding information, can become outdated. Therefore, to keep dictionaries up-to-date, periodically run baseline updates.