Abstract: Methods and apparatus are set forth for identifying the actual population of data within computer memory utilized to support a relational data base, where memory is defined herein as being "populated" if it is both allocated and actually filled with data. By identifying data population (thereby identifying unpopulated areas of memory versus simply making a determination of memory allocation without regard to how it is being used), utilities can be designed to recover memory resources, data base management techniques can be revised to more conservatively allocate memory, etc. Accordingly, memory resources can be more efficiently used and in certain instances the cost of adding memory to enhance a system can be delayed or eliminated.