Satellite Data in Data Structure

Question

What exactly is Satellite Data in Data structures?

struct BST {

int key;

char name[20];

struct BST* left;

struct BST* right;

struct BST* parent;

};

 What will be satellite data in above node considering BST in made with 'int key' as key?Is structure essential data like left,right,parent pointer for tree implementation a part of satellite data?

Comments

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14551845/what-is-satellite-information-in-data-structures

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I think "char name[20]" and "struct BST *parent" are satellite data in the given data structure of BST because in BST we need not neither name a node nor keep a pointer to its parent node.

Answer 1

Satellite data in a data structure is a data which is really used to store a value (or values). For example, consider a node of a linked list

struct Node {
   int value;
   struct Node *next;
}

Here, the really data is stored in value, while the next stores the pointer to the next node. Such things are overheads from the user point of view as they are merely used to traverse (in this case) something and not for storing real data.

Coming to the question, key and name[20] are used being use to store the real data while other are merely pointers. So key and name are considered to be satellite data.