An approach is provided in which a processor receives a scan request to scan data included in a data table. The processor selects a column in the data table corresponding to the scan request and retrieves column data entries from the selected column. In addition, the processor identifies the width of the selected column and selects a scan algorithm based upon the identified column width. In turn, the processor loads the column data entries into column data vectors and computes scan results from the column data vectors using the selected scan algorithm.