Techniques are described for performing logical operations, where the techniques generally involve the use of dynamic flags used as markers to build a result set in response to a search query. The dynamic flags within a result set may be guide elements linked to one another, and to their respective data records and attributes, via pointers. In this case, the groups of guide elements forming result sets may each also be linked to one another via pointers, and may each be associated with a counter for counting a number of guide elements within a corresponding result set. The dynamic flags also may be individual bits within a bitmap, where the bitmap is linked to a particular result set identifier via a pointer, and the individual bitmaps are linked to their corresponding data record(s) via a relative addressing scheme. In this case, a counter also may be used to determine a number of hits within a result set (bitmap), before, during, and after a particular logical operation.