File design can help reduce access path recovery time.
For example, you might divide a large master file into a history file and a transaction file. The system uses the transaction file for adding new data. The system uses the history file for inquiry only. On a daily basis, you might merge the transaction data into the history file, then clear the transaction file for the next day's data. With this design, you shorten the time to rebuild access paths.
However, if the system abnormally ended during the day, the access path to the smaller transaction file might need to be rebuilt. Still, the access path to the large history file, being read-only for most of the day, would rarely be unsynchronized with its data. Therefore, you reduce the chance of rebuilding this access path.
Consider the trade-off between using a file design to reduce access path rebuilding time and using system-supplied functions like access path journaling. The above file design might require a more complex application design. After evaluating your situation, you might decide to use system-supplied functions like journaling your access paths rather than design applications that are more complex.