Database design with full history of data changes — the bitemporal database model and write operations

Abstract

Good database design practices are well-known and proven. However, when a particular base has to include also a complete history of changes introduced to the data, the project realization becomes a much more complex task. If we take into account temporal aspects, we naturally transform the relations between the interlinked objects into the relationships between the states of these objects. Additionally, the possibility of various interpretations of time dependencies prevented us so far from developing a generally accepted methodology for designing temporal databases. This article is the first in a series of articles published within the framework of the work carried out on the system of the Central Register of Vehicles and Drivers (in Polish: CEPiK). It presents the approach to the design of a relational database, which stores a complete history of the changes made to the states of these objects. It describes a database model, which explains in detail the influence of the changes made to the states of these objects, whilst also containing the life history of these objects and presents algorithms of the right operation modifying the state of the database. The presented approach has been used in practice to create one of CEPiK’s databases.[b]Keywords[/b]: informatics, bitemporal relation, state of the object, valid time-stamp, transaction time-stamp

Keywords

• Informatics
• bitemporal relation
• state of the object
• valid time-stamp
• transaction time-stamp