On handling time-varying data in the relational data model

Abstract

The article addresses the key issues in modeling and querying temporal data within the relational framework. These issues include representation of temporal data, temporal grouping (object) identifiers and primary keys of temporal relations, temporal integrity constraints, and fundamental operations of a temporal query language. The paper develops taxonomy for temporal relational databases and establishes criteria to evaluate various proposed extensions to the relational data model. We expect that it will benefit the researchers and guide the practitioners in choosing the right approach for managing temporal data in their applications.