Abstract
This chapter introduces a new approach to temporal extensions of SQL. In contrast with most of the current proposals we use single time points as references to time, while still achieving efficient query evaluation. The proposed language, SQL/TP, naturally extends the syntax of SQL/92: it adds a single new data type that represents a linearly ordered universe of time instants. The semantics of the new language extends the standard SQL in the expected way: the new data type behaves identically to the existing types. We also eliminate or fix many of the problems connected with defining a precise semantics in interval-based languages. In addition we provide an efficient query evaluation procedure based on a compilation technique that translates SQL/TP queries to SQL/92. Therefore existing off-shelf database systems can be used as back-ends for managing temporal data.
The research was supported by a NATO/NSERC PDF fellowship, 1996–98. Extended abstract of this paper appeared in Proc. DOOD'97, Montreux, Switzerland, 1997.
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Toman, D. (1998). Point-based temporal extensions of SQL and their efficient implementation. In: Etzion, O., Jajodia, S., Sripada, S. (eds) Temporal Databases: Research and Practice. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1399. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0053704
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0053704
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