Temporal databases record the passage of time, unlike standard databases. They include a valid time and transaction time, allowing tracking of events from start to finish. Three types of temporal databases exist: historical, rollback, and bi-temporal.
A temporal database is like a standard database, with one big exception: it understands and records the passage of time. For example, if someone worked in a company from 2011 to 2020, the time database will be able to store both dates such as when time starts and when time ends. A standard database can only show that the employee has been hired, and the information about his employees should be deleted when the employee leaves the company, because the standard databases only include the present. This standard was created in 1993 and implemented in 1994. All temporal databases include a valid integer for the time and transaction time that shows when the time occurred in real life and when the database was changed to accept the change.
Databases, in their initial format, were created only to store strings of text and numbers and did not recognize the passage of time. This has created several problems, the most obvious being that time-based events cannot be tracked from start to finish, only by the current state of the event. Another problem that arose from this is that if a primary key, or row name, was associated with a date, then that primary key could be used over and over again, creating redundant data.
To alleviate these problems, the database community was called upon to create a time variable that could be integrated into the database format. The time database was created in 1993 and implemented in 1994. With this change, databases were able to track the start and end of an event, which helped many businesses, government offices, and schools, among others.
Two different variables have been added to the temporal database schema: the valid time and the transaction time. Valid time is when the data entered happened in real life. For example, if someone changed their address, the valid time would be when the address change occurred. Transaction time is when the database logged the event, which could be several hours or days later. The transaction time is constantly updated so that database administrators can check what the current data is like.
As a result of using two variables to measure time, there are three different types of time databases. Historical databases prioritize valid time and rollback databases do the opposite by prioritizing transaction time. Most modern temporal databases are bi-temporal databases, or those that use valid and transaction time equally. Creating temporal databases allows administrators to use a variety of temporal queries to properly ascertain time-sensitive information.
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