RE: Temporal Databases

We also had a customer ask about it. It's sold as an optional feature with Oracle DW and BI, but involves a really careful data design.  

In current business terms, a temporal database model would give financial analysts time period trend analysis for any number of P&L items, in the example I was presented.  

Wish I could refer you to a particular example, but it gave me a pretty good-sized headache, as I recall.  

From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org [mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org] On Behalf Of Dennis Williams
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 3:52 PM To: niall.litchfield_at_gmail.com
Cc: Pratap Singh -X (prsingh1 - Abacus at Cisco); ORACLE-L Subject: Re: Temporal Databases  

Niall,  

I think that temporal data is a data warehousing concept, not related to any particular database brand, although a sales person might make an argument that their database handled it better than the competitors.  

http://timecenter.cs.aau.dk/TimeCenterPublications/TR-28.pdf  

Any advantage would probably be somewhere in the analytic features rather than in the administration features.  

Dennis  

On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 2:54 PM, Niall Litchfield <niall.litchfield_at_gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks, though I must admit the particular examples you give seem to appear in OLTP databases all the time. :)

On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 5:33 PM, Pratap Singh -X (prsingh1 - Abacus at Cisco) <prsingh1_at_cisco.com> wrote:

Temporal databases are time enabled databases. This does have overlap to Oracle flashback query but it is mostly used in data warehouse reference where database has columns like effective_start_date, effective_end_date so that snapshot as of certain point in time can be constructed.  

Thanks,  

PB Singh

Tech Project Manager

Ph: 408 424 2777

Email: prsingh1_at_cisco.com    

From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org [mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org] On Behalf Of Niall Litchfield

Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 2:15 AM To: ORACLE-L
Subject: Temporal Databases

Nope, not a Star Trek - Voyager reference though it sounds like one, but something that our CEO was asked about by a customer. I have to confess to never having heard the term. Other than FlashBack Query/Data Archive has anyone any experience/understanding of this term as it relates to Oracle?

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Niall Litchfield
Oracle DBA
http://www.orawin.info <http://www.orawin.info/>

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Niall Litchfield
Oracle DBA
http://www.orawin.info <http://www.orawin.info/>  

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