What is everywhere but occupies no space; can be measured but not seen or touched; can be spent, wasted, or killed, but not destroyed or changed? The simple answer is time, and the relationship between the fourth dimension and data is the foundation for Developing Time-Oriented Database Applications in SQL, a fascinating book by Richard T. Snodgrass.
Anyone who has ever attempted to create or modify a database containing temporal data will appreciate the complexity of the task. Snodgrass's book aims to simplify it by first helping the reader fully understand the concepts involved before covering the SQL code needed to carry out the work. The book is punctuated with interesting information about the measurement of time through the ages, plus illustrative examples of where disaster has occurred following the misuse of time-specific data, and it comes with a free CD-ROM containing example code.
Make no mistake, this book is by no means an easy read. It's complex and very wordy, and non-programmers may get lost in the SQL quite quickly. This aside, it's an informative, well-written attempt to explain a complicated concept.
--Steve Russell, amazon.co.uk
"I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in temporal data-either designing and building databases that record information over time, or just understanding the concepts that underlie representing temporal information... an excellent job of organizing and summarizing this important area."
—From the foreword by Jim Gray, Microsoft Research
"a long time in the making, not only because the subject matter can seem overwhelmingly complex if not presented carefully, but also because of the great number of examples that Snodgrass has taken from real application systems and translated into standard SQL..."
—From the foreword by Jim Melton, Oracle Corporation
Whether you're a database designer, programmer, analyst, or manager, you've probably encountered some of the challenges-and experienced some of the frustrations-associated with time-varying data. Where do you turn to fix the problem and see that it doesn't happen again? In Developing Time-Oriented Database Applications in SQL, a leading SQL researcher teaches you effective techniques for designing and building database applications that must integrate past and current data. Written to meet a pervasive, enduring need, this book will be indispensible if you happen to be part of the flurry of activity leading up to Y2K.
The enclosed CD-ROM contains all of the code fragments-implemented for Oracle8 Server, IBM DB2 Universal Database, Microsoft SQL Server, and other systems-and evaluation copies of the programs discussed in the book.
- Offers incisive advice on recording temporal data using SQL data types, defining appropriate integrity constraints, updating temporal tables, and querying temporal tables with interactive and embedded SQL.
- Provides case studies detailing real-world problems and solutions in areas such as event data, state-based data, partitioned data, and audit logs.
- Contains over 400 code fragments with detailed explanations.
Provides instruction for designing and building database applications that must integrate past and current data. Offers incisive advice on recording temporal data using SQL data types, defining appropriate integrity constraints, updating and querying temporal tables with embedded and interactive SQL. Softcover. CD-ROM included. DLC: SQL (Computer program language).
