Bitemporal Data: Theory and Practice (Paperback)

Bitemporal data has always been important. But it was not until 2011 that the ISO released a SQL standard that supported it. Currently, among major DBMS vendors, Oracle, IBM and Teradata now provide at least some bitemporal functionality in their flagship products. But to use these products effectively, someone in your IT organization needs to know more than how to code bitemporal SQL statements. Perhaps, in your organization, that person is you.

To correctly interpret business requests for temporal data, to correctly specify requirements to your IT development staff, and to correctly design bitemporal databases and applications, someone in your enterprise needs a deep understanding of both the theory and the practice of managing bitemporal data. Someone also needs to understand what the future may bring in the way of additional temporal functionality, so their enterprise can plan for it. Perhaps, in your organization, that person is you.

This is the book that will show the do-it-yourself IT professional how to design and build bitemporal databases and how to write bitemporal transactions and queries, and will show those who will direct the use of vendor-provided bitemporal DBMSs exactly what is going on "under the covers" of that software.

• Explains the business value of bitemporal data in terms of the information that can be provided by bitemporal tables and not by any other form of temporal data, including history tables, version tables, snapshot tables, or slowly-changing dimensions.
• Provides an integrated account of the mathematics, logic, ontology and semantics of relational theory and relational databases, in terms of which current relational theory and practice can be seen as unnecessarily constrained to the management of nontemporal and incompletely temporal data.
• Explains how bitemporal tables can provide the time-variance and nonvolatility hitherto lacking in Inmon historical data warehouses.
• Explains how bitemporal dimensions can replace slowly-changing dimensions in Kimball star schemas, and why they should do so.
• Describes several extensions to the current theory and practice of bitemporal data, including the use of episodes, "whenever" temporal transactions and queries, and future transaction time.
• Points out a basic error in the ISO's bitemporal SQL standard, and warns practitioners against the use of that faulty functionality. Recommends six extensions to the ISO standard which will increase the business value of bitemporal data.
• Points towards a tritemporal future for bitemporal data, in which an Aristotelian ontology and a speech-act semantics support the direct management of the statements inscribed in the rows of relational tables, and add the ability to track the provenance of database content to existing bitemporal databases.

This book also provides the background needed to become a business ontologist, and explains why an IT data management person, deeply familiar with corporate databases, is best suited to play that role. Perhaps, in your organization, that person is you.

雙時間軸資料一直以來都非常重要，但直到2011年，國際標準組織（ISO）才發布了支援此類資料的SQL標準。目前，在主要的資料庫管理系統（DBMS）供應商中，Oracle、IBM和Teradata都在其旗艦產品中提供了至少一些雙時間軸功能。但要有效地使用這些產品，您的IT組織中的某個人需要了解更多的知識，而不僅僅是如何編寫雙時間軸SQL語句。也許，在您的組織中，這個人就是您。

為了正確解讀對於時間軸資料的業務需求，正確向您的IT開發人員指定需求，以及正確設計雙時間軸資料庫和應用程式，您的企業需要某個人對於管理雙時間軸資料的理論和實踐有深入的了解。同時，這個人還需要了解未來可能帶來的額外時間功能，以便企業能夠做好相應的規劃。也許，在您的組織中，這個人就是您。

這本書將向自助IT專業人士展示如何設計和構建雙時間軸資料庫，以及如何編寫雙時間軸事務和查詢，並向那些將指導使用供應商提供的雙時間軸DBMS的人詳細介紹該軟體的內部運作。

本書的內容包括：
- 解釋了雙時間軸資料的商業價值，以及雙時間軸表格所能提供的資訊，這些資訊無法通過任何其他形式的時間軸資料（包括歷史表、版本表、快照表或慢變維度）提供。
- 提供了關於關聯理論和關聯資料庫的數學、邏輯、本體論和語義的整合說明，從這個角度來看，當前的關聯理論和實踐在管理非時間軸和不完全時間軸資料方面受到了不必要的限制。
- 解釋了雙時間軸表格如何提供以往Inmon歷史資料倉庫所缺乏的時間變異性和非易失性。
- 解釋了雙時間軸維度如何取代Kimball星型模式中的慢變維度，以及為什麼應該這樣做。
- 描述了幾個對於雙時間軸資料的當前理論和實踐的擴展，包括使用情節、"每當"時間軸事務和查詢，以及未來事務時間。
- 指出了ISO雙時間軸SQL標準中的一個基本錯誤，並警告從業人員不要使用該有缺陷的功能。推薦了六個對ISO標準的擴展，將增加雙時間軸資料的商業價值。
- 指出了雙時間軸資料未來的發展方向，其中亞里斯多德的本體論和言語行為語義支持直接管理關聯表格中的陳述，並為現有的雙時間軸資料庫添加了追蹤資料庫內容來源的能力。

本書還提供了成為業務本體論者所需的背景知識，並解釋了為什麼一位對企業資料庫非常熟悉的IT數據管理人員最適合擔任這個角色。也許，在您的組織中，這個人就是您。