Conventional table with time-delimited attributes
The fact that a table consists of DATE or TIMESTAMP data type attributes does not automatically mean a temporal table has been composed. The main difference between conventional and temporal tables is the primary key definition and the ability to store multiple versions. The primary key of a conventional table consists of the object identifier (it can be composite). By adding temporal attributes to be part of the primary key, a temporal table can be created. To explain issue, let’s create a table dealing with personal data (PERSON_TAB) by referring to the employment contract table (EMPLOYEE_TAB). Despite the fact that the employee table contains time durations as represented by the start_date and end_date attributes, we cannot talk about a temporal model for several reasons. The first problem is that the time interval does not denote the validity of the record itself; it just signifies the length of the employment contract. Another...
