Definition
A temporal query language is a database query language that offers some form of built-in support for the querying and modification of time-referenced data, as well as enabling the specification of assertions and constraints on such data. A temporal query language is usually quite closely associated with a temporal data model that defines the underlying data structures that the language applies to.
Historical Background
When the relational data model was proposed by Codd, he also proposed two query languages: relational calculus and relational algebra. Similarly, temporal data models are closely coupled with temporal query languages.
Most databases store time-referenced, or temporal, data. The ISO standard Structured Query Language SQL [5] is often the language of choice when developing applications that utilize the information captured in such databases. In spite of this, users realize that temporal data management is at times...
Recommended Reading
Böhlen MH, Gamper J, Jensen CS. How would you like to aggregate your temporal data? In: Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Temporal Representation and Reasoning, Budapest, 15–17 June 2006, p. 121–36.
Jensen CS, Soo MD, Snodgrass RT. Unifying temporal data models via a conceptual model. Inf Syst. 1994;19(7):513–47.
Kulkari K, Michels J-E. Temporal features in SQL:2011. ACM SIGMOD Rec. 2012;41(3):34–43.
McKenzie E, Snodgrass RT. An evaluation of relational algebras incorporating the time dimension in databases. ACM Comput Surv. 1991;23(4):501–43.
Melton J, Simon AR. Understanding the new SQL: a complete guide. San Mateo: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers; 1993.
Melton J (ed). ISO/IEC 9075, Database Language SQL:2011 Part 2: SQL/Foundation, Dec 2011.
Snodgrass RT (ed)., Ahn I, Ariav G, Batory D, Clifford J, Dyreson CE, Elmasri R, Grandi F, Jensen CS, Käfer W, Kline N, Kulkarni K, Leung TY, Lorentzos N, Roddick JF, Segev A, Soo MD, Sripada SM. The TSQL2 temporal query language. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 1995.
Snodgrass RT. Developing time-oriented database applications in SQL. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann; 1999.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Jensen, C.S., Snodgrass, R.T. (2017). Temporal Query Languages. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_407-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_407-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7993-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7993-3
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Computer SciencesReference Module Computer Science and Engineering