A current database is a conventional
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
that stores
data
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...
that is valid ''now''.
For example, if a user inserts "John Smith" into the Staff table of a current database, this asserts that the fact is valid ''now'' and until it is subsequently deleted. By contrast, a
temporal database
A temporal database stores data relating to time instances. It offers temporal data types and stores information relating to past, present and future time.
Temporal databases can be uni-temporal, bi-temporal or tri-temporal.
More specifically the ...
qualifies each row with a valid
time ''stamp'', valid time ''period'' or valid time ''interval''. For example, we can assert the fact that "John Smith" was a member of staff during the period 1 June 2001 and ''now''. As of 2006, current databases were the most common type of database in use. The concept of ''now'' is discussed in Clifford
et alia (1997).
References
External links
*{{cite journal , last1=Clifford , first1=J. , last2=Dyreson , first2=C. , last3=Isakowitz , first3=T. , last4=Jensen , first4=C. S. , last5=Snodgrass , first5=R. T. , year=1997 , title=On the semantics of 'now' in databases , journal=ACM Transactions on Database Systems , doi=10.1145/249978.249980 , citeseerx=10.1.1.112.7301 , s2cid=1879036 , volume=22 , issue=2
Types of databases