The Temporal Query Language TQuel

Recently, attention has been focused on temporal databases , representing an enterprise over time. We have developed a new language, Tquel , to query a temporal database. TQuel was designed to be a minimal extension, both syntactically and semantically, of Quel, the query language in the Ingres relational database management system. This paper discusses the language informally, then provides a tuple relational calculus semantics for the TQuel statements that differ from their Quel counterparts, including the modification statements. The three additional temporal constructs defined in Tquel are shown to be direct semantic analogues of Quel's where clause and target list. We also discuss reducibility of the semantics to Quel's semantics when applied to a static database. TQuel is compared with ten other query languages supporting time.

[1]  G. J. Whitrow,et al.  The Natural Philosophy of Time , 1963 .

[2]  M. V. D. Burg.  Space-Time Physics , 1967 .

[3]  Alasdair Urquhart,et al.  Temporal Logic , 1971 .

[4]  David R. Dowty.  Studies in the logic of verb aspect and time reference in English , 1972 .

[5]  Richard Montague,et al.  The Proper Treatment of Quantification in Ordinary English , 1973 .

[6]  Gio Wiederhold,et al.  Structured organization of clinical data bases , 1899, AFIPS '75.

[7]  Michael Stonebraker,et al.  INGRES: a relational data base system , 1975, AFIPS '75.

[8]  Lawrence A. Bjork.  Generalized Audit Trail Requirements and Concepts for Data Base Applications , 1975, IBM Syst. J..

[9]  Michael Stonebraker,et al.  The design and implementation of INGRES , 1976, TODS.

[10]  Kenneth M. Kahn,et al.  Mechanizing Temporal Knowledge , 1977, Artif. Intell..

[11]  Keith Allen Kimball.  The Data System. , 1978 .

[12]  E. F. Codd,et al.  Extending the database relational model to capture more meaning , 1979, ACM Trans. Database Syst..

[13]  Susan Jones,et al.  LEGOL 2.0: A relational specification language for complex rules , 1979, Inf. Syst..

[14]  Sten Fredrik Andler,et al.  Predicate path expressions: a high-level synchronization mechanism , 1979 .

[15]  Eckhard D. Falkenberg,et al.  CSL: A Language for Defining Conceptual Schemas , 1979, IFIP TC-2 Working Conference on Data Base Architecture.

[16]  Won Kim,et al.  Relational Database Systemsr , 1979, CSUR.

[17]  Michael Stonebraker,et al.  Embedding expert knowledge and hypothetical data bases into a data base system , 1980, SIGMOD '80.

[18]  S. Jones,et al.  Handling the Time Dimension in a Data Base , 1980, ICOD.

[19]  Amílcar Sernadas,et al.  Temporal aspects of logical procedure definiton , 1980, Inf. Syst..

[20]  Janis A. Bubenko,et al.  Information Modeling in the Context of System Development , 1980, IFIP Congress.

[21]  Lawrence M. Fagan.  VM, representing time-dependent relations in a medical setting , 1980 .

[22]  Jeffrey D. Ullman,et al.  Principles of Database Systems , 1980 .

[23]  Phyllis Reisner,et al.  Human Factors Studies of Database Query Languages: A Survey and Assessment , 1981, CSUR.

[24]  Manfred R. Klopprogge,et al.  TERM: An Approach to Include Time Dimension in the Entity-Relationship Model , 1981, ER.

[25]  Tera Lougenia Anderson,et al.  The database semantics of time , 1981 .

[26]  James F. Allen.  An Interval-Based Representation of Temporal Knowledge , 1981, IJCAI.

[27]  Lynette Hirschman,et al.  Representing Implicit And Explicit Time Relations In Narrative , 1981, IJCAI.

[28]  Dennis McLeod,et al.  Database description with SDM: a semantic database model , 1981, TODS.

[29]  John K. Tsotsos.  Temporal Event Recognition: An Application to Left Ventricular Performance , 1981, IJCAI.

[30]  Gad Ariav,et al.  MDM: Handling the Time Dimension in Generalized DBMS. , 1981 .

[31]  D. McDermott.  A Temporal Logic for Reasoning About Processes and Plans , 1982, Cogn. Sci..

[32]  Robert M. Keller,et al.  Resource expressions for applicative languages , 1982, ICPP.

[33]  T. Lougenia Anderson,et al.  Modeling Time at the Conceptual Level , 1982, JCDKB.

[34]  Anthony C. Klug.  Equivalence of Relational Algebra and Relational Calculus Query Languages Having Aggregate Functions , 1982, JACM.

[35]  Michael Stonebraker,et al.  Implementation of a time expert in a data base system , 1982, SGMD.

[36]  Jacov Ben-Zvi,et al.  The time relational model , 1982 .

[37]  Marc B. Vilain,et al.  A System for Reasoning About Time , 1982, AAAI.

[38]  Richard T. Snodgrass,et al.  Monitoring distributed systems: a relational approach , 1982 .

[39]  Won Kim,et al.  On optimizing an SQL-like nested query , 1982, TODS.

[40]  Carlo Zaniolo,et al.  The database language GEM , 1983, SIGMOD '83.

[41]  Bharadwaj Jayaraman,et al.  Constructing a Parallel Implementation from High-Level Specifications: A Case Study Using Resource Expressions , 1983, ICPP.

[42]  William J. Long,et al.  A Control Structure for Time Dependent Reasoning , 1983, IJCAI.

[43]  David Scott Warren,et al.  Formal semantics for time in databases , 1982, TODS.

[44]  James F. Allen.  Maintaining knowledge about temporal intervals , 1983, CACM.

[45]  Peter Dadam,et al.  Designing DBMS support for the temporal dimension , 1984, SIGMOD '84.

[46]  David Maier,et al.  Making smalltalk a database system , 1984, SIGMOD '84.

[47]  Gad Ariav.  Preserving the time dimension in information systems (database, graphics) , 1984 .

[48]  James F. Allen.  Towards a General Theory of Action and Time , 1984, Artif. Intell..

[49]  Edmund M. Clarke,et al.  Compiling path expressions into VLSI circuits , 1985, POPL '85.

[50]  Georg Gottlob,et al.  Translating SQL Into Relational Algebra: Optimization, Semantics, and Equivalence of SQL Queries , 1985, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.

[51]  James Clifford,et al.  On an algebra for historical relational databases: two views , 1985, SIGMOD Conference.

[52]  Richard T. Snodgrass,et al.  A taxonomy of time databases , 1985, SIGMOD Conference.

[53]  Shashi K. Gadia,et al.  Weak temporal relations , 1985, PODS.

[54]  Shashi K. Gadia,et al.  A query language for a homogeneous temporal database , 1985, PODS '85.

[55]  Nick Roussopoulos,et al.  Reference Model for DBMS Standardization, Database Architecture Framework Task Group (DAFTG) of the ANSI/X3/SPARC Database System Study Group , 1986, SIGMOD Rec..

[56]  llsoo Ahn.  Temporal Databases , 1986 .

[57]  Shashi K. Gadia.  Toward a multihomogeheous model for a temporal database , 1986, 1986 IEEE Second International Conference on Data Engineering.

[58]  Abdullah Uz Tansel,et al.  Adding time dimension to relational model and extending relational algebra , 1986, Inf. Syst..

[59]  Abdullah Uz Tansel,et al.  HQUEL, a Query Language for Historical Relational Databases , 1986, SSDBM.

[60]  Ilsoo Ahn.  Performance modeling and access methods for temporal database management systems , 1986 .

[61]  R. Snodgrass,et al.  Performance evaluation of a temporal database management system , 1986, SIGMOD '86.

[62]  Ilsoo Ahn,et al.  Towards an implementation of database management systems with temporal support , 1986, 1986 IEEE Second International Conference on Data Engineering.

[63]  Abdullah Uz Tansel,et al.  Aggregation Operations in Historical Relational Databases (extended abstract) , 1986, SSDBM.

[64]  E. F. Codd.  An evaluation scheme for database management systems that are claimed to be relational , 1986, 1986 IEEE Second International Conference on Data Engineering.

[65]  Gad Ariav,et al.  A temporally oriented data model , 1986, TODS.

[66]  L. Edwin McKenzie,et al.  Bibliography: Temporal Databases , 1986, SIGMOD Rec..

[67]  Albert Croker,et al.  The historical relational data model (HRDM) and algebra based on lifespans , 1986, 1987 IEEE Third International Conference on Data Engineering.

[68]  Richard T. Snodgrass,et al.  Extending the relational algebra to support transaction time , 1987, SIGMOD '87.