1 Introduction to Transaction-Time Support

Transaction-time support in MySQL comes as a module which can be added to a pre-existing installation of MySQL. The original programs and procedures will work as before, with the added feature of being able to refer to modified/deleted data once this temporal support is applied to MySQL.

Certain tables can be designated as transaction-time tables. All the regular commands work for those tables. However, internally all previous data in the table is retained. At a later date these changes can be brought to light, therefore checking for mistakes or malicious intent. This functionality helps in preventing or at least detecting corporate fraud and malpractice. Transaction-time support gives the authorized person complete information about what was changed in the table and when.

Developed by the TAU Project, Computer Science Department, University of Arizona