Preface

This guide describes how to use Oracle8i Time Series. (In previous releases, this product was called the Oracle8 Time Series Cartridge.)

For changes to this guide for the current release, see "Changes to This Guide" at the end of this Preface.

Intended Audience

This guide is intended for anyone who is interested in storing, retrieving, and manipulating time series data in an Oracle database, including developers wishing to extend Oracle8i Time Series.

Structure

This guide contains the following chapters, appendixes, and glossary:

Chapter 1	Introduces object types and the contents of the Oracle8i Time Series product.
Chapter 2	Explains time series concepts and operations.
Chapter 3	Explains important procedures for using Oracle8i Time Series.
Chapter 4	Provides reference information on calendar functions.
Chapter 5	Provides reference information on time series functions.
Chapter 6	Provides reference information on time scaling functions.
Chapter 7	Provides reference information on administrative tools procedures for fast and easy creation of time series schema objects.
Appendix A	Lists potential errors, their causes, and user actions to correct them.
Appendix B	Describes the views that Oracle8i Time Series uses to store information about time series schema objects.
Appendix C	Lists deprecated features. These are features that still work for this release, but are not documented as available for use. You are encouraged not to use these features because they might not work in future releases.
Glossary	Contains definitions of important terms related to Oracle8i Time Series.

Conventions

The following conventions are used in this guide:

Convention	Meaning
. . .	A vertical ellipsis in an example means that lines not directly related to the example have been omitted.
. . .	A horizontal ellipsis in an example means that part of the statement or command not directly related to the example has been omitted
boldface text	Boldface text indicates a term defined in the text.
italicized text	Italicized text indicates emphasis or a user-defined variable, schema name, or object data type.
< >	Angle brackets enclose user-supplied names.
[ ]	Brackets enclose optional clauses from which you can choose one or none.

Changes to This Guide

The following substantive changes have been made to this guide since its previous (and initial) version for release 8.0.4.

Other minor corrections and clarifications have also been included.

See also the description of deprecated features in Appendix C.

Calendar Enhancements

Calendar enhancements include:

New frequencies: week, 10_day, semi_monthly, quarter, and semi_annual
Greater flexibility in pattern definition, including pattern bit numbers other than 0 and 1 and anchor dates other than the first interval of the period
New simpler method of deriving calendar exceptions

These calendar enhancements are included in Section 2.2.

New Calendar Functions

The following calendar functions have been added:

These functions are documented in Chapter 4.

Irregular Time Series

Oracle8i Time Series now supports irregular time series, which are time series without associated calendars. Using an irregular time series lets you handle unpredictable data, and it also lets you conveniently process predictable data (although some Oracle8i Time Series features are unavailable with this approach). Irregular time series are explained in Section 2.1.1.

Object Storage Model

Time series can now be stored in an object table (nested index-organized table). This storage model is described in Section 2.6.2.

Administrative Tools Procedures

Administrative tools procedures are provided to simplify the creation and maintenance of time series schema objects. These procedures are introduced in Section 2.12. Reference information on these procedures is in Chapter 7.

The quick-start demo (described in Section 1.6.1) uses the administrative tools procedures.

Time Scaling Functions in Separate Package

All time scaling functions have been placed in a new TimeScale package. These functions are now documented in a separate chapter (Chapter 6).

The use of the TimeSeries package for scaleup functions that were available in release 8.0.4 is a deprecated feature (see Section C.4).

New Scaleup Functions

The following scaleup functions are been added:

These functions are documented in Chapter 6.

Scaledown Functions

Scaledown functions are now provided:

These functions are documented in Chapter 6.

New tsname Parameter

Functions that return a time series accept an optional tsname parameter specifying a name for the resulting time series. Specify this parameter if you need to assign a name to the resulting time series, for example, to insert it into an object table.

Lookback Window (k) Parameter for Mavg and Msum

The lookback window (k) parameter for the Mavg and Msum functions now comes before any optional start-end date range. (The old format is a deprecated feature. See Appendix C for information about deprecated features.)

Tables and Views for Time Series Data

The following clarification is added to the ORDTNumSeriesIOTRef data type description in Section 2.7.2: "table_name can be a view, but the view must be updatable and must map to an IOT. If the view includes any functions, they must include the PRAGMA RESTRICT_REFERENCES compiler directive with the keywords WNPS, RNPS, and WNDS."

Glossary Added

A glossary of Oracle8i Time Series terms has been added.