Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
they represent what we accept as true, agree is true, assent to or
assert as true, or believe, know or think is true. For now, we'll just
call them our truth claims, or simply our claims, about the
statements made by rows in our tables.
Besides what we currently claim is true, there are also claims
that we once made but are no longer willing to make. These
are statements that, based on our current understanding of
things, are not true, or should no longer be considered as reli-
able sources of information. It is also the case that we may have
statements—whether about the past, the present or the future—
that we are not yet willing to claim are true, but which none-
theless are “works in progress” that we intend to complete and
that, at that time, we will be willing to claim are true. Or perhaps
they are complete, and we are pretty certain that they are cor-
rect, but we are waiting on a business decision-maker to review
them and approve them for release as current assertions. The
former is a set of transactions about to be applied to the data-
base. The latter is a set of data in a staging area, either waiting
for additional work to be performed on it, or waiting for review
and approval.
So if statements may be about what things were, are or will
be like, and claims about statements may have once been made
and later repudiated, or be current claims, or be claims that
we are not yet willing to make but might at some time in the
future be willing to make, then the intersection of facts and
claims creates a matrix of nine temporal combinations. That
matrix is shown in
Figure 13.3
.
2
what we used to claim
what we used to claim
things used to be like
what we currently claim
what we will claim
what things
used to be like
what we currently claim
things used to be like
what we will claim things
used to be like
what we will claim things
are like now
what we will claim things
will be like
what things
are like
what things
will be like
what we used to claim
things are like now
what we used to claim
things will be like
what we currently claim
things are like now
what we currently claim
things will be like
Figure 13.3 Facts, Claims and Time.
2
With the substitution of the word “claims” for “beliefs”, this is the same matrix shown
in Figure 12.1. Chapter 12 also contains a discussion of the interchangeability of
“claims”, “beliefs” and several other terms. We note, however, that “claims” is a
stronger word than “beliefs” in this sense, that some of the things we believe are
true are things we are nonetheless not yet willing to claim are true. We take “claims”,
and “asserts” or “assertions”, to be synonymous, and the other equivalent terms
discussed in Chapter 12 to be terminological variations that appear more or less
suitable in different contexts.
