Temporal Database Support

A number of databases support temporal data management[1] (that is, the ability to "go back in time" and query the state of the database as it was in the past), such as DB/2 [2], Oracle [3], Postgresql [4], etc. As of JPA 2.2, this is a capability that has not been addressed by the specification.

I'm opening this issue as a means to begin a conversation about the subject, whether it has merit to add to the spec, and to identify the challenges adding such a capability to the JPA spec itself.

Useful Links:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporal_database
[2] https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-1204db2temporaldata/
[3] https://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/tutorials/obe/db/12c/r1/ilm/temporal/temporal.html
[4] https://pgxn.org/dist/temporal_tables/

Start by reading the JPA 2.2 specification context and the linked temporal-database references, especially PostgreSQL's temporal_tables material. Compare the database capabilities and use cases, then document the proposed scope and challenges for a JPA specification change; this issue does not name files, tests, or an implementation target.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.