How to Query Rows That Existed in a Specific Time Period

Querying Rows That Existed at Any Point During a Specific Period

Write a SQL query to retrieve rows that existed at any point during a specific time period in a temporal table.

Solution:

-- Retrieve rows that existed at any point between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.
SELECT DISTINCT EmployeeID, Name, Position
FROM Employees
FOR SYSTEM_TIME CONTAINED IN ('2023-01-01', '2023-12-31');

Explanation:

• Purpose of the Query :
• The goal is to demonstrate how to query rows that existed at any point during a specific time period in a temporal table.
• Key Components :
• FOR SYSTEM_TIME CONTAINED IN: Retrieves rows that were valid at any point within the specified range.
• Ensures that rows overlapping the time period are included.
• Why Query Rows During a Period?:
• Identifying rows that existed during a specific period supports compliance and historical reporting.
• It ensures comprehensive coverage of relevant data.
• Real-World Application :
• In financial systems, querying rows during a fiscal year tracks account activity.

Additional Notes:

• Use CONTAINED IN to include rows that overlap partially or fully with the time range.
• Combine with additional filters to refine results.
• Important Considerations:
• Validate the time range to ensure accurate results.

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a SQL query to retrieve rows that existed at any point during the year 2022 in a temporal table named "Employees".
• Write a SQL query to fetch records that were valid during the second quarter of 2023 in a temporal table named "Sales".
• Write a SQL query to identify rows that were active at any time between two specified dates in a temporal table named "Inventory".
• Write a SQL query to extract rows that existed during a specific fiscal period in a temporal table named "Expenses".

Have another way to solve this solution? Contribute your code (and comments) through Disqus.

Previous SQL Exercise: Querying the First and Last Versions of Each Row.