The ramification problem in temporal databases: a solution implemented in SQL

Abstract

In this paper we elaborate on the handling of the ramification problem in the setting of temporal databases. Starting with the observation that solutions from the literature on reasoning about action are inadequate for addressing the ramification problem, in our prior work (Papadakis and Plexousakis in Int. J. Artif. Intel., 12(3):315, 2003) we have presented a solution based on an extension of the situation calculus and the work of McCain and Turner. Also, we have dealt with the ramification problem in spatial databases (Papadakis and Christodoulou in Expert Syst. Appl. 37:1374, 2010). In this paper, we present a tool that connects the theoretical results to practical considerations, by producing the appropriate SQL commands in order to address the ramification problem. (A preliminary version of this work appears in Papadakis et al., 17th Inter Symposium on Methodologies for Intelligent Systems, pp. 381–388, 2008)