Discussion


Valid time is widely accepted already (+E3); it is short and easily spelled and pronounced (+E2). Most importantly, it is intuitive (+E8).

The name ``real-world time'' derives from the common identification of the modeled reality (opposed to the reality of the model) as the real world (+E8). This name has no apparent advantages to valid time, and it is less frequently used and longer (-E3, -E2).

``Intrinsic time'' is the opposite of extrinsic time. Choosing intrinsic time for valid time would require us to choose extrinsic time for transaction time. The names are appropriate: The time when a fact is true is intrinsic to the fact; when it happened to be stored in a database is clearly an extrinsic property. Still, ``intrinsic'' is rarely used (-E3) and is longer and harder to spell than ``valid'' (-E2). As we shall see, transaction time is preferred over ``extrinsic time'' as well. Also, should a third concept of time be invented, there will be no obvious name for that concept (-E4).

``Logical time'' has been used for valid time in conjunction with ``physical time'' for transaction time. As the discussion of intrinsic time had to include extrinsic time, discussing logical time requires us to also consider physical time. Both names are more rarely used than valid and transaction time (-E3), and they do not posses clear advantages over these.

The name ``data time'' is probably the most rarely used alternative (-E3). While it is clearly brief and easily spelled and pronounced, it is not intuitively clear that the data time of a fact refers to the valid time as defined above (+E2,-E8).