Patent ID: 7882103

Claim:
A method for use in allowing the user of a database to view data representing events in the life of a business enterprise, where the data is stored in one or more database tables that include a first set of records indicating when the events occurred and a second set of records indicating when the data was made available for retrieval from the database, the method comprising: receiving a request for data representing one or more events that occurred at or before a selected point-in-time, where the request occurs at some point after the selected point-in-time has passed; accessing the information stored in the first and second sets of records to identify when the events occurred and when data corresponding to the events was made available for retrieval; selecting from the table data for which: (a) the first set of records indicates that a corresponding one of the events occurred at or before the selected point-in-time; and (b) the second set of records indicates that the data was made available for retrieval at or before the selected point-in-time; and delivering the selected data to for presentation to the user.