Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005: Applied Techniques Step by Step

Tracking Changes Using Audit Columns and Audit Tables

In the previous two sections, you learned how to store and access historical summarized data. Now, you will learn techniques for tracking various changes to your data in the table itself and outside of the source table. The level of auditing you choose will depend on what you really need to know. You can choose a level of auditing as simple as recording the date of the change or as complex as holding a complete record of the change with the option to recover if necessary. This latter option utilizes audit columns, audit tables, or both.

Auditing with Columns

Auditing with columns has the benefit of having the audit information located in the same table with the data. Table 11-1 describes ...