Currently I am developing a time machine for a open-source Business Intelligence software from scratch using PHP/MySQL.
My time-machine table is used by all other tables that need date info (such as orders, products, etc.) and they binding with time_id. So its MySQL table like this:
time_id | timestamp | day | week | month | quarter
1 1303689654 25 17 4 2
2 1303813842 26 17 4 2
...
Order table binding like this:
order_id | time_id ...
3123 2
...
edit: it's similar to STAR SCHEMA.
The problem is getting TIME (13:45) information as well. Usually I don't need this, but like orders, and sometimes a couple of tables need this HOUR/MINUTE infomation.
How can I solve this problem cleverly? I have a couple of solutions, but first i want to see your opinions..
Why don't you simply store timestamps in your other tables?
Or, if you want to keep the dates table, simply add a TIME field to your other tables which need it.