13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for processing a set of data records having time conflicts, the data records representing respective versions of an entity for which there can be only one preferred value at any given point in time, wherein each of the data records has an n-dimensional time record, the computer-readable medium comprising computer readable program code which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to computer-implemented method, the medium comprising: computer readable program code receiving inputs defining a policy from among a plurality of candidate policies, said defined policy designed to resolve time conflicts between those data records having time conflicts; computer readable program code comparing all data records in a cumulative, pair-wise fashion; computer readable program code identifying time-based conflicts between pairs of records and identifying time-conflicted pairs; computer readable program code determining which record in every time-conflicted pair of records is to be adjusted in accordance with said defined policy; computer readable program code adjusting the time interval of every said determined record in accordance with said defined policy; and computer readable program code outputting a modified set of data records having said adjusted time intervals, wherein (i) said modified set of data records contains no time conflicts and (ii) said adjusted time intervals in the modified set of data records do not depend on the order in which the data records are processed by said computer-implemented method.
13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for processing a set of data records having time conflicts, the data records representing respective versions of an entity for which there can be only one preferred value at any given point in time, wherein each of the data records has an n-dimensional time record, the computer-readable medium comprising computer readable program code which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to computer-implemented method, the medium comprising: computer readable program code receiving inputs defining a policy from among a plurality of candidate policies, said defined policy designed to resolve time conflicts between those data records having time conflicts; computer readable program code comparing all data records in a cumulative, pair-wise fashion; computer readable program code identifying time-based conflicts between pairs of records and identifying time-conflicted pairs; computer readable program code determining which record in every time-conflicted pair of records is to be adjusted in accordance with said defined policy; computer readable program code adjusting the time interval of every said determined record in accordance with said defined policy; and computer readable program code outputting a modified set of data records having said adjusted time intervals, wherein (i) said modified set of data records contains no time conflicts and (ii) said adjusted time intervals in the modified set of data records do not depend on the order in which the data records are processed by said computer-implemented method. 15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said method is implemented as part of a parallel database system.