@@ -104,15 +104,15 @@ Each row contains the device ID, time stamp, collected metrics (current, voltage
## Metric
Metric refers to the physical quantity collected by sensors, equipment or other types of data collection devices, such as current, voltage, temperature, pressure, GPS position, etc., which change with time, and the data type can be integer, float, Boolean, or strings. As time goes by, the amount of collected metric data stored increases.
Metric refers to the physical quantity collected by sensors, equipment or other types of data collection devices, such as current, voltage, temperature, pressure, GPS position, etc., which change with time, and the data type can be integer, float, Boolean, or strings. As time goes by, the amount of collected metric data stored increases. In the smart meters example, current, voltage and phase are the metrics.
## Label/Tag
Label/Tag refers to the static properties of sensors, equipment or other types of data collection devices, which do not change with time, such as device model, color, fixed location of the device, etc. The data type can be any type. Although static, TDengine allows users to add, delete or update tag values at any time. Unlike the collected metric data, the amount of tag data stored does not change over time.
Label/Tag refers to the static properties of sensors, equipment or other types of data collection devices, which do not change with time, such as device model, color, fixed location of the device, etc. The data type can be any type. Although static, TDengine allows users to add, delete or update tag values at any time. Unlike the collected metric data, the amount of tag data stored does not change over time. In the meters example, `location` and `groupid` are the tags.
## Data Collection Point
Data Collection Point (DCP) refers to hardware or software that collects metrics based on preset time periods or triggered by events. A data collection point can collect one or multiple metrics, but these metrics are collected at the same time and have the same time stamp. For some complex equipment, there are often multiple data collection points, and the sampling rate of each collection point may be different, and fully independent. For example, for a car, there could be a data collection point to collect GPS position metrics, a data collection point to collect engine status metrics, and a data collection point to collect the environment metrics inside the car. So in this example the car would have three data collection points.
Data Collection Point (DCP) refers to hardware or software that collects metrics based on preset time periods or triggered by events. A data collection point can collect one or multiple metrics, but these metrics are collected at the same time and have the same time stamp. For some complex equipment, there are often multiple data collection points, and the sampling rate of each collection point may be different, and fully independent. For example, for a car, there could be a data collection point to collect GPS position metrics, a data collection point to collect engine status metrics, and a data collection point to collect the environment metrics inside the car. So in this example the car would have three data collection points. In the smart meters example, d1001, d1002, d1003, and d1004 are the data collection points.
## Table
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@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ The design of one table for one data collection point will require a huge number
STable is a template for a type of data collection point. A STable contains a set of data collection points (tables) that have the same schema or data structure, but with different static attributes (tags). To describe a STable, in addition to defining the table structure of the metrics, it is also necessary to define the schema of its tags. The data type of tags can be int, float, string, and there can be multiple tags, which can be added, deleted, or modified afterward. If the whole system has N different types of data collection points, N STables need to be established.
In the design of TDengine, **a table is used to represent a specific data collection point, and STable is used to represent a set of data collection points of the same type**.
In the design of TDengine, **a table is used to represent a specific data collection point, and STable is used to represent a set of data collection points of the same type**. In the smart meters example, we can create a super table named `meters`.
## Subtable
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@@ -156,9 +156,9 @@ The relationship between a STable and the subtables created based on this STable
Queries can be executed on both a table (subtable) and a STable. For a query on a STable, TDengine will treat the data in all its subtables as a whole data set for processing. TDengine will first find the subtables that meet the tag filter conditions, then scan the time-series data of these subtables to perform aggregation operation, which reduces the number of data sets to be scanned which in turn greatly improves the performance of data aggregation across multiple DCPs. In essence, querying a supertable is a very efficient aggregate query on multiple DCPs of the same type.
In TDengine, it is recommended to use a subtable instead of a regular table for a DCP. In the meters example, we can create subtables like d1001, d1002, d1003, and d1004 under super table meters.
In TDengine, it is recommended to use a subtable instead of a regular table for a DCP. In the smart meters example, we can create subtables like d1001, d1002, d1003, and d1004 under super table meters.
To better understand the data model using super table and subtable, please refer to the diagram below which demonstrates the data model of meters example. 
To better understand the data model using metri, tags, super table and subtable, please refer to the diagram below which demonstrates the data model of the smart meters example. 
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ When using TDengine to store and query data, the most important part of the data
- The format must be `YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss.MS`, the default time precision is millisecond (ms), for example `2017-08-12 18:25:58.128`
- Internal function `now` can be used to get the current timestamp on the client side
- The current timestamp of the client side is applied when `now` is used to insert data
- Epoch Time：timestamp can also be a long integer number, which means the number of seconds, milliseconds or nanoseconds, depending on the time precision, from 1970-01-01 00:00:00.000 (UTC/GMT)
- Epoch Time：timestamp can also be a long integer number, which means the number of seconds, milliseconds or nanoseconds, depending on the time precision, from UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00.
- Add/subtract operations can be carried out on timestamps. For example `now-2h` means 2 hours prior to the time at which query is executed. The units of time in operations can be b(nanosecond), u(microsecond), a(millisecond), s(second), m(minute), h(hour), d(day), or w(week). So `select * from t1 where ts > now-2w and ts <= now-1w` means the data between two weeks ago and one week ago. The time unit can also be n (calendar month) or y (calendar year) when specifying the time window for down sampling operations.
Time precision in TDengine can be set by the `PRECISION` parameter when executing `CREATE DATABASE`. The default time precision is millisecond. In the statement below, the precision is set to nanonseconds.
