Data Aging Options

Data aging causes objects within the table to be deleted when a timestamp field reaches a defined age. Aging is performed in a background task whose schedule can be controlled. An object is deleted when the data-aging task executes and finds it is equal to or greater than the defined age.

Data aging is controlled by the following options:

•	aging-field: Defines the field to use for data aging. It is required if a non-zero retention-age is specified. The aging field must be defined in the table’s schema, and its type must be timestamp.

•	retention-age: Enables data aging and defines the retention age. It must be specified in the format:

<value> [<units>]

Where <value> is a positive integer and <units>, if provided, is days, months, or years; days is the default. An object’s age is the difference between “now” (when the aging task executes) and the object’s aging field value. When this age is greater than the retention-age, the object is deleted. If retention-age is set to 0, aging is disabled.

•	aging-check-frequency: This option specifies how often a background task should check the table for expired objects. At the table level, this option overrides the default value, if specified, at the application level. The value of this option must be in the form:

<value> <units>

Where <value> is a positive integer and <units> is MINUTES, HOURS, or DAYS. (Singular forms of these mnemonics are also allowed.) If a non-zero retention-age is specified but aging-check-frequency is not specified, it defaults to 1 DAY.

When data aging is enabled, each object’s aging field can be modified at any time. An object is deleted only when the aging field has a value.