> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.mlcompendium.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://www.mlcompendium.com/data/engineering-intro/patterns.md).

# Data Patterns

A row that changes over time needs a rule for what the history looks like. The pattern for that is slowly changing dimensions: what to do when a row changes, from keeping nothing to keeping every version.

The rule belongs to the warehouse design, not to one pipeline. The same notes are in [Data Warehouse](/data/engineering-intro/database-architecture-and-modeling.md#data-warehouse).

The reference is Adatis. [Slowly changing dimensions (SCD)](https://adatis.co.uk/introduction-to-slowly-changing-dimensions-scd-types/) by Adatis: what you can do when the information in your table changes, types 0 through 6. The figure below lays those types out side by side, with the credit to Adatis.

<figure><img src="https://83674056-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-Mgd48oS5_duTKOVE_Et%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-a32a74fa34ef09d8a58e40fdbdc9c2c19d5b8e44%2Fimage%20(12).png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption><p>Slowly changing dimensions</p></figcaption></figure>


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