Row versioning in MySQL

Question

I would like to include an integer version field in my table, auto-incrementing on each update made to a row. Is it possible to do this in MySQL?

Please note that I'm not talking about a TIMESTAMP, which is not reliable as two concurrent updates might happen during the same second.

Answer 1

Yes it is. The more general problem is called slowly changing dimensions.

Answer 2

The only way (I can think of) to do this is a (before-update) trigger that automatically increments the column value.