SQL BASIC STATEMENTS 1.

The SQL SELECT Statement

The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database. The result is stored in a result table, called the result-set.

SQL SELECT Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name
and

SELECT * FROM table_name

Note: SQL is not case sensitive. SELECT is the same as select.

2. The SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement

In a table, some of the columns may contain duplicate values. This is not a problem, however, sometimes you will want to list only the different (distinct) values in a table. The DISTINCT keyword can be used to return only distinct (different) values.

SQL SELECT DISTINCT Syntax

SELECT DISTINCT column_name(s) FROM table_name

3. SQL WHERE Clause

The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.

SQL WHERE Syntax

SELECT column_name(s)

FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value

4. SQL AND & OR Operators

The AND operator displays a record if both the first condition and the second condition is true. The OR operator displays a record if either the first condition or the second condition is true.

SELECT "column_name" FROM "table_name" WHERE "simple condition" {[AND|OR] "simple condition"}+

5. SQL ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set by a specified column. The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default. If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.

SQL ORDER BY Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC

6. SQL INSERT INTO Statement

The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert a new row in a table.

SQL INSERT INTO Syntax

It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms. The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values:

INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)

The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:

INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...) VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)

7. SQL UPDATE Statement

The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.

SQL UPDATE Syntax

UPDATE table_name SET column1=value, column2=value2,... WHERE some_column=some_value

Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated!

8. SQL DELETE Statement

The DELETE statement is used to delete rows in a table.

SQL DELETE Syntax

DELETE FROM table_name WHERE some_column=some_value

Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be deleted!

SQL ADVANCED STATEMENTS 1. SQL TOP Clause

The TOP clause is used to specify the number of records to return. The TOP clause can be very useful on large tables with thousands of records. Returning a large number of records can impact on performance. Note: Not all database systems support the TOP clause.

SQL Server Syntax

SELECT TOP number|percent column_name(s) FROM table_name

SQL SELECT TOP Equivalent in MySQL and Oracle

MySQL Syntax
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name LIMIT number

2. SQL LIKE Operator

The LIKE operator is used in a WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a column.

SQL LIKE Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name LIKE pattern

3. SQL Wildcards
SQL wildcards can substitute for one or more characters when searching for data in a database. SQL wildcards must be used with the SQL LIKE operator. With SQL, the following wildcards can be used: Wildcard % _ [charlist] [^charlist] or [!charlist] Description A substitute for zero or more characters A substitute for exactly one character Any single character in charlist Any single character not in charlist

4. SQL IN Operator
The IN operator allows you to specify multiple values in a WHERE clause.

SQL IN Syntax
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name IN (value1,value2,...)

5. SQL BETWEEN Operator

The BETWEEN operator is used in a WHERE clause to select a range of data between two values. The values can be numbers, text, or dates.

SQL BETWEEN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name BETWEEN value1 AND value2

6. SQL Alias
You can give a table or a column another name by using an alias. This can be a good thing to do if you have very long or complex table names or column names. An alias name could be anything, but usually it is short.

SQL Alias Syntax for Tables

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name AS alias_name

SQL Alias Syntax for Columns

SELECT column_name AS alias_name FROM table_name

7. SQL Joins
The JOIN keyword is used in an SQL statement to query data from two or more tables, based on a relationship between certain columns in these tables. Tables in a database are often related to each other with keys. A primary key is a column (or a combination of columns) with a unique value for each row. Each primary key value must be unique within the table. The purpose is to bind data together, across tables, without repeating all of the data in every table.

Different SQL JOINs

JOIN: Return rows when there is at least one match in both tables LEFT JOIN: Return all rows from the left table, even if there are no matches in the right table RIGHT JOIN: Return all rows from the right table, even if there are no matches in the left table

FULL JOIN: Return rows when there is a match in one of the tables

a. SQL INNER JOIN Keyword

The INNER JOIN keyword return rows when there is at least one match in both tables.

SQL INNER JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 INNER JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name

PS: INNER JOIN is the same as JOIN.

b. SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword

The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all rows from the left table (table_name1), even if there are no matches in the right table (table_name2).

SQL LEFT JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 LEFT JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name

PS: In some databases LEFT JOIN is called LEFT OUTER JOIN.

c. SQL RIGHT JOIN Keyword

The RIGHT JOIN keyword Return all rows from the right table (table_name2), even if there are no matches in the left table (table_name1).

SQL RIGHT JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 RIGHT JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name

PS: In some databases RIGHT JOIN is called RIGHT OUTER JOIN.

d. SQL FULL JOIN Keyword

The FULL JOIN keyword return rows when there is a match in one of the tables.

SQL FULL JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 FULL JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name

8. SQL UNION Operator

The UNION operator is used to combine the result-set of two or more SELECT statements. Notice that each SELECT statement within the UNION must have the same number of columns. The columns must also have similar data types. Also, the columns in each SELECT statement must be in the same order.

SQL UNION Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 UNION SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name2

Note: The UNION operator selects only distinct values by default. To allow duplicate values, use UNION ALL.

SQL UNION ALL Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 UNION ALL SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name2

PS: The column names in the result-set of a UNION are always equal to the column names in the first SELECT statement in the UNION.

9. SQL SELECT INTO Statement

The SELECT INTO statement selects data from one table and inserts it into a different table. The SELECT INTO statement is most often used to create backup copies of tables.

SQL SELECT INTO Syntax

We can select all columns into the new table:

SELECT * INTO new_table_name [IN externaldatabase] FROM old_tablename

Or we can select only the columns we want into the new table:

SELECT column_name(s) INTO new_table_name [IN externaldatabase] FROM old_tablename

10. SQL CREATE DATABASE Statement

The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database.

SQL CREATE DATABASE Syntax

CREATE DATABASE database_name

11. SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in a database.

SQL CREATE TABLE Syntax

CREATE TABLE table_name ( column_name1 data_type,

column_name2 data_type, column_name3 data_type, .... )

The data type specifies what type of data the column can hold. For a complete reference of all the data types available in MS Access, MySQL, and SQL Server, go to our complete Data Types reference.

12. SQL Constraints

Constraints are used to limit the type of data that can go into a table. Constraints can be specified when a table is created (with the CREATE TABLE statement) or after the table is created (with the ALTER TABLE statement). We will focus on the following constraints: NOT NULL UNIQUE PRIMARY KEY FOREIGN KEY CHECK DEFAULT

a. SQL NOT NULL Constraint

The NOT NULL constraint enforces a column to NOT accept NULL values. The NOT NULL constraint enforces a field to always contain a value. This means that you cannot insert a new record, or update a record without adding a value to this field. The following SQL enforces the "P_Id" column and the "LastName" column to not accept NULL values:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )

b. SQL UNIQUE Constraint

The UNIQUE constraint uniquely identifies each record in a database table. The UNIQUE and PRIMARY KEY constraints both provide a guarantee for uniqueness for a column or set of columns. A PRIMARY KEY constraint automatically has a UNIQUE constraint defined on it. Note that you can have many UNIQUE constraints per table, but only one PRIMARY KEY constraint per table.

SQL UNIQUE Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a UNIQUE constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is created: MySQL:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), UNIQUE (P_Id) )

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL UNIQUE, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )

To allow naming of a UNIQUE constraint, and for defining a UNIQUE constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Persons

( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), CONSTRAINT uc_PersonID UNIQUE (P_Id,LastName) )

SQL UNIQUE Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a UNIQUE constraint on the "P_Id" column when the table is already created, use the following SQL: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons ADD UNIQUE (P_Id)

To allow naming of a UNIQUE constraint, and for defining a UNIQUE constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons ADD CONSTRAINT uc_PersonID UNIQUE (P_Id,LastName)

To DROP a UNIQUE Constraint

To drop a UNIQUE constraint, use the following SQL: MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP INDEX uc_PersonID

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP CONSTRAINT uc_PersonID

c. SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint

The PRIMARY KEY constraint uniquely identifies each record in a database table. Primary keys must contain unique values. A primary key column cannot contain NULL values. Each table should have a primary key, and each table can have only one primary key.

SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a PRIMARY KEY on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is created: MySQL:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), PRIMARY KEY (P_Id) )

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )

To allow naming of a PRIMARY KEY constraint, and for defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), CONSTRAINT pk_PersonID PRIMARY KEY (P_Id,LastName) )

SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a PRIMARY KEY constraint on the "P_Id" column when the table is already created, use the following SQL: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons ADD PRIMARY KEY (P_Id)

To allow naming of a PRIMARY KEY constraint, and for defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons ADD CONSTRAINT pk_PersonID PRIMARY KEY (P_Id,LastName)

Note: If you use the ALTER TABLE statement to add a primary key, the primary key column(s) must already have been declared to not contain NULL values (when the table was first created).

To DROP a PRIMARY KEY Constraint

To drop a PRIMARY KEY constraint, use the following SQL: MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP PRIMARY KEY

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP CONSTRAINT pk_PersonID

d. SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint

A FOREIGN KEY in one table points to a PRIMARY KEY in another table. Let's illustrate the foreign key with an example. Look at the following two tables: The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger

The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 P_Id 3 3 2 1

Note that the "P_Id" column in the "Orders" table points to the "P_Id" column in the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column in the "Persons" table is the PRIMARY KEY in the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column in the "Orders" table is a FOREIGN KEY in the "Orders" table.

The FOREIGN KEY constraint is used to prevent actions that would destroy link between tables. The FOREIGN KEY constraint also prevents that invalid data is inserted into the foreign key column, because it has to be one of the values contained in the table it points to.

SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a FOREIGN KEY on the "P_Id" column when the "Orders" table is created: MySQL:

CREATE TABLE Orders ( O_Id int NOT NULL, OrderNo int NOT NULL, P_Id int, PRIMARY KEY (O_Id), FOREIGN KEY (P_Id) REFERENCES Persons(P_Id) )

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Orders ( O_Id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, OrderNo int NOT NULL, P_Id int FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES Persons(P_Id) )

To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Orders ( O_Id int NOT NULL, OrderNo int NOT NULL, P_Id int, PRIMARY KEY (O_Id), CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders FOREIGN KEY (P_Id) REFERENCES Persons(P_Id) )

SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a FOREIGN KEY constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Orders" table is already created, use the following SQL: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Orders ADD FOREIGN KEY (P_Id) REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)

To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Orders ADD CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders FOREIGN KEY (P_Id) REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)

To DROP a FOREIGN KEY Constraint

To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL: MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Orders DROP FOREIGN KEY fk_PerOrders

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Orders DROP CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders

e. SQL CHECK Constraint

The CHECK constraint is used to limit the value range that can be placed in a column. If you define a CHECK constraint on a single column it allows only certain values for this column. If you define a CHECK constraint on a table it can limit the values in certain columns based on values in other columns in the row.

SQL CHECK Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a CHECK constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is created. The CHECK constraint specifies that the column "P_Id" must only include integers greater than 0. My SQL:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), CHECK (P_Id>0) )

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL CHECK (P_Id>0), LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )

To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), CONSTRAINT chk_Person CHECK (P_Id>0 AND City='Sandnes') )

SQL CHECK Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a CHECK constraint on the "P_Id" column when the table is already created, use the following SQL: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons ADD CHECK (P_Id>0)

To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax: MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons ADD CONSTRAINT chk_Person CHECK (P_Id>0 AND City='Sandnes')

To DROP a CHECK Constraint

To drop a CHECK constraint, use the following SQL: SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP CONSTRAINT chk_Person

f. SQL DEFAULT Constraint

The DEFAULT constraint is used to insert a default value into a column. The default value will be added to all new records, if no other value is specified.

SQL DEFAULT Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a DEFAULT constraint on the "City" column when the "Persons" table is created: My SQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) DEFAULT 'Sandnes' )

The DEFAULT constraint can also be used to insert system values, by using functions like GETDATE():

CREATE TABLE Orders ( O_Id int NOT NULL, OrderNo int NOT NULL, P_Id int, OrderDate date DEFAULT GETDATE() )

SQL DEFAULT Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a DEFAULT constraint on the "City" column when the table is already created, use the following SQL: MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons ALTER City SET DEFAULT 'SANDNES'

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons ALTER COLUMN City SET DEFAULT 'SANDNES'

To DROP a DEFAULT Constraint

To drop a DEFAULT constraint, use the following SQL: MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons ALTER City DROP DEFAULT

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons ALTER COLUMN City DROP DEFAULT

13. SQL CREATE INDEX Statement Indexes

An index can be created in a table to find data more quickly and efficiently. The users cannot see the indexes, they are just used to speed up searches/queries. Note: Updating a table with indexes takes more time than updating a table without (because the indexes also need an update). So you should only create indexes on columns (and tables) that will be frequently searched against.

SQL CREATE INDEX Syntax

Creates an index on a table. Duplicate values are allowed:

CREATE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name)

SQL CREATE UNIQUE INDEX Syntax

Creates a unique index on a table. Duplicate values are not allowed:

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name)

14. SQL DROP INDEX, DROP TABLE, and DROP DATABASE

Indexes, tables, and databases can easily be deleted/removed with the DROP statement.

The DROP INDEX Statement

The DROP INDEX statement is used to delete an index in a table.

DROP INDEX Syntax for MS Access:

DROP INDEX index_name ON table_name

DROP INDEX Syntax for MS SQL Server:

DROP INDEX table_name.index_name

DROP INDEX Syntax for DB2/Oracle:

DROP INDEX index_name

DROP INDEX Syntax for MySQL:

ALTER TABLE table_name DROP INDEX index_name

The DROP TABLE Statement

The DROP TABLE statement is used to delete a table.

DROP TABLE table_name

The DROP DATABASE Statement

The DROP DATABASE statement is used to delete a database.

DROP DATABASE database_name

The TRUNCATE TABLE Statement

What if we only want to delete the data inside the table, and not the table itself? Then, use the TRUNCATE TABLE statement:

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name

15. SQL ALTER TABLE Statement

The ALTER TABLE statement is used to add, delete, or modify columns in an existing table.

SQL ALTER TABLE Syntax

To add a column in a table, use the following syntax:

ALTER TABLE table_name ADD column_name datatype

To delete a column in a table, use the following syntax (notice that some database systems don't allow deleting a column):

ALTER TABLE table_name DROP COLUMN column_name

To change the data type of a column in a table, use the following syntax:

ALTER TABLE table_name ALTER COLUMN column_name datatype

16. SQL AUTO INCREMENT Field

Auto-increment allows a unique number to be generated when a new record is inserted into a table.
Very often we would like the value of the primary key field to be created automatically every time a new record is inserted. We would like to create an auto-increment field in a table.

Syntax for MySQL

The following SQL statement defines the "P_Id" column to be an auto-increment primary key field in the "Persons" table:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), PRIMARY KEY (P_Id) )

MySQL uses the AUTO_INCREMENT keyword to perform an auto-increment feature. By default, the starting value for AUTO_INCREMENT is 1, and it will increment by 1 for each new record. To let the AUTO_INCREMENT sequence start with another value, use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons AUTO_INCREMENT=100

To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will not have to specify a value for the "P_Id" column (a unique value will be added automatically):

INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName,LastName)

VALUES ('Lars','Monsen')

The SQL statement above would insert a new record into the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column would be assigned a unique value. The "FirstName" column would be set to "Lars" and the "LastName" column would be set to "Monsen".

Syntax for SQL Server

The following SQL statement defines the "P_Id" column to be an auto-increment primary key field in the "Persons" table:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int PRIMARY KEY IDENTITY, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )

The MS SQL Server uses the IDENTITY keyword to perform an auto-increment feature. By default, the starting value for IDENTITY is 1, and it will increment by 1 for each new record. To specify that the "P_Id" column should start at value 10 and increment by 5, change the identity to IDENTITY(10,5). To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will not have to specify a value for the "P_Id" column (a unique value will be added automatically):

INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName,LastName) VALUES ('Lars','Monsen')

The SQL statement above would insert a new record into the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column would be assigned a unique value. The "FirstName" column would be set to "Lars" and the "LastName" column would be set to "Monsen".

Syntax for Access

The following SQL statement defines the "P_Id" column to be an auto-increment primary key field in the "Persons" table:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )

The MS Access uses the AUTOINCREMENT keyword to perform an auto-increment feature. By default, the starting value for AUTOINCREMENT is 1, and it will increment by 1 for each new record. To specify that the "P_Id" column should start at value 10 and increment by 5, change the autoincrement to AUTOINCREMENT(10,5). To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will not have to specify a value for the "P_Id" column (a unique value will be added automatically):

INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName,LastName) VALUES ('Lars','Monsen')

The SQL statement above would insert a new record into the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column would be assigned a unique value. The "FirstName" column would be set to "Lars" and the "LastName" column would be set to "Monsen".

Syntax for Oracle

In Oracle the code is a little bit more tricky. You will have to create an auto-increment field with the sequence object (this object generates a number sequence). Use the following CREATE SEQUENCE syntax:

CREATE SEQUENCE seq_person MINVALUE 1 START WITH 1 INCREMENT BY 1 CACHE 10

The code above creates a sequence object called seq_person, that starts with 1 and will increment by 1. It will also cache up to 10 values for performance. The cache option specifies how many sequence values will be stored in memory for faster access.

To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will have to use the nextval function (this function retrieves the next value from seq_person sequence):

INSERT INTO Persons (P_Id,FirstName,LastName) VALUES (seq_person.nextval,'Lars','Monsen')

The SQL statement above would insert a new record into the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column would be assigned the next number from the seq_person sequence. The "FirstName" column would be set to "Lars" and the "LastName" column would be set to "Monsen".

17. SQL Views

A view is a virtual table.

SQL CREATE VIEW Statement

In SQL, a view is a virtual table based on the result-set of an SQL statement. A view contains rows and columns, just like a real table. The fields in a view are fields from one or more real tables in the database. You can add SQL functions, WHERE, and JOIN statements to a view and present the data as if the data were coming from one single table.

SQL CREATE VIEW Syntax

CREATE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition

Note: A view always shows up-to-date data! The database engine recreates the data, using the view's SQL statement, every time a user queries a view.

SQL Updating a View

You can update a view by using the following syntax:

SQL CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW Syntax

CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition

SQL Dropping a View

You can delete a view with the DROP VIEW command.

SQL DROP VIEW Syntax

DROP VIEW view_name

18. SQL Date Functions

The most difficult part when working with dates is to be sure that the format of the date you are trying to insert, matches the format of the date column in the database. As long as your data contains only the date portion, your queries will work as expected. However, if a time portion is involved, it gets complicated. Before talking about the complications of querying for dates, we will look at the most important built-in functions for working with dates.

MySQL Date Functions

The following table lists the most important built-in date functions in MySQL: Function NOW() CURDATE() CURTIME() DATE() EXTRACT() DATE_ADD() DATE_SUB() DATEDIFF() Description Returns the current date and time Returns the current date Returns the current time Extracts the date part of a date or date/time expression Returns a single part of a date/time Adds a specified time interval to a date Subtracts a specified time interval from a date Returns the number of days between two dates

DATE_FORMAT()

Displays date/time data in different formats

SQL Server Date Functions

The following table lists the most important built-in date functions in SQL Server: Function GETDATE() DATEPART() DATEADD() DATEDIFF() CONVERT() Description Returns the current date and time Returns a single part of a date/time Adds or subtracts a specified time interval from a date Returns the time between two dates Displays date/time data in different formats

SQL Date Data Types

MySQL comes with the following data types for storing a date or a date/time value in the database: DATE - format YYYY-MM-DD DATETIME - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS TIMESTAMP - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS YEAR - format YYYY or YY SQL Server comes with the following data types for storing a date or a date/time value in the database: DATE - format YYYY-MM-DD DATETIME - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS SMALLDATETIME - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS TIMESTAMP - format: a unique number Note: The date types are chosen for a column when you create a new table in your database!

19. SQL NULL Values

If a column in a table is optional, we can insert a new record or update an existing record without adding a value to this column. This means that the field will be saved with a NULL value. NULL values are treated differently from other values. NULL is used as a placeholder for unknown or inapplicable values. Note: It is not possible to compare NULL and 0; they are not equivalent.

SQL IS NULL
How do we select only the records with NULL values in the "Address" column? We will have to use the IS NULL operator:

SELECT LastName,FirstName,Address FROM Persons WHERE Address IS NULL

SQL IS NOT NULL

How do we select only the records with no NULL values in the "Address" column? We will have to use the IS NOT NULL operator:

SELECT LastName,FirstName,Address FROM Persons WHERE Address IS NOT NULL

20. SQL NULL Functions SQL ISNULL(), NVL(), IFNULL() and COALESCE() Functions

Look at the following "Products" table: P_Id 1 2 3 ProductName Jarlsberg Mascarpone Gorgonzola UnitPrice 10.45 32.56 15.67 UnitsInStock 16 23 9 20 UnitsOnOrder 15

Suppose that the "UnitsOnOrder" column is optional, and may contain NULL values. We have the following SELECT statement:

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+UnitsOnOrder) FROM Products

In the example above, if any of the "UnitsOnOrder" values are NULL, the result is NULL. Microsoft's ISNULL() function is used to specify how we want to treat NULL values. The NVL(), IFNULL(), and COALESCE() functions can also be used to achieve the same result. In this case we want NULL values to be zero. Below, if "UnitsOnOrder" is NULL it will not harm the calculation, because ISNULL() returns a zero if the value is NULL: SQL Server / MS Access

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+ISNULL(UnitsOnOrder,0)) FROM Products

Oracle Oracle does not have an ISNULL() function. However, we can use the NVL() function to achieve the same result:

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+NVL(UnitsOnOrder,0)) FROM Products

MySQL MySQL does have an ISNULL() function. However, it works a little bit different from Microsoft's ISNULL() function. In MySQL we can use the IFNULL() function, like this:

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+IFNULL(UnitsOnOrder,0)) FROM Products

or we can use the COALESCE() function, like this:

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+COALESCE(UnitsOnOrder,0)) FROM Products

21. SQL Data Types

Data types and ranges for Microsoft Access, MySQL and SQL Server.

Microsoft Access Data Types

Data type Text Description Use for text or combinations of text and numbers. 255 characters maximum Memo is used for larger amounts of text. Stores up to 65,536 characters. Note: You cannot sort a memo field. However, they are searchable Allows whole numbers from 0 to 255 Allows whole numbers between -32,768 and 32,767 Allows whole numbers between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647 Single precision floating-point. Will handle most decimals Double precision floating-point. Will handle most decimals Use for currency. Holds up to 15 digits of whole dollars, plus 4 decimal places. Tip: You can choose which country's currency to use AutoNumber fields automatically give each record its own number, usually starting at 1 Use for dates and times A logical field can be displayed as Yes/No, True/False, or On/Off. In code, use the constants True and False (equivalent to -1 and 0). Note: Null values are not allowed in Yes/No fields Can store pictures, audio, video, or other BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects) 1 byte 2 bytes 4 bytes 4 bytes 8 bytes 8 bytes Storage

Memo

Byte Integer Long Single Double Currency

AutoNumber

4 bytes

Date/Time Yes/No

8 bytes 1 bit

Ole Object

up to 1GB

Hyperlink

Contain links to other files, including web pages

Lookup Wizard

Let you type a list of options, which can then be chosen from a drop-down list

4 bytes

MySQL Data Types

In MySQL there are three main types : text, number, and Date/Time types. Text types: Data type CHAR(size) Description Holds a fixed length string (can contain letters, numbers, and special characters). The fixed size is specified in parenthesis. Can store up to 255 characters Holds a variable length string (can contain letters, numbers, and special characters). The maximum size is specified in parenthesis. Can store up to 255 characters. Note: If you put a greater value than 255 it will be converted to a TEXT type Holds a string with a maximum length of 255 characters Holds a string with a maximum length of 65,535 characters For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 65,535 bytes of data Holds a string with a maximum length of 16,777,215 characters For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 16,777,215 bytes of data Holds a string with a maximum length of 4,294,967,295 characters For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 4,294,967,295 bytes of data Let you enter a list of possible values. You can list up to 65535 values in an ENUM list. If a value is inserted that is not in the list, a blank value will be inserted. Note: The values are sorted in the order you enter them. You enter the possible values in this format: ENUM('X','Y','Z') SET Similar to ENUM except that SET may contain up to 64 list items and can store more than one choice

VARCHAR(size)

TINYTEXT TEXT BLOB MEDIUMTEXT MEDIUMBLOB LONGTEXT LONGBLOB ENUM(x,y,z,etc.)

Number types: Data type TINYINT(size) Description -128 to 127 normal. 0 to 255 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis -32768 to 32767 normal. 0 to 65535 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis -8388608 to 8388607 normal. 0 to 16777215 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis -2147483648 to 2147483647 normal. 0 to 4294967295 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis -9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807 normal. 0 to 18446744073709551615 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis A small number with a floating decimal point. The maximum number of digits may be specified in the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal point is specified in the d parameter A large number with a floating decimal point. The maximum number of digits may be specified in the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal point is specified in the d parameter A DOUBLE stored as a string , allowing for a fixed decimal point. The maximum number of digits may be specified in the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal point is specified in the d parameter

SMALLINT(size)

MEDIUMINT(size)

INT(size)

BIGINT(size)

FLOAT(size,d)

DOUBLE(size,d)

DECIMAL(size,d)

*The integer types have an extra option called UNSIGNED. Normally, the integer goes from an negative to positive value. Adding the UNSIGNED attribute will move that range up so it starts at zero instead of a negative number. Date types: Data type DATE() Description A date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD Note: The supported range is from '1000-01-01' to '9999-12-31' DATETIME() *A date and time combination. Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS Note: The supported range is from '1000-01-01 00:00:00' to '9999-12-31 23:59:59' TIMESTAMP() *A timestamp. TIMESTAMP values are stored as the number of seconds since the Unix epoch ('1970-01-01 00:00:00' UTC). Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS

Note: The supported range is from '1970-01-01 00:00:01' UTC to '2038-01-09 03:14:07' UTC TIME() A time. Format: HH:MM:SS Note: The supported range is from '-838:59:59' to '838:59:59' YEAR() A year in two-digit or four-digit format. Note: Values allowed in four-digit format: 1901 to 2155. Values allowed in two-digit format: 70 to 69, representing years from 1970 to 2069 *Even if DATETIME and TIMESTAMP return the same format, they work very differently. In an INSERT or UPDATE query, the TIMESTAMP automatically set itself to the current date and time. TIMESTAMP also accepts various formats, like YYYYMMDDHHMMSS, YYMMDDHHMMSS, YYYYMMDD, or YYMMDD.

SQL Server Data Types

Character strings: Data type char(n) varchar(n) varchar(max) text Description Fixed-length character string. Maximum 8,000 characters Variable-length character string. Maximum 8,000 characters Variable-length character string. Maximum 1,073,741,824 characters Variable-length character string. Maximum 2GB of text data Storage n

Unicode strings: Data type nchar(n) nvarchar(n) nvarchar(max) ntext Description Fixed-length Unicode data. Maximum 4,000 characters Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 4,000 characters Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 536,870,912 characters Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 2GB of text data Storage

Binary types: Data type Description Storage

bit binary(n) varbinary(n) varbinary(max) image

Allows 0, 1, or NULL Fixed-length binary data. Maximum 8,000 bytes Variable-length binary data. Maximum 8,000 bytes Variable-length binary data. Maximum 2GB Variable-length binary data. Maximum 2GB

Number types: Data type tinyint smallint int bigint Description Allows whole numbers from 0 to 255 Allows whole numbers between -32,768 and 32,767 Allows whole numbers between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647 Allows whole numbers between -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 and 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 Fixed precision and scale numbers. Allows numbers from -10^38 +1 to 10^38 1. The p parameter indicates the maximum total number of digits that can be stored (both to the left and to the right of the decimal point). p must be a value from 1 to 38. Default is 18. The s parameter indicates the maximum number of digits stored to the right of the decimal point. s must be a value from 0 to p. Default value is 0 numeric(p,s) Fixed precision and scale numbers. Allows numbers from -10^38 +1 to 10^38 1. The p parameter indicates the maximum total number of digits that can be stored (both to the left and to the right of the decimal point). p must be a value from 1 to 38. Default is 18. The s parameter indicates the maximum number of digits stored to the right of the decimal point. s must be a value from 0 to p. Default value is 0 smallmoney money Monetary data from -214,748.3648 to 214,748.3647 Monetary data from -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to 922,337,203,685,477.5807 4 bytes 8 bytes 5-17 bytes Storage 1 byte 2 bytes 4 bytes 8 bytes

decimal(p,s)

5-17 bytes

float(n)

Floating precision number data from -1.79E + 308 to 1.79E + 308. The n parameter indicates whether the field should hold 4 or 8 bytes. float(24) holds a 4-byte field and float(53) holds an 8-byte field. Default value of n is 53.

4 or 8 bytes

real

Floating precision number data from -3.40E + 38 to 3.40E + 38

4 bytes

Date types: Data type datetime Description From January 1, 1753 to December 31, 9999 with an accuracy of 3.33 milliseconds From January 1, 0001 to December 31, 9999 with an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds From January 1, 1900 to June 6, 2079 with an accuracy of 1 minute Store a date only. From January 1, 0001 to December 31, 9999 Store a time only to an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds The same as datetime2 with the addition of a time zone offset Storage 8 bytes

datetime2

6-8 bytes

smalldatetime date time datetimeoffset

4 bytes 3 bytes 3-5 bytes 8-10 bytes

timestamp

Stores a unique number that gets updated every time a row gets created or modified. The timestamp value is based upon an internal clock and does not correspond to real time. Each table may have only one timestamp variable

Other data types: Data type sql_variant Description Stores up to 8,000 bytes of data of various data types, except text, ntext, and timestamp Stores a globally unique identifier (GUID) Stores XML formatted data. Maximum 2GB Stores a reference to a cursor used for database operations Stores a result-set for later processing

uniqueidentifier xml cursor table

SQL FUNCTIONS 1. SQL AVG() Function

The AVG() function returns the average value of a numeric column.

SQL AVG() Syntax

SELECT AVG(column_name) FROM table_name

2. SQL COUNT() Function

The COUNT() function returns the number of rows that matches a specified criteria. SQL COUNT(column_name) Syntax
The COUNT(column_name) function returns the number of values (NULL values will not be counted) of the specified column:

SELECT COUNT(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL COUNT(*) Syntax

The COUNT(*) function returns the number of records in a table:

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name

SQL COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) Syntax

The COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) function returns the number of distinct values of the specified column:

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) FROM table_name

Note: COUNT(DISTINCT) works with ORACLE and Microsoft SQL Server, but not with Microsoft Access.

3. SQL FIRST() Function

The FIRST() function returns the first value of the selected column.

SQL FIRST() Syntax

SELECT FIRST(column_name) FROM table_name

4. SQL LAST() Function

The LAST() function returns the last value of the selected column.

SQL LAST() Syntax

SELECT LAST(column_name) FROM table_name

5. SQL MAX() Function

The MAX() function returns the largest value of the selected column.

SQL MAX() Syntax

SELECT MAX(column_name) FROM table_name

6. SQL MIN() Function

The MIN() function returns the smallest value of the selected column.

SQL MIN() Syntax

SELECT MIN(column_name) FROM table_name

7. SQL SUM() Function

The SUM() function returns the total sum of a numeric column.

SQL SUM() Syntax

SELECT SUM(column_name) FROM table_name

8. SQL GROUP BY Statement

The GROUP BY statement is used in conjunction with the aggregate functions to group the result-set by one or more columns.

SQL GROUP BY Syntax

SELECT column_name, aggregate_function(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value GROUP BY column_name

9. SQL HAVING Clause

The HAVING clause was added to SQL because the WHERE keyword could not be used with aggregate functions.

SQL HAVING Syntax

SELECT column_name, aggregate_function(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value GROUP BY column_name HAVING aggregate_function(column_name) operator value

10. SQL UCASE() Function

The UCASE() function converts the value of a field to uppercase.

SQL UCASE() Syntax

SELECT UCASE(column_name) FROM table_name

Syntax for SQL Server

SELECT UPPER(column_name) FROM table_name

11. SQL LCASE() Function

The LCASE() function converts the value of a field to lowercase.

SQL LCASE() Syntax

SELECT LCASE(column_name) FROM table_name

Syntax for SQL Server

SELECT LOWER(column_name) FROM table_name

12. SQL MID() Function

The MID() function is used to extract characters from a text field.

SQL MID() Syntax

SELECT MID(column_name,start[,length]) FROM table_name

Parameter column_name start length

Description Required. The field to extract characters from Required. Specifies the starting position (starts at 1) Optional. The number of characters to return. If omitted, the MID() function returns the rest of the text

13. SQL LEN() Function

The LEN() function returns the length of the value in a text field.

SQL LEN() Syntax

SELECT LEN(column_name) FROM table_name

14. SQL ROUND() Function

The ROUND() function is used to round a numeric field to the number of decimals specified.

SQL ROUND() Syntax

SELECT ROUND(column_name,decimals) FROM table_name

Parameter column_name decimals

Description Required. The field to round. Required. Specifies the number of decimals to be returned.

15. SQL NOW() Function

The NOW() function returns the current system date and time.

SQL NOW() Syntax

SELECT NOW() FROM table_name

16. SQL FORMAT() Function

The FORMAT() function is used to format how a field is to be displayed.

SQL FORMAT() Syntax

SELECT FORMAT(column_name,format) FROM table_name

Parameter column_name format

Description Required. The field to be formatted. Required. Specifies the format.