SQL

Structured Query Language

SQL is a standard language for accessing and manipulating databases.
SQL is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard.

RDBMS. Relational Database Management System.

RDBMS is the basis for SQL, and for all modern database systems such as MS SQL Server, IBM
DB2, Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft Access.
The data in RDBMS is stored in database objects called tables.
A table is a collection of related data entries and it consists of columns and rows.

SQL Syntax
SQL is NOT case sensitive: select is the same as SELECT
Some database systems require a semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.
- use semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.
Some of The Most Important SQL Commands

SELECT - extracts data from a database

UPDATE
DELETE
INSERT INTO

CREATE DATABASE

ALTER DATABASE
CREATE TABLE
ALTER TABLE
DROP TABLE

CREATE INDEX - creates an index (search key)

DROP INDEX

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,column_name
FROM table_name;
and
SELECT * FROM table_name;

selects all the columns from the "Customers" table

The SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement

The DISTINCT keyword : return only distinct (different) values.
SQL SELECT DISTINCT Syntax
SELECT DISTINCT column_name,column_name
FROM table_name;

Example

SELECT DISTINCT City FROM Customers;

The SQL WHERE Clause

The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.
SQL WHERE Syntax
SELECT column_name,column_name
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name operator value;

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country='Mexico';
Text Fields vs. Numeric Fields
SQL requires single quotes around text values (most database systems will also allow double
quotes).
However, numeric fields should not be enclosed in quotes:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerID=1;

Operators in The WHERE Clause

The following operators can be used in the WHERE clause:
Operator

Description

Equal

<>

Not equal. Note: In some versions of SQL this operator may be written as !=

>

Greater than

<

Less than

>=

Greater than or equal

<=

Less than or equal

BETWEEN

Between an inclusive range

LIKE

Search for a pattern

IN

To specify multiple possible values for a column

SQL AND & OR Operators

The AND & OR operators are used to filter records based on more than one condition.
The AND operator displays a record if both the first condition AND the second condition
are true.
The OR operator displays a record if either the first condition OR the second condition is
true.

AND Operator Example

The following SQL statement selects all customers from the country "Germany" AND the city
"Berlin", in the "Customers" table:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country='Germany'
AND City='Berlin';

OR Operator Example
The following SQL statement selects all customers from the city "Berlin" OR "Mnchen", in the
"Customers" table:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City='Berlin'
OR City='Mnchen';

Combining AND & OR

You can also combine AND and OR (use parenthesis to form complex expressions).
The following SQL statement selects all customers from the country "Germany" AND the city
must be equal to "Berlin" OR "Mnchen", in the "Customers" table:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country='Germany'
AND (City='Berlin' OR City='Mnchen');

SQL ORDER BY Keyword; order = A-Z (ASC) / Z-A (DESC)

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set by one or more columns.
The ORDER BY keyword sorts the records in ascending order by default. To sort the records in a
descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.
SQL ORDER BY Syntax
SELECT column_name, column_name
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name ASC|DESC, column_name ASC|DESC;
ORDER BY Example
The following SQL statement selects all customers from the "Customers" table, sorted by the
"Country" column:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country;

ORDER BY DESC Example

The following SQL statement selects all customers from the "Customers" table, sorted
DESCENDING by the "Country" column:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country DESC;

ORDER BY Several Columns Example

The following SQL statement selects all customers from the "Customers" table, sorted by the
"Country" and the "CustomerName" column:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country, CustomerName;

ORDER BY Several Columns Example 2

The following SQL statement selects all customers from the "Customers" table, sorted ascending
by the "Country" and descending by the "CustomerName" column:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY Country ASC, CustomerName DESC;

SQL INSERT INTO Statement

The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.
SQL INSERT INTO Syntax
It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms.
The first form does not 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,...);

INSERT INTO Example

Assume we wish to insert a new row in the "Customers" table.
We can use the following SQL statement:
Example
INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName, ContactName, Address, City, PostalCode, Country)
VALUES ('Cardinal','Tom B. Erichsen','Skagen 21','Stavanger','4006','Norway');

Insert Data Only in Specified Columns

It is also possible to only insert data in specific columns.
The following SQL statement will insert a new row, but only insert data in the "CustomerName",
"City", and "Country" columns (and the CustomerID field will of course also be updated
automatically):
Example
INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName, City, Country)
VALUES ('Cardinal', 'Stavanger', 'Norway');

Result:

91
92

Wolski
Cardinal

Zbyszek
null

Filtrowa 68
null

Walla
Stavanger

01-012
null

Poland
Norway

The SQL UPDATE Statement

The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.
SQL UPDATE Syntax
UPDATE table_name
SET column1=value1,column2=value2,...
WHERE some_column=some_value;
Do not omit the WHERE clause!

SQL UPDATE Example

Assume we wish to update the customer "Alfreds Futterkiste" with a new contact person and
city.
We use the following SQL statement:
Example
UPDATE Customers
SET ContactName='Alfred Schmidt', City='Hamburg'
WHERE CustomerName='Alfreds Futterkiste';

The 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;
SQL DELETE Example
Assume we wish to delete the customer "Alfreds Futterkiste" from the "Customers" table.
We use the following SQL statement:
Example
DELETE FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName='Alfreds Futterkiste' AND ContactName='Maria Anders';

Delete All Data

It is possible to delete all rows in a table without deleting the table. This means that the table
structure, attributes, and indexes will be intact:
DELETE FROM table_name;
or
DELETE * FROM table_name;

Note: Be very careful when deleting records. You cannot undo this statement!

Parameters for Protection

The only proven way to protect a web site from SQL injection attacks is to use SQL parameters.
SQL parameters are values that are added to an SQL query at execution time, in a controlled
manner.
Note that parameters are represented in the SQL statement by a @ marker.
The SQL engine checks each parameter to ensure that it is correct for its column and are treated
literally, and not as part of the SQL to be executed.
Example
txtNam = getRequestString("CustomerName");
txtAdd = getRequestString("Address");
txtCit = getRequestString("City");
txtSQL = "INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName,Address,City) Values(@0,@1,@2)";
db.Execute(txtSQL,txtNam,txtAdd,txtCit);

The SQL SELECT TOP Clause

The SELECT TOP clause is used to specify the number of records to return.
The SELECT 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 SELECT TOP clause.

SQL Server / MS Access Syntax

SELECT TOP number|percent column_name(s)
FROM table_name;

SQL SELECT TOP Example

The following SQL statement selects the two first records from the "Customers" table:

Example
SELECT TOP 2 * FROM Customers;

SQL SELECT TOP PERCENT Example

The following SQL statement selects the first 50% of the records from the "Customers" table:

Example
SELECT TOP 50 PERCENT * FROM Customers;

The SQL LIKE Operator

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

SQL LIKE Operator Examples

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with the letter "s":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE 's%';

Tip: The "%" sign is used to define wildcards (missing letters) both before and after the pattern.
You will learn more about wildcards in the next chapter.

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City ending with the letter "s":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '%s';

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a Country containing the pattern "land":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country LIKE '%land%';

Using the NOT keyword allows you to select records that do NOT match the pattern.

The following SQL statement selects all customers with Country NOT containing the pattern
"land":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country NOT LIKE '%land%';

SQL Wildcard Characters

In SQL, wildcard characters are used with the SQL LIKE operator.
A wildcard character can be used to substitute for any other character(s) in a string.
With SQL, the wildcards are:
Wildcard

Description

A substitute for zero or more characters

A substitute for a single character

[charlist]

Sets and ranges of characters to match

[^charlist]
or
[!charlist]

Matches only a character NOT specified within the brackets

Using the SQL % Wildcard

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with "ber":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE 'ber%';
The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City containing the pattern "es":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '%es%';

Using the SQL _ Wildcard

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with any character,
followed by "erlin":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '_erlin';
The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with "L", followed by any
character, followed by "n", followed by any character, followed by "on":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE 'L_n_on';

Using the SQL [charlist] Wildcard

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with "b", "s", or "p":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[bsp]%';
The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with "a", "b", or "c":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[a-c]%';
The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City NOT starting with "b", "s", or
"p":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[!bsp]%';
or
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City NOT LIKE '[bsp]%';