Introduction to MySQL

Road Map
Introduction to MySQL
Connecting and Disconnecting
Entering Basic Queries
Creating and Using a Database

Attribution
Most of these slides are based directly
on the MySQL Documentation.
Most information comes from Chapter 3,
MySQL Tutorial:
http://www.mysql.com/documentation/
mysql/bychapter/
manual_Tutorial.html#Tutorial

MySQL
MySQL is a very popular, open source database.
Officially pronounced my Ess Que Ell (not my
sequel).
Handles very large databases; very fast
performance.
Why are we using MySQL?

Free (much cheaper than Oracle!)

Each student can install MySQL locally.
Easy to use Shell for creating tables, querying tables, etc.
Easy to use with Java JDBC

Crash Course Fundamentals

In order to use JDBC, you need:
a database.
basic understand of SQL (Structured Query
Language)

Some students may have database

backgrounds; others may not.
The purpose of this lecture is to get all
students up to speed on database
fundamentals.
5

Connecting to MySQL
MySQL provides an interactive shell for
creating tables, inserting data, etc.
On igor, just go to the terminal app and
type:
mysql -h igor -u ma007xyz p
(replace ma007xyz with your username)

Connecting to MySQL
This command tells mysql to connect to
the MySQL server on host igor (-h igor)
as user ma007xyz (-u ma007xyz) and to
prompt for a password (-p).

My SQL password
A password for MySQL will be emailed
to you when your MySQL account is
created for you (your MySQL password
is separate from your normal
Goldsmiths network password).

forgotten your password?

If you have forgotten your password
login in to the department intranet
Select MySQL Account Status

Type the new password and set it

Sample Session

To exit the MySQL Shell, just type

QUIT or EXIT:
mysql> QUIT
mysql> exit

10

Basic Queries
Once logged in, you can try some simple queries.
For example:
mysql> SELECT VERSION(), CURRENT_DATE;
+-----------+--------------+
| VERSION() | CURRENT_DATE |
+-----------+--------------+
| 3.23.49
| 2002-05-26
|
+-----------+--------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Note that most MySQL commands end with a semicolon (;)

MySQL returns the total number of rows found, and the total
time to execute the query.

11

Basic Queries
Keywords may be entered in any lettercase.
The following queries are equivalent:
mysql> SELECT VERSION(), CURRENT_DATE;
mysql> select version(), current_date;
mysql> SeLeCt vErSiOn(), current_DATE;

12

Basic Queries
Here's another query. It demonstrates that
you can use mysql as a simple calculator:
mysql> SELECT SIN(PI()/4), (4+1)*5;
+-------------+---------+
| SIN(PI()/4) | (4+1)*5 |
+-------------+---------+
|
0.707107 |
25 |
+-------------+---------+

13

Basic Queries
You can also enter multiple statements on a single
line. Just end each one with a semicolon:
mysql> SELECT VERSION(); SELECT NOW();
+--------------+
| VERSION()
|
+--------------+
| 3.22.20a-log |
+--------------+
+---------------------+
| NOW()
|
+---------------------+
| 2004 00:15:33 |
+---------------------+

14

Multi-Line Commands
mysql determines where your statement ends
by looking for the terminating semicolon, not
by looking for the end of the input line.
Here's a simple multiple-line statement:
mysql> SELECT
-> USER()
-> ,
-> CURRENT_DATE;
+--------------------+--------------+
| USER()
| CURRENT_DATE |
+--------------------+--------------+
| joesmith@localhost | 1999-03-18
|
+--------------------+--------------+

15

Canceling a Command
If you decide you don't want to execute
a command that you are in the process
of entering, cancel it by typing \c
mysql> SELECT
-> USER()
-> \c
Mysql>
16

MySQL prompts
notice the prompt. It switches back to
mysql> after you type \c, providing
feedback to indicate that mysql is ready
for a new command.

17

MySQL prompts
The following table shows each of the prompts you
may see and summarizes what they mean about the
state that mysql is in.

18

Typos
Multiple-line statements commonly
occur by accident when you intend to
issue a command on a single line, but
forget the terminating semicolon. In this
case, mysql waits for more input:
mysql> select user()
->
Enter a semicolon to complete the
statement, and mysql executes it
19

Wrong statement
mysql> SELECT * FROM my_table
WHERE name = 'Smith AND age <
30;
'>
Notice the prompt It tells you that mysql
expects to see the rest of an
unterminated string
20

corrections
At this point, what do you do? The
simplest thing is to cancel the
command. However, you cannot just
type \c in this case, because mysql
interprets it as part of the string that it is
collecting. Instead, enter the closing
quote character
'\c
21

Using a Database
To get started on your own database, first check
which databases currently exist.
Use the SHOW statement to find out which
databases currently exist on the server:
mysql> show databases;
+----------+
| Database |
+----------+
| mysql
|
| test
|
+----------+
2 rows in set (0.01 sec)
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Using a Database
To create a new database, issue the
create database command:
mysql> create database ma007xyz_webdb;
(replacing ma007xyz with your username)

To the select a database, issue the use

command:
mysql> use ma007xyz_webdb;

23

Creating a Table
Once you have selected a database,
you can view all database tables:
mysql> show tables;
Empty set (0.02 sec)
An empty set indicates that I have not
created any tables yet.

24

Creating a Table
Let s create a table for storing pets.
Table: pets
name:
owner:
species:
sex:
birth:
date:

VARCHAR(20)
VARCHAR(20)
VARCHAR(20)
CHAR(1)
DATE
DATE

VARCHAR is
usually used
to store string
data.
25

Creating a Table
To create a table, use the CREATE TABLE
command:
mysql> CREATE TABLE pet (
-> name VARCHAR(20),
-> owner VARCHAR(20),
-> species VARCHAR(20),
-> sex CHAR(1),
-> birth DATE, death DATE);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.04 sec)

26

Showing Tables
To verify that the table has been created:
mysql> show tables;
+------------------+
| Tables_in_test
|
+------------------+
| pet
|
+------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)
27

Describing Tables
To view a table structure, use the DESCRIBE
command:
mysql> describe pet;
+---------+-------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
| Field
| Type
| Null | Key | Default | Extra |
+---------+-------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
| name
| varchar(20) | YES |
| NULL
|
|
| owner
| varchar(20) | YES |
| NULL
|
|
| species | varchar(20) | YES |
| NULL
|
|
| sex
| char(1)
| YES |
| NULL
|
|
| birth
| date
| YES |
| NULL
|
|
| death
| date
| YES |
| NULL
|
|
+---------+-------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
6 rows in set (0.02 sec)

28

Deleting a Table
Dont do this now ! But to
delete an entire table, use the DROP
TABLE command:
mysql> drop table pet;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.02 sec)

29

Loading Data
Use the INSERT statement to enter data into
a table.
For example:
INSERT INTO pet VALUES
('Fluffy','Harold','cat','f',
'1999-02-04',NULL);

30

To see the data in the file

To see the records in a file we use the
select statement
mysql> select * from pet;

31

Deleting a row
To delete a row from a table
mysql> delete from pet where
name = 'fluffy';

32

More data
name

owner

species

sex birth

Fluffy

Harold

cat

1993-02-04

Claws

Gwen

cat

1994-03-17

Buffy

Harold

dog

1989-05-13

Fang

Benny

dog

1990-08-27

Bowser

Diane

dog

1998-08-31

Chirpy

Gwen

bird

1998-09-11

Whistler

Gwen

bird

Slim

Benny

snake

death

1995-07-29

1997-12-09
m

1996-04-29

33

Loading Sample Data

We are going to use a text file `pet.txt'
containing one record per line.
Values must be separated by tabs, and
given in the order in which the columns
were listed in the CREATE TABLE
statement.
We will load the data via the LOAD
DATA Command.

34

Sample Data File

Fluffy Harold
Claws Gwen
Buffy Harold
Fang Benny
Bowser Diane
Chirpy Gwen
Whistler Gwen
Slim Benny

cat
cat
dog
dog
dog
bird
bird
snake

f
m
f
m
m
f
\N
m

1993-02-04
1994-03-17
1989-05-13
1990-08-27
1979-08-31
1998-09-11
1997-12-09
1996-04-29

\N
\N
\N
\N
1995-07-29
\N
\N
\N

35

Saving the data file

Go to the teaching webpage for this
weeks lecture
Hold down crtl key and click on the
pet.txt file link
Select Save link as from the menu
Select igor.gold.ac.uk from the file list
on the left hand plane.
Save the file to to your igor root
directory.

36

Load data command

To load the pet.txt file type the following
mysql> LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE
"pet.txt" INTO TABLE pet lines
terminated by '\r';

37

The rest of the examples,

assume the following set of data.
name

owner

species

sex birth

Fluffy

Harold

cat

1993-02-04

Claws

Gwen

cat

1994-03-17

Buffy

Harold

dog

1989-05-13

Fang

Benny

dog

1990-08-27

Bowser

Diane

dog

1998-08-31

Chirpy

Gwen

bird

1998-09-11

Whistler

Gwen

bird

Slim

Benny

snake

death

1995-07-29

1997-12-09
m

1996-04-29

38

SQL Select
The SELECT statement is used to pull
information from a table.
The general format is:
SELECT what_to_select
FROM which_table
WHERE conditions_to_satisfy

39

Selecting All Data

The simplest form of SELECT retrieves everything
from a table
mysql> select * from pet;
+----------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| name
| owner | species | sex | birth
| death
|
+----------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| Fluffy
| Harold | cat
| f
| 1999-02-04 | NULL
|
| Claws
| Gwen
| cat
| f
| 1994-03-17 | NULL
|
| Buffy
| Harold | dog
| f
| 1989-05-13 | NULL
|
| Fang
| Benny | dog
| m
| 1999-08-27 | NULL
|
| Bowser
| Diane | dog
| m
| 1998-08-31 | 1995-07-29 |
| Chirpy
| Gwen
| bird
| f
| 1998-09-11 | NULL
|
| Whistler | Gwen
| bird
|
| 1997-12-09 | NULL
|
| Slim
| Benny | snake
| m
| 1996-04-29 | NULL
|
+----------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)

40

Selecting Particular Rows

You can select only particular rows from your
table.
For example, if you want to verify the change
that you made to Bowser's birth date, select
Bowser's record like this:
mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name = "Bowser";
+--------+-------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| name
| owner | species | sex | birth
| death
|
+--------+-------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| Bowser | Diane | dog
| m
| 1998-08-31 | 1995-07-29 |
+--------+-------+---------+------+------------+------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

41

Selecting Particular Rows

To find all animals born after 1998
SELECT * FROM pet WHERE birth >= "1998-1-1";

To find all female dogs, use a logical AND

SELECT * FROM pet WHERE species = "dog" AND sex = "f";

To find all snakes or birds, use a logical OR

SELECT * FROM pet WHERE species = "snake"
OR species = "bird";

42

Selecting Particular Columns

If you don t want to see entire rows
from your table, just name the columns
in which you are interested, separated
by commas.
For example, if you want to know when
your pets were born, select the name
and birth columns.
(see example next slide.)

43

Selecting Particular Columns

mysql> select name, birth from pet;
+----------+------------+
| name
| birth
|
+----------+------------+
| Fluffy
| 1999-02-04 |
| Claws
| 1994-03-17 |
| Buffy
| 1989-05-13 |
| Fang
| 1999-08-27 |
| Bowser
| 1998-08-31 |
| Chirpy
| 1998-09-11 |
| Whistler | 1997-12-09 |
| Slim
| 1996-04-29 |
+----------+------------+
8 rows in set (0.01 sec)
44

Queries
to find out who owns pets, use this
query:
mysql> SELECT owner FROM pet;
To retrieve each unique output record
just once by adding the keyword
DISTINCT:
mysql> SELECT DISTINCT owner
FROM pet;

45

Sorting Data
To sort a result, use an ORDER BY clause.
For example, to view animal birthdays, sorted by
date:
mysql> SELECT name, birth FROM pet ORDER BY birth;
+----------+------------+
| name
| birth
|
+----------+------------+
| Buffy
| 1989-05-13 |
| Claws
| 1994-03-17 |
| Slim
| 1996-04-29 |
| Whistler | 1997-12-09 |
| Bowser
| 1998-08-31 |
| Chirpy
| 1998-09-11 |
| Fluffy
| 1999-02-04 |
| Fang
| 1999-08-27 |
+----------+------------+
8 rows in set (0.02 sec)

46

Sorting Data
To sort in reverse order, add the DESC
(descending keyword)
mysql> SELECT name, birth FROM pet ORDER BY birth DESC;
+----------+------------+
| name
| birth
|
+----------+------------+
| Fang
| 1999-08-27 |
| Fluffy
| 1999-02-04 |
| Chirpy
| 1998-09-11 |
| Bowser
| 1998-08-31 |
| Whistler | 1997-12-09 |
| Slim
| 1996-04-29 |
| Claws
| 1994-03-17 |
| Buffy
| 1989-05-13 |
+----------+------------+
8 rows in set (0.02 sec)

47

Working with NULLs

NULL means missing value or unknown
value.
To test for NULL, you cannot use the
arithmetic comparison operators, such
as =, < or <>.
Rather, you must use the IS NULL and
IS NOT NULL operators instead.

48

Working with NULLs

For example, to find all your dead pets (what a
morbid example!)
mysql> select name from pet where death
>IS NOT NULL;
+--------+
| name
|
+--------+
| Bowser |
+--------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

49

Pattern Matching
MySQL provides:
standard SQL pattern matching; and
regular expression pattern matching, similar to those used
by Unix utilities such as vi, grep and sed.

SQL Pattern matching:

To perform pattern matching, use the LIKE or NOT LIKE
comparison operators
By default, patterns are case insensitive.

Special Characters:
_ Used to match any single character.
% Used to match an arbitrary number of characters.

50

Pattern Matching Example

To find names beginning with b :
mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name LIKE "b%";
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| name
| owner | species | sex | birth
| death
|
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| Buffy | Harold | dog
| f
| 1989-05-13 | NULL
|
| Bowser | Diane | dog
| m
| 1989-08-31 | 1995-07-29 |
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+

51

Pattern Matching Example

To find names ending with `fy':
mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name LIKE "%fy";
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+
| name
| owner | species | sex | birth
| death |
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+
| Fluffy | Harold | cat
| f
| 1993-02-04 | NULL |
| Buffy | Harold | dog
| f
| 1989-05-13 | NULL |
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+

52

Pattern Matching Example

To find names containing a w :
mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name LIKE "%w%";
+----------+-------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| name
| owner | species | sex | birth
| death
|
+----------+-------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| Claws
| Gwen | cat
| m
| 1994-03-17 | NULL
|
| Bowser
| Diane | dog
| m
| 1989-08-31 | 1995-07-29 |
| Whistler | Gwen | bird
| NULL | 1997-12-09 | NULL
|
+----------+-------+---------+------+------------+------------+

53

Pattern Matching Example

To find names containing exactly five characters, use the _
pattern character:
mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name LIKE "_____";
+-------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+
| name | owner | species | sex | birth
| death |
+-------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+
| Claws | Gwen
| cat
| m
| 1994-03-17 | NULL |
| Buffy | Harold | dog
| f
| 1989-05-13 | NULL |
+-------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+

54

Regular Expression Matching

The other type of pattern matching
provided by MySQL uses extended
regular expressions.
When you test for a match for this type
of pattern, use the REGEXP and NOT
REGEXP operators (or RLIKE and NOT
RLIKE, which are synonyms).

55

Regular Expressions
Some characteristics of extended regular expressions
are:
. matches any single character.
A character class [...] matches any character within the
brackets. For example, [abc] matches a, b, or c. To name a
range of characters, use a dash. [a-z] matches any
lowercase letter, whereas [0-9] matches any digit.
* matches zero or more instances of the thing preceding it.
For example, x* matches any number of x characters, [0-9]*
matches any number of digits, and .* matches any number of
anything.
To anchor a pattern so that it must match the beginning or
end of the value being tested, use ^ at the beginning or $ at
the end of the pattern.

56

Reg Ex Example
To find names beginning with b, use ^ to match the
beginning of the name:
mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name REGEXP "^b";
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| name
| owner | species | sex | birth
| death
|
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+
| Buffy | Harold | dog
| f
| 1989-05-13 | NULL
|
| Bowser | Diane | dog
| m
| 1989-08-31 | 1995-07-29 |
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+------------+

57

Reg Ex Example
To find names ending with `fy', use `$' to match the
end of the name:
mysql> SELECT * FROM pet WHERE name REGEXP "fy$";
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+
| name
| owner | species | sex | birth
| death |
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+
| Fluffy | Harold | cat
| f
| 1993-02-04 | NULL |
| Buffy | Harold | dog
| f
| 1989-05-13 | NULL |
+--------+--------+---------+------+------------+-------+

58

Counting Rows
Databases are often used to answer the question,
"How often does a certain type of data occur in a
table?"
For example, you might want to know how many pets
you have, or how many pets each owner has.
Counting the total number of animals you have is the
same question as How many rows are in the pet
table? because there is one record per pet.
The COUNT() function counts the number of nonNULL results.

59

Counting Rows Example

A query to determine total number of pets:
mysql> SELECT COUNT(*) FROM pet;
+----------+
| COUNT(*) |
+----------+
|
9 |
+----------+

60

Batch Mode
In the previous sections, you used
mysql interactively to enter queries and
view the results.
You can also run mysql in batch mode.
To do this, put the commands you want
to run in a file, then tell mysql to read its
input from the file:
shell> mysql < batch-file
61

Is that all there is to MySQL?

Of course not!
Understanding databases and MySQL
could take us several weeks (perhaps
months!)
For now, focus on:
using the MySQL shell
creating tables
creating basic SQL queries

62

Summary
SQL provides a structured language for
querying/updating multiple databases.
The more you know SQL, the better.
The most important part of SQL is learning to
retrieve data.
selecting rows, columns, boolean operators,
pattern matching, etc.

Keep playing around in the MySQL Shell.

63