FUNCTIONS
Sql has many built in functions for performing calculations on data and to convert the argument
to the expected datatype before performing the sql function.
There are two types of functions in oracle.
Single row functions
Multi row functions
Single row functions:-
Single row or scalar functions return a value for every row that is processed in a query.
Multi row functions:-
These functions group the row of data based on the values returned by the query. The group
functions are used to calculate aggregate values like total or average, which return just one total
or one average value after processing a group of rows.
Dual table:-
This is a single row and single column dummy table provided by oracle. This used to perform
mathematical calculations without using a table.
SINGLE ROW FUNCTIONS:-
There are six types of single row functions
String function
Numeric function
Date function
Conversion function
Null function
Conditional function
String function:-
There are two types of string functions.
Case function
Character function
Case functions:-
Upper case
Lower case
Initcap
UPPER CASE convert a field to upper case
Syntax :-
SQL > Select upper (column name) from table name;
Example :-
SQL > Select upper (name) from emp;
LOWER CASE covert a field to lower case
Syntax :-
SQL > Select lower (column name) from table name;
Example :-
SQL > Select lower (name) from emp;
INITCAP convert a field to initcap
Syntax :-
SQL > Select initcap (column name) from table name;
Example :-
SQL > Select initcap (name) from emp;
Character functions:-
Length
Replace
Translate
Trim
Ltrim
Rtrim
Lpad
Rpad
Instr
Substr
LENGTH Returns the length of a string in bytes
Syntax:-
SQL > select length(columnname) from tablename;
SQL > select length(‘string’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select length(name) from t1;
SQL > select length(‘sainora’) from dual;
REPLACE Replaces occurances of a specified string
Syntax :-
SQL > select replace (‘string’,’from_string’,’to_string’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select replace(‘king Kong’ , ’ki’ , ’ho’) from dual;
TRANSLATE Replaces occurances of a specified string
Syntax :-
SQL > select replace (‘string’,’from_string’,’to_string’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select replace(‘king kong’ , ’ki’ , ’ho’) from dual;
TRIM Removes both, leading and ending spaces
Syntax :-
SQL > select trim(both ‘rmstr’ from ‘string’) from dual;
SQL > select trim(leading ‘rmstr’ from ‘string’) from dual;
SQL > select trim(ending ‘rmstr’ from ‘string’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select trim(‘a’ from ‘asia’) from dual;
SQL > select trim(‘k’ from ‘king kong’) from dual;
SQL >select trim(‘a’ from ‘sainora’) from dual;
LTRIM Removes leading spaces
Syntax :-
SQL > select ltrim(leading ‘string’ , ‘rmstr’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select ltrim( ‘sainora’ , ‘s’) from dual;
RTRIM Removes ending spaces
Syntax :-
SQL > select rtim(trailing ‘string’ , ‘rmstr’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select rtrim(‘sainora’ , ‘a’) from dual;
LPAD Returns the string argument,left-padded with the specified string
Syntax :-
SQL > select lpad(‘string’, n ,’padstring’)from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select lpad(‘good’,10,’*’)from dual;
RPAD Appends string the specified number of times.
Syntax :-
SQL > select rpad(‘string’, n , ‘padstring’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select rpad(‘good’ , 10 ,’*’) frm dual;
INSTR Returns the index of the first occurrence of substring
Syntax :-
SQL > select instr(‘string’ , ‘substring’ , position , occurrence) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select instr(‘los angeles’ ,’e’ ,1,2) from dual;
SUBSTR Returns the substring as specified
Syntax :-
SQL > select substr(‘string’ , position , string_length) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select substr(‘sainora’ , 1 , 3) from dual;
NUMERIC FUNCTIONS :-
Round
Trunc
Power
Square root
Mod
Floor
Ceil
Abs
ROUND Returns numeric expression rounded to an integer. Can be used to round an
expression to a number of decimal points.
Syntax :- This function returns X rounded to the nearest integer.
SQL > select round( X values) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select round(10.678) from dual;
TRUNC Returns numeric exp 1 truncated to exp2 decimal places. If exp2 is 0,then the result
will have no decimal point.
Syntax :- This function is used to return the value of X truncated to D number of decimal
places.
SQL > select trunc(X values , D decimal number) from dual;
Example :-
SQL >select trunc(10.23456 , 2) from dual;
POWER Returns the value of one expression raised to the power of another expression
Syntax :- These two functions return the value of X raised to the power of Y.
SQL > select power(X,Y) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select power(5,5) from dual;
SQUAREROOT Returns the non-negative square root of numeric expressions.
Syntax :- This function returns the non-negative square root of X.
SQL > select sqrt(X) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select sqrt(25) from dual;
MOD Returns the remainder of one expression by diving by another expression.
Syntax :- This function returns the remainder of N divided by M.
SQL > select mod(N,M) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select mod(29,3) from dual;
FLOOR Returns the largest integer value that is not greater than passed numeric expression.
Syntax :- This function returns the largest integer value that is not greater than X.
SQL > select floor(X) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select floor(9.66) from dual;
CEIL Returns the smallest integer value that is not less than passed numeric expression.
Syntax :- These functions return the smallest integer value that is not smaller than X
SQL > select ceil(X) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select ceil(6.43) from dual;
ABS Returns the absolute value of numeric expression.
Syntax :- The ABS() function returns the absolute value of X.
SQL > select abs(X) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select abs(2) from dual;
SQL > select abs(-2) from dual;
DATE FUNCTIONS :-
Sysdate
Systimestamp
Months_between
Next_day
Last_day
Add_months
SYSDATE The sysdate function is used to retrieve the current database system time in Oracle
Syntax :-
SQL > select sysdate from tablename;
SQL > select sysdate from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select sysdate from v$database;
SQL > select sysdate from dual;
SYSTIMESTAMP The systimestamp function is used to retrieve the current database system
time in Oracle
Syntax :-
SQL > select systimestamp from tablename;
SQL > select systimestamp from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select systimestamp from v$database;
SQL > select systimestamp from dual;
MONTHS_BETWEEN Returns number of months between dates date1 and date2.if date1 is
later than date2,then result is positive.if date1 is earlier than date2,then the result is negative.
Syntax :-
SQL > select months_between(date 1,date 2) from dual;
SQL > select months_between(date 1,date 2) from tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select months_between (sysdate,'22-jan-16') from dual;
SQL > select months_between ('22-oct-15','22-sep-15’') from v$database;
NEXT_DAY Returns the date of the first weekday named by char that is later than the date.
Syntax :-
SQL > select next_day(date,’char’) from tablename;
SQL > select next_day(date,’char’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select next_day(’22-oct-15’,’mon’) from v$database;
SQL > select next_day(sysdate,’tues’) from dual;
LAST_DAY Returns the date of the last day of the month that contains date.
Syntax :-
SQL > select last_day(date) from tablename;
SQL > select last_day(date) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select last_day(sysdate) from v$database;
SQL > select last_day(sysdate) from dual;
ADD_MONTHS Returns the date plus integer months.
Syntax :-
SQL >select add_months(date,integer) from tablename;
SQL > select add_months(date,integer) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select add_months(sysdate,2) from v$database;
SQL > select add_months(’22-oct-15’,2) from dual;
CONVERSION FUNCTION :
TO_CHAR
TO_DATE
TO_CHAR Converts numeric and date values to a character string value . it cannot be used
for calculations since it is a string value
Syntax :-
SQL > select to_char(date,’HH:MI:SS) from dual;
Example :-
SQL >select to_char(sysdate,’HH:MI:SS) form dual;
TO_DATE Converts a valid numeric and character values to date value . date is formatted to
the format specified by date_format.
Syntax :-
SQL > select to_date(date ,’DD-MON-YY’) from dual;
Example :-
SQL > select to_date(’10-21-15’,’DD-MON-YY’) from dual;
NULL FUNCTIONS :
Nvl
Nvl2
Nullif
Coalesce
NVL the nvl function substitutes an alternate value for a null value.
Syntax :-
SQL > select nvl (column_name ,’value is null’) from table_name;
Example :-
SQL > select nvl(name, ’name is not null’) from t1;
NVL2 Oracle introduced a function to substitute value not only for NULL columns values but
also for NOT NULL columns. NVL2 function can be used to substitute an alternate value for
NULL as well as non NULL value.
Syntax :-
SQL > select nvl2(column_name ,’value is not null’ ,’value is null’) from table_name;
Example :-
SQL > select nvl2(name ,’name is not null’ ,’name is null’) from t1;
NULLIF The NULLIF function compares two arguments expr1 and expr2. If expr1 and
expr2 are equal, it returns NULL; else, it returns expr1. Unlike the other null handling function,
first argument can't be NULL.
Syntax :-
SQL >select nullif(column1,column2) from tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select nullif(id , mgrid) from t1;
COALESCE COALESCE function, a more generic form of NVL, returns the first non-null
expression in the argument list. It takes minimum two mandatory parameters but maximum
arguments has no limit.
Syntax :-
SQL > select coalesce(column1,column2,column3) from table_name;
Example :-
SQL > select coalesce(id ,mgrid , deptno) from t1;
CONDITIONAL FUNCTIONS :
Decode
Case
Difference between case and decode
Decode is a function Case is a statement
Decode is used to 9i Case is used to 10g and 11g
Decode is used in sql Case is used in sql and plsql
We cannot using where clause We can using where clause
DECODE
Syntax :-
SQL > select decode(columnname, search, result……,default) from tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select decode(id,1,’one’,2,’two’,3,’three’,’invalid’) from t1;
CASE
Syntax :-
SQL > select column_name , case
When condition 1 then result 1
When condition 2 then result 2
When condition 3 then result 3
End case
From tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select salary , case
When salary < 5000 then ‘low’
When salary >10000 and salary <15000 then ‘medium’
When salary > 15000 then ‘high’
End case
From t1;
MULTIROW FUNCTIONS :-
Aggregate function
Order by function
Group by function
Having function
Where clauses
AGGERGATE FUNCTIONS :-
Sum
Max
Min
Avg
Count
Distinct
SUM Returns the sum
Syntax :-
SQL > select sum(columnname) from tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select sum(salary) from t1;
MAX Returns the largest value
Syntax :-
SQL > select max(columnname) from tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select max(salary) from t1;
MIN Returns the smallest value
Syntax :-
SQL > select min(columnname) fom tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select min(salary) from t1;
AVG Returns the average value
Syntax :-
SQL > select avg(columnname) from tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select avg(salary) from t1;
COUNT Returns the number of rows
Syntax :-
SQL > select count(columnname) from tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select count(salary) from t1;
DISTINCT Returns the without only unique rows
Syntax :-
SQL > select distinct(columnname) from tablename;
Example :-
SQL > select distinct(salary) from t1;
ORDER BY FUNCTIONS :
Order by clause is used to sort the data in ascending or descending order.
Syntax :-
SQL > select * from tablename order by columnname asc;
Example :-
SQL > select * from t1 order by salary asc;
Syntax :-
SQL > select * from tablename order by columnname desc;
Example :-
SQL > select * from t1 order by salary desc;
GROUP BY FUNCTION :
Group by clause is used along with the group functions to retrieve data grouped according to one
or more columns.
Syntax :-
SQL > select sum(columnname) from tablename group by columnname;
Example :-
SQL > select sum(salary) from t1 group by dept;
HAVING CLAUSES
Having clause is used to filter data based on the group functions.this is similar to where
condition but is used with group functions.group functions cannot be used in where clause but
can be used in having clause.
Syntax :-
SQL > select sum(columnname ) from tablename group by columnname having
columnname=’values’;
Example :-
SQL > select sum(salary) from t1 group by dept having dept=’DBA’;
WHERE CLAUSE :
Where clause is used when you want to retrieve specific information from a table excluding
other irrelevant data.
Syntax :-
SQL > select * from tablename where columnname=’values’;
Example :-
SQL > select * from t1 where name=’sainora’;
