P1 Sec 1.5.

1) Operating System Computer Science 9608

with Majid Tahir

Syllabus Content:
1.8.3 Data Definition Language (DDL) and Data Manipulation Language (DML)

show understanding that DBMS software carries out:

o all creation/modification of the database structure using its DDL
o query and maintenance of data using its DML
show understanding that the industry standard for both DDL and DML is Structured Query
Language (SQL)
o show understanding of a given SQL script
o write simple SQL (DDL) commands using a sub-set of commands for:
 creating a database (CREATE DATABASE)
 creating a table definition (CREATE TABLE)
 changing a table definition (ALTER TABLE)
 adding a primary key or foreign key to a table (ADD PRIMARY KEY)
o write a SQL script for querying or modifying data (DML) which are stored in (at most two)
database tables
 Queries:
 SELECT, FROM, WHERE, ORDER BY, GROUP BY, INNER JOIN
o Data maintenance:
 INSERT INTO, DELETE FROM, UPDATE

Queries

Databases allow us to store and filter data to find specific information. A database can
be queried using a variety of methods, although this depends on the software you are using.

Databases can use query languages or graphical methods to interrogate the data.

Query language

Query language is a written language used only to write specific queries. This is a powerful
tool as the user can define precisely what is required in a database. SQL is a popular query
language used with many databases.

Query by example (QBE)

QBE allows the user to create queries based on a template, usually a set of filters presented in
a graphical form. If you are using database software it might have an option to connect blocks
and set the filters you want. The system presents a blank record and lets you specify
the fields and values that define the query.

Database management software like MySQL, Microsoft Accessand Oracle have front-end
graphical interfaces which make it easier to run QBE queries.

Boolean operators

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In a database we often need to filter the data to group certain results. Boolean operators are used
to filter databases using AND, OR or NOT. They can search multiple fields at the same time to
help us retrieve the data that we need. They are used because they provide results which are 'true'
or 'false'.

Search engines also make use of Boolean operators to filter results.

AND

AND is used to search records that contain one piece of information AND another.

For example, a database of clothing could be full of different types of items. Each item of
clothing has lots of attributes including price, brand, colour, quantity and material.

You might want to search for brown shoes. A query for the words brown AND shoes would
return results that contain the words brown and shoes.

In general, search engines treat the query brown shoes as brown AND shoes, which means
that all results will contain both words, eg brown trousers and red shoes for sale.

OR

OR is used to search for records that contain EITHER one piece of information OR another.

It is used to request an alternative, for example black shoes OR white shoes. This would
present results for any shoes that were black or white.

Most search engines use the OR function best if the search statements are defined by speech
marks, eg "brown shoes" OR "black jeans" would show pages which either contain brown
shoes or black jeans.

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NOT

NOT is used to exclude results.

The query shoes NOT brown will return results that contain the word shoes but NOT the
word brown.

Some search engines use a minus sign in front of the word, instead of NOT, eg -brown. In these
cases, if you run a search for Doctor Who Capaldi this will include all results with all of the
words Doctor, Who and Capaldi, but the search phrase Doctor Who –Capaldireturn the same
results, excluding all results for Capaldi.

Arithmetic operators

A query can also be performed using arithmetic operators. These help to make specific
searches related to numerical data.

Functions of arithmetic operators

This table shows some arithmetic operators and their functions:

Operator Meaning

= Equals

< Less than

<= Less than or equal to

> Greater than

>= Greater than or equal to

<> Not equal to

Using arithmetic operators

The table below shows some BBC TV programme listings:

ID Title Genre Duration (mins) Channel

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ID Title Genre Duration (mins) Channel

01 EastEnders Drama 30 BBC1

02 Dragons' Den Entertainment 60 BBC2

03 The Voice Entertainment 75 BBC3

04 Blue Peter Children's 25 CBBC

05 Wild Brazil Nature 60 BBC4

06 Match of the Day Sport 80 BBC1

07 Dick and Dom Comedy 10 CBBC

Queries are useful for searching for specific conditions. You might want to find entertainment
programmes on BBC3. A query for these conditions would look like this:

SELECT * FROM Programmes

WHERE Genre='Entertainment'
AND Channel='BBC3';

This would return the programme 'The Voice'.

You may want a programme that is less than 20 minutes long or is a nature programme. A query
for these conditions would look like this:

SELECT * FROM Programme

WHERE Duration < 20
OR Genre ='Nature';

This would return the programmes "Dick and Dom" and "Wild Brazil".

SQL

SQL is a programming language used to search and query databases. SQL gives you the ability
to customise your queries. It is often used within database programs.

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Uses of SQL

SQlite and MySQL are popular open source database applications. If you use a blog site, it is
very likely that MySQL has been running behind the scenes to store entries as records and allow
you to add, edit and delete blog posts.

SQL databases can be used to create lots of applications for use on the internet. They are often
used by large companies because they allow the data tables to be stored on secure servers. A
SQL server simply stores the data for a database - it does not provide front-end features.
Therefore, the user does not need to know that a database is working behind a website.

A SQL database is manipulated using SQL code. SQL has also been designed so that lots of
users can access it at the same time - it has a high capacity for storage space.

Syntax

SQL is an important programming language and understanding how to use it is a very important
skill.

The statements used in SQL code are quite similar to the words that you would normally use to
find information. Because the statements are quite similar, it makes it easier to remember
SQL syntax.

For example: "SELECT these fields FROM this table WHERE this is happening".

Working with SQL: Step 1

The following examples show how to use SQL for basic databasefunctions. We will work
through a series of steps to create this table, showing a record for a collection of BBC
programmes:

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ID Title Genre Duration

01 EastEnders Drama 30

02 Newsnight Current affairs 50

03 The Voice Entertainment 75

04 Blue Peter Children's 25

05 Wild Brazil Nature 60

06 Sherlock Drama 90

07 Top Gear Entertainment 60

Data Definition Language (DDL)

Data Definition Language (DDL) is the part of SQL provided for creating or altering
tables. These commands only create the structure. They do not put any data into the
database.

Creating a table

A table can be created in SQL code using the following template:

CREATE TABLE tablename

(column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
column3 datatype);

The creator of the table has to decide:

 the name of the table - "tablename"

 the title of each field - "column"

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 the data type that is required for each field - "datatype"(eg character strings - 'varchar' or numbers
'int')
In the TV programmes example the table can be created using the following SQL code:

CREATE TABLE Programmes

(ID int(2),
Title varchar(20),
Genre varchar(20),
Duration int(3));

The data type varchar indicates that only character strings are allowed, and the number in
brackets indicates the maximum number of digits for each data type.

These examples show that once the database has been created the tables can be created and
the attributes defined. It is possible to define a primary key and a foreign key within the
CREATE TABLE command but the ALTER TABLE command can be used as shown (it can
also be used to add extra attributes).

CREATE DATABASE BandBooking;

CREATE TABLE Band (
BandName varchar2(25),
NumberOfMembers number(1));
ALTER TABLE Band ADD PRIMARY KEY(BandName) ;
ALTER TABLE Band-Booking ADD FOREIGN KEY (BandName
REFERENCES Band (BandName);

Data Manipulation Language (DML):

Data Manipulation Language (DM L) is used when a database is first created, to populate the
tables with data. It can then be used for ongoing maintenance. The following code shows a
selection of the use of the commands:

INSERT INTO Band ('ComputerKidz',5);

INSERT INTO Band-Booking (BandName, BookingID)
VALUES ('ComputerKidz', '2016/023');
UPDATE Band
SET NumberOf Members = 6;
DELETE FROM BandName
WHERE BandName = 'ITWizz';

Working with SQL: Step 2

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You can query this table using SQL code.

ID Title Genre Duration

01 EastEnders Drama 30

02 Newsnight Current affairs 50

03 The Voice Entertainment 75

04 Blue Peter Children's 25

05 Wild Brazil Nature 60

06 Sherlock Drama 90

You may decide that you wish to sort the programmes by duration. The SQL code needed would
look like the example below:

SELECT Programmes.Duration, Programmes.Title

FROM Programmes
ORDER BY Programmes.Duration;

 the SELECT statement states which fields to look at - the Title and Duration fields
 the FROM statement states which table to look at - Programmes
 the ORDER BY statement sorts the Duration field in ascending order by default
This table shows the results from this query:

Duration Title

25 Blue Peter

30 EastEnders

50 Newsnight

60 Wild Brazil

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Duration Title

75 The Voice

90 Sherlock

Working with SQL: Step 3

The SQL WHERE statement is used to isolate one record or several records with
similar attributes.

ID Title Genre Duration

01 EastEnders Drama 30

02 Newsnight Current affairs 50

03 The Voice Entertainment 75

04 Blue Peter Children's 25

05 Wild Brazil Nature 60

06 Sherlock Drama 90

The following code searches the Title field of the table to find the words 'The Voice'.

SELECT Programmes.ID, Programmes.Title, Programmes.Genre,

Programmes.Duration
FROM Programmes
WHERE ((Programmes.Title)="The Voice");

 the WHERE statement specifies which text to look for

This table shows the results from this query:

ID Title Genre Duration

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ID Title Genre Duration

03 The Voice Entertainment 75

Alternatively, you could find all of the programmes which are less than 30 minutes long
using this code:

...
WHERE ((Programmes.Duration)<30);

This table shows the results from this query:

ID Title Genre Duration

04 Blue Peter Children's 25

Wildcards

The wildcard uses the * symbol, and is used in place of any number of unknown characters. For
example, the following code searches for all programmes with the letter i in the title:

...
WHERE ((Programmes.Title) LIKE "*i*");

This table shows the results from this query:

ID Title Genre Duration

02 Newsnight Current Affairs 50

03 The Voice Entertainment 75

05 Wild Brazil Nature 60

Adding and editing data with SQL

SQL can also be used to add and edit the data stored on an SQL server.

Adding records

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To add new data you use the function INSERT INTO.

If a new BBC programme is created and you want to add it to the database, then you would need
to use the INSERT INTO function followed by the VALUES separated by a comma:

INSERT INTO Programmes

VALUES (07, "Top Gas", "Entertainment", 60);

Note that quotes surround string entries. Numbers do not have quotes.

After inputting this code the table would look like this:

ID Title Genre Duration

01 EastEnders Drama 30

02 Newsnight Current affairs 50

03 The Voice Entertainment 75

04 Blue Peter Children's 25

05 Wild Brazil Nature 60

06 Sherlock Drama 90

07 Top Gas Entertainment 60

Editing records

SQL also has the UPDATE function for editing data.

In this example, there was an error with the previous entry and you need to change the name
from "Top Gas" to "Top Gear". You need to:

1. Identify the table to be updated using UPDATE - UPDATE Programmes

2. Identify what the field needs to be changed to using SET - SET Programmes.Title = "Top
Gear"
3. Identify which record needs to be updated using WHERE - WHERE Programmes.ID = 07
In full, this is:

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UPDATE Programmes
SET Programmes.Title = "Top Gear"
WHERE Programmes.ID = 07;

This will go to the Programmes table, find the programme with an ID of 07 and change
the Title field to Top Gear. The amended table will look like this:

ID Title Genre Duration

01 EastEnders Drama 30

02 Newsnight Current affairs 50

03 The Voice Entertainment 75

04 Blue Peter Children's 25

05 Wild Brazil Nature 60

06 Sherlock Drama 90

07 Top Gear Entertainment 60

References:

https://www.bbc.com/education/guides/z37tb9q/revision/8

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