Lab Manual # 10

Submitted To:
Engr. M Ubaidullah
Submitted By:
Muhammad Usama Saghar

Roll Number:
2019-CPE-27
Subject:
(CPE-221)
Database Management Systems

Department of Computer Engineering

UCE&T
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.
 Lab Session 10
OBJECTIVE
Creating sequences, indexes and synonyms

THEORY
SEQUENCES

What is a Sequence?
Sequence generator can be used to automatically generate sequence numbers for rows in
tables. A sequence is a database OBJECT created by a user and can be shared by multiple
users. A typical usage for sequences is to create a primary key value, which must be unique
for each row. The sequence is generated and incremented (or decremented) by an internal Oracle
routine. Sequence numbers are stored and generated independently of tables. Therefore, the same
sequence can be used for multiple tables.
Creating Sequences
Following is the syntax of SQL statement to create sequences:-
CREATE SEQUENCE sequence [INCREMENT BY n]

[START WITH n];

For example, creating a sequence named DEPT_DEPTNO to be used for the primary key of the
DEPT table.

CREATE SEQUENCE dept_deptno

INCREMENT BY 1
START WITH 50;
NEXTVAL and CURRVAL Pseudocolumns
The NEXTVAL pseudocolumn is used to extract successive sequence numbers from a specified
sequence. We must qualify NEXTVAL with the sequence name. When we reference
sequence.NEXTVAL, a new sequence number is generated and the current sequence number is
placed in CURRVAL.
NEXTVAL returns the next available sequence value. It returns a unique value every time it
is referenced, even for different users.
CURRVAL obtains the current sequence value. NEXTVAL must be issued for that sequence
before CURRVAL contains a value.
Using a Sequence
Insert a new department named MARKETING in San
Diego INSERT INTO dept (deptno, dname, loc)
VALUES (dept_deptno.NEXTVAL, ‘MARKETING’, ‘SAN DIEGO’);
In order to view the current value for the DEPT_DEPTNO sequence
SELECT dept_deptno.CURRVAL
FORM dual;
Removing a sequence
A sequence can be removed by using the DROP SEQUENCE statement. Once removed, the
sequence can no longer be referenced. DROP SEQUENCE dept_deptno;
INDEXES
An Oracle Server index is a schema OBJECT that can speed up the retrieval of rows by using a
pointer. Indexes can be created explicitly or automatically.
An index provides direct and fast access to rows in a table. Its purpose is to reduce the necessity of
disk I/O by using an indexed path to locate data quickly. The index is used and maintained
automatically by the Oracle Server. Once an index is created, no direct activity is required by the
user.
Indexes are logically and physically independent of the table they index. Therefore, they can be
created or dropped at any time and have no effect on the base tables or other indexes.

Types of indexes
Oracle maintains the indexes automatically: when new rows are added to the table, updated, or
deleted, Oracle updates the corresponding indexes. We can create the following indexes:-
Bitmap index
A bitmap index does not repeatedly store the index column values. Each value is treated as a key,
and for the corresponding ROWIDs a bit is set. Bitmap indexes are suitable for columns with low
cardinality, such as the GENDER column in the EMP table, where the possible values are M or F.
The cardinality is the number of distinct column values in a column. In the EMP table column, the
cardinality of the SEX column is 2.
B-tree index
This is the default. The index is created using the b-tree algorithm. The b-tree includes nodes with
the index column values and the ROWID of the row. The ROWIDs are used to identify the rows
in the table.
The following are the types of b-tree indexes:-
▪
Unique Index: The Oracle server automatically creates this index when a column in a table is
defined to be a PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE key contraint.
▪
NonUnique Index: Users can create nonunique indexes on columns to speed up access
time to the rows. For example, we can create a FOREIGN KEY column index for a join in a
query to improve retrieval speed.
▪
Function-based index: The function-based index can be created on columns with
expressions. For example, creating an index on the SUBSTR(EMPID, 1, 2) can speed up the
queries using the SUBSTR(EMPID, 1, 2) in the WHERE clause.
Creating an Index
▪
To create an index (b-tree) on ENAME column in the EMP table.
CREATE INDEX emp_ename_idx
ON emp(ename);
▪
To create an index (b-tree) on first 5 characters of JOB column in the EMP table.
CREATE INDEX emp_job5_idx
ON emp(SUBSTR(JOB, 1, 5));
▪
To create a bitmap index, we must specify the keyword BITMAP immediately after CREATE.
Bitmap indexes cannot be unique. For example:
CREATE BITMAP INDEX
IND_PROJ_STAT ON PROJECT (STATUS);
Confirming Indexes
We can confirm the existence of indexes from the USER_INDEXES data dictionary view.
It contains the name of the index and its uniqueness.
SELECT INDEX_NAME, TABLE_NAME, TABLE_OWNER, UNIQUENESS
FROM USER_INDEXES;
Removing an Index
It is not possible to modify an index. To change it, we must drop it first and then re-create it.
Remove an index definition from the data dictionary by issuing the DROP INDEX statement. To
drop an index, one must be the owner of the index or have the DROP ANY INDEX privilege.
DROP INDEX index;

For example, remove the EMP_ENAME_IDX index from the data dictionary.
DROP INDEX emp_ename_idx;
When to create an index
The index should be created under following circumstances:-
▪
The column is used frequenctly in the WHERE clause or in a join condition.
▪
The column contains a wide range of values.
▪
The column contains a large number of null values
▪
Two or more columns are frequently used together in a WHERE clause or a join condition.
▪
The table is large and most queries are expected to retrieve less than 2-4% of the rows.
When not to create an index
The index should not be created under following circumstances:-
▪
The table is small
▪
The columns are not often used as a condition in the query.
▪
Most queries are expected to retrieve more than 2-4% of the rows.
▪
The table is updated frequently.

SYNONYMS
In order to refer to a table owned by another user, it is necessary to prefix the table name with the
name of the user who created it followed by a period. Creating a synonym eliminates the need to
qualify the OBJECT name with the schema and provides with an alternative name for a table,
view, sequence, procedure, or other OBJECT. This method can be especially useful with lengthy
OBJECT names, such as views.
The syntax is
CREATE [PUBLIC] SYNONYM synonym
FOR OBJECT;

To create a shortened name for the DEPT_SUM_VU view,

CREATE SYNONYM d_sum FOR dept_sum_vu;

The DBA can create a public synonym accessible to all users. e.g. to create a public synonym named
DEPT for SCOTT’s DEPT table:
CREATE PUBLIC SYNONYM DEPT
FOR SCOTT.DEPT;

To drop a synonym,
DROP SYNONYM DEPT;
 EXERCISES
Consider the schema of the previous lab session that represents information about employees,
grades, training and projects in an organization and answer the following questions.
1. Create a sequence to generate the primary key column EMPNO of EMPLOYEE table
in the lab session 06. The sequence should start with 1, increment by 1 and have
maximum value of 10000.
Ans.
Create sequence Employee.sequence min value,
start with [select max (employee sequence(e.no)
from Employee.log] Increment By 1 cache
1000;

2. Create B-Tree indexes on i) Name column of EMP table ii) Designation column of
EMP table iii) First 10 characters of Title in TRAINING
table Ans.
Create index B-Tree on emp(ename),
Emp(Designation) fitlo(0)
Table space
Storage (20K)
Next 20K
Pert increase 75);
3. Create bitmapped indexes on i) Gender column of EMP table ii) Performance column
of EMP_PROJECT table
Ans.
Create index Bitmapped ON
Emp(Gender), emp.project [Performace)
Tablespace index] unique index
Primary key;
4. What are the different situations in which it is not appropriate to create an index?
Ans.
• Table is small.
• The columns are not used as condition in the entry.
• The table is updating frequently most queries are expected to retrieve more than 2-4%
rows.
5. What are the two different views in the oracle data dictionary that contains
information about user indexes? What information is contained in these views?
Ans.
As prefix views can be divided into following types:
•General views
•Views used to transaction services
•Views used for SQL services Display information about schema, storage
data dictionary and performance.
6. What are synonyms? What are their advantages?
Ans.
Create a synonym, eliminates the need to equality the object name with schema and provides
with an alternative name for a table view, sequence or other objects. This method specifically useful
with lengthy object name such as views, syntax; create [Public] synonyms for objects.
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