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How To Write SQL Triggers

SQL triggers allow automated actions to occur when data is inserted, updated, or deleted from a database table. Triggers are created using the CREATE TRIGGER command and specify the trigger name, event time (before or after the event), event type (insert, update, delete), associated table, and trigger body containing the SQL code. Triggers can be used for tasks like encrypting passwords, validating data, and synchronizing related tables. Triggers are dropped using the DROP TRIGGER command followed by the trigger name.

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Tushar Beloshe
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10 views

How To Write SQL Triggers

SQL triggers allow automated actions to occur when data is inserted, updated, or deleted from a database table. Triggers are created using the CREATE TRIGGER command and specify the trigger name, event time (before or after the event), event type (insert, update, delete), associated table, and trigger body containing the SQL code. Triggers can be used for tasks like encrypting passwords, validating data, and synchronizing related tables. Triggers are dropped using the DROP TRIGGER command followed by the trigger name.

Uploaded by

Tushar Beloshe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SQL

SERIES

How TO Create
SQL Triggers
Triggers are useful for automating repetitive tasks. You can just set
up a trigger to do some calculation after every specific database
action.

You can also set up a trigger to perform data validation tasks on a


table.

A trigger gets fired when an INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE operation


happens on a database table.

A trigger is fired per row, so if multiple rows of data are being


inserted or deleted, each one still fires the action setup by the
trigger. A trigger can be set to fire before or after an action.

In this post, you'll learn how to create triggers, how to drop them,
and when they're useful.
How to Create A Trigger
To create a new trigger, use the CREATE TRIGGER command. This
command has the following structure:

CREATE TRIGGER trigger_name


trigger_time
trigger_event
ON table_name
FOR EACH ROW
trigger_body

So here's a breakdown of every line:

The keyword CREATE TRIGGER is mandatory and is followed by


the name of the trigger. You'll use this name to refer to the trigger
in future, and to delete the trigger if the need ever arises. This
name should be unique per database.

The trigger_time is a variable value that can only be either


BEFORE or AFTER. This determines whether the trigger will fire
before or after the event has happened.

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The trigger_event is another variable that has a limited number of
possible options. This variable cannot be any value other than
INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE. It specifies what event to listen for.

table_name is the name of the table the trigger should watch. This
has to be the name of an existing table in your database, but it
can be an empty table.

The FOR EACH ROW is the other mandatory part of the trigger
definition.

trigger_body is the SQL query that you want to be run when this
trigger is fired.

To create an example trigger, I will create a simple users table for


practice.

CREATE TABLE
users (
fullname VARCHAR(120),
email VARCHAR(120),
username VARCHAR(30),
password VARCHAR(60));

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Now, we can create a simple trigger and attach it to this empty table.
A trigger that encrypts string passwords before they are inserted
using the MD5 function would make sense.

CREATE TRIGGER password_hasher BEFORE INSERT ON users FOR EACH ROW


SET
NEW.password = MD5 (NEW.password);

This example is pretty straightforward and self-explanatory. But


there's a NEW keyword there. This keyword gives you access to the
new data being created and lets you use or modify the values as you
like.

You can only modify these values if your set event_time is BEFORE. If
the event_time is set to AFTER, the data has already been stored
before getting to the trigger so it cannot be modified again.

You can use the NEW keyword in INSERT and UPDATE events but not
the DELETE event.

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There's also the OLD keyword that you can use in DELETE and
UPDATE event triggers that gives you access to the former values of
the affected record. You can't use this keyword on an INSERT event
because there is no previous record before new data is created.

To test this trigger, insert a row into the users table:

INSERT INTO
users
VALUES
(
'idris babu',
'[email protected]',
'zubby1',
'password'
);

Check your table for the values. You should have something like this:

The password value has been correctly encrypted. 🥳

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How to Drop a Trigger
After creating a trigger, you might want to stop its execution for
some reason. In this case, you can drop the trigger.

To drop the trigger, use the DROP TRIGGER command. The command
only requires the name of the trigger. You can use the command like
this:

DROP TRIGGER password_hasher;

Running this query will remove the trigger that we created above and
every record inserted from now on will not have the password
encrypted.

To test this, insert the same record as before, and check the result.

The newly created record doesn't have an encrypted password.

Something to keep in mind: if you drop the table completely, all


associated triggers are also dropped automatically.

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When to Use Triggers
Logging: You can have a trigger to automatically write to another
table on insertion, update, or deletion of record from a table.

Data validation: You can write a trigger to ensure data is a certain


type and correct values can be set when needed.

Data syncronisation: You can use a trigger to keep related tables


updated. For example, in an ecommerce table, every time a sales
record gets created, a trigger can update the vendor's balance. Or
if the vendor's record is deleted, a trigger can remove all their
products.

I hope you now understand SQL triggers and when to use them so
you can write better queries.

If you have any questions or suggestions, write in the comments.

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HELPFUL? REPOST

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