Chapter 3: DDL
SQL Tutorial - Create Table
CREATE TABLE command is used to create a new table. ‘CREATE’ is part of Data Definition
Language (DDL).
While creating a table we provide the basic information for each column together with their data
type and sizes.
The Syntax for the CREATE TABLE Statement is:
table_name - is the name of the table.
column_name1, column_name2…. – is the name of the columns
datatype – is the type of data that column holds.
For Example: If we want to create the employee table, the statement would be like
CREATE TABLE emp
( empno NUMBER(5),
ename CHAR(20),
job CHAR(10),
sal NUMBER(20),
comm NUMBER(10),
deptno NUMBER(10)
);
Output:
Once the table is created we will receive a message “Table Created”.
If a table of that name is already available then we will not be allowed to create that table\
Table Naming Conventions:
The name we choose for our table should follow these standard rules:
The name must begin with a letter A-Z or a-z.
Can contain numbers and underscores.
Can be in UPPER or lower case.
Can be up to 30 characters in length.
Cannot use the same name of another existing object in our schema.
Examples of Object Names:
Name Valid?
Emp or emp Yes
1EMP or 1emp No – should not begin with a number
Employee_details Yes
Employee details No – should not contain a blank space in between the name
UPDATE No – ‘UPDATE’ is a SQL reserved word
Creating a Table from another Table/View:
Oracle provides another way for creating a table that is ‘copying another table’. This method is
useful when we wanted to select the data out of a table for temporary modifications or if we
wanted to create a table that is similar to the existing table or view using similar data.
The syntax is as follows:
CREATE TABLE na_emp AS
SELECT * FROM emp;
Here, na_emp table is created with the same number of columns and with datatypes as employee
table.
SQL Tutorial - Alter Table
Alter command is part of Data Definition Language (DDL). The SQL ALTER TABLE command is
used to modify the definition (structure) of a table by modifying the definition of its columns. The
ALTER command is used to perform the following functions.
1) Add, drop and modify table columns
2) Add and drop constraints
3) Enable and Disable constraints (will be discussed in constraints lesson)
Adding a column in table
Below is the syntax used to add a column in table.
Example:-
SQL>ALTER TABLE emp ADD na_column DATE;
Once the table is successfully altered then we will receive a message saying “Table altered”
Let’s check the “emp” table structure.
SQL>SELECT * FROM emp;
-- A new column is added in emp table.
Removing a column from table
Below is the syntax used to remove a column from a table
Let’s check the “emp” table structure.
SELECT * FROM emp;
-- ‘na_column’ is removed from emp table.
Renaming a Column in Table
Below is the syntax used to rename a column in table.
Example:-
ALTER TABLE emp RENAME COLUMN sal TO salary;
Let’s check the “emp” table structure.
SELECT * FROM emp;
-- We can observe that “sal” column is renamed as “salary”
Increasing or Decreasing Precision of a column
Below is the syntax used to increasing the precision of a column in table.
– Before we run the alter command lets first check the emp table description
SQL>DESC emp;
– Here ENAME datatype size is 10
Example:- Run alter command to increase the precision.
SQL>ALTER TABLE emp MODIFY ename VARCHAR(25);
Let’s check the “emp” table structure.
We can now observe that ENAME column data size is changed to 25.
Similarly we can decrease the precision of column but to decrease the precision, column should
be empty.
SQL Tutorial - Truncate Table
Truncate command is part of DDL (Data Definition Language).Truncate command is used to
delete the data permanently from the database table.
System does AUTO commit after the deletion and hence the data deleted cannot be rolled back.
Using Truncate we cannot delete partial records from the database. Once we run truncate
command, system will delete all the records permanently from the database.
Example:-
SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE emp;
Once the table is successfully truncated then we will receive a message saying ‘Table Truncated’
– Lets run the emp table after truncate
SELECT * FROM emp;
– We can check the count as well
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM emp;
SQL Tutorial - Drop Table
Drop command is used to remove the object from the database.
The DROP command not only removes the table but also removes table based indexes, privileges
and constraints.
At a later stage even if we wanted we will not be able to get the table or its data, as it is
permanently removed.
Example:-
SQL>DROP TABLE emp;
If table is successfully dropped then we will receive a message saying ‘Table dropped’
Even after dropping the emp table whenever we are try to select the emp table then system
throws an error saying ‘table or view does not exist’.
Error at line 1:
ORA-00942: table or view does not exist
From Oracle 10g version on wards we can get back the table which we dropped using FLASH
BACK , here is the following syntax for that:
Example:-
SQL>FLASH BACK emp TO BEFORE DROP;
Now if we try to use the SELECT command we can see the data from ‘emp’ table.
This process is similar like our recycle bin in our Operating System’s. It means from Oracle 10g
on wards the DROP command will not remove our table permanently it will store in Recycle bin.
So therefore if we want to delete the table permanently here is the following syntax which will
drop the table permanently and which cannot be retrieved back.
Example:-
SQL>DROP TABLE emp PURGE;
Now if we try to select the emp table then system throws an error like :
Error at line 1:
ORA-00942: table or view does not exist
SQL Tutorial - Rename Table
Rename command is used to rename the object in database. Rename command is part of DDL
(Data Definition Language).
Example:-
SQL>RENAME emp TO na_emp;
Once the table is successfully renamed then we will receive a message saying ‘Table renamed’.
– after rename if we try to access ‘emp’ table system will not recognize the table.
SELECT * FROM emp;
Output:-
ORA-00942: TABLE OR VIEW does NOT exit
SQL>SELECT * FROM na_emp;
Output:
