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chapter2

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onja1749
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Better data quality

with constraints
I N T R O D U C T I O N T O R E L AT I O N A L D ATA B A S E S I N S Q L

Timo Grossenbacher
Data Journalist
Integrity constraints
1. Attribute constraints, e.g. data types on columns (Chapter 2)
2. Key constraints, e.g. primary keys (Chapter 3)

3. Referential integrity constraints, enforced through foreign keys (Chapter 4)

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Why constraints?
Constraints give the data structure

Constraints help with consistency, and thus data quality

Data quality is a business advantage / data science prerequisite

Enforcing is difficult, but PostgreSQL helps

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Data types as attribute constraints

From the PostgreSQL documentation.

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Dealing with data types (casting)
CREATE TABLE weather (
temperature integer,
wind_speed text);
SELECT temperature * wind_speed AS wind_chill
FROM weather;

operator does not exist: integer * text


HINT: No operator matches the given name and argument type(s).
You might need to add explicit type casts.

SELECT temperature * CAST(wind_speed AS integer) AS wind_chill


FROM weather;

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Let's practice!
I N T R O D U C T I O N T O R E L AT I O N A L D ATA B A S E S I N S Q L
Working with data
types
I N T R O D U C T I O N T O R E L AT I O N A L D ATA B A S E S I N S Q L

Timo Grossenbacher
Data Journalist
Working with data types
Enforced on columns (i.e. attributes)
Define the so-called "domain" of a column

Define what operations are possible

Enforce consistent storage of values

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


The most common types
text : character strings of any length

varchar [ (x) ] : a maximum of x characters

char [ (x) ] : a fixed-length string of x characters

boolean : can only take three states, e.g. TRUE , FALSE and NULL (unknown)

From the PostgreSQL documentation.

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


The most common types (cont'd.)
date , time and timestamp : various formats for date and time calculations

numeric : arbitrary precision numbers, e.g. 3.1457

integer : whole numbers in the range of -2147483648 and +2147483647

From the PostgreSQL documentation.

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Specifying types upon table creation
CREATE TABLE students (
ssn integer,
name varchar(64),
dob date,
average_grade numeric(3, 2), -- e.g. 5.54
tuition_paid boolean
);

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Alter types after table creation
ALTER TABLE students
ALTER COLUMN name
TYPE varchar(128);

ALTER TABLE students


ALTER COLUMN average_grade
TYPE integer
-- Turns 5.54 into 6, not 5, before type conversion
USING ROUND(average_grade);

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Let's apply this!
I N T R O D U C T I O N T O R E L AT I O N A L D ATA B A S E S I N S Q L
The not-null and
unique constraints
I N T R O D U C T I O N T O R E L AT I O N A L D ATA B A S E S I N S Q L

Timo Grossenbacher
Data Journalist
The not-null constraint
Disallow NULL values in a certain column
Must hold true for the current state

Must hold true for any future state

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


What does NULL mean?
unknown
does not exist

does not apply

...

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


What does NULL mean? An example
CREATE TABLE students (
ssn integer not null,
lastname varchar(64) not null,
home_phone integer,
office_phone integer
);

NULL != NULL

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


How to add or remove a not-null constraint
When creating a table... After the table has been created...

CREATE TABLE students ( ALTER TABLE students


ssn integer not null, ALTER COLUMN home_phone
lastname varchar(64) not null, SET NOT NULL;
home_phone integer,
office_phone integer ALTER TABLE students
); ALTER COLUMN ssn
DROP NOT NULL;

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


The unique constraint
Disallow duplicate values in a column
Must hold true for the current state

Must hold true for any future state

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Adding unique constraints
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column_name UNIQUE
);

ALTER TABLE table_name


ADD CONSTRAINT some_name UNIQUE(column_name);

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONAL DATABASES IN SQL


Let's apply this to
the database!
I N T R O D U C T I O N T O R E L AT I O N A L D ATA B A S E S I N S Q L

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