Database Programming with

SQL
1-1
Oracle Application Express

Copyright © 2020, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Objectives
• This lesson covers the following objectives:
−Distinguish between application software and system
software and give an example of each
−Log-in to the Oracle Application Express practice environment
−Execute a simple query to retrieve information from the
Database
−Apply the rules of SQL to display all columns and a subset of
columns specified by criteria

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Purpose
• Every day, in one way or another, we come in contact
with computer applications
• If you checked your email today, it was probably done
using an application
• If you bought an item at a grocery store, the clerk
scanned the item using an application that calculated
your bill and updated the store inventory
• In this course, you will learn the syntax of SQL using
the application called Oracle Application Express

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Application Programs
• Although computers have been around for a very long
time (possibly before you were born), their use for
business and personal computing didn't take place
until application software programs were developed
• Application programs allowed the end user—people
like you and me—to be able to buy fully developed,
ready-to-use programs
• It was no longer necessary to know how the program
worked, just that it did work and accomplished what
we wanted it to do

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Application Programs
• Application program software is different from system
software
• System software consists of low-level programs
designed to interact with the computer hardware
• Operating systems, compilers, and system utilities are
examples of system software.
• In contrast, application software includes programs for
word processing, databases, gaming, email, and
graphics

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Application Programs
• Yahoo.com uses the Oracle database to store data
• Rather than having everyone who wants to search the
database or retrieve email learn SQL, an application
has all of the SQL (and other coding languages) pre-
programmed into it
• With a few mouse clicks, users have access to all of the
information they need

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Using Applications
• An application is like a car
• To drive a car, you need to know enough to make it
work
• It has a friendly "shell" to hide all the things that you
don't need to know, such as how the transmission
works or how fuel like petrol or diesel is used to power
the engine
• Could you ever get your driver's license if you had to
demonstrate an understanding of every system—
electrical, powertrain, hydraulic, fuel, etc.—used to
make the car run?

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Oracle Application Express
• In this course, you will use Oracle Application Express
• This application enables many developers to build and
access applications as if they were running in separate
databases
• With built-in features such as design themes,
navigational controls, form handlers, and flexible
reports, Oracle Application Express accelerates the
application development process

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Oracle Application Express
• Two components in Oracle Application Express are:
−SQL Workshop
−Application Builder
• To learn SQL, you will use the SQL Workshop
component
• To design an application, you use Application Builder

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Oracle Application Express
• Oracle Application Express (APEX) is the tool that we
will use to allow you to build tables and retrieve
information from an Oracle database
• When retrieving information from a database, you will
often have to find a subset of the data based on
specific search criteria
• Becoming familiar with SQL will help you more quickly
find the information that you need

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Oracle Application Express
• Oracle Application Express (APEX) accounts are
supplied without tables or data
• A script file and instructions how to run the script can
be found in the Member Hub Learner Resources
• On running the Script, the tables and data used
throughout the course, will be added to your schema
• For more information on using APEX see the APEX
iAcademy Learner and Instructor Guides

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Basic SELECT Statement
• The SELECT * command returns all the rows in a table
• The syntax is:
SELECT *
FROM <table name>;
• For example:
SELECT *
FROM employees;

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SELECT Statement with a Condition
• To return a subset of the data, modify the SELECT
statement
• The syntax is:
SELECT <column name 1, column name 2, etc.>
FROM <table name>
WHERE <condition>;

• For example:
SELECT first_name, last_name, job_id
FROM employees
WHERE job_id = 'SA_REP';

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Correcting errors
• When entering SQL commands, it is important to use
the correct spelling, otherwise you will get an error
message
• For example (SELECT: spelling incorrect):
SELECT *
FROM employees;

−Would result in the error message:

• To rectify, simply correct the spelling and run again

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Correcting errors
• It is also important to use the correct names and
spelling for columns and tables
• For example (employees table name - spelling
incorrect):
SELECT *
FROM employee;

−Would result in the error message:

• To rectify, simply correct the spelling and run again

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Correcting errors
• For example (first_name column - entered incorrectly):
SELECT name
FROM employees;

−Would result in the error message:

• To rectify, simply enter the correct column name and

run again

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Terminology
• Key terms used in this lesson included:
−Application software
−System software
−Oracle Application Express
−Syntax
−Subset
−Comparison Operator

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Summary
• In this lesson, you should have learned how to:
−Distinguish between application software and system
software and give an example of each
−Log-in to the Oracle Application Express practice environment
−Execute a simple query to retrieve information from the
Database
−Apply the rules of SQL to display all columns and a subset of
columns specified by criteria

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