Some of The Most Important SQL
Commands
SELECT - extracts data from a database
UPDATE - updates data in a database
DELETE - deletes data from a database
INSERT INTO - inserts new data into a database
CREATE DATABASE - creates a new database
ALTER DATABASE - modifies a database
CREATE TABLE - creates a new table
ALTER TABLE - modifies a table
DROP TABLE - deletes a table
CREATE INDEX - creates an index (search key)
DROP INDEX - deletes an index
Keep in Mind That...
SQL keywords are NOT case sensitive: select is the same as SELECT
Some database systems require a semicolon at the end of each SQL
statement.
The SQL CREATE DATABASE
Statement
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a new SQL database.
Syntax
CREATE DATABASE databasename;
The SQL DROP DATABASE Statement
The DROP DATABASE statement is used to drop an existing SQL database.
Syntax
DROP DATABASE databasename;
The SQL BACKUP DATABASE
Statement
The BACKUP DATABASE statement is used in SQL Server to create a full back up
of an existing SQL database.
Syntax
BACKUP DATABASE databasename
TO DISK = 'filepath';
The SQL CREATE TABLE Statement
The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a new table in a database.
Syntax
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
EXAMPLE
column3 datatype,
....
);
The SQL DROP TABLE Statement
The DROP TABLE statement is used to drop an existing table in a database.
Syntax
DROP TABLE table_name;
SQL ALTER TABLE Statement
The ALTER TABLE statement is used to add, delete, or modify columns in an
existing table.
The ALTER TABLE statement is also used to add and drop various constraints
on an existing table.
ALTER TABLE - ADD Column
To add a column in a table, use the
following syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name EXAMPLE
ADD column_name datatype;
ALTER TABLE - DROP COLUMN
To delete a column in a table, use the following syntax (notice that some
database systems don't allow deleting a column):
ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name;
ALTER TABLE - RENAME COLUMN
To rename a column in a table, use the following syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
RENAME COLUMN old_name to new_name;
ALTER TABLE - ALTER/MODIFY DATATYPE
To change the data type of a column in a table, use the following syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
EXAMPLE
ALTER COLUMN column_name datatype;
SQL Create Constraints
Constraints can be specified when the table is created with the CREATE
TABLE statement, or after the table is created with the ALTER TABLE statement.
Syntax
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 datatype constraint,
column2 datatype constraint,
column3 datatype constraint,
....
);
SQL Constraints
SQL constraints are used to specify rules for the data in a table.
Constraints are used to limit the type of data that can go into a table. This
ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data in the table. If there is any
violation between the constraint and the data action, the action is aborted.
Constraints can be column level or table level. Column level constraints apply
to a column, and table level constraints apply to the whole table.
The following constraints are commonly used in SQL:
NOT NULL - Ensures that a column cannot have a NULL value
UNIQUE - Ensures that all values in a column are different
PRIMARY KEY - A combination of a NOT NULL and UNIQUE. Uniquely
identifies each row in a table
FOREIGN KEY - Prevents actions that would destroy links between
tables
CHECK - Ensures that the values in a column satisfies a specific
condition
DEFAULT - Sets a default value for a column if no value is specified
CREATE INDEX - Used to create and retrieve data from the database
very quickly
SQL NOT NULL Constraint
By default, a column can hold NULL values.
The NOT NULL constraint enforces a column to NOT accept NULL values.
This enforces a field to always contain a value, which means that you cannot
insert a new record, or update a record without adding a value to this field.
Example
(When table isn’t created yet)
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
Age int
);
(When table is already created)
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN Age int NOT NULL;
SQL UNIQUE Constraint
The UNIQUE constraint ensures that all values in a column are different.
Both the UNIQUE and PRIMARY KEY constraints provide a guarantee for
uniqueness for a column or set of columns.
A PRIMARY KEY constraint automatically has a UNIQUE constraint.
However, you can have many UNIQUE constraints per table, but only
one PRIMARY KEY constraint per table.
(When table isn’t created yet)
The following SQL creates a UNIQUE constraint on the "ID" column when the
"Persons" table is created:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL UNIQUE,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int
);
To name a UNIQUE constraint, and to define a UNIQUE constraint on multiple
columns, use the following SQL syntax:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
CONSTRAINT UC_Person UNIQUE (ID,LastName)
);
(When table is already created)
To create a UNIQUE constraint on the "ID" column when the table is already
created, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD UNIQUE (ID);
To name a UNIQUE constraint, and to define a UNIQUE constraint on multiple
columns, use the following SQL syntax:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT UC_Person UNIQUE (ID,LastName);
DROP a UNIQUE Constraint
To drop a UNIQUE constraint, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT UC_Person;
SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint
The PRIMARY KEY constraint uniquely identifies each record in a table.
Primary keys must contain UNIQUE values, and cannot contain NULL values.
A table can have only ONE primary key; and in the table, this primary key can
consist of single or multiple columns (fields).
(When table isn’t created yet)
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int
);
(When table is already created)
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD PRIMARY KEY (ID);
DROP a PRIMARY KEY Constraint
To drop a PRIMARY KEY constraint, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT PK_Person;
SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint
A FOREIGN KEY is a field (or collection of fields) in one table, that refers to
the PRIMARY KEY in another table.
The table with the foreign key is called the child table, and the table with the
primary key is called the referenced or parent table.
The following SQL creates a FOREIGN KEY on the "PersonID" column when the
"Orders" table is created:
(When table isn’t created yet)
CREATE TABLE Orders (
OrderID int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
OrderNumber int NOT NULL,
PersonID int FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES Persons(PersonID)
);
To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN
KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
CREATE TABLE Orders (
OrderID int NOT NULL,
OrderNumber int NOT NULL,
PersonID int,
PRIMARY KEY (OrderID),
CONSTRAINT FK_PersonOrder FOREIGN KEY (PersonID)
REFERENCES Persons(PersonID)
);
(When table is already created)
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD FOREIGN KEY (PersonID) REFERENCES Persons(PersonID);
To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN
KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD CONSTRAINT FK_PersonOrder
FOREIGN KEY (PersonID) REFERENCES Persons(PersonID);
DROP a FOREIGN KEY Constraint
To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT FK_PersonOrder;
SQL CHECK Constraint
The CHECK constraint is used to limit the value range that can be placed in a
column.
If you define a CHECK constraint on a column it will allow only certain values
for this column.
If you define a CHECK constraint on a table it can limit the values in certain
columns based on values in other columns in the row.
SQL CHECK on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL creates a CHECK constraint on the "Age" column when the
"Persons" table is created. The CHECK constraint ensures that the age of a
person must be 18, or older:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int CHECK (Age>=18)
);
To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on
multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
City varchar(255),
CONSTRAINT CHK_Person CHECK (Age>=18 AND City='Sandnes')
);
SQL CHECK on ALTER TABLE
To create a CHECK constraint on the "Age" column when the table is already
created, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CHECK (Age>=18);
To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on
multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT CHK_PersonAge CHECK (Age>=18 AND City='Sandnes');
DROP a CHECK Constraint
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT CHK_PersonAge;
SQL DEFAULT Constraint
The DEFAULT constraint is used to set a default value for a column.
The default value will be added to all new records, if no other value is specified.
SQL DEFAULT on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL sets a DEFAULT value for the "City" column when the "Persons" table is
created:
My SQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
City varchar(255) DEFAULT 'Sandnes'
);
SQL DEFAULT on ALTER TABLE
To create a DEFAULT constraint on the "City" column when the table is already created, use the
following SQL:
SQL Server:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT df_City
DEFAULT 'Sandnes' FOR City;
DROP a DEFAULT Constraint
To drop a DEFAULT constraint, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN City DROP DEFAULT;
SQL Date Data Types
SQL Server comes with the following data types for storing a date or a
date/time value in the database:
DATE - format YYYY-MM-DD
DATETIME - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS
SMALLDATETIME - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS
TIMESTAMP - format: a unique number
