Databases SQL Statements
There are 2 statements used to delete from databases – DELETE and DROP.
DROP applies to database structure, predominantly in 2 cases:
a) we need to delete entire table –
DROP TABLE table_name
b) we need to delete a column or columns in a table –
ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name;
or:
ALTER TABLE TableName
DROP Column1,
DROP Column2;
for multiple columns
DELETE applies to the data in a table, thus it is used to delete data:
a) we need to delete all data from the table, but keep the table structure –
DELETE FROM table_name;
b) we need to delete a row(s) of record(s) -
DELETE FROM table_name WHERE condition;
2. Using SQL to add to databases consists of 2 types –first type is used to create a structure – either
a whole table, or adding columns to existing tables, second type is used to add actual data records
into new rows:
a) adding a whole new table – using syntax CREATE TABLE – to set up a whole table for and
entity with its attributes used as column heading:
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
column3 datatype,
....
);
For example:
CREATE TABLE tbl_Employee
EmpID, INTEGER NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY
EmpName VARCHAR (20), NOT NULL
EmpSurname VARCHAR (20), NOT NULL
DepID VARCHAR (10), NOT NULL
)
b) add a new attribute, a new column to hold data values, using syntax ALTER TABLE… ADD…
the syntax is:
ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD column_name datatype;
For example:
ALTER TABLE tbl_Employee
ADD Salary CURRENCY
c) To insert new record in an existing database table, using syntax INSERT INTO… VALUES…,
the syntax here is:
INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3, ...)
VALUES (value1, value2, value3, ...);
For example:
INSERT INTO Customers (CustomerName, ContactName, Address, City, PostalCode, Country)
VALUES ('Cardinal', 'Tom B. Erichsen', '21, Peartree Road', 'Hatfield', 'AL108AB', 'UK');
3. Using SQL to change either structure of data values also consists of 2 types – first type is to modify
the structural features of a table, for example changing the data type of a column, second type is to
modify the values of records in rows, this would make changes to the data in a cell.
a) to modify the column, using syntax ALTER TABLE… MODIFY COLUMN…, the syntax is:
ALTER TABLE table_name
MODIFY COLUMN column_name datatype;
For example, to allow a longer surname in employees table:
ALTER TABLE tbl_employees
MODIFY COLUMN EmpSurname VARCHAR (30), NOT NULL
b) to modify data itself, i.e. a specific field of a record, an UPDATE TABLE…SET COLUMN…
WHERE…, this is needed to locate the exact cell in the table that contains the required
change, or if all records need to be changed in a specific column, the exact column that
contains values that need to be changed:
i) to modify a specific cell the syntax is
UPDATE table_name
SET column1 = value1,
WHERE condition;
For example:
UPDATE Customers
SET ContactName = 'Alfred Schmidt',
WHERE CustomerID = 1;
ii) it is possible to modify a few specific cells for the same record, just by adding
more columns and values:
UPDATE table_name
SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2, ...
WHERE condition;
For example:
UPDATE Customers
SET ContactName = 'Alfred Schmidt', City= 'Frankfurt'
WHERE CustomerID = 1;
iii) to modify all records and change values in a specific column, the syntax is:
UPDATE table_name
SET column1 = value1*1.2
WHERE condition;
For example:
UPDATE tbl_Employee
SET Salary=Salary*1.2
WHERE Department = “Technical”
Exercises for tbl_users and tbl_flights (tables on next page):
1/ write an SQL statement to remove items as follows:
a) delete both tables: tbl_users and tbl_flights
b) delete column locked from tbl_users
c) delete column Destination name from tlb_flights
d) delete columns Destination Code and Destination Name from tbl_flights
e) delete a record of username Hera from tbl_users
f) delete records of Zeus and Poseidon from tbl_users
g) delete a record for Flight ID 1355 from tbl_flights
h) delete top 3 records fro tbl_flights.
2/ write an SQL statement to add items as follows:
a) add a new table to the database where tbl_flights is kept, the new table should be called
tbl_Destinations and hold the attributes Destination code set as primary key and Destination
name set as secondary key.
b) create a new database with 2 tables: students and courses, the table for students should
hold the following attributes: students ID, set as primary key, datatype string, student name
and surname, date of birth and table courses should hold the following attributes: course ID,
set as primary key, course title, course start date and finish date.
c) add a new column to table students with year group, type integer
d) create a table vehicles with the following attributes: vehicle ID set as integer and primary
key, vehicle name, category, price,
e) add a new column to the table vehicles with supplier name set as string and maximum 50
characters
f) add a record for a new student in table students with the following values: student ID is
AJ12356, student surname Marney, student first name Alex, DOB 24 June 2009
g) add a record for a new for a new student with student ID AK12365, student surname
Alexand, student first name not know, DOB 24 January 2009
h) add a new record to table users with user ID 4, username Haos, passwordHash
9jslew9sfjsm5SLF25xmvjsl, locked set as zero
i) add a new record to the table flights with the following attributes: flight ID 2225, flight
number OC8789, Destination Code JFK, Departure Date 04/07/18 and departure time 08:40
3/ write an SQL statement to achieve the following modifications:
a) the student with ID AD12365 has changed surname to Smith and his first name can be
added as Mike
b) user account of Zeus in tbl_users has been locked
c) departure time of flight OC7750 has changed to 9:30, update the record
d) flight 1331 is no longer going to Halifax, but to Heathrow, change the record to show this
change
e) the tbl_users table needs to have an additional column to hold a 6 digit user PIN for
additional security, add this column to the table structure with correct data type and
field length
f) modify the data type for the column tbl_users from integer to alphanumeric, limit field
length to 6
tbl_users
tbl_flights
