Creating a Function
CREATE [OR REPLACE] FUNCTION function_name
[(parameter_name [IN | OUT | IN OUT] type [, ...])]
RETURN return_datatype
{IS | AS}
BEGIN
< function_body >
END [function_name];
Where,
function-name specifies the name of the function.
[OR REPLACE] option allows the modification of an existing function.
The optional parameter list contains name, mode and types of the parameters. IN
represents the value that will be passed from outside and OUT represents the parameter
that will be used to return a value outside of the procedure.
The function must contain a return statement.
The RETURN clause specifies the data type you are going to return from the function.
function-body contains the executable part.
The AS keyword is used instead of the IS keyword for creating a standalone function.
DECLARE
a number;
b number;
c number;
FUNCTION findMax(x IN number, y IN number)
RETURN number
IS
z number;
BEGIN
IF x > y THEN
z:= x;
ELSE
Z:= y;
END IF;
RETURN z;
END;
BEGIN
a:= 23;
b:= 45;
c := findMax(a, b);
dbms_output.put_line(' Maximum of (23,45): ' || c);
END;
/
DECLARE
num number;
factorial number;
FUNCTION fact(x number)
RETURN number
IS
f number;
BEGIN
IF x=0 THEN
f := 1;
ELSE
f := x * fact(x-1);
END IF;
RETURN f;
END;
BEGIN
num:= 6;
factorial := fact(num);
dbms_output.put_line(' Factorial '|| num || ' is ' || factorial);
END;
/
Views in SQL
o Views in SQL are considered as a virtual table. A view also contains rows and columns.
o To create the view, we can select the fields from one or more tables present in the
database.
o A view can either have specific rows based on certain condition or all the rows of a table.
Advantages of View:
1. Complexity: Views help to reduce the complexity. Different views can be created on the
same base table for different users.
2. Security: It increases the security by excluding the sensitive information from the view.
3. Query Simplicity: It helps to simplify commands from the user. A view can draw data
from several different tables and present it as a single table.
4. Consistency: A view can present a consistent, unchanged image of the structure of the
database. Views can be used to rename the columns without affecting the base table.
5. Data Integrity: If data is accessed and entered through a view, the DBMS can
automatically check the data to ensure that it meets the specified integrity constraints.
6. Storage Capacity: Views take very little space to store the data.
7. Logical Data Independence: View can make the application and database tables to a
certain extent independent.
Disadvantages of View:
The DML statements which can be performed on a view created using single base table
have certain restrictions are:
1. You cannot INSERT if the base table has any not null column that do not appear in view.
2. You cannot INSERT or UPDATE if any of the column referenced in the INSERT or UPDATE
contains group functions or columns defined by expression.
3. You can't execute INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE statements on a view if with read only option
is enabled.
4. You can't be created view on temporary tables.
5. You cannot INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE if the view contains group functions GROUP BY,
DISTINCT or a reference to a psuedocolumn rownum.
6. You can't pass parameters to the SQL server views.
7. You can't associate rules and defaults with views.
Sample table:
Student_Detail
STU_ID NAME ADDRESS
1 Stephan Delhi
2 Kathrin Noida
3 David Ghaziabad
4 Alina Gurugram
Student_Marks
STU_ID NAME MARKS AGE
1 Stephan 97 19
2 Kathrin 86 21
3 David 74 18
4 Alina 90 20
5 John 96 18
1. Creating view
A view can be created using the CREATE VIEW statement. We can create a view from a
single table or multiple tables.
Syntax:
1. CREATE VIEW view_name AS
2. SELECT column1, column2.....
3. FROM table_name
4. WHERE condition;
2. Creating View from a single table
In this example, we create a View named DetailsView from the table Student_Detail.
Query:
1. CREATE VIEW DetailsView AS
2. SELECT NAME, ADDRESS
3. FROM Student_Details
4. WHERE STU_ID < 4;
Just like table query, we can query the view to view the data.
1. SELECT * FROM DetailsView;
Output:
NAME ADDRESS
Stephan Delhi
Kathrin Noida
David Ghaziabad
3. Creating View from multiple tables
View from multiple tables can be created by simply include multiple tables in the SELECT
statement.
In the given example, a view is created named MarksView from two tables
Student_Detail and Student_Marks.
Query:
1. CREATE VIEW MarksView AS
2. SELECT Student_Detail.NAME, Student_Detail.ADDRESS, Student_Marks.MARKS
3. FROM Student_Detail, Student_Mark
4. WHERE Student_Detail.NAME = Student_Marks.NAME;
To display data of View MarksView:
1. SELECT * FROM MarksView;
NAME ADDRESS MARKS
Stephan Delhi 97
Kathrin Noida 86
David Ghaziabad 74
Alina Gurugram 90
4. Deleting View
A view can be deleted using the Drop View statement.
Syntax
1. DROP VIEW view_name;
Example:
If we want to delete the View MarksView, we can do this as:
1. DROP VIEW MarksView;
