LECTURE 1

Introduction to SQL II
• Data Definition Language (DDL)
• Data Manipulation Language (DML)
 DDL WITH TABLES.
• Creating Tables with Table constraints
• Modifying Table structures
Create Table – using table and column
constraints
 Constraints enforce rules on data whenever a row is
inserted, updated, or deleted from a table. The constraints
have to be satisfied for the operation to succeed.
 Data Integrity Constraints:
 Not null: specifies that the column cannot contain a
null value.
 Unique: specifies that a column or combination of
columns whose values must be unique for all rows in
the table.
Create Table – using table and column
constraints cont’d
 Check: specifies a condition that must be true
 Primary key: uniquely identifies each row of the table
 Foreign key: establishes and enforces a foreign key
relationship between the column and a column of the
referenced table.
 Constraints can be divided at one of the two levels
i. Column constraint:
 References a single column and is defined within
the column definition.
 Can define any type of integrity constraint.
 Create Table – using table and column
constraints Cont’d
 

o Table constraint:
 References one or more columns and is defined
after the column list.
 Can define any constraint except not null.

 It is an issue of style to define constraints at either table

level or column level; however, the not null constraint
must be strictly defined at the column level.
Create Table – using table and column
constraints Cont’d
Example:
 [using column constraints]
create table students (regNo varchar(15) primary key, name
varchar(20), dob date, gender char(1) not null);
 

OR
[using table constraints]
 

create table students (regNo varchar(15), name varchar(20),

dob date, gender char(1) not null, constraint
students_regNo_pk primary key(regNo));
 

 How would you confirm constraints defined on a table?

 Modifying a Table Structure
 Modifying a table involves using the ALTER TABLE
statement which could cater for three kinds of adjustments:
 MODIFY column (modify [data type/size][not null]
[default])
 ADD column(s) / constraint(s),
 DROP column(s) / constraint(s)
 Examples:
 alter table students add weight float (3,1);
 alter table students add height float (3,1);;
 alter table students modify weight int;
Modifying a Table Structure cont’d
 alter table students drop column height;
 alter table students modify gender char(1) default ‘F’;
 Alter table students add constraint students_gender_ck
check (gender in (‘M’,’F’));
 Alter table students add constraint students_name_uk
unique (name);
 alter table students drop key students_name_uk;
Modifying a Table Structure Cont’d

Notes:
 The not null constraint is added by modifying the column
that is to be defined as not null
Example:
ALTER TABLE students
MODIFY weight int not null;

 Adjustments to populated tables is more restrictive

because the adjustments should not violet the nature of
data stored in the tables.
Removing a Table from a DB schema

 Example:
DROP TABLE students;
Quiz
 Write all SQL statements that will create the relational DB schema:

DEPTS (DeptNo, DName, Loc)

PERSONNEL (EmpNo, EName, Position, *Mgr, HireDate, Sal,
Comm, *DeptNo)

Data Constraints:
 A department name value must never be repeated.
 No person should earn a salary that is more than 5000.
Note:
 A foreign key is preceded by an asterisk (*);
 Mgr references EmpNo.
Quiz Cont’d

1. Assuming that Sex has data type char, modify the personnel
table such that it can accept values of varied lengths.

2. Modify the staff table such that each staff member has a
position.
Manipulating Data In a Table
• UPDATE statement
• DELETE Statement
DML Overview
 This is a language that provides a set of operations to
support the basic data manipulation operations on the
data held in the database.

 There are many types of DML statements, these include;

 INSERT – to add data/new rows to a table

 UPDATE – to make changes to existing data/rows

in a table
DML Overview cont’d
 SELECT – to query data in the database (could involve
one table or many tables to be covered in another learning unit)

 DELETE – to remove data from a table/remove existing

rows from a table

Therefore some of the operations performed are insertion,

modification, retrieval and deletion.
Example to be used
 Create a table called emp_table with following attributes:
Statement for creating emp_table
create table emp_table (empId varchar(20), fName
varchar(15), lName varchar(15) not null, dob date,
constraint emp_empid_pk primary key(empId));
The Update Operation
 The Update operation is used to modify existing rows in a
database.

 The general syntax of an update statement is;

UPDATE table
SET column = value [,column = value,…]
[WHERE condition];
The Update Operation
 Specific value(s) are modified if you specify the WHERE
clause in the UPDATE statement. This is mainly by the
use of the primary key because any other column name
may cause several rows to be updated unexpectedly .
Example:
UPDATE emp_table
SET lname = 'nakato'
WHERE empid = '93/3/3';
The Update Operation cont’d
 All rows in the table are modified if you omit the where
clause.
Example:
UPDATE emp_table
SET lname= 'nakato';
 Updating rows with values with that are tied to intergrity
constraints usually returns an error when the constraint is
violated.
 Example when updating a foreign key.
 Updating with the use of a Subquery
 A subquery may be used to update a row or rows in a given
relation
Example: 
UPDATE emp_copy
SET job_id='SAL_PER',
salary = (select salary
from employees
where employee_id = 100)
WHERE job_id = 'FI_ACCOUNT';
The Update Operation cont’d
 Updating multiple columns using a subquery;
 The general syntax is
UPDATE table
SET column = ( SELECT column
FROM table
WHERE condition)
[,
column = ( SELECT column
FROM table
WHERE condition)]
[WHERE condition];
The Delete Operation
 To be able to remove rows from a table, the DELECT
statement is used.

 The general syntax is;

DELETE [FROM] table
[WHERE condition];
The Delete Operation
 Specific row(s) are deleted if you specify the WHERE
clause in the DELETE FROM statement.
Example:
DELETE FROM emp_copy
WHERE job_id= ‘SAL_PER’;

 Take care, if a WHERE clause is not specified, then all

rows from the table will be deleted.
Example:
DELETE FROM emp_copy;
 Deleting Rows based on Another Table
 This is usually done using a Subquery
Example:
DELETE FROM emp_copy
WHERE department_id = (SELECT department_id
FROM departments
WHERE location_id=2400);
Deleting Rows: Integrity constraint Error
 You can not delete a row that contains a primary key that is
used as a foreign key in another table.

 Example:
DELETE FROM departments
WHERE department_id = 60;

Error: child record found violation

Common Integrity Constraint Errors
 Leaving out values for columns with NOT NULL
constraints.
 Deleting a parent record that has dependencies on it.
Example:
DELETE FROM dept_copy
WHERE department_id = 20;
 Inserting or updating a record with a foreign key value
that does not exist in the referenced primary or unique
key of the parent table. Example:
UPDATE emp_copy
SET department_id = 55
WHERE department_id = 110;
Exercise
The following tables must be created for purposes of
completing the remaining DML operations:
 Create a table called emp_copy with a data storage
that is the same as that of the employees table.

 Create a table called dept_copy with a data storage

that is the same as that of the departments table.

 Compare the structures for dept_copy and

departments. Why the difference?
Exercise Cont’d
Primary keys and Foreign key constraints to be added to the
tables created:
 Add a primary key constraint on the emp_copy table.

 Add a primary key constraint on the dept_copy table

 Add a foreign key constraint on the dept_copy table

which references the primary key of the emp_copy
table.
Exercise Cont’d – statements for adding
the constraints
 alter table emp_copy add constraint
emp_copy_employee_id_pk primary key(employee_id);

 alter table dept_copy add constraint

dept_copy_department_id_pk primary
key(department_id);

 alter table emp_copy add constraint

emp_copy_department_id_uk foreign key(department_id)
references dept_copy(department_id);