Creating and Modifying

Database Tables

Chapter 2

A Guide to Oracle9i 1
 Objectives

• Become acquainted with Structured Query

Language (SQL)
• Learn about Oracle9i user schemas
• Learn how to define Oracle9i database tables
• Create database tables using SQL*Plus

A Guide to Oracle9i 2
 Objectives

• Learn how to debug Oracle9i SQL commands

and use Oracle Corporation online help
resources
• Learn how to view information about your
database tables using Oracle9i data
dictionary views
• Modify and delete database tables using
SQL*Plus

A Guide to Oracle9i 3
 Introduction to SQL

• Structured Query Language (SQL): the

standard query language for relational
databases
• Data definition language (DDL)
– Create new database objects
– Modify or delete existing objects.
• Data manipulation language (DML)
– Insert, update, delete, and view database data.

A Guide to Oracle9i 4
 Oracle9i User Accounts

• User account - identified by a unique

username and password

• User schema - all of the objects that the user

creates and stores in the database

• Object owner has privileges to perform all

possible actions on an object

A Guide to Oracle9i 5
 Defining Oracle9i Database Tables
• To create a new table specify:
– Table name
– Name of each data field
– Data type and size of each data field
• Constraints: restrictions on the data values that a field can store
• Oracle Naming Standard:
– Series of rules Oracle Corporation established for naming all
database objects
– Objects must be from 1 to 30 characters long
– Can contain letters, numbers, and the special symbols $, _, and #
– Must begin with a character

A Guide to Oracle9i 6
 Creating a Table

CREATE TABLE tablename

(fieldname1data_type,
(fieldname2 data_type,
…)

A Guide to Oracle9i 7
 Oracle9i Data Types

• Data type: specifies the kind of data that a field

stores

• Assigning a data type provides a means for error

checking

• Data types enable the DBMS to use storage space

more efficiently by internally storing different types of
data in different ways

A Guide to Oracle9i 8
 Character Data Types

• VARCHAR2
– Stores variable-length character data up to a
maximum of 4,000 characters
– Values in different records can have a different
number of characters
– fieldname VARCHAR2(maximum_size)

A Guide to Oracle9i 9
 Character Data Types

• CHAR
– Fixed-length character data up to a maximum size
of 2,000 characters
– Data values for different records all have the same
number of characters
– DBMS adds trailing blank spaces to the end of the
entry to make the entry fill the maximum_size
value
– Data longer than maximum_size causes an error
– fieldname CHAR[(maximum_size)]

A Guide to Oracle9i 10
 Character Data Types

• NVARCHAR2 and NCHAR

– Analogous to VARCHAR2 and CHAR but use
Unicode rather than ASCII
– Used to hold character data in languages other
than English

A Guide to Oracle9i 11
 Number Data Types

• Stores negative, positive, fixed, and floating point

numbers between 10–130 and 10125, with precision
up to 38 decimal places
• General Syntax: fieldname NUMBER [([precision,]
[scale])]
• Integer: fieldname NUMBER(precision)
• Fixed point: fieldname NUMBER[([precision],[scale])]
• Floating point: fieldname NUMBER

A Guide to Oracle9i 12
 Date and Time Data Types

• DATE
– Dates from December 31, 4712 BC to December 31, 4712
AD
– Default format DD-MON-YY
– Default time format HH:MI:SS A.M.
– fieldname DATE
• TIMESTAMP
– Similar to DATE but stores fractional seconds
– fieldname TIMESTAMP (fractional_seconds_precision)

A Guide to Oracle9i 13
 Date and Time Data Types
• INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH
– Time interval, expressed in years and months
– +02-11 specifies a positive time interval of 2 years and 11 months
– fieldname INTERVAL YEAR[(year_precision)] TO MONTH
• INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND
– Time interval, expressed in days, hours, minutes, and seconds
– -04 03:20:32.00: 4 days, 3 hours, 20 minutes, and 32 seconds
– fieldname INTERVAL DAY[(leading_precision)] TO
SECOND[(fractional_seconds_precision)]

A Guide to Oracle9i 14
Large Object (LOB) Data Types

A Guide to Oracle9i 15
 Constraints
• Rules that restrict the data values that you can enter into a field in a
database table

• Integrity constraints: define primary and foreign keys

• Value constraints: define specific data values or data ranges that

must be inserted into columns and whether values must be unique or
not NULL

• Table constraint: restricts the data value with respect to all other
values in the table

• Field constraint: limits the value that can be placed in a specific field,
irrespective of values that exist in other table records

A Guide to Oracle9i 16
 Oracle Constraint Naming
Convention
• tablename_ fieldname_constraintID

A Guide to Oracle9i 17
 Integrity Constraints

• Define primary key fields

• Specify foreign keys and their corresponding

table and column references

• Specify composite keys

A Guide to Oracle9i 18
 Value Constraints
• Check conditions: field value must be a specific value or fall
within a range of values

• NOT NULL constraints: specify whether a field value can be

NULL

• Default constraints: specify that a field has a default value that

the DBMS automatically inserts for every record, unless the user
specifies an alternate value

• Unique constraints: specify that a field must have a unique value

for every table record

A Guide to Oracle9i 19
 Creating Database Tables Using
SQL*Plus
• Type SQL commands at the SQL prompt

• End each command with a semicolon (;)

• Not case sensitive

A Guide to Oracle9i 20
Log On to SQL*Plus

A Guide to Oracle9i 21
SQL*Plus Program Window

A Guide to Oracle9i 22
Create a Table

A Guide to Oracle9i 23
 Table Creation Sequence

• When creating tables with foreign key references,

create referenced tables first

• Always create tables without foreign keys before

those with foreign keys

A Guide to Oracle9i 24
 Using Notepad

• Useful to use Notepad to edit sql commands

– Commands can be edited without retyping
– Commands can be saved
– Saving multiple sql commands in a file creates a
script

A Guide to Oracle9i 25
 Errors

• When an error occurs error information is displayed:

– Line number
– Position on line
– Error code
– Description of error
• Error codes
– 3 letter prefix (I.e. ORA)
– 5 digit code
– More information on errors can be found at
http://otn.oracle.com

A Guide to Oracle9i 26
 Exiting SQL*Plus

• Three ways to exit SQL*Plus:

– Type exit at the SQL prompt
 lick File on the menu bar, and then click Exit
– Click the Close button on the program window title
bar
• Database session ends when SQL*Plus exits

A Guide to Oracle9i 27
Create Table with Foreign Key
Constraint

A Guide to Oracle9i 28
 Viewing Information About Tables

• describe tablename: displays column names and

data types
• Data dictionary: tables that contain information
about the structure of the database.
– USER: shows the objects in the current user’s schema
– ALL: shows both objects in the current user’s schema and
objects that the user has privileges to manipulate
– DBA: allows users who are database administrators to view
information about all database objects

A Guide to Oracle9i 29
Viewing Tables in the Database

A Guide to Oracle9i 30
Viewing Constraints on One Table

A Guide to Oracle9i 31
 Modifying and Deleting Database
Tables
• Modify existing database tables by:
– Changing the name of a table
– Adding new columns
– Deleting columns that are no longer needed
– Changing the data type or maximum size of an existing
column
• Unrestricted action: some specifications can always
be modified
• Restricted action: specifications modified only in
certain situations

A Guide to Oracle9i 32
Unrestricted Action

A Guide to Oracle9i 33
Restricted Actions

A Guide to Oracle9i 34
 Deleting and Renaming Tables

• To delete:
– Drop table [tablename]
– Use with caution
– To delete foreign key constraints, add “cascade constraints”
• To rename:
– Rename old_tablename to new_tablename
– DBMS automatically transfers to the new table integrity
constraints, indexes, and privileges that referenced the old
table.

A Guide to Oracle9i 35
 Adding Fields to Existing Tables

• To add a field:
– ALTER TABLE tablename ADD(fieldname
data_declaration constraints);

A Guide to Oracle9i 36
 Modifying Existing Field Data
Definitions
• Can only change datatype to compatible data
type (i.e. varchar2 to char)

• ALTER tablename MODIFY(fieldname

new_data_declaration);

A Guide to Oracle9i 37
 Deleting a Field

• ALTER TABLE tablename DROP COLUMN

fieldname;

• Can be used to rename a field – first drop,

then add

A Guide to Oracle9i 38
 Adding and Deleting Constraints

• Add a constraint: ALTER TABLE tablename

ADD CONSTRAINT constraint_name
constraint_definition;

• Remove a constraint: ALTER TABLE

tablename DROP CONSTRAINT
constraint_name;

A Guide to Oracle9i 39
 Enabling and Disabling Constraints

• When modifying a database it can be useful to

disable constraints

• Constraints are enabled by default

• To disable a constraint: ALTER TABLE tablename

DISABLE CONSTRAINT constraint_name;

• To enable a constraint: ALTER TABLE tablename

ENABLE CONSTRAINT constraint_name;

A Guide to Oracle9i 40
 Summary

• SQL commands include:

– Data description language (DDL) commands: create, modify,
Deleted database objects
– Data manipulation language (DML) commands: insert,
update, delete, view database data
• To create a table:
– specify the table name, the name of each data field, and the
data type and size of each data field
• Data types ensure correct data values
• Constraints restrict values of database fields
• SQL*Plus commands are not case sensitive

A Guide to Oracle9i 41
 Summary

• Errors include line number, position, error

code
• Use DESCRIBE command to display a table’s
fieldnames and data types
• Tables can be modified or deleted but some
changes are restricted

A Guide to Oracle9i 42