Views & Indexes

Chapter 15
 Base Table
• A base table (or simply table) is a permanent
database object that stores actual data

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 View
• A stored SELECT statement
• Does not contain data
• Used to access data stored in one or more base
tables
• Returns a result set based on the stored query
• The rows and columns in a view are based on the
base tables that the view is built upon

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 Advantages of Views
• Consume very little space
• Sequence data from a database in a different order
• Provide additional security - restrict access to
sensitive data by selecting or omitting specific rows
or columns from base tables
• Combine data from two or more tables into a single
virtual table that can be queried using basic
statements
• Separate a complex table into multiple virtual
tables that are simpler to query 4
 Creating and Modifying a View
• CREATE (OR REPLACE) VIEW command
– Followed by the name of the view
– Followed by the keyword AS
– Followed by the subquery that defines the view
• The subquery can be run by itself

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 Dropping a View
• DROP VIEW command

• Does not affect the data in the base tables

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 No ORDER BY Clause with View
• The subquery that defines the view cannot contain
an ORDER BY clause
– The ORDER BY clause is specified when data is retrieved
from the view

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Creating a Simple View Over Base Table

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Running a query against a view

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 Modifying a View
• Use the OR REPLACE option in the CREATE VIEW
statement

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Using Aliases in a View
Method 1

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Using Aliases in a View
Method 2

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 Including a WHERE Clause in a View
• WHERE clause can be used to restrict rows in a
view

• The WHERE clause is part of the subquery in the

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Including a WHERE Clause in a View

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Accessing the View

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 Restricting Rows from a View
using a WHERE Clause
• A WHERE clause can be used when executing a
view to restrict rows normally returned by the view

• The WHERE clause is external to the view

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Restricting Rows from a View
using a WHERE Clause

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 Restricting Rows from a View
using a WHERE Clause
• Only those rows that meet both conditions shown
below are returned in the result set:

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 Data Manipulation Language (DML)
and Views
• DML operations INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE can
be performed on simple views

• Can change the data in the base table

• For complex views, DML operations are not always

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 Using a View to Update Data
• Views can be used in update statements

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 Using GROUP BY with a View
• The GROUP BY clause can be used in a view

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 Using JOINs in a View
• A view can contain JOINs

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 WITH CHECK OPTION
• Prevents a row from being inserted or updated
through a view that subsequently cannot be
retrieved through the view

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WITH CHECK OPTION

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 WITH READ ONLY
• Ensures no DML statements occur through the view
• Any attempt to execute an INSERT, UPDATE or
DELETE statement will result in an error

CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW view_departments

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 Indexes
• An object that provides direct and fast access to
rows in a table
• Do not contain data
• Can be based on one column, multiple columns,
functions, or expressions
• If an index is not built over the column being
searched, then a full table scan occurs

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 Indexes
• Use an index when:
– One or more columns are frequently used together in a
join condition
– The table is large and most queries are expected to
retrieve less than 2 to 4 percent of the rows

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 Types of Indexes
• Unique index
– Automatically created when a column(s) in a table is
defined as PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE KEY constraint
– The name of the index is the name given to the
constraint
• Nonunique index
– An index created to speed up access to the rows
– To optimize joins, create an index on the FOREIGN KEY
column, which speeds up the search to match rows to
the PRIMARY KEY column
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 Creating an Index
• The CREATE INDEX keywords
– Followed by the index name
– Followed by the keyword ON
– Followed by the name of the table
– Followed by the columns that are to be included in the
index; listed in parentheses

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Creating an Index

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Dropping an Index

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