Oracle - Tips and Tricks

B.Bhuvaneswaran
Assistant Professor (SS)
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Rajalakshmi Engineering College
Thandalam
Chennai 602 105
bhuvaneswaran@rajalakshmi.edu.in

Rename Column In Table

ALTER TABLE table_name

RENAME COLUMN old_name to
new_name;

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Rename Table

ALTER TABLE table_name

RENAME TO new_table_name;

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Create Table - By Copying All Columns

From Another Table

CREATE TABLE new_table AS

(SELECT * FROM old_table);

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Create Table - By Copying Selected

Columns From Another Table

CREATE TABLE new_table AS

(SELECT column_1, column2, ... column_n
FROM old_table);

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Create Table - By Copying Selected

Columns From Multiple Tables

CREATE TABLE new_table AS

(SELECT column_1, column2, ... column_n
FROM old_table_1, old_table_2, ...
old_table_n);

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Frequently Asked Questions

How can I create a SQL table from
another table without copying any values
from the old table?
CREATE TABLE new_table AS
(SELECT * FROM old_table WHERE 1=2);

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Selecting First 5 Records From A Table

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE

ROWNUM <= 5;

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Diff. B/w ROWNUM Pseudo Column

and ROW_NUMBER() Function
ROWNUM is a pseudo column present in
Oracle database returned result set prior
to ORDER BY being evaluated. So ORDER
BY ROWNUM does not work.
ROW_NUMBER() is an analytical function
which is used in conjunction to OVER()
clause wherein we can specify ORDER BY
and also PARTITION BY columns.

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Example

SELECT name, sal, row_number()

over(order by sal desc) rownum_by_sal
FROM EMPLOYEE o

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Rank Function

The RANK function can be used two ways

as an Aggregate function or
as an Analytic function.

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As An Aggregate Function

RANK( expr1 [, expr2, ... expr_n ] )

WITHIN GROUP ( ORDER BY expr1
[, expr_2, ... expr_n ] )

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Example

select RANK(1000, 500) WITHIN GROUP

(ORDER BY salary, bonus) from
employees;

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As An Analytic Function

rank() OVER ( [ query_partition_clause]

ORDER BY clause )

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Example

select employee_name, salary, RANK()

OVER (PARTITION BY department ORDER
BY salary) from employees where
department = 'Marketing';

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Dense_rank Function

The DENSE_RANK function can be used

two ways

as an Aggregate function or
as an Analytic function.

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As An Aggregate Function

DENSE_RANK( expression1, ...

expression_n ) WITHIN GROUP ( ORDER
BY expression1, ... expression_n )

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Example

select DENSE_RANK(1000, 500) WITHIN

GROUP (ORDER BY salary, bonus) from
employees;

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As An Analytic Function

DENSE_RANK() OVER
( [ query_partition_clause] ORDER BY
clause )

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Example

select employee_name, salary,

DENSE_RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY
department ORDER BY salary) from
employees where department =
'Marketing';

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Decode Function

DECODE( expression , search , result

[, search , result]... [, default] )

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Example

SELECT supplier_name,
DECODE(supplier_id, 10000, 'IBM',
10001, 'Microsoft',
10002, 'Hewlett Packard', 'Gateway')
result FROM suppliers;

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Regexp_like Condition

REGEXP_LIKE ( expression, pattern

[, match_parameter ] )

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Match On More Than One Alternative

SELECT last_name FROM contacts

WHERE REGEXP_LIKE (last_name,
'Anders(o|e|a)n');

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Match On Beginning

SELECT last_name FROM contacts

WHERE REGEXP_LIKE (last_name,
'^A(*)');

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Match On End

SELECT last_name FROM contacts

WHERE REGEXP_LIKE (last_name,
'(*)n$');

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Sequences (Autonumber)

CREATE SEQUENCE sequence_name

MINVALUE value
MAXVALUE value
START WITH value
INCREMENT BY value
CACHE value;

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Example

CREATE SEQUENCE supplier_seq

MINVALUE 1
MAXVALUE
999999999999999999999999999
START WITH 1
INCREMENT BY 1
CACHE 20;

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Example

INSERT INTO suppliers

(supplier_id, supplier_name)
VALUES
(supplier_seq.NEXTVAL, 'Kraft Foods');

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Dual Table
The DUAL is special one row, one column
table present by default in all Oracle
databases.
The owner of DUAL is SYS (SYS owns the
data dictionary, therefore DUAL is part of
the data dictionary.) but DUAL can be
accessed by every user.
The table has a single VARCHAR2(1)
column called DUMMY that has a value of
'X'.

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Examples
DESC DUAL;
SELECT * FROM DUAL;
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM DUAL;
SELECT 'ABCDEF12345' FROM DUAL;
SELECT 123792.52 FROM DUAL;
SELECT sysdate FROM DUAL ;
SELECT 15+10-5*5/5 FROM DUAL;
SELECT level FROM DUAL CONNECT BY
level <=10;

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Select TOP 2 salary from employee table

select * from (select * from employee

order by SALARY desc) where rownum
<=2;

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Select 2nd Highest salary from employee

table

select min(salary) from (select * from

(select * from employee order by SALARY
desc) where rownum <= 2)

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To fetch ALTERNATE records from a

table. (EVEN NUMBERED)

select * from emp where rowid in (select

decode(mod(rownum,2),0,rowid, null)
from emp);

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To select ALTERNATE records from a

table. (ODD NUMBERED)

select * from emp where rowid in (select

decode(mod(rownum,2),0,null ,rowid)
from emp);

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Find the 3rd MAX salary in the emp

table

select distinct sal from emp e1 where 3 =

(select count(distinct sal) from emp e2
where e1.sal <= e2.sal);

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Find the 3rd MIN salary in the emp

table.

select distinct sal from emp e1 where 3 =

(select count(distinct sal) from emp
e2where e1.sal >= e2.sal);

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Select FIRST n records from a table

select * from emp where rownum <= &n;

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Select LAST n records from a table

select * from emp minus select * from

emp where rownum <= (select count(*) &n from emp);

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Select DISTINCT RECORDS from

emp table.

select * from emp a where rowid =

(select max(rowid) from emp b where
a.empno=b.empno);

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How to delete duplicate rows in a table?

delete from emp a where rowid != (select

max(rowid) from emp b where
a.empno=b.empno);

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B.Bhuvaneswaran / AP (SS) / CSE / REC

References

IBM DB2 9.7 - Academic Workshop Course Workbook.

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References

http://www.techonthenet.com

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B.Bhuvaneswaran / AP (SS) / CSE / REC