http://searchoracle.techtarget.

com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

SQL guide for Oracle users

Whether you are a newbie or a seasoned expert looking to tweak query performance, this learning guide to the structured query language (SQL) has something for you. These seven chapters can help you figure out how to get the data you need by looking at solutions to real-world problems. The advice listed below comes primarily from SQL guru Rudy Limeback.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Answers to some very basic questions Chapter 2: Primary and foreign keys Chapter 3: Selecting data Chapter 4: Updating, inserting, and deleting data Chapter 5: Calculations Chapter 6: Working with times and dates Chapter 7: Performance issues More Learning Guides

Chapter 1: Answers to very basic questions

Return to top

What is SQL? How do I pronounce SQL? What do I need to know to be successful with SQL? What does NULL mean?

SQL (Structured Query Language)

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standard interactive and programming language for getting information from and updating a database. Although SQL is both an ANSI and an ISO standard, many database products support SQL with proprietary extensions to the standard language. Queries take the form of a command language that lets you select, insert, update, find out the location of data, and so forth. There is also a programming interface.

How to pronounce SQL

Is "SQL" sometimes pronounced "sequel"? What is the preferred way to refer to SQL? Also, does SQL imply a specific type or brand of database, or do many databases support SQL as a command language?

Yes, SQL is sometimes pronounced "sequel," but mostly by people who have experience only with Microsoft's database system SQL Server, usually pronounced "sequel-server," which is one of the most commonly used

http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

database systems today. The more accepted pronunciation is "ess cue ell," in which each letter is spoken separately. A few people, for whatever reason, pronounce it "squeal" or "squirrel" but this is rare. If you're feeling adventurous, do an Internet search on google or alltheweb using "pronounce SQL" or similar search terms. SQL dates back to IBM's development of relational databases in the early 1970's with a language called SEQUEL (Structured English QUery Language). Due to copyright problems, IBM had to change the name, so they chose SQL. Since that time, SQL has evolved considerably. Several versions of standard SQL have been published, including SQL-86, SQL-92, and SQL-99. So SQL by itself should refer only to the language. You will often see the letters SQL embedded right in the name of a relational database system, such as SQL Server, MySQL, Mimer SQL, and PostgreSQL. Even if the database system name does not mention SQL, such as DB2, Oracle, Sybase, Access, and so on, the database system almost certainly supports the SQL language -- more or less. Many relational database systems have extensions and additional capabilities over and above (and, sadly, sometimes in place of) the specifications in the SQL standard.

Key factors for successful SQL

What are the key factors of the SQL language which an individual MUST grasp in order to become a successful SQL developer?

Excellent question, because it's difficult to come up with a wrong answer. ? ;o) 1. Think in sets of rows, not individual rows This is a subtle distinction. "Who are the employees that have the lowest salary in their department?" is slightly different than "For each department, find the employees that have the lowest salary." The former makes us look at the problem in terms of which rows satisfy the requirement, while the latter diverts our attention to the procedure for finding them.
select dept, employee, salary from payroll XX where salary = ( select min(salary) from payroll where dept = XX.dept )

You don't have to write any code to "loop through" the rows. Just describe which set of rows you want. 2. There is no "how" Waste no time worrying about how efficient your SQL is. Concentrate on the sets you want your SQL to operate on. Which is better, a join or a subselect? Use whichever you are comfortable with, as long as it is semantically correct, i.e. operates on the right set of rows. For example, what is the average salary of employees on staff less than one year? You could do it like this -select avg(salary) from payroll where employeeid in

http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

( select employeeid from employees where hiredate > current_date() - 1 year )

or like this -select from inner join on where avg(salary) payroll employees employeeid hiredate > current_date() - 1 year

Both queries give the same results. 3. Design to third normal form
This has actually nothing to do with the SQL language at all. Make sure your rowboat is watertight and you won't be constantly bailing. Design your tables to third normal form and your SQL becomes very, very simple.

Tip: Despite my advice in 2. above not to worry about how efficient your SQL is, it is still a very good idea to make sure your primary keys have indexes. Possibly your foreign keys as well.

Chapter 2: Primary and foreign keys

Return to top

Chances are, you are here because you want to know more about how to get the data from a relational database. It helps to know more about how the different tables are connected. That's where primary and foreign keys come in.

relational database
A relational database is a collection of data items organized as a set of formally-described tables from which data can be accessed or reassembled in many different ways without having to reorganize the database tables. The relational database was invented by E. F. Codd at IBM in 1970. The standard user and application program interface to a relational database is the structured query language (SQL). SQL statements are used both for interactive queries for information from a relational database and for gathering data for reports. In addition to being relatively easy to create and access, a relational database has the important advantage of being easy to extend. After the original database creation, a new data category can be added without requiring that all existing applications be modified. A relational database is a set of tables containing data fitted into predefined categories. Each table (which is sometimes called a relation) contains one or more data categories in columns. Each row contains a unique instance of data for the categories defined by the columns. For example, a typical business order entry database

http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

would include a table that described a customer with columns for name, address, phone number, and so forth. Another table would describe an order: product, customer, date, sales price, and so forth. A user of the database could obtain a view of the database that fitted the user's needs. For example, a branch office manager might like a view or report on all customers that had bought products after a certain date. A financial services manager in the same company could, from the same tables, obtain a report on accounts that needed to be paid. When creating a relational database, you can define the domain of possible values in a data column and further constraints that may apply to that data value. For example, a domain of possible customers could allow up to ten possible customer names but be constrained in one table to allowing only three of these customer names to be specifiable. The definition of a relational database results in a table of metadata or formal descriptions of the tables, columns, domains, and constraints.

What is a primary key? Composite PK? Foreign key? What is a candidate key? Although you don't have to define a primary key for a table, if you plan on referencing that table, there are many reasons why the primary key is important, even if you think irrelevant data entry is handled at the front end. You can form your primary key from:

generated sequences (doesn't matter if there are gaps in the sequence.) alphanumeric characters existing columns (for example, the ISBN number of a book)

You cannot have two primary keys on a table, but you can use several columns to form a composite primary key. Take note, however, that there is a maximum number of columns it can have. Using composite keys can be a straightforward solution when dealing with M:N relationships. Here is an example of a query that will return the "next" composite primary key from a result set in SQL server. The most important thing to remember about primary keys is that you must ensure that they are unique. It seems obvious, but defining primary keys can get messy when data rows get moved to other tables. Your database design should take into consideration subtypes and supertypes. The foreign key must reference a unique key, the primary key. But many foreign keys can reference the same primary key, and optional foreign keys can be NULL. Here's how you can get the surrogate key of the row just inserted. If you are referencing a composite primary key, your foreign key will be composite as well. You can sometimes run into problems when columns involved in composite keys become orphaned. You can make business rules to prevent childless parents, or you could create assertions to ensure certain conditions always exist. Here's what the recursive relationship looks like in SQL. If you need recursion, but your DBMS doesn't support it, here is a work-around.

http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

Chapter 3: Selecting data

Return to top

The key point in comparing data in tables is to realize that the data are not stored in any specific order. To get the first 10, the last 10, or some other arbitrary number of records, you have to define the order in terms of a particular column, using the ORDER BY clause. Here are examples of how to get :

the top N subcategories within each major category the top N distinct records the top N for each X the last N rows in each group

Here's what happens if there are ties. Here is how to get the top 10 using the TOP keyword, even with multiple columns. There is a difference between the ORDER BY and GROUP BY clauses. Here's an explanation of the difference between WHERE and HAVING and an in-depth discussion on the GROUP BY clause. Here are some examples of how you can use SQL to:

select all rows for a particular column select 1 select exactly one row or at least one row select consecutive rows select all combinations from one table that don't exist in another select rows based on a certain condition select rows from several tables based on a certain condition select rows based on several specific conditions within a certain timeframe select only the latest matching row select rows by mixing ORs with NOTs select rows based on lookup table select rows from four different tables select only the second duplicate select all users who are not in a group select only one distinct value in a group select the highest number in a group select every 100th row select the last row inserted select all rows, even if they are not related select the maximum value for the row select the highest value in each row select all rows that match in a many-to-many relationship select strings that are embedded in other columns select rows based on values returned in the main query select only the first n characters of a field select only the first name in a name field select only the surname in a name field select "ANY" search results with a dynamic query select LIKEs

http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

select based on multiple keywords select items based on many traits select groups based on one value from a column select sequential numbers select gaps in a sequence select a specific number of rows select random rows select by looping through rows select rows from unrelated one-to-many relationships

Once you get the right results, you can:

translate a value to a string pad the returned rows with zeroes add leading zeros remove leading numbers from a field format output as header and details concatenate values into a comma-delimited string get a count on aggregated fields get a count of rows along with the selected results get counts and total count in one query get the count from two tables for a given date in one query sum two tables get counts of only some rows get counts of one and compare to total count rows in a subtree limit the number of rows returned and page through the results page through result set without using TOP or LIMIT (but here's the best way to page through results) format the results as a text file convert columns to rows convert rows to columns group by a column that isn't there consolidate multiple rows into one join several table summaries combine two result sets and specify order Return to top

Chapter 4: Updating, inserting, and deleting data

When comparing two or more tables, you can:

insert into and search tables with many-to-many relationships update with the newest data, delete matching rows, and insert rows that are missing update one table based on the conditions of the other delete one table based on the conditions of the other insert only some columns into a table check for duplicated before inserting rows delete duplicates

http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

copy an entire table compare one set of rows with another update a local table with new entries to a global table validate address information insert values based on another table insert data into an empty table insert multiple child rows update databases at two different physical locations delete values based on another table but watch out for NULLs (here's how to concatenate NULLs in a string)

Chapter 5: Calculations

Return to top

You can use SQL to perform calculations on data. Here are a few examples of how to:

sum across columns get a cumulative sum across rows conditionally sum fields sum either of two columns sum rows and get a "totals" row sum values in discrete ranges get cumulative sums within groups sum elapsed hours by task and date select the max of sums calculate the difference between two timestamps calculate a percentage for a group calculate a total on INSERT calculate fractions calculate an average over years perform calculations on two rows in the same table perform calculations using a derived table

Chapter 6: Working with times and dates

Return to top

Each DBMS has its own way of working with dates. But here are a few examples of how to work time and dates in with your queries to:

perform data calculations on dates stored as CHAR fields get a DB2 date in Julian format group by only the date part of a datetime column group output by week get dates from the past month

http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

get the first and last date of the current month get the max value from any month count number of rows by month figure out what day of the week a certain date is sort by day name get all dates between two dates count days between two dates and group by month count days based on anniverary year calculate the weeks between two dates calculate the duration of an event based on start and end times determine when a number increased over a given percentage get the date closest to another date get all rows with consecutive dates get rows with info for three consecutive days get the latest row from each group get the latest two rows from each group get all months, even if they are missing calculate an end date based on a start date total by yearly quarters get crosstab totals by month

Chapter 7: Performance issues

Return to top

SQL queries can be written in many ways. In this webcast on Oracle SQL tuning secrets, guru Don Burleson discusses a few techniques, including using materialized views, for improving the speed of SQL queries. In excerpts from her book Oracle SQL and Index Internals, author Kimberly Floss explores Oracle's internal mechanisms like the cost-based optimizer and indexing. Here are some examples that can help you decide what the best solution is:

how normalization affects query simplicity predict query performance on larger data sets when to use a cursor cursor, application code or SQL? table JOIN sequence an efficient selection of "all" rows why SELECT * is bad optimizing COUNT an IN list or OR predicates? subquery or join? One table or two tables with a join? OUTER JOIN or NOT EXISTS subquery? NOT EXISTS correlated subquery or OUTER JOIN? INNER JOIN or WHERE EXISTS or WHERE ... IN? OR or UNION?

http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Learning-Guide-SQL#chap3

More Learning Guides

Return to top

Crash Course: Oracle basics This guide helps you to research, compare or work with the Oracle DBMS. It provides Oracle basics for versions 8.x, 9.x and 10g.

Learning guide to Oracle error messages Solve your Oracle errors quickly and easily with help from this fast guide. It covers every expert response pertaining to Oracle errors on SearchOracle.com. Learning Guide -- Performance tuning Newbies and experts will benefit from this guide; you'll establish a smart approach to tuning, use and interpret Oracle's tuning utilities and identify specific problem areas. Learning guide to PL/SQL This fast guide to PL/SQL can help both newbies and veterans become better acquainted with the language and hone their developer skills. Learning guide: Oracle security This guide covers a wide variety of topics on many aspects of Oracle security to help you lock down your data. Fast Guide: Becoming an Oracle Certified Professional Get expert technical advice on where to begin your certification studies, passing the final exam and putting your certification into effect in the workplace. Guide to Oracle freeware and shareware A library of freeware, shareware or inexpensive tools (less than $100) to help with Oracle administration and development. Learning Guide: Backup and recovery This guide covers everything from the basics of creating a backup and recovery plan to the specifics of using RMAN and other methods of hot and cold backups. Learning Guide: SQL Whether you are a newbie or a seasoned expert looking to tweak query performance, this learning guide can help you figure out how to get the data you need by looking at solutions to real-world problems.

05 Apr 2005 All Rights Reserved,Copyright 2003 -2012, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Statement