Introduction To SQL - NEW
Introduction To SQL - NEW
WHAT IS SQL?
SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It is a standard language for accessing and manipulating databases. It is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard. What Can SQL do?
SQL can execute queries against a database SQL can retrieve data from a database SQL can insert records into a database SQL can update records in a database SQL can delete records from a database SQL can create new databases SQL can create new tables in a database SQL can create stored procedures in a database SQL can create views in a database SQL can set permissions on tables, procedures, and views
RDBMS RDBMS stands for Relational Database Management System. RDBMS is the basis for SQL, and for all modern database systems like MS SQL Server, IBM DB2, Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft Access. The data in RDBMS is stored in database objects called tables. A table is a collection of related data entries and it consists of columns and rows.
SQL Syntax
Database Tables A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g. "Customers" or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data.
Below is an example of a table called "Persons": P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
The table above contains three records (one for each person) and five columns (P_Id, LastName, FirstName, Address, and City).
SQL Statements
Most of the actions you need to perform on a database are done with SQL statements. The following SQL statement will select all the records in the "Persons" table: SELECT * FROM Persons Note: SQL is not cAsE SenSiTivE
SQL DML and DDL SQL can be divided into two parts: The Data Manipulation Language (DML) and the Data Definition Language (DDL). The query and update commands form the DML part of SQL:
SELECT - extracts data from a database UPDATE - updates data in a database DELETE - deletes data from a database INSERT INTO - inserts new data into a database
The DDL part of SQL permits database tables to be created or deleted. It also defines indexes (keys), specify links between tables, and impose constraints between tables. The most important DDL statements in SQL are:
CREATE DATABASE - creates a new database ALTER DATABASE - modifies a database CREATE TABLE - creates a new table ALTER TABLE - modifies a table DROP TABLE - deletes a table
CREATE INDEX - creates an index (search key) DROP INDEX - deletes an index
SQL SELECT Statement The SQL SELECT Statement The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database. The result is stored in a result table, called the result-set. SQL SELECT Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name and SELECT * FROM table_name Note: SQL is not cAsE SenSiTivE. SELECT is the same as select. An SQL SELECT Example The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
Now we want to select the content of the columns named "LastName" and "FirstName" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT LastName, FirstName FROM Persons
Now we want to select all the columns from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons Tip: The asterisk (*) is a quick way of selecting all columns! The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
Now we want to select only the distinct values from the column named "City" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT DISTINCT City FROM Persons The result-set will look like this: City Sandnes Stavanger
Now we want to select only the persons living in the city "Sandnes" from the table above.
We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City='Sandnes' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Hansen Svendson FirstName Ola Tove Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 City Sandnes Sandnes
Quotes Around Text Fields SQL uses single quotes around text values (most database systems will also accept double quotes). Although, numeric values should not be enclosed in quotes. For text values: This is correct: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Tove' This is wrong: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName=Tove For numeric values: This is correct: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year=1965 This is wrong: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year='1965'
With the WHERE clause, the following operators can be used: Operator Description = Equal <> Not equal > Greater than < Less than >= Greater than or equal <= Less than or equal BETWEEN Between an inclusive range LIKE Search for a pattern IN If you know the exact value you want to return for at least one of the columns Note: In some versions of SQL the <> operator may be written as !=
Now we want to select only the persons with the first name equal to "Tove" AND the last name equal to "Svendson": We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Tove'
AND LastName='Svendson' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 LastName Svendson FirstName Tove Address Borgvn 23 City Sandnes
OR Operator Example Now we want to select only the persons with the first name equal to "Tove" OR the first name equal to "Ola": We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Tove' OR FirstName='Ola' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Hansen Svendson FirstName Ola Tove Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 City Sandnes Sandnes
Combining AND & OR You can also combine AND and OR (use parenthesis to form complex expressions). Now we want to select only the persons with the last name equal to "Svendson" AND the first name equal to "Tove" OR to "Ola": We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName='Svendson' AND (FirstName='Tove' OR FirstName='Ola') The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 LastName Svendson FirstName Tove Address Borgvn 23 City Sandnes
The ORDER BY Keyword The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set by a specified column. The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default. If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword. SQL ORDER BY Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC ORDER BY Example The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 4 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen Nilsen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Tom Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 Vingvn 23 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger Stavanger
Now we want to select all the persons from the table above, however, we want to sort the persons by their last name. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY LastName The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 4 3 2 LastName Hansen Nilsen Pettersen Svendson FirstName Ola Tom Kari Tove Address Timoteivn 10 Vingvn 23 Storgt 20 Borgvn 23 City Sandnes Stavanger Stavanger Sandnes
Now we want to select all the persons from the table above, however, we want to sort the persons descending by their last name. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY LastName DESC The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 3 4 1 LastName Svendson Pettersen Nilsen Hansen FirstName Tove Kari Tom Ola Address Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 Vingvn 23 Timoteivn 10 City Sandnes Stavanger Stavanger Sandnes
Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "s" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE 's%' The "%" sign can be used to define wildcards (missing letters in the pattern) both before and after the pattern. The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that ends with an "s" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE '%s' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Hansen Svendson FirstName Ola Tove Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 City Sandnes Sandnes
Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "tav" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE '%tav%' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 3 LastName Pettersen FirstName Kari Address Storgt 20 City Stavanger
It is also possible to select the persons living in a city that NOT contains the pattern "tav" from the "Persons" table, by using the NOT keyword. We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City NOT LIKE '%tav%' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Hansen Svendson FirstName Ola Tove Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 City Sandnes Sandnes
SQL Wildcards
SQL Wildcards SQL wildcards can substitute for one or more characters when searching for data in a database. SQL wildcards must be used with the SQL LIKE operator. With SQL, the following wildcards can be used: Wildcard % _ [charlist] [^charlist] or [!charlist] Description A substitute for zero or more characters A substitute for exactly one character Any single character in charlist Any single character not in charlist
SQL Wildcard Examples We have the following "Persons" table: P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 2 3
Using the % Wildcard Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "sa" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE 'sa%' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Hansen Svendson FirstName Ola Tove Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 City Sandnes Sandnes
Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "nes" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE '%nes%' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Hansen Svendson FirstName Ola Tove Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 City Sandnes Sandnes
Using the _ Wildcard Now we want to select the persons with a first name that starts with any character, followed by "la" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName LIKE '_la'
The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 LastName Hansen FirstName Ola Address Timoteivn 10 City Sandnes
Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that starts with "S", followed by any character, followed by "end", followed by any character, followed by "on" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName LIKE 'S_end_on' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 LastName Svendson FirstName Tove Address Borgvn 23 City Sandnes
Using the [charlist] Wildcard Now we want to select the persons with a last name that starts with "b" or "s" or "p" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName LIKE '[bsp]%' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 3 LastName Svendson Pettersen FirstName Tove Kari Address Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Stavanger
Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that do not start with "b" or "s" or "p" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName LIKE '[!bsp]%' The result-set will look like this:
P_Id 1
LastName Hansen
FirstName Ola
Address Timoteivn 10
City Sandnes
SQL IN Operator
The IN Operator The IN operator allows you to specify multiple values in a WHERE clause. SQL IN Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name IN (value1,value2,...) IN Operator Example The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
Now we want to select the persons with a last name equal to "Hansen" or "Pettersen" from the table above.
We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName IN ('Hansen','Pettersen') The result-set will look like this:
P_Id 1 3
Now we want to select the persons with a last name alphabetically between "Hansen" and "Pettersen" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName BETWEEN 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 LastName Hansen FirstName Ola Address Timoteivn 10 City Sandnes
In some databases a person with the LastName of "Hansen" or "Pettersen" will not be listed (BETWEEN only selects fields that are between and excluding the test values). In other databases a person with the last name of "Hansen" or "Pettersen" will be listed (BETWEEN selects fields that are between and including the test values). And in other databases a person with the last name of "Hansen" will be listed, but "Pettersen" will not be listed (BETWEEN selects fields between the test values, including the first test value and excluding the last test value). Therefore: Check how your database treats the BETWEEN operator. Example 2 To display the persons outside the range in the previous example, use NOT BETWEEN: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName NOT BETWEEN 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen' The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 3 LastName Svendson Pettersen FirstName Tove Kari Address Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Stavanger
SQL Alias
SQL Alias You can give a table or a column another name by using an alias. This can be a good thing to do if you have very long or complex table names or column names. An alias name could be anything, but usually it is short. SQL Alias Syntax for Tables SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name AS alias_name SQL Alias Syntax for Columns SELECT column_name AS alias_name
FROM table_name
Alias Example Assume we have a table called "Persons" and another table called "Product_Orders". We will give the table aliases of "p" an "po" respectively. Now we want to list all the orders that "Ola Hansen" is responsible for. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT po.OrderID, p.LastName, p.FirstName FROM Persons AS p, Product_Orders AS po WHERE p.LastName='Hansen' WHERE p.FirstName='Ola' The same SELECT statement without aliases: SELECT Product_Orders.OrderID, Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName FROM Persons, Product_Orders WHERE Persons.LastName='Hansen' WHERE Persons.FirstName='Ola' As you'll see from the two SELECT statements above; aliases can make queries easier to both write and to read.
A primary key is a column with a unique value for each row. Each primary key value must be unique within the table. The purpose is to bind data together, across tables, without repeating all of the data in every table. Look at the "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
Note that the "P_Id" column is the primary key in the "Persons" table. This means that no two rows can have the same P_Id. The P_Id distinguishes two persons even if they have the same name. Next, we have the "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764 P_Id 3 3 1 1 15
Note that the "O_Id" column is the primary key in the "Orders" table and that the "P_Id" column refers to the persons in the "Persons" table without using their names. Notice that the relationship between the two tables above is the "P_Id" column.
Different SQL JOINs Before we continue with examples, we will list the types of JOIN you can use, and the differences between them.
JOIN: Return rows when there is at least one match in both tables LEFT JOIN: Return all rows from the left table, even if there are no matches in the right table
RIGHT JOIN: Return all rows from the right table, even if there are no matches in the left table FULL JOIN: Return rows when there is a match in one of the tables
SQL INNER JOIN Example The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
4 5
24562 34764
1 15
Now we want to list all the persons with any orders. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo FROM Persons INNER JOIN Orders ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id ORDER BY Persons.LastName The result-set will look like this: LastName Hansen Hansen Pettersen Pettersen FirstName Ola Ola Kari Kari OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678
The INNER JOIN keyword return rows when there is at least one match in both tables. If there are rows in "Persons" that do not have matches in "Orders", those rows will NOT be listed.
P_Id 1 2 3
The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764 P_Id 3 3 1 1 15
Now we want to list all the persons and their orders - if any, from the tables above. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo FROM Persons LEFT JOIN Orders ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id ORDER BY Persons.LastName The result-set will look like this: LastName Hansen Hansen Pettersen Pettersen Svendson FirstName Ola Ola Kari Kari Tove OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678
The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all the rows from the left table (Persons), even if there are no matches in the right table (Orders).
SQL RIGHT JOIN Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 RIGHT JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name PS: In some databases RIGHT JOIN is called RIGHT OUTER JOIN. SQL RIGHT JOIN Example The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764 P_Id 3 3 1 1 15
Now we want to list all the orders with containing persons - if any, from the tables above. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo FROM Persons RIGHT JOIN Orders ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id ORDER BY Persons.LastName The result-set will look like this: LastName Hansen Hansen Pettersen Pettersen FirstName Ola Ola Kari Kari OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678
34764 The RIGHT JOIN keyword returns all the rows from the right table (Orders), even if there are no matches in the left table (Persons).
The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764 P_Id 3 3 1 1 15
Now we want to list all the persons and their orders, and all the orders with their persons. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo FROM Persons
FULL JOIN Orders ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id ORDER BY Persons.LastName The result-set will look like this: LastName Hansen Hansen Pettersen Pettersen Svendson FirstName Ola Ola Kari Kari Tove OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678 34764 The FULL JOIN keyword returns all the rows from the left table (Persons), and all the rows from the right table (Orders). If there are rows in "Persons" that do not have matches in "Orders", or if there are rows in "Orders" that do not have matches in "Persons", those rows will be listed as well.
PS: The column names in the result-set of a UNION are always equal to the column names in the first SELECT statement in the UNION. SQL UNION Example Look at the following tables: "Employees_Norway": E_ID 01 02 03 04 E_Name Hansen, Ola Svendson, Tove Svendson, Stephen Pettersen, Kari
"Employees_USA": E_ID 01 02 03 04 E_Name Turner, Sally Kent, Clark Svendson, Stephen Scott, Stephen
Now we want to list all the different employees in Norway and USA. We use the following SELECT statement: SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_Norway UNION SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_USA The result-set will look like this: E_Name Hansen, Ola Svendson, Tove Svendson, Stephen Pettersen, Kari Turner, Sally Kent, Clark
Scott, Stephen Note: This command cannot be used to list all employees in Norway and USA. In the example above we have two employees with equal names, and only one of them will be listed. The UNION command selects only distinct values.
SQL UNION ALL Example Now we want to list all employees in Norway and USA: SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_Norway UNION ALL SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_USA
Result E_Name Hansen, Ola Svendson, Tove Svendson, Stephen Pettersen, Kari Turner, Sally Kent, Clark Svendson, Stephen Scott, Stephen