Database Queries

MIT Center for

Transportation & Logistics ctl.mit.edu
Motivating questions
• How is data stored in a database?

• How do we create databases and tables?

• How do we insert data into a database?

• How do we get the data that we need from a single table in a

relational database?

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SQL and SQL Data Types

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Structured Query Language (SQL)
• Data definition: Operations to build tables and views (virtual
tables)

• Data manipulation: INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE or retrieve

(SELECT) data

• Data integrity: Referential integrity and transactions

n Enforces primary and foreign keys

• Access control: Security for multiple types of users

• Data sharing: Database accessed by concurrent users

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Structured Query Language (SQL)
• SQL is not a complete language like Java, Visual Basic or C++
n SQL is sub-language of about 30 statement types

• Embedded in another language or tool for database access

• SQL has several inconsistencies; NULLs can be problematic

• Portable across operating systems and somewhat portable

among vendors

• Declarative language, not a procedural language

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Variations among SQL implementations
• Error codes
• Data types supported (dates/times, currency, string/text
variations)
• Whether case matters (upper, lower case)
• System tables (the structure of the database itself)
• Programming interface (no vendor follows the standard)
• Report and query generation tools
• Implementer-defined variations within the standard
• Database initialization, opening and connection

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Core MySQL Data Types – Numeric
Numeric Type Description
INT A standard integer
BIGINT A large integer
DECIMAL A fixed-point number
FLOAT A single-precision, floating-point number
DOUBLE A double-precision, floating-point number
BIT A bit field

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Core MySQL Data Types – Strings (Text)
String Type Description
CHAR A fixed-length, non-binary string (character)
VARCHAR A variable-length, non-binary string
NCHAR Same as above + Unicode Support
NVARCHAR Same as above + Unicode Support
BINARY A fixed-length, binary string
VARBINARY A variable-length, binary string
TINYBLOB A very small BLOB (binary large object)
BLOB A small BLOB
TEXT A small, non-binary string

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Core MySQL Data Types – Dates/Times
Date / Time Type Description
DATE A date value in 'CCYY-MM-DD' format
TIME A time value in 'hh:mm:ss' format
DATETIME Date/Time in 'CCYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss’ format
TIMESTAMP Timestamp in 'CCYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss’ format
YEAR A year value in CCYY or YY format

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Key points from lesson
• SQL (Structured Query Language) contains the commands we
use to create, manage and query relational databases

• There are different vendor implementations of SQL, but most

have a common set of data types and commands

• We have discussed commonly used data types and will cover

the most common queries

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Creating Databases and Tables

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Example data model
• It is typical to use the same name for columns with the same
meaning across different tables
• We give them different names here so that we don’t have to
say tablename.columnname:
n Here: OfficeNbr and RepOffice

n Preferred: Offices.OfficeNbr and SalesReps.OfficeNbr

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

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Create a database for SC4x
• Recall, database is a collection of tables
• First we must CREATE a database:

DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS SC4x;

CREATE DATABASE SC4x;
USE SC4x;

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Create Offices table
CREATE TABLE Offices (
OfficeNbr NCHAR(2) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
City NVARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
State NCHAR(2) NOT NULL,
Region NCHAR(5) NOT NULL, Offices
Target DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
OfficeNbr
Sales DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
Phone NVARCHAR(15) NOT NULL); City
State
Region
Target
Sales
Phone
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Create SalesReps table
CREATE TABLE SalesReps (
RepNbr NCHAR(3) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
Name NVARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
RepOffice NCHAR(2) NOT NULL,
Quota DECIMAL(10,2), # Allow NULLs
Sales DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
FOREIGN KEY (RepOffice) SalesReps
REFERENCES Offices(OfficeNbr));
RepNbr
Name
RepOffice
Quota
Sales
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Create Customers table
CREATE TABLE Customers (
CustNbr NCHAR(3) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
Company NVARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
CustRep NCHAR(3) NOT NULL,
CreditLimit DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
FOREIGN KEY (CustRep)
REFERENCES SalesReps(RepNbr));
Customers
CustNbr
Company
CustRep
CreditLimit
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Create Orders table
CREATE TABLE Orders (
OrderNbr INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY
AUTO_INCREMENT,
Cust NCHAR(3) NOT NULL,
Prod NVARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
Qty INT NOT NULL, Orders
Amt DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
Disc DECIMAL(3,1) NOT NULL, OrderNbr
FOREIGN KEY (Cust) Cust
REFERENCES Customers(CustNbr)); Prod
Qty
Amt
Disc
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Create Employees table
CREATE TABLE Employees(
EmpNbr NCHAR(5) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
Name NVARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
Title NVARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
Mgr NCHAR(5));

Employees
EmpNbr
Name
Title
Mgr
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Create Parts table
CREATE TABLE Parts (
PartID NCHAR(4) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
Vendor NCHAR(4) NOT NULL);

Parts
PartID
Vendor
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Key points from lesson
• Databases are made using the CREATE DATABASE command

• The USE command tells the system which database to use

• New tables are declared using the CREATE TABLE command,

we can also set the name and data type of each attribute

• When creating new tables, we can specify primary keys and

foreign key relationships and whether or not NULL or empty
values are allowed

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Inserting Data into a Database

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Inserting data into a new database
• The data model acts as a guide to load data into a new
database:
n It may build well, which usually means you found the real

business rules
n It may build with some errors, which usually means you

have the real business rules, but the data is sloppy

n It may build with many errors, which usually means that

you were told the business rules people wish to have or

think they have, not the ones they actually use

• It’s often useful to get some sample data and browse it while
building the data model
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Insert offices into the Offices table
INSERT INTO Offices
Offices
VALUES('1', 'Denver', 'CO', 'West', OfficeNbr
3000000, 130000, '970.586.3341');
City
INSERT INTO Offices State
VALUES('2', 'New York', 'NY', 'East',
200000, 300000, '212.942.5574');
Region
Target
INSERT INTO Offices Sales
VALUES('57', 'Dallas', 'TX', 'West', 0, 0,
'214.781.5342'); Phone
OfficeNbr City State Region Target Sales Phone
1 Denver CO West 3000000.00 130000.00 970.586.3341
2 New York NY East 200000.00 300000.00 212.942.5574
57 Dallas TX West 0.00 0.00 214.781.5342
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Insert sales representatives into the
SalesReps table
INSERT INTO SalesReps
VALUES('53', 'Bill Smith', '1', 100000, 0);

INSERT INTO SalesReps

VALUES('89', 'Jen Jones', '2', 50000, 130000);

SalesReps
RepNbr
Name
RepOffice
RepNbr Name RepOffice Quota Sales
Quota
53 Bill Smith 1 100000.00 0.00
89 Jen Jones 2 50000.00 130000.00 Sales
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Insert customers into the Customers
table
INSERT INTO Customers
VALUES('211', 'Connor Co', '89', 50000);

INSERT INTO Customers

VALUES('522', 'Amaratunga Enterprises', '89',
40000);

INSERT INTO Customers

VALUES('890', 'Feni Fabricators', '53', 1000000);
Customers
CustNbr
CustNbr Company CustRep CreditLimit Company
211 Connor Co 89 50000.00
CustRep
522 Amaratunga Enterprises 89 40000.00
890 Feni Fabricators 53 1000000.00 CreditLimit
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Insert orders into the Orders table
INSERT INTO Orders (Cust, Prod, Qty, Amt, Disc)
VALUES('211', 'Bulldozer', 7, 31000, 0.2);

INSERT INTO Orders (Cust, Prod, Qty, Amt, Disc)

VALUES('522', 'Riveter', 2, 4000, 0.3);

INSERT INTO Orders (Cust, Prod, Qty, Amt, Disc) Orders

VALUES('522', 'Crane', 1, 500000, 0.4);
OrderNbr
Cust
Prod
OrderNbr Cust Prod Qty Amt Disc Qty
1 211 Bulldozer 7 31000.00 0.20
Amt
2 522 Riveter 2 4000.00 0.30
3 522 Crane 1 500000.00 0.40 Disc
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Final tables
OrderNbr Cust Prod Qty Amt Disc
1 211 Bulldozer 7 31000.00 0.20
Orders 2 522 Riveter 2 4000.00 0.30
3 522 Crane 1 500000.00 0.40

CustNbr Company CustRep CreditLimit

211 Connor Co 89 50000.00
Customers 522 Amaratunga Enterprises 89 40000.00
890 Feni Fabricators 53 1000000.00

RepNbr Name RepOffice Quota Sales

SalesReps 53 Bill Smith 1 100000.00 0.00
89 Jen Jones 2 50000.00 130000.00

OfficeNbr City State Region Target Sales Phone

1 Denver CO West 3000000.00 130000.00 970.586.3341
Offices 2 New York NY East 200000.00 300000.00 212.942.5574
57 Dallas TX West 0.00 0.00 214.781.5342
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Key points from lesson
• We have now created and inserted initial data into our SC4x
office database

• These new tables and records can be viewed using database

management tools

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SQL SELECT queries

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SELECT
• SELECT statements are constructed of clauses to get records
from one or more tables or views.
• Clauses must be in order, only SELECT and FROM are
required:
SELECT attributes/columns
INTO new table
FROM table or view
WHERE specific records or a join is created
GROUP BY grouping conditions (attributes)
HAVING group-property (specific records)
ORDER BY ordering criterion ASC | DESC

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SELECT attributes FROM SalesReps
• List the sales reps and their current sales and quotas:

SELECT Name, Sales, Quota

FROM SalesReps;
SalesReps
RepNbr
Name Sales Quota
Bill Smith 0.00 100000.00
Name
Jen Jones 130000.00 50000.00 RepOffice
Quota
Sales
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SELECT attributes FROM SalesReps
• Find the amount each rep is over/under quota:

SELECT Name, Sales, Quota, (Sales - Quota)

FROM SalesReps;
SalesReps
Name Sales Quota (Sales – Quota) RepNbr
Bill Smith 0.00 100000.00 -100000.00 Name
Jen Jones 130000.00 50000.00 80000.00
RepOffice
Quota
Sales
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SELECT slackers FROM SalesReps
• Find the slackers:

SELECT Name, Sales, Quota, (Sales - Quota)

FROM SalesReps
WHERE Sales < Quota; SalesReps
RepNbr
Name Sales Quota (Sales – Quota)
Name
Bill Smith 0.00 100000.00 -100000.00
RepOffice
Quota
Sales
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SELECT all records FROM Offices
• Select all attributes (fields) from Offices:

SELECT *
FROM Offices;

OfficeNbr City State Region Target Sales Phone

1 Denver CO West 3000000.00 130000.00 970.586.3341
2 New York NY East 200000.00 300000.00 212.942.5574
57 Dallas TX West 0.00 0.00 214.781.5342

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SELECT regions without duplicates
• Select all Region records:

Region
SELECT Region West
FROM Offices; East
West

• Select unique regions from Offices:

SELECT DISTINCT Region Region

FROM Offices; West
East
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SELECT unique values and counts
• Find the unique set of office city/state combinations:
City State
SELECT DISTINCT City, State Denver CO
FROM Offices; New York NY
Dallas TX

• Find the number of sales for a customer:

SELECT COUNT(*)
COUNT(*)
FROM Orders
1
WHERE Cust = '211';

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SELECT sums and averages FROM
Orders
• Find the sum of all sales:
SELECT SUM(Amt) SUM(Amt)
FROM Orders; 535000.00

• Find the average of all sales:

SELECT AVG(Amt) AVG(Amt)
FROM Orders; 178333.33

• Find the average sale for customer 211:

SELECT AVG(Amt)
AVG(Amt)
FROM Orders; 31000.00
WHERE Cust = '211';
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Wildcards in SQL
• The official SQL standard only has 2 wildcards:
% any string of zero or more characters
_ any single character

SELECT OfficeNbr, Phone OfficeNbr Phone

FROM Offices 2 212.942.5574
WHERE Phone LIKE '21%'; 57 214.781.5342

SELECT OfficeNbr, Phone

OfficeNbr Phone
FROM Offices
1 970.586.3341
WHERE Phone NOT LIKE '21%';

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Wildcards in SQL
• Most database implementations offer additional regular
expressions wildcards

• MySQL has:
[list] match any single character in list, e.g. [a-f]
[^list] match any single character not in list, e.g. [^h-m]

SELECT OfficeNbr, Phone

FROM Offices
WHERE Phone REGEXP '21[1-2]';

OfficeNbr Phone
2 212.942.5574

Additional expressions here: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/regexp.html 39

Key points from lesson
• SELECT returns a set of attributes in a query

• The WHERE clause is used to identify the set of records that

meets a specific set of conditions

• SELECT and WHERE are used together to pick a subset of

attributes and records from a table

• The DISTINCT keyword, statistical functions can be applied to

the attributes selected in a query

• Regular expressions can be used to find records which match

complex string patterns
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Editing a table

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INSERT INTO Offices
• Add an office:

INSERT INTO Offices (OfficeNbr, City, State,

Region, Target, Sales, Phone)
VALUES ('55', 'Dallas', 'TX', 'West', 200000,
0, '214.333.2222');

OfficeNbr City State Region Target Sales Phone

1 Denver CO West 3000000.00 130000.00 970.586.3341
2 New York NY East 200000.00 300000.00 212.942.5574
57 Dallas TX West 0.00 0.00 214.781.5342
55 Dallas TX West 200000.00 0.00 214.333.2222
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UPDATE Offices
• Change a sales target:

UPDATE Offices
SET Target = 300000
WHERE OfficeNbr = '55';

OfficeNbr City State Region Target Sales Phone

1 Denver CO West 3000000.00 130000.00 970.586.3341
2 New York NY East 200000.00 300000.00 212.942.5574
57 Dallas TX West 0.00 0.00 214.781.5342
55 Dallas TX West 300000.00 0.00 214.333.2222
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DELETE Offices
• Remove an office from the database:

DELETE FROM Offices

WHERE OfficeNbr = '55';

• Watch out for referential integrity when deleting records

OfficeNbr City State Region Target Sales Phone

1 Denver CO West 3000000.00 130000.00 970.586.3341
2 New York NY East 200000.00 300000.00 212.942.5574
57 Dallas TX West 0.00 0.00 214.781.5342
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Key points from lesson
• INSERT is used to add a new record to a table that contains
specific values for a set of attributes in that table

• The UPDATE keyword is used to modify a specific value or set

of values for a set of records in a table

• DELETE is used to remove records from a table that meet a

specific condition

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