Table Basics
David Berry
http://buildingbettersoftware.blogspot.com/
Introduction to Tables
student_id first_name last_name phone email major_id
208728 Marcia Garcia 630-239-4325 [email protected] 8
208741 Walter Stumpf 419-500-5489 [email protected] 12
208749 Brenda Brown 979-859-7105 [email protected] 5
208755 Christopher Glenn 803-980-0813 [email protected] 5
209628 Lisa Shifflett 229-409-0015 [email protected] 4
Tables Roadmap
Table Basics Table Constraints Table Storage
(this module) (next module) (in two modules)
Create table syntax Primary keys Storage characteristics
Naming rules Foreign keys Storage options
Null values Check constraints
Default values
Naming Rules
Maximum 30 characters for all objects
Length
Tables, views must be unique within schema
Uniqueness
Columns must be unique within a table
SQL Reserved Possible to use but discouraged
Words
Tables Represent Business Data
Basic Create Table Syntax
CREATE TABLE courses
(
department_code VARCHAR2(2) NOT NULL,
course_number NUMBER(3,0) NOT NULL,
course_title VARCHAR2(64) NOT NULL,
course_description VARCHAR2(512) NOT NULL,
credits NUMBER(3,1) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_courses PRIMARY KEY
(department_code, course_number),
CONSTRAINT fk_courses_department_code FOREIGN KEY
(department_code) REFERENCES departments (department_code)
CONSTRAINT ck_courses_course_number
CHECK (course_number BETWEEN 100 AND 999)
)
TABLESPACE users
PCTFREE 75;
Naming Good names communicate intent
Tables and
Poor names lead to confusion
Columns
Naming Rules
Maximum 30 characters for all objects
Length
Tables, views must be unique within schema
Uniqueness
Columns must be unique within a table
SQL Reserved Possible to use but discouraged
Words
Naming Rules
Maximum
• 30 characters for all object types
Length
• Tables, views, indexes must be unique within
a user schema
Uniqueness
• Columns must be unique within a table or
view
SQL Reserved
• Possible to use but discouraged
Words
Unquoted Names
Most common way of naming objects
CREATE TABLE zip_codes
(
zip_code VARCHAR2(5) NOT NULL,
city VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
state VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL
);
Allowable characters are
Alphanumeric characters
Underscore (_) character
$ and # characters
Names will be case insensitive
Unquoted Names Are Case Insensitive
CREATE TABLE zip_codes
(
zip_code VARCHAR2(5) NOT NULL,
city VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
state VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL
);
Allowed SQL Statements
-- This is OK
select ZIP_CODE, CITY, STATE
from ZIP_CODES;
-- So is this
SELECT Zip_Code, City, State
FROM Zip_Codes;
Quoted Identifiers
Allows a wider range of options
CREATE TABLE “ZipCodes”
(
“zip code” VARCHAR2(5) NOT NULL,
“city.name” VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
“state-abbr” VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL
);
You must also use quoted names in SQL statements
SELECT
“zip code”, “city.name”, “state-abbr”
FROM “ZipCodes”
WHERE “zip code” = ‘54911’
Defining Columns
CREATE TABLE students
(
student_id NUMBER(6) NOT NULL,
first_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
last_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
email_address VARCHAR2(128) NOT NULL,
phone VARCHAR2(20) NULL,
city VARCHAR2(30) NULL,
state VARCHAR2(2) NULL,
status_code VARCHAR2(1) DEFAULT ‘A’ NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_students PRIMARY KEY (student_id)
);
Column Definition Rules
Number of • Maximum of 1000 columns
Columns per
Table • Over 255 columns results in row chaining
• 30 characters maximum
Column
• Names must be unique within a table
Naming Rules
• Names can be reused in different tables
Minimum • Name and datatype must be specified
Information • NULL an default clauses are optional
NULL Column Values
CREATE TABLE students
(
student_id NUMBER(6,0) NOT NULL,
first_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
last_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
city VARCHAR2(30) NULL,
state VARCHAR2(2) NULL,
date_of_birth DATE
);
In character based columns (CHAR, VARCHAR, NCHAR, NVARCHAR)
Empty string is treated as a NULL value
Default Values
CREATE TABLE students
(
student_id NUMBER(6,0) NOT NULL,
first_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
last_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
city VARCHAR2(30) NULL,
state VARCHAR2(2) NULL,
date_of_birth DATE,
enrollment_status VARCHAR2(1) DEFAULT ‘E’ NOT NULL
);
NULL, NOT NULL or DEFAULT VALUE
That is the question
Data You Do Not Have
Using NULL values
user_id email_address first_name last_name phone_number city
8385930 [email protected] Adam Brady 303-555-1212 Denver
8385931 [email protected] George Ward <NULL> Phoenix
8385932 [email protected] Marcia Garcia <NULL> <NULL>
8385933
[email protected] Walter Stumpf 414-555-8965 <NULL>
Using default values
user_id email_address first_name last_name phone_number city
8385930 [email protected] Adam Brady 303-555-1212 Denver
8385931 [email protected] George Ward 000-000-0000 Phoenix
8385932 [email protected] Marcia Garcia 000-000-0000 UNKNOWN
8385933
[email protected] Walter Stumpf 414-555-8965 UNKNOWN
An Event That Has Not Occurred
Using NULL values
order_id customer_id order_status_code order_date ship_date
567893 832 S 2014-08-03 2014-08-05
56784 944 S 2014-08-03 2014-08-07
567895 968 P 2014-08-05 <NULL>
567896 1024 N 2014-08-06 <NULL>
Using default values
order_id customer_id order_status_code order_date ship_date
567893 832 S 2014-08-03 2014-08-05
56784 944 S 2014-08-03 2014-08-07
567895 968 P 2014-08-05 1900-01-01
567896 1024 N 2014-08-06 1900-01-01
Use Defaults To Indicate an Initial State
Using default values
member email_address first_name last_name phone_number members
_id hip_level
8385930
[email protected] Adam Brady 303-555-1212 P
8385931 [email protected] George Ward 602-555-3547 F
8385932 [email protected] Marcia Garcia 608-555-2575 F
8385933
[email protected] Walter Stumpf 414-555-8965 P
Using NULL values
member email_address first_name last_name phone_number members
_id hip_level
8385930
[email protected] Adam Brady 303-555-1212 P
8385932 [email protected] Marcia Garcia 608-555-2575
8385933
[email protected] Walter Stumpf 414-555-8965 P
Know your data
What does the data mean
NULL
How is it used
versus
Default Values What communicates intent most clearly?
• Would another user draw the same conclusion?
Virtual Columns Introduction
Normal column Virtual column
Data is physically stored Value is computed from
on disk by Oracle other columns in table
Virtual Column Use Case
CREATE TABLE orders
(
order_id NUMBER(10) NOT NULL,
order_date DATE NOT NULL,
customer_id NUMBER(10) NOT NULL,
subtotal NUMBER(10,2),
tax NUMBER(10,2),
shipping NUMBER(10,2),
grand_total NUMBER(10,2)
);
Defining a Virtual Column
CREATE TABLE orders
(
order_id NUMBER(10) NOT NULL,
order_date DATE NOT NULL,
customer_id NUMBER(10) NOT NULL,
subtotal NUMBER(10,2),
tax NUMBER(10,2),
shipping NUMBER(10,2),
grand_total NUMBER(10,2)
AS (subtotal + tax + shipping) VIRTUAL
);
Defining a Virtual Column With a Function
CREATE TABLE students5
(
student_id NUMBER(10) NOT NULL,
first_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
middle_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
last_name VARCHAR2(30) NOT NULL,
email_address VARCHAR2(60) NOT NULL,
email_domain VARCHAR2(60) AS (
SUBSTR(email_address, INSTR(email_address, '@', 1, 1)+1)
) VIRTUAL
);
Virtual Column Properties
Value is computed in result set of query
Cannot INSERT into or UPDATE virtual columns
Can only make use of columns in the same table
Indexes can be created over virtual column values
Virtual
Useful for situations where a
Columns derived value is needed
Summary
Summary
CREATE TABLE NULLS and
Naming Rules
Syntax Default Values
