Managing Tables

David Berry
http://buildingbettersoftware.blogspot.com/
 Databases Require Changes Over Time

Adding columns Changing data types Renaming objects

 Module Contents

Oracle
Database Managing Managing
Data
Statistics Tables Columns
Dictionary
 Series of views containing
Oracle Data metadata about all database
Dictionary objects in Oracle
 Data Dictionary Course Content Focus

Graphical presentation Be aware of underlying

varies by tool views

Use for writing custom

Become familiar with
queries, customizing
feature set of tool you use
output format
 Three Sets of Views

dba_* Information about all objects in the database

Information about objects owned by the

user_* current user

Information about all objects the current

all_* user has permission to
 USER_OBJECTS View

Definition
Contains An entry for every database object (table, view,
index, stored procedure, etc…)
Oracle Documentation http://bit.ly/Ora12cAllObjects

Key columns
object_name Name of the table, view, index, etc…
object_type Indicated if this object is a table, view, etc…
created Timestamp of when this object was created
last_ddl_time Timestamp of when the definition of this object was
last changed
status Indicated if the object is valid or invalid
 USER_TABLES View

Definition
Contains One row for each table
Oracle Documentation http://bit.ly/Ora12cAllTables

Key columns
table_name Name of the table
num_rows Number of rows in the table
blocks Number of blocks that have been used in the table
avg_row_len Average length in bytes of a row in the table
last_analyzed Date that stats were most recently gathered against
the table
 USER_TAB_COLS View

Definition
Contains An entry for every column in a table or a view
Oracle Documentation http://bit.ly/Ora12cAllTabCols

Key columns
table_name Name of the table or view the column belongs to
column_name Name of the column
data_type Data type of this column
num_distinct Number of distinct values in this column
num_nulls Number of rows in this column with a null value
 USER_CONSTRAINTS View

Definition
Contains An entry for each constraint (primary key, foreign
key, check constraint)
Oracle Documentation http://bit.ly/Ora12cAllConstraints

Key columns
table_name Name of the table the constraint is associated with
constraint_name Name of the constraint
constraint_type Code that indicates the type of the constraint
r_constriant_name For foreign keys, the name of the unique constraint
in the parent table
deferrable Indicates if the constraint can be deferred
 USER_INDEXES View

Definition
Contains An entry for each index
Oracle Documentation http://bit.ly/Ora12cAllindexes

Key columns
table_name Name of the table the index is on
index_name Name of index
uniqueness Indicated if this is a unique index
distinct_keys Number of distinct keys in the index
last_analyed Date that stats were most recently gathered against
the index
 USER_IND_COLUMNS View

Definition
Contains An entry for each column in an index
Oracle Documentation http://bit.ly/Ora12cAllIndColumns

Key columns
table_name Name of the table the index is on
index_name Name of index
column_name Name of the column
column_position Position of the column in the index
 Data Dictionary Summary

Invest some time in learning what is available

Most commonly used views

• http://bit.ly/Ora12cDataDictionaryViews
 Life of a SQL Statement

Parse Phase Query Optimization Execution Phase

Check SQL Syntax Read Blocks
Evaluate Statistics
Check Object Permissions Filter Rows
Create Execution Plan
Query Rewrite Process Sort Data
 By the Oracle Optimizer to determine the
How Are most efficient plan for your SQL statement
Database
Statistics Used? To estimate how much processing is required
for each option
 How Are Database Statistics Gathered?

• Scheduled by Oracle
Automatically • Oracle detects objects with significant changes

• Executed by user
Manually • Used after large insert/delete operation
• Useful in test environments
 Gathering Statistics Manually

-- Update for one table and all indexes on table

EXEC DBMS_STATS.GATHER_TABLE_STATS(
ownname => ‘<<Table Owner Name>>’,
tabname => ‘<<Table Name>>’,
estimate_percent => <<percent>>);

-- Update for all objects in a schema

EXEC DBMS_STATS. GATHER_SCHEMA_STATS(
ownname => ‘<<Schema Owner Name>>’,
estimate_percent => <<percent>> );

http://bit.ly/Orac12cDbmsStats
 Dropping a Table

-- Basic DROP TABLE syntax

DROP TABLE departments;

Dependent
Tables
 Foreign Keys and Dropping a Table

-- Drop dependent tables first

DROP TABLE degrees;
DROP TABLE courses;

-- Now drop the table of interest

DROP TABLE departments;

 Problematic if the dependent tables contain more

dependencies

 We don’t want to drop a significant portion of the

database
 Drop Table With Cascade Constraints

-- Drop table and foreign keys that reference this table

DROP TABLE departments CASCADE CONSTRAINTS;

 Dependent tables stay intact

 Only their foreign keys are dropped

 Possible to recreate the table, re-add foreign keys

 Renaming a Table

-- Syntax to rename an object in Oracle

-- RENAME old_name TO new_name;

RENAME departments TO depts;

 Oracle will automatically transfer all constraints and

indexes

 Views, stored procedures, functions, synonyms will

become invalid
 Find invalid objects using all_objects view
 You need to manually fix these
 Renaming a Table

-- Syntax to rename an object in Oracle

-- RENAME old_name TO new_name;

RENAME departments TO depts;

 Oracle will automatically transfer all constraints and

indexes

 Views, stored procedures, functions, synonyms will

become invalid
 Find invalid objects using all_objects view
 You need to manually fix these
 Making a Table Read Only

Place a table in read only mode

ALTER TABLE table_name READ ONLY;

 No DML allowed (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE)

 TRUNCATE not allowed
 Cannot add, modify, remove columns

Return a table to read write mode

ALTER TABLE table_name READ WRITE;
 Adding Columns to Tables

Frequent need over the lifetime of a database

Required capability to respond to changing business needs

 Adding Columns to a Table

ALTER TABLE students ADD

(
immunization_form_received VARCHAR2(1) DEFAULT 'N' NOT NULL,
immunization_form_date DATE NULL
);
 Adding Columns With a Default Value

ALTER TABLE students ADD

(
immunization_form_received VARCHAR2(1) DEFAULT 'N' NOT NULL,
immunization_form_date DATE NULL
);

 Oracle substitutes the default value at query time for existing

rows

 Existing rows do not have to be updated

Adding Columns – Breaking Insert Statements

Insert statement without column names

INSERT INTO courses
VALUES (‘CS’, ‘401’, ‘Operating Systems’, 4.0’);

Solution: add the column as invisible

ALTER TABLE courses ADD
(
textbook_name VARCHAR2(50) INVISIBLE NULL
);
Drop a Column From a Table

Logical Delete Physical Delete

 Physical Delete of Column

ALTER TABLE table_name

DROP COLUMN (column_name1, column_name2);
 Physical Delete of Column

Views, procedures will be

Your responsibility to fix these
invalidated

Oracle will update each Can be a performance impact on a

block in table large table
 Logical Delete of Column

ALTER TABLE table_name

SET UNUSED (column_name1, column_name2);

At some later time:

ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP UNUSED COLUMNS;
 Logical Delete of Column

Logically deleted columns

Regard this as a one way trip
cannot be recovered

Provides ability to defer Can occur during off hours or a

physical update of blocks maintenance window
 Dropping Columns and Key Constraints

 Attempt to drop column in a primary or foreign key will result in an

error

 To drop the column and the primary/foreign key use

ALTER TABLE table_name
SET UNUSED (column_name1, column_name2)
CASCADE CONSTRAINTS;

 Is dropping a column in a key constraint what you really want?

Changing a Column Data Type

Possible to do, but there are limitations

 Changing a Column Data Type

Operation Examples Allowed?

Increasing size VARCHAR2(30)  VARCHAR2(50)

Allowed
of data type NUMBER(8,4)  NUMBER(12,6)

Decreasing size Allowed if no data

VARCHAR2(50)  VARCHAR2(25)
of VARCHAR truncated

Decrease precision, Allowed if column

NUMBER(8,4)  NUMBER(12,6)
scale of NUMBER empty

Change to different NUMBER(8,4)  VARCHAR2(10) Allowed if column

data type VARCHAR2(10)  DATE empty
 Change Column Data Type Syntax

ALTER TABLE table_name MODIFY

(
column_name new_data_type
);
 Module Summary

Oracle Data Dictionary Database Statistics

What is the data dictionary What are database statistics

Useful views How are they used
How are stats gathered

Managing Tables Managing Columns

Dropping tables Adding columns

Renaming tables Renaming columns
Changing column data types