Introduction to SQL

SQL is a standard language for accessing and manipulating databases.

What is SQL?

SQL stands for Structured Query Language SQL lets you access and manipulate databases SQL 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 in 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

SQL is a Standard - BUT....

Although SQL is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard, there are many different versions of the SQL language. However, to be compliant with the ANSI standard, they all support at least the major commands (such as SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT, WHERE) in a similar manner. Note: Most of the SQL database programs also have their own proprietary extensions in addition to the SQL standard!

Using SQL in Your Web Site

To build a web site that shows some data from a database, you will need the following:

An RDBMS database program (i.e. MS Access, SQL Server, MySQL) A server-side scripting language, like PHP or ASP SQL HTML / CSS

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 collections 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;

Keep in Mind That...

SQL is not case sensitive

Semicolon after SQL Statements?

Some database systems require a semicolon at the end of each SQL statement. Semicolon is the standard way to separate each SQL statement in database systems that allow more than one SQL statement to be executed in the same call to the server. MS SQL does not require a semicolon after each SQL statement.

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 define 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;

The result-set will look like this: LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari

SELECT * Example
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

Navigation in a Result-set
Most database software systems allow navigation in the result-set with programming functions, like: Move-ToFirst-Record, Get-Record-Content, Move-To-Next-Record, etc.

SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement

The SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement
In a table, some of the columns may contain duplicate values. This is not a problem, however, sometimes you will want to list only the different (distinct) values in a table. The DISTINCT keyword can be used to return only distinct (different) values.

SQL SELECT DISTINCT Syntax

SELECT DISTINCT column_name(s) FROM table_name;

SELECT DISTINCT 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 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

SQL WHERE Clause

The WHERE clause is used to filter records.

The WHERE Clause

The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.

SQL WHERE Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value;

WHERE Clause 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 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';

Operators Allowed in the WHERE Clause

With the WHERE clause, the following operators can be used: Operator = <> > < >= <= LIKE IN Description Equal Not equal Greater than Less than Greater than or equal Less than or equal Search for a pattern If you know the exact value you want to return for at least one of the columns

BETWEEN Between an inclusive range

Note: In some versions of SQL the <> operator may be written as !=

SQL AND & OR Operators

The AND & OR operators are used to filter records based on more than one condition.

The AND & OR Operators

The AND operator displays a record if both the first condition and the second condition is true. The OR operator displays a record if either the first condition or the second condition is true.

AND 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 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

SQL ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set.

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 LastName Hansen Nilsen FirstName Ola Tom Address Timoteivn 10 Vingvn 23 City Sandnes Stavanger

3 2

Pettersen Svendson

Kari Tove

Storgt 20 Borgvn 23

Stavanger Sandnes

ORDER BY DESC Example

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

SQL INSERT INTO Statement

The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.

The INSERT INTO Statement

The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert a new row in a table.

SQL INSERT INTO Syntax

It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms. The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values:
INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...);

The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:
INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...) VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...);

SQL INSERT INTO Example

We have the following "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 insert a new row in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:
INSERT INTO Persons VALUES (4,'Nilsen', 'Johan', 'Bakken 2', 'Stavanger');

The "Persons" table will now look like this: P_Id 1 LastName Hansen FirstName Ola Address Timoteivn 10 City Sandnes

2 3 4

Svendson Pettersen Nilsen

Tove Kari Johan

Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 Bakken 2

Sandnes Stavanger Stavanger

Insert Data Only in Specified Columns

It is also possible to only add data in specific columns. The following SQL statement will add a new row, but only add data in the "P_Id", "LastName" and the "FirstName" columns:
INSERT INTO Persons (P_Id, LastName, FirstName) VALUES (5, 'Tjessem', 'Jakob');

The "Persons" table will now look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Ola Tove Kari Johan Jakob Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 Bakken 2 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger Stavanger

SQL UPDATE Statement

The UPDATE statement is used to update records in a table.

The UPDATE Statement

The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.

SQL UPDATE Syntax

UPDATE table_name SET column1=value, column2=value2,... WHERE some_column=some_value;

Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated!

SQL UPDATE Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Ola Tove Kari Johan Jakob Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 Bakken 2 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger Stavanger

Now we want to update the person "Tjessem, Jakob" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:
UPDATE Persons SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes' WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob';

The "Persons" table will now 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

4 5

Nilsen Tjessem

Johan Jakob

Bakken 2 Nissestien 67

Stavanger Sandnes

SQL UPDATE Warning

Be careful when updating records. If we had omitted the WHERE clause in the example above, like this:
UPDATE Persons SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes';

The "Persons" table would have looked like this: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Ola Tove Kari Johan Jakob Address Nissestien 67 Nissestien 67 Nissestien 67 Nissestien 67 Nissestien 67 City Sandnes Sandnes Sandnes Sandnes Sandnes

SQL DELETE Statement

The DELETE statement is used to delete records in a table.

The DELETE Statement

The DELETE statement is used to delete rows in a table.

SQL DELETE Syntax

DELETE FROM table_name WHERE some_column=some_value;

Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be deleted!

SQL DELETE Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Ola Tove Kari Johan Jakob Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 Bakken 2 Nissestien 67 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger Stavanger Sandnes

Now we want to delete the person "Tjessem, Jakob" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:
DELETE FROM Persons WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'

The "Persons" table will now look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 4 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen Nilsen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Johan Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 Bakken 2 City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger Stavanger

Delete All Rows

It is possible to delete all rows in a table without deleting the table. This means that the table structure, attributes, and indexes will be intact:
DELETE FROM table_name or DELETE * FROM table_name;

Note: Be very careful when deleting records. You cannot undo this statement!

SQL Data Types

Data types and ranges for Microsoft Access, MySQL and SQL Server.

Microsoft Access Data Types

Data type Text Memo Byte Integer Long Single Double Currency AutoNumber Date/Time Yes/No Description Use for text or combinations of text and numbers. 255 characters maximum Memo is used for larger amounts of text. Stores up to 65,536 characters. Note: You cannot sort a memo field. However, they are searchable Allows whole numbers from 0 to 255 Allows whole numbers between -32,768 and 32,767 Allows whole numbers between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647 Single precision floating-point. Will handle most decimals Double precision floating-point. Will handle most decimals Use for currency. Holds up to 15 digits of whole dollars, plus 4 decimal places. Tip: You can choose which country's currency to use AutoNumber fields automatically give each record its own number, usually starting at 1 Use for dates and times A logical field can be displayed as Yes/No, True/False, or On/Off. In code, use the constants True and False (equivalent to -1 and 0). Note: Null values are not allowed in Yes/No fields Can store pictures, audio, video, or other BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects) Contain links to other files, including web pages Let you type a list of options, which can then be chosen from a drop-down list 4 bytes 1 byte 2 bytes 4 bytes 4 bytes 8 bytes 8 bytes 4 bytes 8 bytes 1 bit Storage

Ole Object Hyperlink Lookup Wizard

up to 1GB

MySQL Data Types

In MySQL there are three main types : text, number, and Date/Time types. Text types: Data type CHAR(size) VARCHAR(size) Description Holds a fixed length string (can contain letters, numbers, and special characters). The fixed size is specified in parenthesis. Can store up to 255 characters Holds a variable length string (can contain letters, numbers, and special characters). The maximum size is specified in parenthesis. Can store up to 255 characters. Note: If you put

a greater value than 255 it will be converted to a TEXT type TINYTEXT TEXT BLOB MEDIUMTEXT MEDIUMBLOB LONGTEXT LONGBLOB ENUM(x,y,z,etc.) Holds a string with a maximum length of 255 characters Holds a string with a maximum length of 65,535 characters For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 65,535 bytes of data Holds a string with a maximum length of 16,777,215 characters For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 16,777,215 bytes of data Holds a string with a maximum length of 4,294,967,295 characters For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 4,294,967,295 bytes of data Let you enter a list of possible values. You can list up to 65535 values in an ENUM list. If a value is inserted that is not in the list, a blank value will be inserted. Note: The values are sorted in the order you enter them. You enter the possible values in this format: ENUM('X','Y','Z') SET Similar to ENUM except that SET may contain up to 64 list items and can store more than one choice

Number types: Data type TINYINT(size) SMALLINT(size) MEDIUMINT(size) INT(size) BIGINT(size) FLOAT(size,d) Description -128 to 127 normal. 0 to 255 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis -32768 to 32767 normal. 0 to 65535 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis -8388608 to 8388607 normal. 0 to 16777215 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis -2147483648 to 2147483647 normal. 0 to 4294967295 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis -9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807 normal. 0 to 18446744073709551615 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis A small number with a floating decimal point. The maximum number of digits may be specified in the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal point is specified in the d parameter A large number with a floating decimal point. The maximum number of digits may be specified in the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal point is specified in the d parameter A DOUBLE stored as a string , allowing for a fixed decimal point. The maximum number of digits may be specified in the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal point is specified in the d parameter

DOUBLE(size,d)

DECIMAL(size,d)

*The integer types have an extra option called UNSIGNED. Normally, the integer goes from an negative to positive value. Adding the UNSIGNED attribute will move that range up so it starts at zero instead of a negative number. Date types:

Data type DATE()

Description A date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD Note: The supported range is from '1000-01-01' to '9999-12-31'

DATETIME()

*A date and time combination. Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS Note: The supported range is from '1000-01-01 00:00:00' to '9999-12-31 23:59:59'

TIMESTAMP()

*A timestamp. TIMESTAMP values are stored as the number of seconds since the Unix epoch ('1970-01-01 00:00:00' UTC). Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS Note: The supported range is from '1970-01-01 00:00:01' UTC to '2038-01-09 03:14:07' UTC

TIME()

A time. Format: HH:MM:SS Note: The supported range is from '-838:59:59' to '838:59:59'

YEAR()

A year in two-digit or four-digit format. Note: Values allowed in four-digit format: 1901 to 2155. Values allowed in two-digit format: 70 to 69, representing years from 1970 to 2069

*Even if DATETIME and TIMESTAMP return the same format, they work very differently. In an INSERT or UPDATE query, the TIMESTAMP automatically set itself to the current date and time. TIMESTAMP also accepts various formats, like YYYYMMDDHHMMSS, YYMMDDHHMMSS, YYYYMMDD, or YYMMDD.

SQL Server Data Types

Character strings: Data type char(n) varchar(n) varchar(max) text Unicode strings: Data type nchar(n) nvarchar(n) nvarchar(max) ntext Binary types: Description Fixed-length Unicode data. Maximum 4,000 characters Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 4,000 characters Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 536,870,912 characters Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 2GB of text data Storage Description Fixed-length character string. Maximum 8,000 characters Variable-length character string. Maximum 8,000 characters Variable-length character string. Maximum 1,073,741,824 characters Variable-length character string. Maximum 2GB of text data Storage n

Data type bit binary(n) varbinary(n) varbinary(max) image Number types: Data type tinyint smallint int bigint decimal(p,s)

Description Allows 0, 1, or NULL Fixed-length binary data. Maximum 8,000 bytes Variable-length binary data. Maximum 8,000 bytes Variable-length binary data. Maximum 2GB Variable-length binary data. Maximum 2GB

Storage

Description Allows whole numbers from 0 to 255 Allows whole numbers between -32,768 and 32,767 Allows whole numbers between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647 Allows whole numbers between -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 and 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 Fixed precision and scale numbers. Allows numbers from -10^38 +1 to 10^38 1. The p parameter indicates the maximum total number of digits that can be stored (both to the left and to the right of the decimal point). p must be a value from 1 to 38. Default is 18. The s parameter indicates the maximum number of digits stored to the right of the decimal point. s must be a value from 0 to p. Default value is 0

Storage 1 byte 2 bytes 4 bytes 8 bytes 5-17 bytes

numeric(p,s)

Fixed precision and scale numbers. Allows numbers from -10^38 +1 to 10^38 1. The p parameter indicates the maximum total number of digits that can be stored (both to the left and to the right of the decimal point). p must be a value from 1 to 38. Default is 18. The s parameter indicates the maximum number of digits stored to the right of the decimal point. s must be a value from 0 to p. Default value is 0

5-17 bytes

smallmoney money float(n)

Monetary data from -214,748.3648 to 214,748.3647 Floating precision number data from -1.79E + 308 to 1.79E + 308. The n parameter indicates whether the field should hold 4 or 8 bytes. float(24) holds a 4-byte field and float(53) holds an 8-byte field. Default value of n is 53.

4 bytes 4 or 8 bytes

Monetary data from -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to 922,337,203,685,477.5807 8 bytes

real Date types:

Floating precision number data from -3.40E + 38 to 3.40E + 38

4 bytes

Data type datetime datetime2 smalldatetime date time datetimeoffset timestamp

Description From January 1, 1753 to December 31, 9999 with an accuracy of 3.33 milliseconds From January 1, 0001 and December 31, 9999 with an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds From January 1, 1900 to June 6, 2079 with an accuracy of 1 minute Store a date only. From January 1, 0001 to December 31, 9999 Store a time only to an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds The same as datetime2 with the addition of a time zone offset Stores a unique number that gets updated every time a row gets created or modified. The timestamp value is based upon an internal clock and does not correspond to real time. Each table may have only one timestamp variable

Storage 8 bytes 6-8 bytes 4 bytes 3 bytes 3-5 bytes 8-10 bytes

Other data types: Data type sql_variant uniqueidentifier xml cursor table Description Stores up to 8,000 bytes of data of various data types, except text, ntext, and timestamp Stores a globally unique identifier (GUID) Stores XML formatted data. Maximum 2GB Stores a reference to a cursor used for database operations Stores a result-set for later processing

SQL CREATE INDEX Statement

The CREATE INDEX statement is used to create indexes in tables. Indexes allow the database application to find data fast; without reading the whole table.

Indexes
An index can be created in a table to find data more quickly and efficiently. The users cannot see the indexes, they are just used to speed up searches/queries. Note: Updating a table with indexes takes more time than updating a table without (because the indexes also need an update). So you should only create indexes on columns (and tables) that will be frequently searched against.

SQL CREATE INDEX Syntax

Creates an index on a table. Duplicate values are allowed:
CREATE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name);

SQL CREATE UNIQUE INDEX Syntax

Creates a unique index on a table. Duplicate values are not allowed:
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name);

Note: The syntax for creating indexes varies amongst different databases. Therefore: Check the syntax for creating indexes in your database.

CREATE INDEX Example

The SQL statement below creates an index named "PIndex" on the "LastName" column in the "Persons" table:
CREATE INDEX PIndex ON Persons (LastName);

If you want to create an index on a combination of columns, you can list the column names within the parentheses, separated by commas:
CREATE INDEX PIndex

ON Persons (LastName, FirstName);

SQL Joins
SQL joins are used to query data from two or more tables, based on a relationship between certain columns in these tables.

SQL JOIN
The JOIN keyword is used in an SQL statement to query data from two or more tables, based on a relationship between certain columns in these tables. Tables in a database are often related to each other with keys. A primary key is a column (or a combination of columns) 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 Keyword

SQL INNER JOIN Keyword
The INNER JOIN keyword return rows when there is at least one match in both tables.

SQL INNER JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 INNER JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name;

PS: INNER JOIN is the same as JOIN.

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

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 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.

SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword

SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword
The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all rows from the left table (table_name1), even if there are no matches in the right table (table_name2).

SQL LEFT JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 LEFT JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name;

PS: In some databases LEFT JOIN is called LEFT OUTER JOIN.

SQL LEFT 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 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 Keyword

SQL RIGHT JOIN Keyword
The RIGHT JOIN keyword Return all rows from the right table (table_name2), even if there are no matches in the left table (table_name1).

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).

SQL FULL JOIN Keyword

SQL FULL JOIN Keyword
The FULL JOIN keyword return rows when there is a match in one of the tables.

SQL FULL JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 FULL JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name;

SQL FULL 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 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.

SQL UNION Operator

The SQL UNION operator combines two or more SELECT statements.

The SQL UNION Operator

The UNION operator is used to combine the result-set of two or more SELECT statements. Notice that each SELECT statement within the UNION must have the same number of columns. The columns must also have similar data types. Also, the columns in each SELECT statement must be in the same order.

SQL UNION Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 UNION SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name2;

Note: The UNION operator selects only distinct values by default. To allow duplicate values, use UNION ALL.

SQL UNION ALL Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 UNION ALL SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name2;

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 "Employees_USA": E_ID E_Name E_Name Hansen, Ola Svendson, Tove Svendson, Stephen Pettersen, Kari

01 02 03 04

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

SQL CREATE DATABASE Statement

The CREATE DATABASE Statement
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database.

SQL CREATE DATABASE Syntax

CREATE DATABASE database_name;

CREATE DATABASE Example

Now we want to create a database called "my_db". We use the following CREATE DATABASE statement:
CREATE DATABASE my_db;

Database tables can be added with the CREATE TABLE statement.

SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

The CREATE TABLE Statement
The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in a database.

SQL CREATE TABLE Syntax

CREATE TABLE ( column_name1 column_name2 column_name3 .... ); table_name data_type, data_type, data_type,

The data type specifies what type of data the column can hold.

CREATE TABLE Example

Now we want to create a table called "Persons" that contains five columns: P_Id, LastName, FirstName, Address, and City. We use the following CREATE TABLE statement:
CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int, LastName varchar(255), FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )

The P_Id column is of type int and will hold a number. The LastName, FirstName, Address, and City columns are of type varchar with a maximum length of 255 characters. The empty "Persons" table will now look like this: P_Id LastName FirstName Address City

The empty table can be filled with data with the INSERT INTO statement.