Retrieving Result Sets: Objectives

Retrieving Result Sets
Objectives
In this lesson, you will learn to: Use wildcards Use the IS NULL and IS NOT NULL keywords Use the ORDER BY clause Use the TOP keyword Use the DISTINCT keyword Use aggregate functions in queries
Group result sets

Use the COMPUTE and COMPUTE BY clause
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2.D.1 Retrieving Rows Based on Pattern Matching
Jackson Demello of the Texas Times newspaper, is to be contacted. However, there are three newspapers that contain the words Texas Times along with other words. To ensure that the right newspaper is contacted, details like the names of the newspapers, the contact persons, and the telephone numbers of the newspapers, which have Texas Times in their names need to be displayed.
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Task List
Create a format for query output Draft the query Execute the query Verify that the query output is as per the required results
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Create a format for the query output
Result: The required output from the report is the name of the newspaper, contact person, and the telephone numbers The column headings required in the report are cNewspaperName, vContactPerson and cPhone The newspaper name should have the phrase Texas Times in it
The format of the report is shown below:

cNewspaperName vContactPerson cPhone
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Draft the query
String Operator You can use the LIKE keyword to search for a string with the wildcard mechanism The LIKE keyword is used to select those rows that match the specified portion of character string Result: The required information is available in the Newspaper table
Since the newspaper name must have Texas Times, and it could be prefixed or suffixed by anything, the wild card to be used is %
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Draft the query (Contd.)
Therefore, the query using the SELECT statement should be: SELECT cNewspaperName, vContactPerson, cPhone
FROM Newspaper
WHERE cNewspaperName LIKE '%Texas Times%'
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Execute the query
Action: In the Query Analyzer window, type the query Execute the query
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Verify that the query output is as per the required results
Check whether: The required columns are displayed All the rows that meet the condition specified in the WHERE clause are displayed
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Just a Minute
Write a query to display the details of all the contract recruiters whose names begin with J.
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2.D.2 Displaying Rows With Missing Values
The list of candidates for whom interviews are not yet scheduled is required.
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Task List
Create a format for the query output Draft the query Execute the query Verify that the query output is as per the required results
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Result: The output requirement for the report is the names of the candidates whose interview has not yet been scheduled
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Draft the query
The IS NULL and IS NOT NULL Keywords NULL is an unknown value or a value for which data is not available Syntax
SELECT column_list FROM table_name

WHERE column_name unknown_value_operator Result:
The information is available in the ExternalCandidate table

The condition is that the test date should be NULL
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Draft the query
Therefore, the query using the SELECT statement should be: SELECT vFirstName, vLastName, dInterviewDate FROM ExternalCandidate
WHERE dInterviewDate IS NULL
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Execute the query
Action: In the Query Analyzer window, type the query Execute the query
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Check whether: The required columns are displayed All rows that have a NULL value in the dInterviewDate attribute are displayed
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2.D.3 Displaying Data in a Specific Order
A report of all roles is required as inputs for further reviewing of the number of vacancies. A report in the ascending order of the position description is to be generated.
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Task List
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Result: The output required in the report is the position code and a description of the position available The format of the report is given below:
cPositionCode cDescription
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Draft the query
The ORDER BY Clause Syntax SELECT select_list FROM table_name [ORDER BY column_name | select_list_number | expression [ASC|DESC][, column_name | select_list_number | expression [ASC|DESC]...]
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Result: The information is available in the Position table Therefore, the query using the SELECT statement should be: SELECT cPositionCode, vDescription FROM Position ORDER BY vDescription ASC
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Execute the query
Action:
In the Query Analyzer window, type the query Execute the query
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Check whether: The required columns are displayed All rows are displayed by vDescription in ascending order
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2.D.4 Displaying the Top Few Rows
Based on test scores, the top 3 external candidates have to be short-listed for an interview. The tests were taken in March 2001. All details of these candidates are required.
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Task List
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Result: The output required from the query is details of the top 3 candidates The column headings required by the report are the attribute names of the table ExternalCandidate
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Draft the query
The TOP Keyword The TOP clause limits the number of rows returned in the result set Syntax SELECT [TOP n [PERCENT]] column_name [,column_name] FROM table_name
WHERE search_conditions
[ORDER BY [column_name[,column_name]
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Result: The information required is available in the ExternalCandidate table All the external candidate details are required
Therefore, the query using the SELECT statement should be:

SELECT TOP 3 * FROM ExternalCandidate WHERE dTestDate >= '3/1/01' AND dTestDate <= '3/31/01' ORDER BY siTestScore DESC
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Execute the query
Action: In the Query Analyzer window, type: Execute the query
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Check whether: The query output is as per the required result The rows are in descending order of the test scores
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The Distinct Keyword
The DISTINCT keyword removes duplicate rows from the result set Syntax SELECT [ALL|DISTINCT] column_names FROM table_name WHERE search_condition
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Just a Minute
Write a query that displays a list of cities from where applications of external candidates have been received.
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2.D.5 Displaying Aggregate Functions
The total number of newspapers in which advertisements for recruitments are published is required.
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Task List
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Result: The output requirement in the report is to display the total number of newspapers in which advertisements for recruitments are published
The heading to be used is No. of Newspapers

The format of the output is shown below:
No. of Newspapers
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Draft the query
Aggregate Functions Summarize the values for a column or a group of columns within a table for which they are applied, and produce a single value
Result:
The information is available in the Newspaper table The aggregate function to be used is COUNT
Therefore, the query using the SELECT statement should be: SELECT 'No.Of Newspapers = COUNT(cNewspaperCode) FROM Newspaper
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Execute the query
Action: In the Query Analyzer window, type: Execute the query
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Check whether the correct count of newspapers is displayed
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Grouping Result Sets The following clauses are used to group result sets: GROUP BY: Summarizes the result set into groups defined in the query using aggregate functions GROUP BY ALL: The ALL keyword of the GROUP BY clause is used to display all groups, including those excluded from the WHERE clause COMPUTE and COMPUTE BY: The COMPUTE clause with the SELECT statement is used to generate summary rows using the aggregate functions in the query results. The COMPUTE BY clause further summarizes the result set by columns
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2.D.6 Generating a Summary Report
The effectiveness of advertisements for recruitments placed in various newspapers needs to be analyzed. As a first step, the number of advertisements placed in each newspaper is required in the following format:
Newspaper Code
No. Of Advts. Placed
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Task List
Draft the query Execute the query Verify that the query output is as per the required results
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Draft the query The GROUP BY Clause Syntax SELECT column_list FROM table_name WHERE condition GROUP BY [ALL] expression [, expression] [HAVING search_condition]
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The HAVING keyword in the SELECT query can be used to select rows from the intermediate result set Result: The information is available in the NewsAd table The number of advertisements placed in each newspaper is required The output needs to be grouped newspaper wise, so the GROUP BY clause has to be used
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Therefore, the query using the SELECT statement should be: SELECT 'Newspaper Code' = cNewspaperCode, 'No. Of Advts. Placed' = COUNT(cNewspaperCode) FROM NewsAd GROUP BY cNewspaperCode
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Execute the query
Action In the Query Analyzer window, type the query Execute the query
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Verify that the query output is as per the planned format
Check whether: The required columns are displayed The number of advertisements published in each newspaper is correct
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GROUP BY ALL
The ALL keyword of the GROUP BY clause is used to display all groups, including those excluded from the WHERE clause Example SELECT Type, Advance = SUM (Advance) FROM Titles WHERE Type IN ('business', 'mod_cook', 'trad_cook')
GROUP BY ALL Type
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COMPUTE and COMPUTE BY The COMPUTE clause with the SELECT statement is used to generate summary rows using aggregate functions in the query results The COMPUTE BY clause can be used to calculate summary values of the result set on a group of data
Syntax
SELECT column_list FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name
COMPUTE aggregate_function (column_name) [, aggregate_function (column_name)...] [BY column_name [, column_name]...]

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Just a Minute
A list of external candidates who took a test, along with their test scores, is required. The average of the test scores needs to be printed at the bottom of the list.
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Summary
In this lesson, you learned that: SQL Server provides a pattern-matching method for string expressions by using the LIKE keyword with the wildcard mechanism
The LIKE keyword is used to select those rows that match the specified portion of character string
In SQL Server terms, NULL is an unknown value or a value for which data is not available The NULL values can be retrieved from the table using the IS NULL keyword in the WHERE clause
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Summary (Contd.)
The DISTINCT keyword in the SELECT statement is used to eliminate duplicate rows The TOP clause limits the number of rows returned in the result set
The GROUP BY clause organizes the summarized result set into groups defined in a table with the help of the aggregate functions
The HAVING clause restricts the result set to produce the data based on a condition
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Summary (Contd.)
The ALL keyword of the GROUP BY clause is used to display all groups, including those excluded from the WHERE clause SQL Server provides the COMPUTE clause with the SELECT statement to produce summary rows using aggregate functions in the query results The COMPUTE BY clause can be used to calculate summary values of the result set on a group of data
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Retrieving Result Sets: Objectives

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Retrieving Result Sets

Group result sets