SQL - Quick Guide

SQL - Quick Guide
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SQL - Overview
SQL is a language to operate databases; it
includes database creation, deletion, fetching
rows, modifying rows, etc. SQL is an ANSI
(American National Standards Institute)
standard language, but there are many different
versions of the SQL language.
What is SQL?
SQL is Structured Query Language, which is a
computer language for storing, manipulating
and retrieving data stored in a relational
database.
SQL is the standard language for Relational

Database System. All the Relational Database
Management Systems (RDMS) like MySQL, MS
Access, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Postgres and
SQL Server use SQL as their standard database
language.
Also, they are using different dialects, such as −
MS SQL Server using T-SQL,

Oracle using PL/SQL,
MS Access version of SQL is called JET
SQL (native format) etc.
Why SQL?
SQL is widely popular because it offers the
following advantages −
Allows users to access data in the

relational database management systems.
Allows users to describe the data.
Allows users to define the data in a

database and manipulate that data.
Allows to embed within other languages

using SQL modules, libraries & pre-
compilers.
Allows users to create and drop databases

and tables.
Allows users to create view, stored
procedure, functions in a database.
Allows users to set permissions on tables,

procedures and views.
A Brief History of SQL

1970 − Dr. Edgar F. "Ted" Codd of IBM is
known as the father of relational
databases. He described a relational
model for databases.
1974 − Structured Query Language

appeared.
1978 − IBM worked to develop Codd's

ideas and released a product named
System/R.
1986 − IBM developed the first prototype

of relational database and standardized by
ANSI. The first relational database was
released by Relational Software which later
came to be known as Oracle.
SQL Process
When you are executing an SQL command for
any RDBMS, the system determines the best
way to carry out your request and SQL engine
figures out how to interpret the task.
There are various components included in this

process.
These components are −
Query Dispatcher
Optimization Engines
Classic Query Engine
SQL Query Engine, etc.
A classic query engine handles all the non-SQL

queries, but a SQL query engine won't handle
logical files.
Following is a simple diagram showing the SQL

Architecture −
SQL Commands
The standard SQL commands to interact with
relational databases are CREATE, SELECT,
INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and DROP. These
commands can be classified into the following
groups based on their nature −
DDL - Data Definition Language

Sr.No. Command & Description
CREATE
1 Creates a new table, a view of a

table, or other object in the
database.
ALTER
2 Modifies an existing database
object, such as a table.
DROP
3 Deletes an entire table, a view of a

table or other objects in the
database.
DML - Data Manipulation Language
SELECT
1 Retrieves certain records from one
or more tables.
INSERT
2
Creates a record.
UPDATE
3
Modifies records.
DELETE
4
Deletes records.
DCL - Data Control Language

GRANT
1
Gives a privilege to user.
REVOKE
2 Takes back privileges granted from
user.
SQL - RDBMS Concepts
What is 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.
A Relational database management system

(RDBMS) is a database management system
(DBMS) that is based on the relational model as
introduced by E. F. Codd.
What is a table?
The data in an RDBMS is stored in database
objects which are called as tables. This table is
basically a collection of related data entries and
it consists of numerous columns and rows.
Remember, a table is the most common and

simplest form of data storage in a relational
database. The following program is an example
of a CUSTOMERS table −
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Ahmedabad |
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi |
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota |
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | Mumbai |
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal |
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
What is a field?
Every table is broken up into smaller entities
called fields. The fields in the CUSTOMERS
table consist of ID, NAME, AGE, ADDRESS and
SALARY.
A field is a column in a table that is designed to

maintain specific information about every
record in the table.
What is a Record or a Row?

A record is also called as a row of data is each
individual entry that exists in a table. For
example, there are 7 records in the above
CUSTOMERS table. Following is a single row of
data or record in the CUSTOMERS table −
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
A record is a horizontal entity in a table.
What is a column?
A column is a vertical entity in a table that
contains all information associated with a
specific field in a table.
For example, a column in the CUSTOMERS

table is ADDRESS, which represents location
description and would be as shown below −
+-----------+
| ADDRESS |
+-----------+
| Ahmedabad |
| Delhi |
| Kota |
| Mumbai |
| Bhopal |
| MP |
| Indore |
+----+------+
What is a NULL value?

A NULL value in a table is a value in a field that
appears to be blank, which means a field with a
NULL value is a field with no value.
It is very important to understand that a NULL

value is different than a zero value or a field that
contains spaces. A field with a NULL value is
the one that has been left blank during a record
creation.
SQL Constraints
Constraints are the rules enforced on data
columns on a table. These are used to limit the
type of data that can go into a table. This
ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data
in the database.
Constraints can either be column level or table

level. Column level constraints are applied only
to one column whereas, table level constraints
are applied to the entire table.
Following are some of the most commonly

used constraints available in SQL −
NOT NULL Constraint − Ensures that a

column cannot have a NULL value.
DEFAULT Constraint − Provides a

default value for a column when none is
specified.
UNIQUE Constraint − Ensures that all

the values in a column are different.
PRIMARY Key − Uniquely identifies each

row/record in a database table.
FOREIGN Key − Uniquely identifies a

row/record in any another database table.
CHECK Constraint − The CHECK

constraint ensures that all values in a
column satisfy certain conditions.
INDEX − Used to create and retrieve
data from the database very quickly.
Data Integrity
The following categories of data integrity exist
with each RDBMS −
Entity Integrity − There are no duplicate

rows in a table.
Domain Integrity − Enforces valid entries

for a given column by restricting the type,
the format, or the range of values.
Referential integrity − Rows cannot be

deleted, which are used by other records.
User-Defined Integrity − Enforces some
specific business rules that do not fall into
entity, domain or referential integrity.
Database Normalization
Database normalization is the process of
efficiently organizing data in a database. There
are two reasons of this normalization process −
Eliminating redundant data, for example,

storing the same data in more than one
table.
Ensuring data dependencies make sense.
Both these reasons are worthy goals as they

reduce the amount of space a database
consumes and ensures that data is logically
stored. Normalization consists of a series of
guidelines that help guide you in creating a
good database structure.
Normalization guidelines are divided into

normal forms; think of a form as the format or
the way a database structure is laid out. The
aim of normal forms is to organize the
database structure, so that it complies with the
rules of first normal form, then second normal
form and finally the third normal form.
It is your choice to take it further and go to the

fourth normal form, fifth normal form and so
on, but in general, the third normal form is more
than enough.
First Normal Form (1NF)

Second Normal Form (2NF)
Third Normal Form (3NF)
SQL - RDBMS Databases

There are many popular RDBMS available to
work with. This tutorial gives a brief overview of
some of the most popular RDBMS’s. This would
help you to compare their basic features.
MySQL
MySQL is an open source SQL database, which
is developed by a Swedish company – MySQL
AB. MySQL is pronounced as "my ess-que-ell," in
contrast with SQL, pronounced "sequel."
MySQL is supporting many different platforms

including Microsoft Windows, the major Linux
distributions, UNIX, and Mac OS X.
MySQL has free and paid versions, depending

on its usage (non-commercial/commercial) and
features. MySQL comes with a very fast, multi-
threaded, multi-user and robust SQL database
server.
History
Development of MySQL by Michael
Widenius & David Axmark beginning in
1994.
First internal release on 23rd May 1995.
Windows Version was released on the 8th

January 1998 for Windows 95 and NT.
Version 3.23: beta from June 2000,
production release January 2001.
Version 4.0: beta from August 2002,

production release March 2003 (unions).
Version 4.1: beta from June 2004,

production release October 2004.
Version 5.0: beta from March 2005,

production release October 2005.
Sun Microsystems acquired MySQL AB on
the 26th February 2008.
Version 5.1: production release 27th
November 2008.
Features
High Performance.
High Availability.
Scalability and Flexibility Run anything.
Robust Transactional Support.
Web and Data Warehouse Strengths.
Strong Data Protection.
Comprehensive Application Development.
Management Ease.
Open Source Freedom and 24 x 7 Support.
Lowest Total Cost of Ownership.
MS SQL Server
MS SQL Server is a Relational Database
Management System developed by Microsoft
Inc. Its primary query languages are −
T-SQL
ANSI SQL
History
1987 - Sybase releases SQL Server for
UNIX.
1988 - Microsoft, Sybase, and Aston-Tate

port SQL Server to OS/2.
1989 - Microsoft, Sybase, and Aston-Tate
release SQL Server 1.0 for OS/2.
1990 - SQL Server 1.1 is released with

support for Windows 3.0 clients.
Aston - Tate drops out of SQL Server

development.
2000 - Microsoft releases SQL Server

2000.
2001 - Microsoft releases XML for SQL
Server Web Release 1 (download).
2002 - Microsoft releases SQLXML 2.0

(renamed from XML for SQL Server).
2002 - Microsoft releases SQLXML 3.0.
2005 - Microsoft releases SQL Server 2005

on November 7th, 2005.
Features
High Performance
High Availability
Database mirroring
Database snapshots
CLR integration
Service Broker
DDL triggers
Ranking functions
Row version-based isolation levels
XML integration
TRY...CATCH
Database Mail
ORACLE
It is a very large multi-user based database
management system. Oracle is a relational
database management system developed by
'Oracle Corporation'.
Oracle works to efficiently manage its

resources, a database of information among
the multiple clients requesting and sending
data in the network.
It is an excellent database server choice for

client/server computing. Oracle supports all
major operating systems for both clients and
servers, including MSDOS, NetWare, UnixWare,
OS/2 and most UNIX flavors.
History
Oracle began in 1977 and celebrating its 32
wonderful years in the industry (from 1977 to
2009).
1977 - Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed

Oates founded Software Development
Laboratories to undertake development
work.
1979 - Version 2.0 of Oracle was released
and it became first commercial relational
database and first SQL database. The
company changed its name to Relational
Software Inc. (RSI).
1981 - RSI started developing tools for
Oracle.
1982 - RSI was renamed to Oracle

Corporation.
1983 - Oracle released version 3.0,

rewritten in C language and ran on multiple
platforms.
1984 - Oracle version 4.0 was released. It
contained features like concurrency
control - multi-version read consistency,
etc.
1985 - Oracle version 4.0 was released. It

contained features like concurrency
control - multi-version read consistency,
etc.
2007 - Oracle released Oracle11g. The new

version focused on better partitioning,
easy migration, etc.
Features
Concurrency
Read Consistency
Locking Mechanisms
Quiesce Database
Portability
Self-managing database
SQL*Plus
ASM
Scheduler
Resource Manager
Data Warehousing
Materialized views
Bitmap indexes
Table compression
Parallel Execution
Analytic SQL
Data mining
Partitioning
MS ACCESS
This is one of the most popular Microsoft
products. Microsoft Access is an entry-level
database management software. MS Access
database is not only inexpensive but also a
powerful database for small-scale projects.
MS Access uses the Jet database engine,

which utilizes a specific SQL language dialect
(sometimes referred to as Jet SQL).
MS Access comes with the professional edition

of MS Office package. MS Access has easyto-
use intuitive graphical interface.
1992 - Access version 1.0 was released.
1993 - Access 1.1 released to improve

compatibility with inclusion the Access
Basic programming language.
The most significant transition was from
Access 97 to Access 2000.
2007 - Access 2007, a new database

format was introduced ACCDB which
supports complex data types such as multi
valued and attachment fields.
Features
Users can create tables, queries, forms
and reports and connect them together
with macros.
Option of importing and exporting the data

to many formats including Excel, Outlook,
ASCII, dBase, Paradox, FoxPro, SQL Server,
Oracle, ODBC, etc.
There is also the Jet Database format

(MDB or ACCDB in Access 2007), which
can contain the application and data in one
file. This makes it very convenient to
distribute the entire application to another
user, who can run it in disconnected
environments.
Microsoft Access offers parameterized
queries. These queries and Access tables
can be referenced from other programs
like VB6 and .NET through DAO or ADO.
The desktop editions of Microsoft SQL
Server can be used with Access as an
alternative to the Jet Database Engine.
Microsoft Access is a file server-based
database. Unlike the client-server relational
database management systems (RDBMS),
Microsoft Access does not implement
database triggers, stored procedures or
transaction logging.
SQL - Syntax
SQL is followed by a unique set of rules and
guidelines called Syntax. This tutorial gives you
a quick start with SQL by listing all the basic
SQL Syntax.
All the SQL statements start with any of the

keywords like SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE,
DELETE, ALTER, DROP, CREATE, USE, SHOW and
all the statements end with a semicolon (;).
The most important point to be noted here is

that SQL is case insensitive, which means
SELECT and select have same meaning in SQL
statements. Whereas, MySQL makes difference
in table names. So, if you are working with
MySQL, then you need to give table names as
they exist in the database.
Various Syntax in SQL
All the examples given in this tutorial have

been tested with a MySQL server.
SQL SELECT Statement
SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM table_name;
SQL DISTINCT Clause

SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2....col
FROM table_name;
SQL WHERE Clause

FROM table_name
WHERE CONDITION;
SQL AND/OR Clause

FROM table_name
WHERE CONDITION-1 {AND|OR} CONDITION-2
SQL IN Clause
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name IN (val-1, val-2,...
SQL BETWEEN Clause

FROM table_name
WHERE column_name BETWEEN val-1 AND va
SQL LIKE Clause

FROM table_name
WHERE column_name LIKE { PATTERN };
SQL ORDER BY Clause

FROM table_name
WHERE CONDITION
ORDER BY column_name {ASC|DESC};
SQL GROUP BY Clause

SELECT SUM(column_name)
FROM table_name
WHERE CONDITION
GROUP BY column_name;
SQL COUNT Clause

SELECT COUNT(column_name)
FROM table_name
WHERE CONDITION;
SQL HAVING Clause

SELECT SUM(column_name)
FROM table_name
WHERE CONDITION
GROUP BY column_name
HAVING (arithematic function condition)
SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

CREATE TABLE table_name(
column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
column3 datatype,
.....
columnN datatype,
PRIMARY KEY( one or more columns )
);
SQL DROP TABLE Statement

DROP TABLE table_name;
SQL CREATE INDEX Statement

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name
ON table_name ( column1, column2,...col
SQL DROP INDEX Statement

ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP INDEX index_name;
SQL DESC Statement

DESC table_name;
SQL TRUNCATE TABLE Statement

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name;
SQL ALTER TABLE Statement

ALTER TABLE table_name {ADD|DROP|MODIFY
SQL ALTER TABLE Statement

(Rename)
ALTER TABLE table_name RENAME TO new_ta
SQL INSERT INTO Statement

INSERT INTO table_name( column1, column
VALUES ( value1, value2....valueN);
SQL UPDATE Statement

UPDATE table_name
SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2.

[ WHERE CONDITION ];
SQL DELETE Statement

DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE {CONDITION};
SQL CREATE DATABASE Statement

CREATE DATABASE database_name;
SQL DROP DATABASE Statement

DROP DATABASE database_name;
SQL USE Statement

USE database_name;
SQL COMMIT Statement

COMMIT;
SQL ROLLBACK Statement

ROLLBACK;
SQL - Data Types

SQL Data Type is an attribute that specifies the
type of data of any object. Each column,
variable and expression has a related data type
in SQL. You can use these data types while
creating your tables. You can choose a data
type for a table column based on your
requirement.
SQL Server offers six categories of data types

for your use which are listed below −
Exact Numeric Data Types

DATA TYPE FROM TO
bigint -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
int -2,147,483,648 2,147,483,647
smallint -32,768 32,767
tinyint 0 255
bit 0 1
decimal -10^38 +1 10^38 -1
numeric -10^38 +1 10^38 -1
money -922,337,203,685,477.5808 +922,337,203,685,477.5807
smallmoney -214,748.3648 +214,748.3647
Approximate Numeric Data

Types
DATA TYPE FROM TO
float -1.79E + 308 1.79E + 308
real -3.40E + 38 3.40E + 38
Date and Time Data Types

DATA TYPE FROM TO
datetime Jan 1, 1753 Dec 31, 9999
smalldatetime Jan 1, 1900 Jun 6, 2079
date Stores a date like June 30,

1991
time Stores a time of day like 12:30

P.M.
Note − Here, datetime has 3.33 milliseconds

accuracy where as smalldatetime has 1 minute
accuracy.
Character Strings Data Types
Sr.No. DATA TYPE & Description
char
1 Maximum length of 8,000

characters.( Fixed length non-
Unicode characters)
varchar
2 Maximum of 8,000 characters.
(Variable-length non-Unicode data).
varchar(max)
Maximum length of 2E + 31
3 characters, Variable-length non-
Unicode data (SQL Server 2005
only).
text
4 Variable-length non-Unicode data

with a maximum length of
2,147,483,647 characters.
Unicode Character Strings Data

Types
nchar
characters.( Fixed length Unicode)
nvarchar
characters.(Variable length Unicode)
nvarchar(max)
Maximum length of 2E + 31
3
characters (SQL Server 2005 only).(
Variable length Unicode)
ntext
4
Maximum length of 1,073,741,823
characters. ( Variable length Unicode
)
Binary Data Types

binary
bytes(Fixed-length binary data )
varbinary
2 Maximum length of 8,000 bytes.
(Variable length binary data)
varbinary(max)
Maximum length of 2E + 31 bytes

3
(SQL Server 2005 only). ( Variable
length Binary data)
image
4 Maximum length of 2,147,483,647
bytes. ( Variable length Binary Data)
Misc Data Types

sql_variant
1
Stores values of various SQL Server-
supported data types, except text,
ntext, and timestamp.
timestamp
Stores a database-wide unique

2
number that gets updated every time
a row gets updated
uniqueidentifier
3 Stores a globally unique identifier
(GUID)
xml
4
Stores XML data. You can store xml
instances in a column or a variable
(SQL Server 2005 only).
cursor
5
Reference to a cursor object
table
6 Stores a result set for later
processing
SQL - Operators
What is an Operator in SQL?

An operator is a reserved word or a character
used primarily in an SQL statement's WHERE
clause to perform operation(s), such as
comparisons and arithmetic operations. These
Operators are used to specify conditions in an
SQL statement and to serve as conjunctions for
multiple conditions in a statement.
Arithmetic operators
Comparison operators
Logical operators
Operators used to negate conditions
SQL Arithmetic Operators

Assume 'variable a' holds 10 and 'variable b'
holds 20, then −
Show Examples
Operator Description Example
Adds values on a+b

+ (Addition) either side of the will give
operator. 30
Subtracts right
a - b will
- (Subtraction) hand operand from
give -10
left hand operand.
Multiplies values
* a * b will
on either side of
(Multiplication) give 200
the operator.
Divides left hand

b / a will
/ (Division) operand by right
give 2
hand operand.
Divides left hand

b%a
operand by right
% (Modulus) will give
hand operand and
0
returns remainder.
SQL Comparison Operators

Assume 'variable a' holds 10 and 'variable b'
holds 20, then −
Show Examples
Operator Description Example
Checks if the values of

two operands are equal (a = b) is
=
or not, if yes then not true.
condition becomes true.

two operands are equal
(a != b)
!= or not, if values are not
is true.
equal then condition
becomes true.

two operands are equal
(a <> b)
<> or not, if values are not
is true.
equal then condition
becomes true.
Checks if the value of left

operand is greater than
(a > b) is
> the value of right
not true.
operand, if yes then

operand is less than the
(a < b) is
< value of right operand, if
true.
yes then condition
becomes true.

operand is greater than (a >= b)
>= or equal to the value of is not
right operand, if yes then true.

operand is less than or
(a <= b)
<= equal to the value of right
is true.
!< Checks if the value of left (a !< b)

operand is not less than is false.
the value of right

operand is not greater
(a !> b)
!> than the value of right
is true.
SQL Logical Operators

Here is a list of all the logical operators
available in SQL.
Show Examples
Sr.No. Operator & Description
ALL
The ALL operator is used to compare

1
a value to all values in another value
set.
AND
The AND operator allows the

2
existence of multiple conditions in
an SQL statement's WHERE clause.
ANY
3
The ANY operator is used to
compare a value to any applicable
value in the list as per the condition.
BETWEEN
The BETWEEN operator is used to

4 search for values that are within a
set of values, given the minimum
value and the maximum value.
EXISTS
The EXISTS operator is used to

5 search for the presence of a row in a
specified table that meets a certain
criterion.
IN
6
The IN operator is used to compare
a value to a list of literal values that
have been specified.
7 LIKE
The LIKE operator is used to

compare a value to similar values
using wildcard operators.
NOT
The NOT operator reverses the

meaning of the logical operator with
8
which it is used. Eg: NOT EXISTS,
NOT BETWEEN, NOT IN, etc. This is
a negate operator.
OR
9
The OR operator is used to combine
multiple conditions in an SQL
statement's WHERE clause.
IS NULL
10 The NULL operator is used to
compare a value with a NULL value.
UNIQUE
The UNIQUE operator searches every

11
row of a specified table for
uniqueness (no duplicates).
SQL - Expressions
An expression is a combination of one or more
values, operators and SQL functions that
evaluate to a value. These SQL EXPRESSIONs
are like formulae and they are written in query
language. You can also use them to query the
database for a specific set of data.
Syntax
Consider the basic syntax of the SELECT
statement as follows −
SELECT column1, column2, columnN
FROM table_name
WHERE [CONDITION|EXPRESSION];
There are different types of SQL expressions,

which are mentioned below −
Boolean
Numeric
Date
Let us now discuss each of these in detail.
Boolean Expressions
SQL Boolean Expressions fetch the data based
on matching a single value. Following is the
syntax −
FROM table_name
WHERE SINGLE VALUE MATCHING EXPRESSION;
Consider the CUSTOMERS table having the

following records −
SQL> SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS;
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
| | | | |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
7 rows in set (0.00 sec)
The following table is a simple example

showing the usage of various SQL Boolean
Expressions −
SQL> SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS WHERE SA

+----+-------+-----+---------+------
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY
+----+-------+-----+---------+------
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 10000
+----+-------+-----+---------+------
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
Numeric Expression
These expressions are used to perform any
mathematical operation in any query. Following
is the syntax −
SELECT numerical_expression as OPERATI

[FROM table_name
WHERE CONDITION] ;
Here, the numerical_expression is used for a

mathematical expression or any formula.
Following is a simple example showing the
usage of SQL Numeric Expressions −
SQL> SELECT (15 + 6) AS ADDITION
+----------+
| ADDITION |
+----------+
| 21 |
+----------+

There are several built-in functions like avg(),
sum(), count(), etc., to perform what is known
as the aggregate data calculations against a
table or a specific table column.
SQL> SELECT COUNT(*) AS "RECORDS" FRO

+---------+
| RECORDS |
+---------+
| 7 |
+---------+
Date Expressions
Date Expressions return current system date
and time values −
SQL> SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;
+---------------------+
| Current_Timestamp |
+---------------------+
| 2009-11-12 06:40:23 |
+---------------------+
Another date expression is as shown below −
SQL> SELECT GETDATE();;
+-------------------------+
| GETDATE |
+-------------------------+
| 2009-10-22 12:07:18.140 |
+-------------------------+
SQL - CREATE Database

The SQL CREATE DATABASE statement is used
to create a new SQL database.
Syntax
The basic syntax of this CREATE DATABASE
statement is as follows −
CREATE DATABASE DatabaseName;
Always the database name should be unique

within the RDBMS.
Example
If you want to create a new database <testDB>,
then the CREATE DATABASE statement would
be as shown below −
SQL> CREATE DATABASE testDB;
Make sure you have the admin privilege before

creating any database. Once a database is
created, you can check it in the list of
databases as follows −
SQL> SHOW DATABASES;
+--------------------+
| Database |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| AMROOD |
| TUTORIALSPOINT |
| mysql |
| orig |
| test |
| testDB |
+--------------------+
SQL - DROP or DELETE

Database
The SQL DROP DATABASE statement is used to
drop an existing database in SQL schema.
Syntax
The basic syntax of DROP DATABASE
DROP DATABASE DatabaseName;

within the RDBMS.
Example
If you want to delete an existing database
<testDB>, then the DROP DATABASE statement
would be as shown below −
SQL> DROP DATABASE testDB;
NOTE − Be careful before using this operation

because by deleting an existing database would
result in loss of complete information stored in
the database.
Make sure you have the admin privilege before

dropping any database. Once a database is
dropped, you can check it in the list of the
databases as shown below −
+--------------------+
| Database |
+--------------------+
| AMROOD |
| TUTORIALSPOINT |
| mysql |
| orig |
| test |
+--------------------+
SQL - SELECT Database,

USE Statement
When you have multiple databases in your SQL
Schema, then before starting your operation,
you would need to select a database where all
the operations would be performed.
The SQL USE statement is used to select any

existing database in the SQL schema.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the USE statement is as
shown below −
USE DatabaseName;

within the RDBMS.
Example
You can check the available databases as
shown below −
+--------------------+
| Database |
+--------------------+
| AMROOD |
| TUTORIALSPOINT |
| mysql |
| orig |
| test |
+--------------------+
Now, if you want to work with the AMROOD

database, then you can execute the following
SQL command and start working with the
AMROOD database.
SQL> USE AMROOD;
SQL - CREATE Table

Creating a basic table involves naming the table
and defining its columns and each column's
data type.
The SQL CREATE TABLE statement is used to

create a new table.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the CREATE TABLE
CREATE TABLE table_name(
column1 datatype,
column2 datatype,
column3 datatype,
.....
columnN datatype,
PRIMARY KEY( one or more columns )
);
CREATE TABLE is the keyword telling the

database system what you want to do. In this
case, you want to create a new table. The
unique name or identifier for the table follows
the CREATE TABLE statement.
Then in brackets comes the list defining each
column in the table and what sort of data type it
is. The syntax becomes clearer with the
following example.
A copy of an existing table can be created using

a combination of the CREATE TABLE statement
and the SELECT statement. You can check the
complete details at Create Table Using another
Table.
Example
The following code block is an example, which
creates a CUSTOMERS table with an ID as a
primary key and NOT NULL are the constraints
showing that these fields cannot be NULL while
creating records in this table −
SQL> CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INT NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25) ,
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
You can verify if your table has been created

successfully by looking at the message
displayed by the SQL server, otherwise you can
use the DESC command as follows −
SQL> DESC CUSTOMERS;
+---------+---------------+------+-----
| Field | Type | Null | Key
+---------+---------------+------+-----
| ID | int(11) | NO | PRI
| NAME | varchar(20) | NO |
| AGE | int(11) | NO |
| ADDRESS | char(25) | YES |
| SALARY | decimal(18,2) | YES |
+---------+---------------+------+-----
Now, you have CUSTOMERS table available in

your database which you can use to store the
required information related to customers.
SQL - DROP or DELETE

Table
The SQL DROP TABLE statement is used to
remove a table definition and all the data,
indexes, triggers, constraints and permission
specifications for that table.
NOTE − You should be very careful while using

this command because once a table is deleted
then all the information available in that table
will also be lost forever.
Syntax
The basic syntax of this DROP TABLE
DROP TABLE table_name;
Example
Let us first verify the CUSTOMERS table and
then we will delete it from the database as
shown below −
+---------+---------------+------+--
| Field | Type | Null | Ke
+---------+---------------+------+--
| ID | int(11) | NO | P
| NAME | varchar(20) | NO |
| AGE | int(11) | NO |
| ADDRESS | char(25) | YES |
| SALARY | decimal(18,2) | YES |
+---------+---------------+------+--
This means that the CUSTOMERS table is

available in the database, so let us now drop it
as shown below.
SQL> DROP TABLE CUSTOMERS;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)
Now, if you would try the DESC command, then

you will get the following error −
ERROR 1146 (42S02): Table 'TEST.CUSTO
Here, TEST is the database name which we are

using for our examples.
SQL - INSERT Query

The SQL INSERT INTO Statement is used to
add new rows of data to a table in the
database.
Syntax
There are two basic syntaxes of the INSERT
INTO statement which are shown below.
INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME (column1, column

VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...value
Here, column1, column2, column3,...columnN

are the names of the columns in the table into
which you want to insert the data.
You may not need to specify the column(s)

name in the SQL query if you are adding values
for all the columns of the table. But make sure
the order of the values is in the same order as
the columns in the table.
The SQL INSERT INTO syntax will be as follows

−
INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME VALUES (value1,v
Example
The following statements would create six
records in the CUSTOMERS table.
INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,A

VALUES (1, 'Ramesh', 32, 'Ahmedabad'

VALUES (2, 'Khilan', 25, 'Delhi', 15

VALUES (3, 'kaushik', 23, 'Kota', 20

VALUES (4, 'Chaitali', 25, 'Mumbai',

VALUES (5, 'Hardik', 27, 'Bhopal', 8

VALUES (6, 'Komal', 22, 'MP', 4500.0
You can create a record in the CUSTOMERS

table by using the second syntax as shown
below.
INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS
VALUES (7, 'Muffy', 24, 'Indore', 10000

All the above statements would produce the
following records in the CUSTOMERS table as
shown below.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Populate one table using another

table
You can populate the data into a table through
the select statement over another table;
provided the other table has a set of fields,
which are required to populate the first table.
Here is the syntax −
INSERT INTO first_table_name [(column1,

SELECT column1, column2, ...columnN
FROM second_table_name
[WHERE condition];
SQL - SELECT Query

The SQL SELECT statement is used to fetch the
data from a database table which returns this
data in the form of a result table. These result
tables are called result-sets.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the SELECT statement is as
follows −
SELECT column1, column2, columnN FROM t
Here, column1, column2... are the fields of a

table whose values you want to fetch. If you
want to fetch all the fields available in the field,
then you can use the following syntax.
SELECT * FROM table_name;
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
The following code is an example, which would

fetch the ID, Name and Salary fields of the
customers available in CUSTOMERS table.
SQL> SELECT ID, NAME, SALARY FROM CU
This would produce the following result −
+----+----------+----------+
| ID | NAME | SALARY |
+----+----------+----------+
| 1 | Ramesh | 2000.00 |
| 2 | Khilan | 1500.00 |
| 3 | kaushik | 2000.00 |
| 4 | Chaitali | 6500.00 |
| 5 | Hardik | 8500.00 |
| 6 | Komal | 4500.00 |
| 7 | Muffy | 10000.00 |
+----+----------+----------+
If you want to fetch all the fields of the

CUSTOMERS table, then you should use the
following query.
This would produce the result as shown below.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SAL
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Ahmedabad | 20
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | Mumbai | 65
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100

+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
SQL - WHERE Clause

The SQL WHERE clause is used to specify a
condition while fetching the data from a single
table or by joining with multiple tables. If the
given condition is satisfied, then only it returns
a specific value from the table. You should use
the WHERE clause to filter the records and
fetching only the necessary records.
The WHERE clause is not only used in the
SELECT statement, but it is also used in the
UPDATE, DELETE statement, etc., which we
would examine in the subsequent chapters.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the SELECT statement with
the WHERE clause is as shown below.
FROM table_name
WHERE [condition]
You can specify a condition using the

comparison or logical operators like >, <, =,
LIKE, NOT, etc. The following examples would
make this concept clear.
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
The following code is an example which would

fetch the ID, Name and Salary fields from the
CUSTOMERS table, where the salary is greater
than 2000 −
SQL> SELECT ID, NAME, SALARY
FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY > 2000;
+----+----------+----------+
+----+----------+----------+
| 4 | Chaitali | 6500.00 |
| 5 | Hardik | 8500.00 |
| 6 | Komal | 4500.00 |
| 7 | Muffy | 10000.00 |
+----+----------+----------+
The following query is an example, which would

fetch the ID, Name and Salary fields from the
CUSTOMERS table for a customer with the
name Hardik.
Here, it is important to note that all the strings

should be given inside single quotes (''). Whereas,
numeric values should be given without any quote
as in the above example.

FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE NAME = 'Hardik';
+----+----------+----------+
+----+----------+----------+
| 5 | Hardik | 8500.00 |
+----+----------+----------+
SQL - AND and OR

Conjunctive Operators
The SQL AND & OR operators are used to
combine multiple conditions to narrow data in
an SQL statement. These two operators are
called as the conjunctive operators.
These operators provide a means to make

multiple comparisons with different operators
in the same SQL statement.
The AND Operator

The AND operator allows the existence of
multiple conditions in an SQL statement's
WHERE clause.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the AND operator with a
WHERE clause is as follows −
FROM table_name
WHERE [condition1] AND [condition2]...A
You can combine N number of conditions using

the AND operator. For an action to be taken by
the SQL statement, whether it be a transaction
or a query, all conditions separated by the AND
must be TRUE.
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | M ff | 24 | I d | 100
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
Following is an example, which would fetch the

ID, Name and Salary fields from the
CUSTOMERS table, where the salary is greater
than 2000 and the age is less than 25 years −

FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY > 2000 AND age < 25;
+----+-------+----------+
+----+-------+----------+
| 6 | Komal | 4500.00 |
| 7 | Muffy | 10000.00 |
+----+-------+----------+
The OR Operator
The OR operator is used to combine multiple
conditions in an SQL statement's WHERE
clause.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the OR operator with a
FROM table_name
WHERE [condition1] OR [condition2]...OR

the OR operator. For an action to be taken by
the SQL statement, whether it be a transaction
or query, the only any ONE of the conditions
separated by the OR must be TRUE.
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
The following code block hasa query, which

would fetch the ID, Name and Salary fields from
the CUSTOMERS table, where the salary is
greater than 2000 OR the age is less than 25
years.

FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY > 2000 OR age < 25;
+----+----------+----------+
+----+----------+----------+
| 3 | kaushik | 2000.00 |
| 4 | Chaitali | 6500.00 |
| 5 | Hardik | 8500.00 |
| 6 | Komal | 4500.00 |
| 7 | Muffy | 10000.00 |
+----+----------+----------+
SQL - UPDATE Query

The SQL UPDATE Query is used to modify the
existing records in a table. You can use the
WHERE clause with the UPDATE query to
update the selected rows, otherwise all the
rows would be affected.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the UPDATE query with a
UPDATE table_name
SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2.

WHERE [condition];

the AND or the OR operators.
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
The following query will update the ADDRESS

for a customer whose ID number is 6 in the
table.
SQL> UPDATE CUSTOMERS
SET ADDRESS = 'Pune'
WHERE ID = 6;
Now, the CUSTOMERS table would have the
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | Pune | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
If you want to modify all the ADDRESS and the

SALARY column values in the CUSTOMERS
table, you do not need to use the WHERE clause
as the UPDATE query would be enough as
shown in the following code block.
SET ADDRESS = 'Pune', SALARY = 1000.
Now, CUSTOMERS table would have the

+----+----------+-----+---------+------
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALAR
+----+----------+-----+---------+------
| 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Pune | 1000.
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Pune | 1000.
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Pune | 1000.
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | Pune | 1000.
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Pune | 1000.
| 6 | Komal | 22 | Pune | 1000.
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Pune | 1000.
+----+----------+-----+---------+------
SQL - DELETE Query
The SQL DELETE Query is used to delete the
existing records from a table.
You can use the WHERE clause with a DELETE

query to delete the selected rows, otherwise all
the records would be deleted.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the DELETE query with the
DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE [condition];

AND or OR operators.
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
The following code has a query, which will

DELETE a customer, whose ID is 6.
SQL> DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE ID = 6;
Now, the CUSTOMERS table would have the
following records.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
If you want to DELETE all the records from the

CUSTOMERS table, you do not need to use the
WHERE clause and the DELETE query would be
as follows −
SQL> DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS;
Now, the CUSTOMERS table would not have any

record.
SQL - LIKE Clause

The SQL LIKE clause is used to compare a
value to similar values using wildcard
operators. There are two wildcards used in
conjunction with the LIKE operator.
The percent sign (%)

The underscore (_)
The percent sign represents zero, one or

multiple characters. The underscore represents
a single number or character. These symbols
can be used in combinations.
Syntax
The basic syntax of % and _ is as follows −
SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX%'
or
WHERE column LIKE '%XXXX%'
or
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX_'
or
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX'
or
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX_'

AND or OR operators. Here, XXXX could be any
numeric or string value.
Example
The following table has a few examples
showing the WHERE part having different LIKE
clause with '%' and '_' operators −
Sr.No. Statement & Description
WHERE SALARY LIKE '200%'

1
Finds any values that start with 200.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '%200%'

2 Finds any values that have 200 in
any position.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '_00%'

3 Finds any values that have 00 in the
second and third positions.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '2_%_%'
4
Finds any values that start with 2
and are at least 3 characters in
length.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '%2'

5
Finds any values that end with 2.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '_2%3'

6 Finds any values that have a 2 in the
second position and end with a 3.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '2___3'
7
Finds any values in a five-digit
number that start with 2 and end
with 3.
Let us take a real example, consider the

CUSTOMERS table having the records as shown
below.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
Following is an example, which would display

all the records from the CUSTOMERS table,
where the SALARY starts with 200.
SQL> SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY LIKE '200%';
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
SQL - TOP, LIMIT or

ROWNUM Clause
The SQL TOP clause is used to fetch a TOP N
number or X percent records from a table.
Note − All the databases do not support the

TOP clause. For example MySQL supports the
LIMIT clause to fetch limited number of records
while Oracle uses the ROWNUM command to
fetch a limited number of records.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the TOP clause with a
SELECT statement would be as follows.
SELECT TOP number|percent column_name(s

FROM table_name
WHERE [condition]
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
The following query is an example on the SQL

server, which would fetch the top 3 records
from the CUSTOMERS table.
SQL> SELECT TOP 3 * FROM CUSTOMERS;
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALA
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
If you are using MySQL server, then here is an
equivalent example −
LIMIT 3;
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
If you are using an Oracle server, then the

following code block has an equivalent
example.
WHERE ROWNUM <= 3;
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
SQL - ORDER BY Clause

The SQL ORDER BY clause is used to sort the
data in ascending or descending order, based
on one or more columns. Some databases sort
the query results in an ascending order by
default.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the ORDER BY clause is as
follows −
SELECT column-list
FROM table_name
[WHERE condition]
[ORDER BY column1, column2, .. columnN]
You can use more than one column in the

ORDER BY clause. Make sure whatever column
you are using to sort that column should be in
the column-list.
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
The following code block has an example,

which would sort the result in an ascending
order by the NAME and the SALARY −
ORDER BY NAME, SALARY;
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| | | | |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----

which would sort the result in the descending
order by NAME.
ORDER BY NAME DESC;
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
SQL - Group By
The SQL GROUP BY clause is used in
collaboration with the SELECT statement to
arrange identical data into groups. This GROUP
BY clause follows the WHERE clause in a
SELECT statement and precedes the ORDER BY
clause.
Syntax
The basic syntax of a GROUP BY clause is
shown in the following code block. The GROUP
BY clause must follow the conditions in the
WHERE clause and must precede the ORDER BY
clause if one is used.
SELECT column1, column2
FROM table_name
WHERE [ conditions ]
GROUP BY column1, column2
ORDER BY column1, column2
Example
Consider the CUSTOMERS table is having the
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
If you want to know the total amount of the

salary on each customer, then the GROUP BY
query would be as follows.
SQL> SELECT NAME, SUM(SALARY) FROM CU

GROUP BY NAME;
+----------+-------------+
| NAME | SUM(SALARY) |
+----------+-------------+
| Chaitali | 6500.00 |
| Hardik | 8500.00 |
| kaushik | 2000.00 |
| Khilan | 1500.00 |
| Komal | 4500.00 |
| Muffy | 10000.00 |
| Ramesh | 2000.00 |
+----------+-------------+
Now, let us look at a table where the

CUSTOMERS table has the following records
with duplicate names −
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 2 | Ramesh | 25 | Delhi |
| 4 | kaushik | 25 | Mumbai |
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Now again, if you want to know the total

amount of salary on each customer, then the
GROUP BY query would be as follows −
SQL> SELECT NAME, SUM(SALARY) FROM CU

GROUP BY NAME;
+---------+-------------+
| NAME | SUM(SALARY) |
+---------+-------------+
| Hardik | 8500.00 |
| kaushik | 8500.00 |
| Komal | 4500.00 |
| Muffy | 10000.00 |
| Ramesh | 3500.00 |
+---------+-------------+
SQL - Distinct Keyword

The SQL DISTINCT keyword is used in
conjunction with the SELECT statement to
eliminate all the duplicate records and fetching
only unique records.
There may be a situation when you have

multiple duplicate records in a table. While
fetching such records, it makes more sense to
fetch only those unique records instead of
fetching duplicate records.
Syntax
The basic syntax of DISTINCT keyword to
eliminate the duplicate records is as follows −
SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2,.....c

FROM table_name
WHERE [condition]
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
First, let us see how the following SELECT query
returns the duplicate salary records.
SQL> SELECT SALARY FROM CUSTOMERS
ORDER BY SALARY;
This would produce the following result, where

the salary (2000) is coming twice which is a
duplicate record from the original table.
+----------+
| SALARY |
+----------+
| 1500.00 |
| 2000.00 |
| 2000.00 |
| 4500.00 |
| 6500.00 |
| 8500.00 |
| 10000.00 |
+----------+
Now, let us use the DISTINCT keyword with the

above SELECT query and then see the result.
SQL> SELECT DISTINCT SALARY FROM CUST

ORDER BY SALARY;
This would produce the following result where

we do not have any duplicate entry.
+----------+
| SALARY |
+----------+
| 1500.00 |
| 2000.00 |
| 4500.00 |
| 6500.00 |
| 8500.00 |
| 10000.00 |
+----------+
SQL - SORTING Results

The SQL ORDER BY clause is used to sort the
data in ascending or descending order, based
on one or more columns. Some databases sort
the query results in an ascending order by
default.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the ORDER BY clause which
would be used to sort the result in an ascending
or descending order is as follows −
SELECT column-list
FROM table_name
[WHERE condition]
[ORDER BY column1, column2, .. columnN]
You can use more than one column in the

ORDER BY clause. Make sure that whatever
column you are using to sort, that column
should be in the column-list.
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Following is an example, which would sort the
result in an ascending order by NAME and
SALARY.
ORDER BY NAME, SALARY;
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-

which would sort the result in a descending
order by NAME.
ORDER BY NAME DESC;
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
To fetch the rows with their own preferred order,
the SELECT query used would be as follows −
ORDER BY (CASE ADDRESS
WHEN 'DELHI' THEN 1

WHEN 'BHOPAL' THEN 2
WHEN 'KOTA' THEN 3
WHEN 'AHMEDABAD' THEN 4
WHEN 'MP' THEN 5
ELSE 100 END) ASC, ADDRESS DESC;
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
This will sort the customers by ADDRESS in

your ownoOrder of preference first and in a
natural order for the remaining addresses. Also,
the remaining Addresses will be sorted in the
reverse alphabetical order.
SQL - Constraints
Constraints are the rules enforced on the data
columns of a table. These are used to limit the
type of data that can go into a table. This
ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data
in the database.
Constraints could be either on a column level or
a table level. The column level constraints are
applied only to one column, whereas the table
level constraints are applied to the whole table.
Following are some of the most commonly

used constraints available in SQL. These
constraints have already been discussed in SQL
- RDBMS Concepts chapter, but it’s worth to
revise them at this point.
NOT NULL Constraint − Ensures that a

column cannot have NULL value.
DEFAULT Constraint − Provides a
default value for a column when none is
specified.
UNIQUE Constraint − Ensures that all

values in a column are different.
PRIMARY Key − Uniquely identifies each
row/record in a database table.
FOREIGN Key − Uniquely identifies a
row/record in any of the given database
table.
CHECK Constraint − The CHECK

constraint ensures that all the values in a
column satisfies certain conditions.
INDEX − Used to create and retrieve

data from the database very quickly.
Constraints can be specified when a table is

created with the CREATE TABLE statement or
you can use the ALTER TABLE statement to
create constraints even after the table is
created.
Dropping Constraints
Any constraint that you have defined can be
dropped using the ALTER TABLE command with
the DROP CONSTRAINT option.
For example, to drop the primary key constraint

in the EMPLOYEES table, you can use the
following command.
ALTER TABLE EMPLOYEES DROP CONSTRAINT
Some implementations may provide shortcuts

for dropping certain constraints. For example,
to drop the primary key constraint for a table in
Oracle, you can use the following command.
ALTER TABLE EMPLOYEES DROP PRIMARY K
Some implementations allow you to disable

constraints. Instead of permanently dropping a
constraint from the database, you may want to
temporarily disable the constraint and then
enable it later.
Integrity Constraints
Integrity constraints are used to ensure
accuracy and consistency of the data in a
relational database. Data integrity is handled in
a relational database through the concept of
referential integrity.
There are many types of integrity constraints

that play a role in Referential Integrity (RI).
These constraints include Primary Key, Foreign
Key, Unique Constraints and other constraints
which are mentioned above.
SQL - Using Joins

The SQL Joins clause is used to combine
records from two or more tables in a database.
A JOIN is a means for combining fields from
two tables by using values common to each.
Consider the following two tables −
Table 1 − CUSTOMERS Table
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Table 2 − ORDERS Table
+-----+---------------------+-------
|OID | DATE | CUSTOM
+-----+---------------------+-------
| 102 | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 |
| 100 | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 |
| 101 | 2009-11-20 00:00:00 |
| 103 | 2008-05-20 00:00:00 |
+-----+---------------------+-------
Now, let us join these two tables in our SELECT

statement as shown below.
SQL> SELECT ID, NAME, AGE, AMOUNT

FROM CUSTOMERS, ORDERS
WHERE CUSTOMERS.ID = ORDERS.CUSTO
This would produce the following result.

+----+----------+-----+--------+
| ID | NAME | AGE | AMOUNT |
+----+----------+-----+--------+
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | 3000 |
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | 1500 |
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | 1560 |
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | 2060 |
+----+----------+-----+--------+
Here, it is noticeable that the join is performed

in the WHERE clause. Several operators can be
used to join tables, such as =, <, >, <>, <=, >=, !=,
BETWEEN, LIKE, and NOT; they can all be used
to join tables. However, the most common
operator is the equal to symbol.
There are different types of joins available in

SQL −
INNER JOIN − returns rows when there

is a match in both tables.
LEFT JOIN − returns all rows from the

left table, even if there are no matches in
the right table.
RIGHT JOIN − returns all rows from the
right table, even if there are no matches in
the left table.
FULL JOIN − returns rows when there is
a match in one of the tables.
SELF JOIN − is used to join a table to
itself as if the table were two tables,
temporarily renaming at least one table in
the SQL statement.
CARTESIAN JOIN − returns the

Cartesian product of the sets of records
from the two or more joined tables.
Let us now discuss each of these joins in detail.

SQL - UNIONS CLAUSE
The SQL UNION clause/operator is used to
combine the results of two or more SELECT
statements without returning any duplicate
rows.
To use this UNION clause, each SELECT

statement must have
The same number of columns selected

The same number of column expressions
The same data type and
Have them in the same order
But they need not have to be in the same

length.
Syntax
The basic syntax of a UNION clause is as
follows −
SELECT column1 [, column2 ]
FROM table1 [, table2 ]
[WHERE condition]
UNION
[WHERE condition]
Here, the given condition could be any given

expression based on your requirement.
Example
Consider the following two tables.
Table 1 − CUSTOMERS Table is as follows.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| | | | |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Table 2 − ORDERS Table is as follows.
+-----+---------------------+-------
+-----+---------------------+-------
| 102 | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 |
| 100 | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 |
| 101 | 2009-11-20 00:00:00 |
| 103 | 2008-05-20 00:00:00 |
+-----+---------------------+-------

SQL> SELECT ID, NAME, AMOUNT, DATE
FROM CUSTOMERS
LEFT JOIN ORDERS
ON CUSTOMERS.ID = ORDERS.CUSTOMER_
UNION
SELECT ID, NAME, AMOUNT, DATE
FROM CUSTOMERS
RIGHT JOIN ORDERS
+------+----------+--------+-----------
| ID | NAME | AMOUNT | DATE
+------+----------+--------+-----------
| 1 | Ramesh | NULL | NULL
| 2 | Khilan | 1560 | 2009-11-20
| 3 | kaushik | 3000 | 2009-10-08
| 3 | kaushik | 1500 | 2009-10-08
| 4 | Chaitali | 2060 | 2008-05-20
| 5 | Hardik | NULL | NULL
| 6 | Komal | NULL | NULL
| 7 | Muffy | NULL | NULL

+------+----------+--------+-----------
The UNION ALL Clause

The UNION ALL operator is used to combine
the results of two SELECT statements including
duplicate rows.
The same rules that apply to the UNION clause

will apply to the UNION ALL operator.
Syntax
The basic syntax of the UNION ALL is as
follows.
[WHERE condition]
UNION ALL
[WHERE condition]
Here, the given condition could be any given

expression based on your requirement.
Example
Consider the following two tables,
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Table 2 − ORDERS table is as follows.
+-----+---------------------+-------
+-----+---------------------+-------
| 102 | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 |
| 100 | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 |
| 101 | 2009-11-20 00:00:00 |
| 103 | 2008-05-20 00:00:00 |
+-----+---------------------+-------

SQL> SELECT ID, NAME, AMOUNT, DATE
FROM CUSTOMERS
LEFT JOIN ORDERS
UNION ALL
SELECT ID, NAME, AMOUNT, DATE
FROM CUSTOMERS
RIGHT JOIN ORDERS
+------+----------+--------+-----------
| ID | NAME | AMOUNT | DATE
+------+----------+--------+-----------
| 1 | Ramesh | NULL | NULL
| 2 | Khilan | 1560 | 2009-11-20
| 3 | kaushik | 3000 | 2009-10-08
| 3 | kaushik | 1500 | 2009-10-08
| 3 | kaushik | 1500 | 2009 10 08
| 4 | Chaitali | 2060 | 2008-05-20
| 5 | Hardik | NULL | NULL
| 6 | Komal | NULL | NULL
| 7 | Muffy | NULL | NULL
| 3 | kaushik | 3000 | 2009-10-08
| 3 | kaushik | 1500 | 2009-10-08
| 2 | Khilan | 1560 | 2009-11-20
| 4 | Chaitali | 2060 | 2008-05-20

+------+----------+--------+-----------
There are two other clauses (i.e., operators),

which are like the UNION clause.
SQL INTERSECT Clause − This is used

to combine two SELECT statements, but
returns rows only from the first SELECT
statement that are identical to a row in the
second SELECT statement.
SQL EXCEPT Clause − This combines

two SELECT statements and returns rows
from the first SELECT statement that are
not returned by the second SELECT
statement.
SQL - NULL Values

The SQL NULL is the term used to represent a
missing value. A NULL value in a table is a value
in a field that appears to be blank.
A field with a NULL value is a field with no

value. It is very important to understand that a
NULL value is different than a zero value or a
field that contains spaces.
Syntax
The basic syntax of NULL while creating a
table.
SQL> CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INT NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25) ,
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
Here, NOT NULL signifies that column should

always accept an explicit value of the given
data type. There are two columns where we did
not use NOT NULL, which means these
columns could be NULL.
A field with a NULL value is the one that has

been left blank during the record creation.
Example
The NULL value can cause problems when
selecting data. However, because when
comparing an unknown value to any other
value, the result is always unknown and not
included in the results. You must use the IS
NULL or IS NOT NULL operators to check for a
NULL value.
Consider the following CUSTOMERS table

having the records as shown below.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Now, following is the usage of the IS NOT
NULLoperator.
SQL> SELECT ID, NAME, AGE, ADDRESS,

FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY IS NOT NULL;
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
Now, following is the usage of the IS NULL

operator.
SQL> SELECT ID, NAME, AGE, ADDRESS,

FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY IS NULL;
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
SQL - Alias Syntax

You can rename a table or a column temporarily
by giving another name known as Alias. The
use of table aliases is to rename a table in a
specific SQL statement. The renaming is a
temporary change and the actual table name
does not change in the database. The column
aliases are used to rename a table's columns
for the purpose of a particular SQL query.
Syntax
The basic syntax of a table alias is as follows.
SELECT column1, column2....
FROM table_name AS alias_name
WHERE [condition];
The basic syntax of a column alias is as

follows.
SELECT column_name AS alias_name
FROM table_name
WHERE [condition];
Example
Consider the following two tables.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Table 2 − ORDERS Table is as follows.
+-----+---------------------+-------
+-----+---------------------+-------
| 102 | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 |
| 100 | 2009-10-08 00:00:00 |
| 101 | 2009-11-20 00:00:00 |

| 103 | 2008-05-20 00:00:00 |
+-----+---------------------+-------
Now, the following code block shows the usage

of a table alias.
SQL> SELECT C.ID, C.NAME, C.AGE, O.AM

FROM CUSTOMERS AS C, ORDERS AS O
WHERE C.ID = O.CUSTOMER_ID;
+----+----------+-----+--------+
| ID | NAME | AGE | AMOUNT |
+----+----------+-----+--------+
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | 3000 |
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | 1500 |
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | 1560 |
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | 2060 |
+----+----------+-----+--------+
Following is the usage of a column alias.
SQL> SELECT ID AS CUSTOMER_ID, NAME

FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY IS NOT NULL;
+-------------+---------------+
| CUSTOMER_ID | CUSTOMER_NAME |
+-------------+---------------+
| 1 | Ramesh |
| 2 | Khilan |
| 3 | kaushik |
| 4 | Chaitali |
| 5 | Hardik |
| 6 | Komal |
| 7 | Muffy |
+-------------+---------------+
SQL - Indexes
Indexes are special lookup tables that the
database search engine can use to speed up
data retrieval. Simply put, an index is a pointer
to data in a table. An index in a database is very
similar to an index in the back of a book.
For example, if you want to reference all pages

in a book that discusses a certain topic, you
first refer to the index, which lists all the topics
alphabetically and are then referred to one or
more specific page numbers.
An index helps to speed up SELECT queries and

WHERE clauses, but it slows down data input,
with the UPDATE and the INSERT statements.
Indexes can be created or dropped with no
effect on the data.
Creating an index involves the CREATE INDEX

statement, which allows you to name the index,
to specify the table and which column or
columns to index, and to indicate whether the
index is in an ascending or descending order.
Indexes can also be unique, like the UNIQUE

constraint, in that the index prevents duplicate
entries in the column or combination of
columns on which there is an index.
The CREATE INDEX Command

The basic syntax of a CREATE INDEX is as
follows.
CREATE INDEX index_name ON table_name;
Single-Column Indexes
A single-column index is created based on only
one table column. The basic syntax is as
follows.
CREATE INDEX index_name
ON table_name (column_name);
Unique Indexes
Unique indexes are used not only for
performance, but also for data integrity. A
unique index does not allow any duplicate
values to be inserted into the table. The basic
syntax is as follows.
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name
on table_name (column_name);
Composite Indexes
A composite index is an index on two or more
columns of a table. Its basic syntax is as
follows.
CREATE INDEX index_name
on table_name (column1, column2);
Whether to create a single-column index or a

composite index, take into consideration the
column(s) that you may use very frequently in a
query's WHERE clause as filter conditions.
Should there be only one column used, a single-

column index should be the choice. Should
there be two or more columns that are
frequently used in the WHERE clause as filters,
the composite index would be the best choice.
Implicit Indexes
Implicit indexes are indexes that are
automatically created by the database server
when an object is created. Indexes are
automatically created for primary key
constraints and unique constraints.
The DROP INDEX Command

An index can be dropped using SQL DROP
command. Care should be taken when dropping
an index because the performance may either
slow down or improve.
The basic syntax is as follows −
DROP INDEX index_name;
You can check the INDEX Constraint chapter

to see some actual examples on Indexes.
When should indexes be avoided?

Although indexes are intended to enhance a
database's performance, there are times when
they should be avoided.
The following guidelines indicate when the use

of an index should be reconsidered.
Indexes should not be used on small

tables.
Tables that have frequent, large batch

updates or insert operations.
Indexes should not be used on columns

that contain a high number of NULL
values.
Columns that are frequently manipulated

should not be indexed.
SQL - ALTER TABLE
Command
The SQL ALTER TABLE command is used to
add, delete or modify columns in an existing
table. You should also use the ALTER TABLE
command to add and drop various constraints
on an existing table.
Syntax
The basic syntax of an ALTER TABLE command
to add a New Column in an existing table is as
follows.
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD column_name

to DROP COLUMN in an existing table is as
follows.
ALTER TABLE table_name DROP COLUMN colu

to change the DATA TYPE of a column in a
table is as follows.
ALTER TABLE table_name MODIFY COLUMN co

to add a NOT NULL constraint to a column in a
table is as follows.
ALTER TABLE table_name MODIFY column_na
The basic syntax of ALTER TABLE to ADD

UNIQUE CONSTRAINT to a table is as follows.
ADD CONSTRAINT MyUniqueConstraint UNIQU

to ADD CHECK CONSTRAINT to a table is as
follows.
ADD CONSTRAINT MyUniqueConstraint CHECK

to ADD PRIMARY KEY constraint to a table is as
follows.
ADD CONSTRAINT MyPrimaryKey PRIMARY KEY

to DROP CONSTRAINT from a table is as
follows.
DROP CONSTRAINT MyUniqueConstraint;
If you're using MySQL, the code is as follows −
DROP INDEX MyUniqueConstraint;

to DROP PRIMARY KEY constraint from a table
is as follows.
DROP CONSTRAINT MyPrimaryKey;
If you're using MySQL, the code is as follows −
DROP PRIMARY KEY;
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Following is the example to ADD a New Column

to an existing table −
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS ADD SEX char(1
Now, the CUSTOMERS table is changed and

following would be output from the SELECT
statement.
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
| 2 | Ramesh | 25 | Delhi | 150
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 200
| 4 | kaushik | 25 | Mumbai | 650
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 850
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 450
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 1000
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
Following is the example to DROP sex column

from the existing table.
ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS DROP SEX;

Now, the CUSTOMERS table is changed and
following would be the output from the SELECT
statement.
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
| 2 | Ramesh | 25 | Delhi | 150
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 200
| 4 | kaushik | 25 | Mumbai | 650
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 850
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 450
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 1000
+----+---------+-----+-----------+-----
SQL - TRUNCATE TABLE

Command
The SQL TRUNCATE TABLE command is used
to delete complete data from an existing table.
You can also use DROP TABLE command to

delete complete table but it would remove
complete table structure form the database and
you would need to re-create this table once
again if you wish you store some data.
Syntax
The basic syntax of a TRUNCATE TABLE
command is as follows.
TRUNCATE TABLE table_name;
Example
Consider a CUSTOMERS table having the
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
Following is the example of a Truncate

command.
SQL > TRUNCATE TABLE CUSTOMERS;
Now, the CUSTOMERS table is truncated and

the output from SELECT statement will be as
shown in the code block below −
Empty set (0.00 sec)
SQL - Using Views

A view is nothing more than a SQL statement
that is stored in the database with an
associated name. A view is actually a
composition of a table in the form of a
predefined SQL query.
A view can contain all rows of a table or select

rows from a table. A view can be created from
one or many tables which depends on the
written SQL query to create a view.
Views, which are a type of virtual tables allow

users to do the following −
Structure data in a way that users or

classes of users find natural or intuitive.
Restrict access to the data in such a way
that a user can see and (sometimes)
modify exactly what they need and no
more.
Summarize data from various tables which
can be used to generate reports.
Creating Views
Database views are created using the CREATE
VIEW statement. Views can be created from a
single table, multiple tables or another view.
To create a view, a user must have the

appropriate system privilege according to the
specific implementation.
The basic CREATE VIEW syntax is as follows −
CREATE VIEW view_name AS
SELECT column1, column2.....
FROM table_name
WHERE [condition];
You can include multiple tables in your SELECT

statement in a similar way as you use them in a
normal SQL SELECT query.
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Following is an example to create a view from

the CUSTOMERS table. This view would be
used to have customer name and age from the
CUSTOMERS table.
SQL > CREATE VIEW CUSTOMERS_VIEW AS
SELECT name, age
FROM CUSTOMERS;
Now, you can query CUSTOMERS_VIEW in a

similar way as you query an actual table.
Following is an example for the same.
SQL > SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS_VIEW;
+----------+-----+
| name | age |
+----------+-----+
| Ramesh | 32 |
| Khilan | 25 |
| kaushik | 23 |
| Chaitali | 25 |
| Hardik | 27 |
| Komal | 22 |
| Muffy | 24 |
+----------+-----+
The WITH CHECK OPTION

The WITH CHECK OPTION is a CREATE VIEW
statement option. The purpose of the WITH
CHECK OPTION is to ensure that all UPDATE
and INSERTs satisfy the condition(s) in the view
definition.
If they do not satisfy the condition(s), the

UPDATE or INSERT returns an error.
The following code block has an example of
creating same view CUSTOMERS_VIEW with the
WITH CHECK OPTION.
CREATE VIEW CUSTOMERS_VIEW AS
SELECT name, age
FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE age IS NOT NULL
WITH CHECK OPTION;
The WITH CHECK OPTION in this case should

deny the entry of any NULL values in the view's
AGE column, because the view is defined by
data that does not have a NULL value in the
AGE column.
Updating a View
A view can be updated under certain conditions
which are given below −
The SELECT clause may not contain the

keyword DISTINCT.
The SELECT clause may not contain

summary functions.
The SELECT clause may not contain set

functions.
The SELECT clause may not contain set

operators.
The SELECT clause may not contain an

ORDER BY clause.
The FROM clause may not contain multiple

tables.
The WHERE clause may not contain

subqueries.
The query may not contain GROUP BY or

HAVING.
Calculated columns may not be updated.
All NOT NULL columns from the base table
must be included in the view in order for
the INSERT query to function.
So, if a view satisfies all the above-mentioned

rules then you can update that view. The
following code block has an example to update
the age of Ramesh.
SQL > UPDATE CUSTOMERS_VIEW
SET AGE = 35
WHERE name = 'Ramesh';
This would ultimately update the base table

CUSTOMERS and the same would reflect in the
view itself. Now, try to query the base table and
the SELECT statement would produce the
following result.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
Inserting Rows into a View

Rows of data can be inserted into a view. The
same rules that apply to the UPDATE command
also apply to the INSERT command.
Here, we cannot insert rows in the

CUSTOMERS_VIEW because we have not
included all the NOT NULL columns in this view,
otherwise you can insert rows in a view in a
similar way as you insert them in a table.
Deleting Rows into a View

Rows of data can be deleted from a view. The
same rules that apply to the UPDATE and
INSERT commands apply to the DELETE
command.
Following is an example to delete a record

having AGE = 22.
SQL > DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS_VIEW
WHERE age = 22;
This would ultimately delete a row from the

base table CUSTOMERS and the same would
reflect in the view itself. Now, try to query the
base table and the SELECT statement would
produce the following result.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
Dropping Views
Obviously, where you have a view, you need a
way to drop the view if it is no longer needed.
The syntax is very simple and is given below −
DROP VIEW view_name;
Following is an example to drop the

CUSTOMERS_VIEW from the CUSTOMERS
table.
DROP VIEW CUSTOMERS_VIEW;
SQL - Having Clause

The HAVING Clause enables you to specify
conditions that filter which group results appear
in the results.
The WHERE clause places conditions on the

selected columns, whereas the HAVING clause
places conditions on groups created by the
GROUP BY clause.
Syntax
The following code block shows the position of
the HAVING Clause in a query.
SELECT
FROM
WHERE
GROUP BY
HAVING
ORDER BY
The HAVING clause must follow the GROUP BY

clause in a query and must also precede the
ORDER BY clause if used. The following code
block has the syntax of the SELECT statement
including the HAVING clause −
SELECT column1, column2
FROM table1, table2
WHERE [ conditions ]
GROUP BY column1, column2
HAVING [ conditions ]
ORDER BY column1, column2
Example
following records.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Following is an example, which would display a

record for a similar age count that would be
more than or equal to 2.
SQL > SELECT ID, NAME, AGE, ADDRESS,

FROM CUSTOMERS
GROUP BY age
HAVING COUNT(age) >= 2;
+----+--------+-----+---------+--------
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY
+----+--------+-----+---------+--------
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500.00
+----+--------+-----+---------+--------
SQL - Transactions
A transaction is a unit of work that is performed
against a database. Transactions are units or
sequences of work accomplished in a logical
order, whether in a manual fashion by a user or
automatically by some sort of a database
program.
A transaction is the propagation of one or more

changes to the database. For example, if you
are creating a record or updating a record or
deleting a record from the table, then you are
performing a transaction on that table. It is
important to control these transactions to
ensure the data integrity and to handle
database errors.
Practically, you will club many SQL queries into

a group and you will execute all of them
together as a part of a transaction.
Properties of Transactions
Transactions have the following four standard
properties, usually referred to by the acronym
ACID.
Atomicity − ensures that all operations

within the work unit are completed
successfully. Otherwise, the transaction is
aborted at the point of failure and all the
previous operations are rolled back to their
former state.
Consistency − ensures that the database

properly changes states upon a
successfully committed transaction.
Isolation − enables transactions to operate

independently of and transparent to each
other.
Durability − ensures that the result or
effect of a committed transaction persists
in case of a system failure.
Transaction Control
The following commands are used to control
transactions.
COMMIT − to save the changes.
ROLLBACK − to roll back the changes.

SAVEPOINT − creates points within the
groups of transactions in which to
ROLLBACK.
SET TRANSACTION − Places a name on a

transaction.
Transactional Control
Commands
Transactional control commands are only used
with the DML Commands such as - INSERT,
UPDATE and DELETE only. They cannot be used
while creating tables or dropping them because
these operations are automatically committed
in the database.
The COMMIT Command

The COMMIT command is the transactional
command used to save changes invoked by a
transaction to the database.
The COMMIT command is the transactional

command used to save changes invoked by a
transaction to the database. The COMMIT
command saves all the transactions to the
database since the last COMMIT or ROLLBACK
command.
The syntax for the COMMIT command is as

follows.
COMMIT;
Example

+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Following is an example which would delete

those records from the table which have age =
25 and then COMMIT the changes in the
database.
WHERE AGE = 25;
SQL> COMMIT;
Thus, two rows from the table would be deleted

and the SELECT statement would produce the
following result.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
The ROLLBACK Command

The ROLLBACK command is the transactional
command used to undo transactions that have
not already been saved to the database. This
command can only be used to undo
transactions since the last COMMIT or
ROLLBACK command was issued.
The syntax for a ROLLBACK command is as

follows −
ROLLBACK;
Example

+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Following is an example, which would delete

those records from the table which have the
age = 25 and then ROLLBACK the changes in
the database.
WHERE AGE = 25;
SQL> ROLLBACK;
Thus, the delete operation would not impact the

table and the SELECT statement would produce
the following result.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 85
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
The SAVEPOINT Command

A SAVEPOINT is a point in a transaction when
you can roll the transaction back to a certain
point without rolling back the entire transaction.
The syntax for a SAVEPOINT command is as

shown below.
SAVEPOINT SAVEPOINT_NAME;
This command serves only in the creation of a

SAVEPOINT among all the transactional
statements. The ROLLBACK command is used
to undo a group of transactions.
The syntax for rolling back to a SAVEPOINT is

as shown below.
ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT_NAME;
Following is an example where you plan to

delete the three different records from the
CUSTOMERS table. You want to create a
SAVEPOINT before each delete, so that you can
ROLLBACK to any SAVEPOINT at any time to
return the appropriate data to its original state.
Example
following records.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
The following code block contains the series of

operations.
SQL> SAVEPOINT SP1;
Savepoint created.
SQL> DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS WHERE ID=
1 row deleted.
SQL> SAVEPOINT SP2;
Savepoint created.
SQL> DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS WHERE ID=
1 row deleted.
SQL> SAVEPOINT SP3;
Savepoint created.
SQL> DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS WHERE ID=3
1 row deleted.
Now that the three deletions have taken place,

let us assume that you have changed your mind
and decided to ROLLBACK to the SAVEPOINT
that you identified as SP2. Because SP2 was
created after the first deletion, the last two
deletions are undone −
SQL> ROLLBACK TO SP2;
Rollback complete.
Notice that only the first deletion took place
since you rolled back to SP2.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
6 rows selected.
The RELEASE SAVEPOINT Command

The RELEASE SAVEPOINT command is used to
remove a SAVEPOINT that you have created.
The syntax for a RELEASE SAVEPOINT

command is as follows.
RELEASE SAVEPOINT SAVEPOINT_NAME;
Once a SAVEPOINT has been released, you can

no longer use the ROLLBACK command to undo
transactions performed since the last
SAVEPOINT.
The SET TRANSACTION Command

The SET TRANSACTION command can be used
to initiate a database transaction. This
command is used to specify characteristics for
the transaction that follows. For example, you
can specify a transaction to be read only or
read write.
The syntax for a SET TRANSACTION command

is as follows.
SET TRANSACTION [ READ WRITE | READ ONL
SQL - Wildcard Operators

We have already discussed about the SQL LIKE
operator, which is used to compare a value to
similar values using the wildcard operators.
SQL supports two wildcard operators in

conjunction with the LIKE operator which are
explained in detail in the following table.
Sr.No. Wildcard & Description
The percent sign (%)
Matches one or more characters.

1
Note − MS Access uses the asterisk
(*) wildcard character instead of the
percent sign (%) wildcard character.
The underscore (_)
Matches one character.

2
Note − MS Access uses a question
mark (?) instead of the underscore
(_) to match any one character.
The percent sign represents zero, one or

multiple characters. The underscore represents
a single number or a character. These symbols
can be used in combinations.
Syntax
The basic syntax of a '%' and a '_' operator is as
follows.
SELECT * FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX%'
or
WHERE column LIKE '%XXXX%'
or
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX_'
or
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX'
or
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX_'

the AND or the OR operators. Here, XXXX could
be any numeric or string value.
Example
The following table has a number of examples
showing the WHERE part having different LIKE
clauses with '%' and '_' operators.
Sr.No. Statement & Description
WHERE SALARY LIKE '200%'

1
Finds any values that start with 200.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '%200%'

2 Finds any values that have 200 in
any position.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '_00%'

3 Finds any values that have 00 in the
second and third positions.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '2_%_%'
4
Finds any values that start with 2
and are at least 3 characters in
length.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '%2'

5
Finds any values that end with 2.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '_2%3'

6 Finds any values that have a 2 in the
second position and end with a 3.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '2___3'
7
Finds any values in a five-digit
number that start with 2 and end
with 3.
Let us take a real example, consider the

CUSTOMERS table having the following
records.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
The following code block is an example, which

would display all the records from the
CUSTOMERS table where the SALARY starts
with 200.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '200%';
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
SQL - Date Functions

The following table has a list of all the
important Date and Time related functions
available through SQL. There are various other
functions supported by your RDBMS. The given
list is based on MySQL RDBMS.
Sr.No. Function & Description
ADDDATE()
1
Adds dates
ADDTIME()
2
Adds time
CONVERT_TZ()
3 Converts from one timezone to

another
CURDATE()
4
Returns the current date
CURRENT_DATE(), CURRENT_DATE
5
Synonyms for CURDATE()
CURRENT_TIME(), CURRENT_TIME
6
Synonyms for CURTIME()
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(),
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
7
Synonyms for NOW()
CURTIME()
8
Returns the current time
DATE_ADD()
9
Adds two dates
DATE_FORMAT()
10
Formats date as specified
11 DATE_SUB()
Subtracts two dates

DATE()
12 Extracts the date part of a date or

datetime expression
DATEDIFF()
13
Subtracts two dates
DAY()
14
Synonym for DAYOFMONTH()
DAYNAME()
15
Returns the name of the weekday
DAYOFMONTH()
16
Returns the day of the month (1-31)
DAYOFWEEK()
17 Returns the weekday index of the

argument
DAYOFYEAR()
18
Returns the day of the year (1-366)
EXTRACT
19
Extracts part of a date
FROM_DAYS()
20
Converts a day number to a date
FROM_UNIXTIME()
21
Formats date as a UNIX timestamp
HOUR()
22
Extracts the hour
23 LAST_DAY
Returns the last day of the month for

the argument
LOCALTIME(), LOCALTIME
24
Synonym for NOW()
LOCALTIMESTAMP,
LOCALTIMESTAMP()
25
Synonym for NOW()
MAKEDATE()
26 Creates a date from the year and day

of year
MAKETIME
27
MAKETIME()
MICROSECOND()
28 Returns the microseconds from

argument
MINUTE()
29 Returns the minute from the

argument
MONTH()
30 Return the month from the date

passed
MONTHNAME()
31
Returns the name of the month
NOW()
32
Returns the current date and time
33 PERIOD_ADD()
Adds a period to a year-month
PERIOD_DIFF()
34 Returns the number of months

between periods
QUARTER()
35 Returns the quarter from a date

argument
SEC_TO_TIME()
36 Converts seconds to 'HH:MM:SS'

format
SECOND()
37
Returns the second (0-59)
STR_TO_DATE()
38
Converts a string to a date
SUBDATE()
39 When invoked with three arguments

a synonym for DATE_SUB()
SUBTIME()
40
Subtracts times
SYSDATE()
41 Returns the time at which the

function executes
TIME_FORMAT()
42
Formats as time
43 TIME_TO_SEC()
Returns the argument converted to
seconds
TIME()
44 Extracts the time portion of the

expression passed
TIMEDIFF()
45
Subtracts time
TIMESTAMP()
With a single argument this function

46 returns the date or datetime
expression. With two arguments, the
sum of the arguments
TIMESTAMPADD()
47 Adds an interval to a datetime

expression
TIMESTAMPDIFF()
48 Subtracts an interval from a

datetime expression
TO_DAYS()
49 Returns the date argument

converted to days
UNIX_TIMESTAMP()
50
Returns a UNIX timestamp
UTC_DATE()
51
Returns the current UTC date
52 UTC_TIME()
Returns the current UTC time

UTC_TIMESTAMP()
53 Returns the current UTC date and

time
WEEK()
54
Returns the week number
WEEKDAY()
55
Returns the weekday index
WEEKOFYEAR()
56 Returns the calendar week of the

date (1-53)
YEAR()
57
Returns the year
YEARWEEK()
58
Returns the year and week
ADDDATE(date,INTERVAL expr
unit), ADDDATE(expr,days)
When invoked with the INTERVAL form of the
second argument, ADDDATE() is a synonym for
DATE_ADD(). The related function SUBDATE() is
a synonym for DATE_SUB(). For information on
the INTERVAL unit argument, see the
discussion for DATE_ADD().
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('1998-01-02',

+-----------------------------------
| DATE_ADD('1998-01-02', INTERVAL 31
+-----------------------------------
| 1998-02-02
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT ADDDATE('1998-01-02',
+-----------------------------------
| ADDDATE('1998-01-02', INTERVAL 31
+-----------------------------------
| 1998-02-02
+-----------------------------------
When invoked with the days form of the second

argument, MySQL treats it as an integer number
of days to be added to expr.
mysql> SELECT ADDDATE('1998-01-02', 3

+-----------------------------------
+-----------------------------------
| 1998-02-02
+-----------------------------------
ADDTIME(expr1,expr2)
ADDTIME() adds expr2 to expr1 and returns the
result. The expr1 is a time or datetime
expression, while the expr2 is a time
expression.
mysql> SELECT ADDTIME('1997-12-31 23

+-----------------------------------
| DATE_ADD('1997-12-31 23:59:59.9999
+-----------------------------------
| 1998-01-02 01:01:01.000001
+-----------------------------------
CONVERT_TZ(dt,from_tz,to_tz)
This converts a datetime value dt from the time
zone given by from_tz to the time zone given by
to_tz and returns the resulting value. This
function returns NULL if the arguments are
invalid.
mysql> SELECT CONVERT_TZ('2004-01-01

+-----------------------------------
| CONVERT_TZ('2004-01-01 12:00:00','G
+-----------------------------------
| 2004-01-01 13:00:00
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT CONVERT_TZ('2004-01-01

+-----------------------------------
| CONVERT_TZ('2004-01-01 12:00:00','
+-----------------------------------
| 2004-01-01 22:00:00
+-----------------------------------
CURDATE()
Returns the current date as a value in 'YYYY-
MM-DD' or YYYYMMDD format, depending on
whether the function is used in a string or in a
numeric context.
mysql> SELECT CURDATE();
+-----------------------------------
| CURDATE()
+-----------------------------------
| 1997-12-15
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT CURDATE() + 0;
+-----------------------------------
| CURDATE() + 0
+-----------------------------------
| 19971215
+-----------------------------------
CURRENT_DATE and
CURRENT_DATE()
CURRENT_DATE and CURRENT_DATE() are
synonyms for CURDATE()
CURTIME()
Returns the current time as a value in
'HH:MM:SS' or HHMMSS format, depending on
numeric context. The value is expressed in the
current time zone.
mysql> SELECT CURTIME();
+-----------------------------------
| CURTIME()
+-----------------------------------
| 23:50:26
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT CURTIME() + 0;
+-----------------------------------
| CURTIME() + 0
+-----------------------------------
| 235026
+-----------------------------------
CURRENT_TIME and
CURRENT_TIME()
CURRENT_TIME and CURRENT_TIME() are
synonyms for CURTIME().
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() are synonyms for
NOW().
DATE(expr)
Extracts the date part of the date or datetime
expression expr.
mysql> SELECT DATE('2003-12-31 01:02

+-----------------------------------
| DATE('2003-12-31 01:02:03')
+-----------------------------------
| 2003-12-31
+-----------------------------------
DATEDIFF(expr1,expr2)
DATEDIFF() returns expr1 . expr2 expressed as
a value in days from one date to the other. Both
expr1 and expr2 are date or date-and-time
expressions. Only the date parts of the values
are used in the calculation.
mysql> SELECT DATEDIFF('1997-12-31 23

+-----------------------------------
| DATEDIFF('1997-12-31 23:59:59','19
+-----------------------------------
| 1
+-----------------------------------
DATE_ADD(date,INTERVAL expr
unit), DATE_SUB(date,INTERVAL
expr unit)
These functions perform date arithmetic. The
date is a DATETIME or DATE value specifying
the starting date. The expr is an expression
specifying the interval value to be added or
subtracted from the starting date. The expr is a
string; it may start with a '-' for negative
intervals.
A unit is a keyword indicating the units in which

the expression should be interpreted.
The INTERVAL keyword and the unit specifier

are not case sensitive.
The following table shows the expected form of

the expr argument for each unit value.
unit Value Expected exprFormat
MICROSECOND MICROSECONDS
SECOND SECONDS
MINUTE MINUTES
HOUR HOURS
DAY DAYS
WEEK WEEKS
MONTH MONTHS
QUARTER QUARTERS
YEAR YEARS
SECOND_MICROSECOND 'SECONDS.MICROSECONDS'
MINUTE_MICROSECOND 'MINUTES.MICROSECONDS'
MINUTE_SECOND 'MINUTES:SECONDS'
HOUR_MICROSECOND 'HOURS.MICROSECONDS'
HOUR_SECOND 'HOURS:MINUTES:SECONDS'
HOUR_MINUTE 'HOURS:MINUTES'
DAY_MICROSECOND 'DAYS.MICROSECONDS'
DAY_SECOND 'DAYS
HOURS:MINUTES:SECONDS'
DAY_MINUTE 'DAYS HOURS:MINUTES'
DAY_HOUR 'DAYS HOURS'
YEAR_MONTH 'YEARS-MONTHS'
The values QUARTER and WEEK are available

from the MySQL 5.0.0. version.
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('1997-12-31 23

-> INTERVAL '1:1' MINUTE_SECOND);
+-----------------------------------
| DATE_ADD('1997-12-31 23:59:59', INT
+-----------------------------------
| 1998-01-01 00:01:00
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('1999-01-01',

+-----------------------------------
+-----------------------------------
| 1999-01-01 01:00:00
+-----------------------------------
DATE_FORMAT(date,format)
This command formats the date value as per
the format string.
The following specifiers may be used in the

format string. The '%' character is required
before the format specifier characters.
Sr.No. Specifier & Description
%a
1 Abbreviated weekday name
(Sun..Sat)
%b
2
Abbreviated month name (Jan..Dec)
%c
3
Month, numeric (0..12)
%D
4 Day of the month with English suffix
(0th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, .)
%d
5
Day of the month, numeric (00..31)
%e
6
Day of the month, numeric (0..31)
%f
7
Microseconds (000000..999999)
%H
8
Hour (00..23)
%h
9
Hour (01..12)
10
%I
Hour (01..12)
%i
11
Minutes, numeric (00..59)
%j
12
Day of year (001..366)
%k
13
Hour (0..23)
%l
14
Hour (1..12)
%M
15
Month name (January..December)
%m
16
Month, numeric (00..12)
%p
17
AM or PM
%r
18 Time, 12-hour (hh:mm:ss followed by
AM or PM)
%S
19
Seconds (00..59)
20 %s
Seconds (00..59)
%T
21
Time, 24-hour (hh:mm:ss)
%U
22 Week (00..53), where Sunday is the
first day of the week
%u
23 Week (00..53), where Monday is the
first day of the week
%V
24 Week (01..53), where Sunday is the
first day of the week; used with %X
%v
25 Week (01..53), where Monday is the
first day of the week; used with %x
%W
26
Weekday name (Sunday..Saturday)
%w
27 Day of the week
(0=Sunday..6=Saturday)
28
%X
Year for the week where Sunday is

the first day of the week, numeric,
four digits; used with %V
%x
29
Year for the week, where Monday is
the first day of the week, numeric,
four digits; used with %v
%Y
30
Year, numeric, four digits
%y
31
Year, numeric (two digits)
%%
32
A literal .%. character
%x
33
x, for any.x. not listed above
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('1997-10-04

+-----------------------------------
| DATE_FORMAT('1997-10-04 22:23:00',
+-----------------------------------
| Saturday October 1997
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('1997-10-04

-> '%H %k %I %r %T %S %w');
+-----------------------------------
| DATE_FORMAT('1997-10-04 22:23:00..
+-----------------------------------
| 22 22 10 10:23:00 PM 22:23:00 00
+-----------------------------------
DATE_SUB(date,INTERVAL expr
unit)
This is similar to the DATE_ADD() function.
DAY(date)
The DAY() is a synonym for the
DAYOFMONTH() function.
DAYNAME(date)
Returns the name of the weekday for date.
mysql> SELECT DAYNAME('1998-02-05');
+-----------------------------------
| DAYNAME('1998-02-05')
+-----------------------------------
| Thursday
+-----------------------------------
DAYOFMONTH(date)
Returns the day of the month for date, in the
range 0 to 31.
mysql> SELECT DAYOFMONTH('1998-02-03

+-----------------------------------
| DAYOFMONTH('1998-02-03')
+-----------------------------------
| 3
+-----------------------------------
DAYOFWEEK(date)
Returns the weekday index for date (1 = Sunday,
2 = Monday, ., 7 = Saturday). These index values
correspond to the ODBC standard.
mysql> SELECT DAYOFWEEK('1998-02-03'

+-----------------------------------
|DAYOFWEEK('1998-02-03')
+-----------------------------------
| 3
+-----------------------------------
DAYOFYEAR(date)
Returns the day of the year for date, in the range
1 to 366.
mysql> SELECT DAYOFYEAR('1998-02-03'

+-----------------------------------
| DAYOFYEAR('1998-02-03')
+-----------------------------------
| 34
+-----------------------------------
EXTRACT(unit FROM date)

The EXTRACT() function uses the same kinds
of unit specifiers as DATE_ADD() or
DATE_SUB(), but extracts parts from the date
rather than performing date arithmetic.
mysql> SELECT EXTRACT(YEAR FROM '199

+-----------------------------------
| EXTRACT(YEAR FROM '1999-07-02')
+-----------------------------------
| 1999
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT EXTRACT(YEAR_MONTH FROM

+-----------------------------------
| EXTRACT(YEAR_MONTH FROM '1999-07-0
+-----------------------------------
| 199907
+-----------------------------------
FROM_DAYS(N)
Given a day number N, returns a DATE value.
mysql> SELECT FROM_DAYS(729669);
+-----------------------------------
| FROM_DAYS(729669)
+-----------------------------------
| 1997-10-07
+-----------------------------------
Note − Use FROM_DAYS() with caution on old

dates. It is not intended for use with values that
precede the advent of the Gregorian calendar
(1582).
FROM_UNIXTIME(unix_timestamp)
FROM_UNIXTIME(unix_timestamp,format)
Returns a representation of the unix_timestamp
argument as a value in 'YYYY-MM-DD
HH:MM:SS or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format,
depending on whether the function is used in a
string or in a numeric context. The value is
expressed in the current time zone. The
unix_timestamp argument is an internal
timestamp values, which are produced by the
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() function.
If the format is given, the result is formatted

according to the format string, which is used in
the same way as is listed in the entry for the
DATE_FORMAT() function.
mysql> SELECT FROM_UNIXTIME(87599658

+-----------------------------------
| FROM_UNIXTIME(875996580)
+-----------------------------------
| 1997-10-04 22:23:00
+-----------------------------------
HOUR(time)
Returns the hour for time. The range of the
return value is 0 to 23 for time-of-day values.
However, the range of TIME values actually is
much larger, so HOUR can return values greater
than 23.
mysql> SELECT HOUR('10:05:03');
+-----------------------------------
| HOUR('10:05:03')
+-----------------------------------
| 10
+-----------------------------------
LAST_DAY(date)
Takes a date or datetime value and returns the
corresponding value for the last day of the
month. Returns NULL if the argument is invalid.
mysql> SELECT LAST_DAY('2003-02-05')

+-----------------------------------
| LAST_DAY('2003-02-05')
+-----------------------------------
| 2003-02-28
+-----------------------------------
LOCALTIME and LOCALTIME()

LOCALTIME and LOCALTIME() are synonyms for
NOW().
LOCALTIMESTAMP and
LOCALTIMESTAMP()
LOCALTIMESTAMP and LOCALTIMESTAMP()
are synonyms for NOW().
MAKEDATE(year,dayofyear)
Returns a date, given year and day-of-year
values. The dayofyear value must be greater
than 0 or the result will be NULL.
mysql> SELECT MAKEDATE(2001,31), MAK

+-----------------------------------
| MAKEDATE(2001,31), MAKEDATE(2001,3
+-----------------------------------
| '2001-01-31', '2001-02-01'
+-----------------------------------
MAKETIME(hour,minute,second)
Returns a time value calculated from the hour,
minute and second arguments.
mysql> SELECT MAKETIME(12,15,30);
+-----------------------------------
| MAKETIME(12,15,30)
+-----------------------------------
| '12:15:30'
+-----------------------------------
MICROSECOND(expr)
Returns the microseconds from the time or
datetime expression (expr) as a number in the
range from 0 to 999999.
mysql> SELECT MICROSECOND('12:00:00.

+-----------------------------------
| MICROSECOND('12:00:00.123456')
+-----------------------------------
| 123456
+-----------------------------------
MINUTE(time)
Returns the minute for time, in the range 0 to
59.
mysql> SELECT MINUTE('98-02-03 10:05

+-----------------------------------
| MINUTE('98-02-03 10:05:03')
+-----------------------------------
| 5
+-----------------------------------
MONTH(date)
Returns the month for date, in the range 0 to 12.
mysql> SELECT MONTH('1998-02-03')
+-----------------------------------
| MONTH('1998-02-03')
+-----------------------------------
| 2
+-----------------------------------
MONTHNAME(date)
Returns the full name of the month for a date.
mysql> SELECT MONTHNAME('1998-02-05'

+-----------------------------------
| MONTHNAME('1998-02-05')
+-----------------------------------
| February
+-----------------------------------
NOW()
Returns the current date and time as a value in
'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' or
YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format, depending on
whether the function is used in a string or
numeric context. This value is expressed in the
current time zone.
mysql> SELECT NOW();
+-----------------------------------
| NOW()
+-----------------------------------
| 1997-12-15 23:50:26
+-----------------------------------
PERIOD_ADD(P,N)
Adds N months to a period P (in the format
YYMM or YYYYMM). Returns a value in the
format YYYYMM. Note that the period
argument P is not a date value.
mysql> SELECT PERIOD_ADD(9801,2);
+-----------------------------------
| PERIOD_ADD(9801,2)
+-----------------------------------
| 199803
+-----------------------------------
PERIOD_DIFF(P1,P2)
Returns the number of months between periods
P1 and P2. These periods P1 and P2 should be
in the format YYMM or YYYYMM. Note that the
period arguments P1 and P2 are not date
values.
mysql> SELECT PERIOD_DIFF(9802,199703

+-----------------------------------
| PERIOD_DIFF(9802,199703)
|
+-----------------------------------
| 11
+-----------------------------------
QUARTER(date)
Returns the quarter of the year for date, in the
range 1 to 4.
mysql> SELECT QUARTER('98-04-01');
+-----------------------------------
| QUARTER('98-04-01')
+-----------------------------------
| 2
+-----------------------------------
SECOND(time)
Returns the second for time, in the range 0 to
59.
mysql> SELECT SECOND('10:05:03');
+-----------------------------------
| SECOND('10:05:03')
+-----------------------------------
| 3
+-----------------------------------
SEC_TO_TIME(seconds)
Returns the seconds argument, converted to
hours, minutes and seconds, as a value in
numeric context.
mysql> SELECT SEC_TO_TIME(2378);
+-----------------------------------
| SEC TO TIME(2378)
| SEC_TO_TIME(2378)
+-----------------------------------
| 00:39:38
+-----------------------------------
STR_TO_DATE(str,format)
This is the inverse of the DATE_FORMAT()
function. It takes a string str and a format string
format. The STR_TO_DATE() function returns a
DATETIME value if the format string contains
both date and time parts. Else, it returns a DATE
or TIME value if the string contains only date or
time parts.
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('04/31/2004

+-----------------------------------
| STR_TO_DATE('04/31/2004', '%m/%d/%Y
+-----------------------------------
| 2004-04-31
+-----------------------------------
SUBDATE(date,INTERVAL expr
unit) and SUBDATE(expr,days)
When invoked with the INTERVAL form of the
second argument, SUBDATE() is a synonym for
DATE_SUB(). For information on the INTERVAL
unit argument, see the discussion for
DATE_ADD().
mysql> SELECT DATE_SUB('1998-01-02',

+-----------------------------------
| DATE_SUB('1998-01-02', INTERVAL 31
+-----------------------------------
| 1997-12-02
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT SUBDATE('1998-01-02',
+-----------------------------------
| SUBDATE('1998-01-02', INTERVAL 31
+-----------------------------------
| 1997-12-02
+-----------------------------------
SUBTIME(expr1,expr2)
The SUBTIME() function returns expr1 . expr2
expressed as a value in the same format as
expr1. The expr1 value is a time or a datetime
expression, while the expr2 value is a time
expression.
mysql> SELECT SUBTIME('1997-12-31 23

-> '1 1:1:1.000002');
+-----------------------------------
| SUBTIME('1997-12-31 23:59:59.99999
+-----------------------------------
| 1997-12-30 22:58:58.999997
+-----------------------------------
SYSDATE()
Returns the current date and time as a value in
'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' or
numeric context.
mysql> SELECT SYSDATE();
+-----------------------------------
| SYSDATE()
+-----------------------------------
| 2006-04-12 13:47:44
+-----------------------------------
TIME(expr)
Extracts the time part of the time or datetime
expression expr and returns it as a string.
mysql> SELECT TIME('2003-12-31 01:02

+-----------------------------------
| TIME('2003-12-31 01:02:03')
+-----------------------------------
| 01:02:03
+-----------------------------------
TIMEDIFF(expr1,expr2)
The TIMEDIFF() function returns expr1 . expr2
expressed as a time value. These expr1 and
expr2 values are time or date-and-time
expressions, but both must be of the same
type.
mysql> SELECT TIMEDIFF('1997-12-31 23

-> '1997-12-30 01:01:01.000002');
+-----------------------------------
| TIMEDIFF('1997-12-31 23:59:59.0000
+-----------------------------------
| 46:58:57.999999
+-----------------------------------
TIMESTAMP(expr),
TIMESTAMP(expr1,expr2)
With a single argument, this function returns
the date or datetime expression expr as a
datetime value. With two arguments, it adds the
time expression expr2 to the date or datetime
expression expr1 and returns the result as a
datetime value.
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMP('2003-12-31'
+-----------------------------------
| TIMESTAMP('2003-12-31')
+-----------------------------------
| 2003-12-31 00:00:00
+-----------------------------------
TIMESTAMPADD(unit,interval,datetime_expr)
This function adds the integer expression
interval to the date or datetime expression
datetime_expr. The unit for interval is given by
the unit argument, which should be one of the
following values −
FRAC_SECOND
SECOND, MINUTE
HOUR, DAY
WEEK
MONTH
QUARTER or
YEAR
The unit value may be specified using one of

the keywords as shown or with a prefix of
SQL_TSI_.
For example, DAY and SQL_TSI_DAY both are

legal.
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMPADD(MINUTE,1,

+-----------------------------------
| TIMESTAMPADD(MINUTE,1,'2003-01-02'
+-----------------------------------
| 2003-01-02 00:01:00
+-----------------------------------
TIMESTAMPDIFF(unit,datetime_expr1,datetime_expr2)
Returns the integer difference between the date
or datetime expressions datetime_expr1 and
datetime_expr2. The unit for the result is given
by the unit argument. The legal values for the
unit are the same as those listed in the
description of the TIMESTAMPADD() function.
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMPDIFF(MONTH,'2

+-----------------------------------
| TIMESTAMPDIFF(MONTH,'2003-02-01','
+-----------------------------------
| 3
+-----------------------------------
TIME_FORMAT(time,format)
This function is used like the DATE_FORMAT()
function, but the format string may contain
format specifiers only for hours, minutes and
seconds.
If the time value contains an hour part that is

greater than 23, the %H and %k hour format
specifiers produce a value larger than the usual
range of 0 to 23. The other hour format
specifiers produce the hour value modulo 12.
mysql> SELECT TIME_FORMAT('100:00:00

+-----------------------------------
| TIME_FORMAT('100:00:00', '%H %k %h
+-----------------------------------
| 100 100 04 04 4
+-----------------------------------
TIME_TO_SEC(time)
Returns the time argument converted to
seconds.
mysql> SELECT TIME_TO_SEC('22:23:00'

+-----------------------------------
| TIME_TO_SEC('22:23:00')
+-----------------------------------
| 80580
+-----------------------------------
TO_DAYS(date)
Given a date, returns a day number (the number
of days since year 0).
mysql> SELECT TO_DAYS(950501);
+-----------------------------------
| TO_DAYS(950501)
+-----------------------------------
| 728779
+-----------------------------------
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(),
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(date)
If called with no argument, this function returns
a Unix timestamp (seconds since '1970-01-01
00:00:00' UTC) as an unsigned integer. If
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() is called with a date
argument, it returns the value of the argument
as seconds since '1970-01-01 00:00:00' UTC.
date may be a DATE string, a DATETIME string,
a TIMESTAMP, or a number in the format
YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD.
mysql> SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP();
+-----------------------------------
| UNIX_TIMESTAMP()
+-----------------------------------
| 882226357
+-----------------------------------
mysql> SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP('1997-1
+-----------------------------------
| UNIX_TIMESTAMP('1997-10-04 22:23:0
+-----------------------------------
| 875996580
+-----------------------------------
UTC_DATE, UTC_DATE()
Returns the current UTC date as a value in
'YYYY-MM-DD' or YYYYMMDD format,
depending on whether the function is used in a
string or numeric context.
mysql> SELECT UTC_DATE(), UTC_DATE()

+-----------------------------------
| UTC_DATE(), UTC_DATE() + 0
+-----------------------------------
| 2003-08-14, 20030814
+-----------------------------------
UTC_TIME, UTC_TIME()
Returns the current UTC time as a value in
numeric context.
mysql> SELECT UTC_TIME(), UTC_TIME()

+-----------------------------------
| UTC_TIME(), UTC_TIME() + 0
+-----------------------------------
| 18:07:53, 180753
+-----------------------------------
UTC_TIMESTAMP,
UTC_TIMESTAMP()
Returns the current UTC date and time as a
value in 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' or in a
numeric context.
mysql> SELECT UTC_TIMESTAMP(), UTC_T

+-----------------------------------
| UTC_TIMESTAMP(), UTC_TIMESTAMP() +
+-----------------------------------
| 2003-08-14 18:08:04, 20030814180804
+-----------------------------------
WEEK(date[,mode])
This function returns the week number for date.
The two-argument form of WEEK() allows you
to specify whether the week starts on a Sunday
or a Monday and whether the return value
should be in the range from 0 to 53 or from 1 to
53. If the mode argument is omitted, the value
of the default_week_format system variable is
used
Mode First Day Range Week 1 is the
of week first week.
0 Sunday 0-53 with a Sunday in

this year
1 Monday 0-53 with more than 3

days this year
2 Sunday 1-53 with a Sunday in

this year
3 Monday 1-53 with more than 3

days this year
4 Sunday 0-53 with more than 3

days this year
5 Monday 0-53 with a Monday in

this year
6 Sunday 1-53 with more than 3

days this year
7 Monday 1-53 with a Monday in

this year
mysql> SELECT WEEK('1998-02-20');
+-----------------------------------
| WEEK('1998-02-20')
+-----------------------------------
| 7
+-----------------------------------
WEEKDAY(date)
Returns the weekday index for date (0 =
Monday, 1 = Tuesday, . 6 = Sunday).
mysql> SELECT WEEKDAY('1998-02-03 22

+-----------------------------------
| WEEKDAY('1998-02-03 22:23:00')
+-----------------------------------
| 1
| 1
+-----------------------------------
WEEKOFYEAR(date)
Returns the calendar week of the date as a
number in the range from 1 to 53.
WEEKOFYEAR() is a compatibility function that
is equivalent to WEEK(date,3).
mysql> SELECT WEEKOFYEAR('1998-02-20

+-----------------------------------
| WEEKOFYEAR('1998-02-20')
+-----------------------------------
| 8
+-----------------------------------
YEAR(date)
Returns the year for date, in the range 1000 to
9999, or 0 for the .zero. date.
mysql> SELECT YEAR('98-02-03');
+-----------------------------------
| YEAR('98-02-03')
+-----------------------------------
| 1998
+-----------------------------------
YEARWEEK(date),
YEARWEEK(date,mode)
Returns the year and the week for a date. The
mode argument works exactly like the mode
argument to the WEEK() function. The year in
the result may be different from the year in the
date argument for the first and the last week of
the year.
mysql> SELECT YEARWEEK('1987-01-01')
+-----------------------------------
| YEAR('98-02-03')YEARWEEK('1987-01-
+-----------------------------------
| 198653
+-----------------------------------
Note − The week number is different from what

the WEEK() function would return (0) for
optional arguments 0 or 1, as WEEK() then
returns the week in the context of the given
year.
SQL - Temporary Tables
What are Temporary Tables?

There are RDBMS, which support temporary
tables. Temporary Tables are a great feature
that lets you store and process intermediate
results by using the same selection, update,
and join capabilities that you can use with
typical SQL Server tables.
The temporary tables could be very useful in

some cases to keep temporary data. The most
important thing that should be known for
temporary tables is that they will be deleted
when the current client session terminates.
Temporary tables are available in MySQL

version 3.23 onwards. If you use an older
version of MySQL than 3.23, you can't use
temporary tables, but you can use heap tables.
As stated earlier, temporary tables will only last

as long as the session is alive. If you run the
code in a PHP script, the temporary table will be
destroyed automatically when the script
finishes executing. If you are connected to the
MySQL database server through the MySQL
client program, then the temporary table will
exist until you close the client or manually
destroy the table.
Example
Here is an example showing you the usage of a
temporary table.
mysql> CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE SALESSU

-> product_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NU
-> , total_sales DECIMAL(12,2) NOT
-> , avg_unit_price DECIMAL(7,2)
-> , total_units_sold INT UNSIGNE
);
mysql> INSERT INTO SALESSUMMARY
-> (product_name, total_sales, avg

-> VALUES
-> ('cucumber', 100.25, 90, 2);
mysql> SELECT * FROM SALESSUMMARY;
+--------------+-------------+------
| product_name | total_sales | avg_u
+--------------+-------------+------
| cucumber | 100.25 |
+--------------+-------------+------
When you issue a SHOW TABLES command,

then your temporary table will not be listed out
in the list. Now, if you log out of the MySQL
session and then issue a SELECT command,
you will find no data available in the database.
Even your temporary table will not be existing.
Dropping Temporary Tables

By default, all the temporary tables are deleted
by MySQL when your database connection gets
terminated. Still if you want to delete them in
between, then you can do so by issuing a DROP
TABLE command.
Following is an example on dropping a

temporary table.
mysql> CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE SALESSU

-> product_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NU
-> , total_sales DECIMAL(12,2) NOT
-> , avg_unit_price DECIMAL(7,2)
-> , total_units_sold INT UNSIGNE
);
mysql> INSERT INTO SALESSUMMARY
-> (product_name, total_sales, avg

-> VALUES
-> ('cucumber', 100.25, 90, 2);
+--------------+-------------+------
| product_name | total_sales | avg_u
+--------------+-------------+------
| cucumber | 100.25 |
+--------------+-------------+------
mysql> DROP TABLE SALESSUMMARY;
ERROR 1146: Table 'TUTORIALS.SALESSUM
SQL - Clone Tables

There may be a situation when you need an
exact copy of a table and the CREATE TABLE ...
or the SELECT... commands does not suit your
purposes because the copy must include the
same indexes, default values and so forth.
If you are using MySQL RDBMS, you can handle
this situation by adhering to the steps given
below −
Use SHOW CREATE TABLE command to

get a CREATE TABLE statement that
specifies the source table's structure,
indexes and all.
Modify the statement to change the table

name to that of the clone table and
execute the statement. This way you will
have an exact clone table.
Optionally, if you need the table contents

copied as well, issue an INSERT INTO or a
SELECT statement too.
Example
Try out the following example to create a clone
table for TUTORIALS_TBL whose structure is
as follows −
Step 1 − Get the complete structure about the

table.
SQL> SHOW CREATE TABLE TUTORIALS_TBL

*************************** 1. row *
Table: TUTORIALS_TBL
Create Table: CREATE TABLE 'TUTORIAL

'tutorial_id' int(11) NOT NULL auto
'tutorial_title' varchar(100) NOT
'tutorial_author' varchar(40) NOT
'submission_date' date default NUL
PRIMARY KEY ('tutorial_id'),
UNIQUE KEY 'AUTHOR_INDEX' ('tutori

) TYPE = MyISAM
Step 2 − Rename this table and create another

table.
SQL> CREATE TABLE `CLONE_TBL` (
-> 'tutorial_id' int(11) NOT NULL

-> 'tutorial_title' varchar(100) NO
-> 'tutorial_author' varchar(40) NO
-> 'submission_date' date default
-> PRIMARY KEY (`tutorial_id'),
-> UNIQUE KEY 'AUTHOR_INDEX' ('tuto

-> ) TYPE = MyISAM;
Step 3 − After executing step 2, you will clone a

table in your database. If you want to copy data
from an old table, then you can do it by using
the INSERT INTO... SELECT statement.
SQL> INSERT INTO CLONE_TBL (tutorial_

-> tutoria
-> tutoria
-> submiss
-> SELECT tutorial_id,tutorial_ti
-> tutorial_author,submiss
-> FROM TUTORIALS_TBL;

Records: 3 Duplicates: 0 Warnings:
Finally, you will have an exact clone table as you

wanted to have.
SQL - Sub Queries

A Subquery or Inner query or a Nested query is
a query within another SQL query and
embedded within the WHERE clause.
A subquery is used to return data that will be

used in the main query as a condition to further
restrict the data to be retrieved.
Subqueries can be used with the SELECT,

INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements along
with the operators like =, <, >, >=, <=, IN,
BETWEEN, etc.
There are a few rules that subqueries must

follow −
Subqueries must be enclosed within

parentheses.
A subquery can have only one column in

the SELECT clause, unless multiple
columns are in the main query for the
subquery to compare its selected columns.
An ORDER BY command cannot be used in

a subquery, although the main query can
use an ORDER BY. The GROUP BY
command can be used to perform the
same function as the ORDER BY in a
subquery.
Subqueries that return more than one row

can only be used with multiple value
operators such as the IN operator.
The SELECT list cannot include any

references to values that evaluate to a
BLOB, ARRAY, CLOB, or NCLOB.
A subquery cannot be immediately

enclosed in a set function.
The BETWEEN operator cannot be used
with a subquery. However, the BETWEEN
operator can be used within the subquery.
Subqueries with the SELECT

Statement
Subqueries are most frequently used with the
SELECT statement. The basic syntax is as
follows −
SELECT column_name [, column_name ]
WHERE column_name OPERATOR
(SELECT column_name [, column_name ]

[WHERE])
Example
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
Now, let us check the following subquery with a

SELECT statement.
SQL> SELECT *
FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE ID IN (SELECT ID
FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY > 4500) ;
+----+----------+-----+---------+------
+----+----------+-----+---------+------
| 4 | Ch it li | 25 | M b i | 6500
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 8500
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 10000
+----+----------+-----+---------+------
Subqueries with the INSERT

Statement
Subqueries also can be used with INSERT
statements. The INSERT statement uses the
data returned from the subquery to insert into
another table. The selected data in the
subquery can be modified with any of the
character, date or number functions.
The basic syntax is as follows.
INSERT INTO table_name [ (column1 [, co

SELECT [ *|column1 [, column2 ]
[ WHERE VALUE OPERATOR ]
Example
Consider a table CUSTOMERS_BKP with similar
structure as CUSTOMERS table. Now to copy
the complete CUSTOMERS table into the
CUSTOMERS_BKP table, you can use the
following syntax.
SQL> INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS_BKP
SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE ID IN (SELECT ID
FROM CUSTOMERS) ;
Subqueries with the UPDATE

Statement
The subquery can be used in conjunction with
the UPDATE statement. Either single or multiple
columns in a table can be updated when using
a subquery with the UPDATE statement.
UPDATE table
SET column_name = new_value
[ WHERE OPERATOR [ VALUE ]
(SELECT COLUMN_NAME
FROM TABLE_NAME)
[ WHERE) ]
Example
Assuming, we have CUSTOMERS_BKP table
available which is backup of CUSTOMERS table.
The following example updates SALARY by 0.25
times in the CUSTOMERS table for all the
customers whose AGE is greater than or equal
to 27.
SET SALARY = SALARY * 0.25
WHERE AGE IN (SELECT AGE FROM CUST

WHERE AGE >= 27 );
This would impact two rows and finally

CUSTOMERS table would have the following
records.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 15
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 20
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 21
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 45
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 100
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----
Subqueries with the DELETE

Statement
The subquery can be used in conjunction with
the DELETE statement like with any other
statements mentioned above.
DELETE FROM TABLE_NAME
[ WHERE OPERATOR [ VALUE ]
(SELECT COLUMN_NAME
FROM TABLE_NAME)
[ WHERE) ]
Example
Assuming, we have a CUSTOMERS_BKP table
available which is a backup of the CUSTOMERS
table. The following example deletes the
records from the CUSTOMERS table for all the
customers whose AGE is greater than or equal
to 27.
WHERE AGE IN (SELECT AGE FROM CUST

WHERE AGE >= 27 );
This would impact two rows and finally the

CUSTOMERS table would have the following
records.
+----+----------+-----+---------+------
+----+----------+-----+---------+------
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 4500
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 10000
+----+----------+-----+---------+------
SQL - Using Sequences

A sequence is a set of integers 1, 2, 3, ... that
are generated in order on demand. Sequences
are frequently used in databases because many
applications require each row in a table to
contain a unique value and sequences provide
an easy way to generate them.
This chapter describes how to use sequences

in MySQL.
Using AUTO_INCREMENT
column
The simplest way in MySQL to use sequences
is to define a column as AUTO_INCREMENT
and leave the rest to MySQL to take care.
Example
Try out the following example. This will create a
table and after that it will insert a few rows in
this table where it is not required to give a
record ID because its auto-incremented by
MySQL.
mysql> CREATE TABLE INSECT
-> (
-> id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_
-> PRIMARY KEY (id),
-> name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL, # ty

-> date DATE NOT NULL, # date col
-> origin VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL # w
);
mysql> INSERT INTO INSECT (id,name,d

-> (NULL,'housefly','2001-09-10',
-> (NULL,'millipede','2001-09-10'
-> (NULL,'grasshopper','2001-09-1
Records: 3 Duplicates: 0 Warnings:

mysql> SELECT * FROM INSECT ORDER BY
+----+-------------+------------+---
| id | name | date | or
| | | |
+----+-------------+------------+---
| 1 | housefly | 2001-09-10 | ki
| 2 | millipede | 2001-09-10 | dr
| 3 | grasshopper | 2001-09-10 | fro
+----+-------------+------------+---
Obtain AUTO_INCREMENT
Values
The LAST_INSERT_ID( ) is an SQL function, so
you can use it from within any client that
understands how to issue SQL statements.
Otherwise PERL and PHP scripts provide
exclusive functions to retrieve auto-
incremented value of last record.
PERL Example
Use the mysql_insertid attribute to obtain the
AUTO_INCREMENT value generated by a query.
This attribute is accessed through either a
database handle or a statement handle,
depending on how you issue the query. The
following example references it through the
database handle.
$dbh->do ("INSERT INTO INSECT (name,

VALUES('moth','2001-09-14','windowsi
my $seq = $dbh->{mysql_insertid};
PHP Example
After issuing a query that generates an
AUTO_INCREMENT value, retrieve the value by
calling the mysql_insert_id( ) function.
mysql_query ("INSERT INTO INSECT (nam

VALUES('moth','2001-09-14','windowsi
$seq = mysql_insert_id ($conn_id);
Renumbering an Existing
Sequence
There may be a case when you have deleted
many records from a table and you want to re-
sequence all the records. This can be done by
using a simple trick, but you should be very
careful to do this and check if your table is
having a join with another table or not.
If you determine that resequencing an

AUTO_INCREMENT column is unavoidable, the
way to do it is to drop the column from the
table, then add it again.
The following example shows how to renumber

the id values in the insect table using this
technique.
mysql> ALTER TABLE INSECT DROP id;
mysql> ALTER TABLE insect
-> ADD id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AU

-> ADD PRIMARY KEY (id);
Starting a Sequence at a
Particular Value
By default, MySQL will start the sequence from
1, but you can specify any other number as well
at the time of table creation.
The following code block has an example

where MySQL will start sequence from 100.
mysql> CREATE TABLE INSECT
-> (
-> id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_
-> PRIMARY KEY (id),
-> name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL, # ty

-> date DATE NOT NULL, # date col
-> origin VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL # w
);
Alternatively, you can create the table and then
set the initial sequence value with ALTER
TABLE.
mysql> ALTER TABLE t AUTO_INCREMENT
SQL - Handling Duplicates

There may be a situation when you have
multiple duplicate records in a table. While
fetching such records, it makes more sense to
fetch only unique records instead of fetching
duplicate records.
The SQL DISTINCT keyword, which we have

already discussed is used in conjunction with
the SELECT statement to eliminate all the
duplicate records and by fetching only the
unique records.
Syntax
The basic syntax of a DISTINCT keyword to
eliminate duplicate records is as follows.
SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2,.....c

FROM table_name
WHERE [condition]
Example
following records.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+-
First, let us see how the following SELECT query

returns duplicate salary records.
SQL> SELECT SALARY FROM CUSTOMERS
ORDER BY SALARY;

the salary of 2000 is coming twice which is a
duplicate record from the original table.
+----------+
| SALARY |
+----------+
| 1500.00 |
| 2000.00 |
| 2000.00 |
| 4500.00 |
| 6500.00 |
| 8500.00 |
| 10000.00 |
+----------+
Now, let us use the DISTINCT keyword with the

above SELECT query and see the result.
SQL> SELECT DISTINCT SALARY FROM CUST

ORDER BY SALARY;

we do not have any duplicate entry.
+----------+
| SALARY |
+----------+
| 1500.00 |
| 2000.00 |
| 4500.00 |
| 6500.00 |
| 8500.00 |
| 10000.00 |
+----------+
SQL - Injection
If you take a user input through a webpage and
insert it into a SQL database, there is a chance
that you have left yourself wide open for a
security issue known as the SQL Injection. This
chapter will teach you how to help prevent this
from happening and help you secure your
scripts and SQL statements in your server side
scripts such as a PERL Script.
Injection usually occurs when you ask a user for

input, like their name and instead of a name
they give you a SQL statement that you will
unknowingly run on your database. Never trust
user provided data, process this data only after
validation; as a rule, this is done by Pattern
Matching.
In the example below, the name is restricted to

the alphanumerical characters plus underscore
and to a length between 8 and 20 characters
(modify these rules as needed).
if (preg_match("/^\w{8,20}$/", $_GET
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * F
WHERE name = $matches[0]");
} else {
echo "user name not accepted";
To demonstrate the problem, consider this

excerpt −
// supposed input
$name = "Qadir'; DELETE FROM CUSTOME

mysql_query("SELECT * FROM CUSTOMSRS
The function call is supposed to retrieve a

record from the CUSTOMERS table where the
name column matches the name specified by
the user. Under normal circumstances, $name
would only contain alphanumeric characters
and perhaps spaces, such as the string ilia. But
here, by appending an entirely new query to
$name, the call to the database turns into
disaster; the injected DELETE query removes all
records from the CUSTOMERS table.
Fortunately, if you use MySQL, the

mysql_query() function does not permit query
stacking or executing multiple SQL queries in a
single function call. If you try to stack queries,
the call fails.
However, other PHP database extensions, such

as SQLite and PostgreSQL happily perform
stacked queries, executing all the queries
provided in one string and creating a serious
security problem.
Preventing SQL Injection

You can handle all escape characters smartly in
scripting languages like PERL and PHP. The
MySQL extension for PHP provides the function
mysql_real_escape_string() to escape input
characters that are special to MySQL.
if (get_magic_quotes_gpc()) {
$name = stripslashes($name);
}
$name = mysql_real_escape_string($nam
mysql query("SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS
mysql_query( SELECT FROM CUSTOMERS
The LIKE Quandary

To address the LIKE quandary, a custom
escaping mechanism must convert user-
supplied '%' and '_' characters to literals. Use
addcslashes(), a function that lets you specify a
character range to escape.
$sub = addcslashes(mysql_real_escape_
// $sub == \%str\_
mysql_query("SELECT * FROM messages
WHERE subject LIKE '{$sub}%'");
SQL - Database Tunning

It takes time to become a Database Expert or
an expert Database Administrator. This all
comes with lot of experience in various
database designs and good trainings.
But the following list may be helpful for the

beginners to have a nice database performance
−
Use 3BNF database design explained in

this tutorial in RDBMS Concepts chapter.
Avoid number-to-character conversions

because numbers and characters compare
differently and lead to performance
downgrade.
While using SELECT statement, only fetch

whatever information is required and avoid
using * in your SELECT queries because it
would load the system unnecessarily.
Create your indexes carefully on all the

tables where you have frequent search
operations. Avoid index on the tables
where you have less number of search
operations and more number of insert and
update operations.
A full-table scan occurs when the columns

in the WHERE clause do not have an index
associated with them. You can avoid a full-
table scan by creating an index on
columns that are used as conditions in the
WHERE clause of an SQL statement.
Be very careful of equality operators with

real numbers and date/time values. Both
of these can have small differences that
are not obvious to the eye but that make
an exact match impossible, thus
preventing your queries from ever returning
rows.
Use pattern matching judiciously. LIKE

COL% is a valid WHERE condition, reducing
the returned set to only those records with
data starting with the string COL. However,
COL%Y does not further reduce the
returned results set since %Y cannot be
effectively evaluated. The effort to do the
evaluation is too large to be considered. In
this case, the COL% is used, but the %Y is
thrown away. For the same reason, a
leading wildcard %COL effectively prevents
the entire filter from being used.
Fine tune your SQL queries examining the

structure of the queries (and subqueries),
the SQL syntax, to discover whether you
have designed your tables to support fast
data manipulation and written the query in
an optimum manner, allowing your DBMS
to manipulate the data efficiently.
For queries that are executed on a regular
basis, try to use procedures. A procedure is
a potentially large group of SQL
statements. Procedures are compiled by
the database engine and then executed.
Unlike an SQL statement, the database
engine need not optimize the procedure
before it is executed.
Avoid using the logical operator OR in a

query if possible. OR inevitably slows down
nearly any query against a table of
substantial size.
You can optimize bulk data loads by
dropping indexes. Imagine the history table
with many thousands of rows. That history
table is also likely to have one or more
indexes. When you think of an index, you
normally think of faster table access, but in
the case of batch loads, you can benefit by
dropping the index(es).
When performing batch transactions,

perform COMMIT at after a fair number of
records creation in stead of creating them
after every record creation.
Plan to defragment the database on a

regular basis, even if doing so means
developing a weekly routine.
Built-In Tuning Tools

Oracle has many tools for managing SQL
statement performance but among them two
are very popular. These two tools are −
Explain plan − tool identifies the access

path that will be taken when the SQL
statement is executed.
tkprof − measures the performance by
time elapsed during each phase of SQL
statement processing.
If you want to simply measure the elapsed time

of a query in Oracle, you can use the SQL*Plus
command SET TIMING ON.
Check your RDBMS documentation for more

detail on the above-mentioned tools and
defragmenting the database.
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SQL - Quick Guide

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SQL - Quick Guide

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SQL - Quick Guide

Programmin Learn Asp Learn

 Arnold  Metla  Metla

SQL is the standard language for Relational

Also, they are using different dialects, such as −

MS SQL Server using T-SQL,

Allows users to access data in the

Allows users to describe the data.

Allows users to define the data in a

Allows to embed within other languages

Allows users to create and drop databases

Allows users to set permissions on tables,

A Brief History of SQL

1974 − Structured Query Language

1978 − IBM worked to develop Codd's

1986 − IBM developed the first prototype

There are various components included in this

These components are −

A classic query engine handles all the non-SQL

Following is a simple diagram showing the SQL

DDL - Data Definition Language

1 Creates a new table, a view of a

3 Deletes an entire table, a view of a

DCL - Data Control Language

SQL - RDBMS Concepts

A Relational database management system

Remember, a table is the most common and

A field is a column in a table that is designed to

What is a Record or a Row?

A record is a horizontal entity in a table.

For example, a column in the CUSTOMERS

What is a NULL value?

It is very important to understand that a NULL

Constraints can either be column level or table

Following are some of the most commonly

NOT NULL Constraint − Ensures that a

DEFAULT Constraint − Provides a

UNIQUE Constraint − Ensures that all

PRIMARY Key − Uniquely identifies each

FOREIGN Key − Uniquely identifies a

CHECK Constraint − The CHECK

Entity Integrity − There are no duplicate

Domain Integrity − Enforces valid entries

Referential integrity − Rows cannot be

Eliminating redundant data, for example,

Both these reasons are worthy goals as they

Normalization guidelines are divided into

It is your choice to take it further and go to the

First Normal Form (1NF)

SQL - RDBMS Databases

MySQL is supporting many different platforms

MySQL has free and paid versions, depending

First internal release on 23rd May 1995.

Windows Version was released on the 8th

Version 4.0: beta from August 2002,

Version 4.1: beta from June 2004,

Version 5.0: beta from March 2005,

1988 - Microsoft, Sybase, and Aston-Tate

1990 - SQL Server 1.1 is released with

Aston - Tate drops out of SQL Server

2000 - Microsoft releases SQL Server

2002 - Microsoft releases SQLXML 2.0

2002 - Microsoft releases SQLXML 3.0.

2005 - Microsoft releases SQL Server 2005

Oracle works to efficiently manage its

It is an excellent database server choice for

1977 - Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed

1982 - RSI was renamed to Oracle

1983 - Oracle released version 3.0,

1985 - Oracle version 4.0 was released. It

2007 - Oracle released Oracle11g. The new

MS Access uses the Jet database engine,

MS Access comes with the professional edition

1992 - Access version 1.0 was released.

1993 - Access 1.1 released to improve

2007 - Access 2007, a new database