Introduction to SQL
SQL is a standard language for
accessing and manipulating databases.
What
is SQL?
- SQL stands for Structured Query Language
- SQL lets you access and manipulate databases
- SQL is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard
What
Can SQL do?
- SQL can execute queries against a database
- SQL can retrieve data from a database
- SQL can insert records in a database
- SQL can update records in a database
- SQL can delete records from a database
- SQL can create new databases
- SQL can create new tables in a database
- SQL can create stored procedures in a database
- SQL can create views in a database
- SQL can set permissions on tables, procedures, and views
SQL
is a Standard - BUT....
Although SQL is an ANSI (American
National Standards Institute) standard, there are many different versions of
the SQL language.
However, to be compliant with the ANSI
standard, they all support at least the major commands (such as SELECT, UPDATE,
DELETE, INSERT, WHERE) in a similar manner.
Note: Most of the SQL database programs also have their own
proprietary extensions in addition to the SQL standard!
Using
SQL in Your Web Site
To build a web site that shows some
data from a database, you will need the following:
- An RDBMS database program (i.e. MS Access, SQL Server, MySQL)
- A server-side scripting language, like PHP or ASP
- SQL
- HTML / CSS
RDBMS
RDBMS stands for Relational Database
Management System.
RDBMS is the basis for SQL, and for
all modern database systems such as MS SQL Server, IBM DB2, Oracle, MySQL, and
Microsoft Access.
The data in RDBMS is stored in
database objects called tables.
A table is a collection of related
data entries and it consists of columns and rows.
Database
Tables
A database most often contains one
or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g. "Customers"
or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data.
Below is an example of a table
called "Persons":
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn 10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn 23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt 20
|
Stavanger
|
The table above contains three
records (one for each person) and five columns (P_Id, LastName, FirstName,
Address, and City).
SQL
Statements
Most of the actions you need to
perform on a database are done with SQL statements.
The following SQL statement will
select all the records in the "Persons" table:
SELECT * FROM Persons
In this tutorial we will teach you
all about the different SQL statements.
Keep
in Mind That...
- SQL is not case sensitive
Semicolon
after SQL Statements?
Some database systems require a
semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.
Semicolon is the standard way to
separate each SQL statement in database systems that allow more than one SQL
statement to be executed in the same call to the server.
We are using MS Access and SQL
Server 2000 and we do not have to put a semicolon after each SQL statement, but
some database programs force you to use it.
SQL
DML and DDL
SQL can be divided into two parts:
The Data Manipulation Language (DML) and the Data Definition Language (DDL).
The query and update commands form
the DML part of SQL:
- SELECT - extracts data from a database
- UPDATE - updates data in a database
- DELETE - deletes data from a database
- INSERT INTO - inserts new data into a database
The DDL part of SQL permits database
tables to be created or deleted. It also defines indexes (keys), specifies
links between tables, and imposes constraints between tables. The most important
DDL statements in SQL are:
- CREATE DATABASE - creates a new database
- ALTER DATABASE - modifies a database
- CREATE TABLE - creates a new table
- ALTER TABLE - modifies a table
- DROP TABLE - deletes a table
- CREATE INDEX - creates an index (search key)
- DROP INDEX - deletes an index
SQL SELECT Statement
This chapter will explain the SELECT and the SELECT *
statements.
The SQL SELECT Statement
The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.The result is stored in a result table, called the result-set.
SQL SELECT Syntax
SELECT
column_name(s)
FROM table_name
andFROM table_name
SELECT *
FROM table_name
Note: SQL is not case sensitive. SELECT is the same as select.An SQL SELECT Example
The "Persons" table:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT
LastName,FirstName FROM Persons
The result-set will look like this:
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
SELECT * Example
Now we want to select all the columns from the "Persons" table.We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT *
FROM Persons
Tip: The asterisk (*) is a quick way of selecting all columns!The result-set will look like this:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement
This chapter will explain the SELECT DISTINCT statement.
The SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement
In a table, some of the columns may contain duplicate values. This is not a problem, however, sometimes you will want to list only the different (distinct) values in a table.The DISTINCT keyword can be used to return only distinct (different) values.
SQL SELECT DISTINCT Syntax
SELECT
DISTINCT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
FROM table_name
SELECT DISTINCT Example
The "Persons" table:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT
DISTINCT City FROM Persons
The result-set will look like this:
City
|
Sandnes
|
Stavanger
|
SQL WHERE Clause
The WHERE clause is used to filter records.
The WHERE Clause
The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.SQL WHERE Syntax
SELECT
column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name operator value
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name operator value
WHERE Clause Example
The "Persons" table:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT *
FROM Persons
WHERE City='Sandnes'
The result-set will look like this:WHERE City='Sandnes'
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
Quotes Around Text Fields
SQL uses single quotes around text values (most database systems will also accept double quotes).However, numeric values should not be enclosed in quotes.
For text values:
This is
correct:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Tove'
This is wrong:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName=Tove
For numeric values:SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Tove'
This is wrong:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName=Tove
This is
correct:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year=1965
This is wrong:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year='1965'
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year=1965
This is wrong:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year='1965'
Operators Allowed in the WHERE Clause
With the WHERE clause, the following operators can be used:
Operator
|
Description
|
=
|
Equal
|
<>
|
Not
equal
|
>
|
Greater
than
|
<
|
Less
than
|
>=
|
Greater
than or equal
|
<=
|
Less
than or equal
|
BETWEEN
|
Between
an inclusive range
|
LIKE
|
Search
for a pattern
|
IN
|
To
specify multiple possible values for a column
|
SQL AND & OR Operators
The AND & OR operators are used
to filter records based on more than one condition.
The
AND & OR Operators
The AND operator displays a record
if both the first condition and the second condition is true.
The OR operator displays a record if
either the first condition or the second condition is true.
AND
Operator Example
The "Persons" table:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn 10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn 23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt 20
|
Stavanger
|
Now we want to select only the
persons with the first name equal to "Tove" AND the last name equal
to "Svendson":
We use the following SELECT
statement:
SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName='Tove'
AND LastName='Svendson'
WHERE FirstName='Tove'
AND LastName='Svendson'
The result-set will look like this:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn 23
|
Sandnes
|
OR
Operator Example
Now we want to select only the
persons with the first name equal to "Tove" OR the first name equal
to "Ola":
We use the following SELECT
statement:
SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName='Tove'
OR FirstName='Ola'
WHERE FirstName='Tove'
OR FirstName='Ola'
The result-set will look like this:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn 10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn 23
|
Sandnes
|
Combining
AND & OR
You can also combine AND and OR (use
parenthesis to form complex expressions).
Now we want to select only the
persons with the last name equal to "Svendson" AND the first name
equal to "Tove" OR to "Ola":
We use the following SELECT
statement:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE
LastName='Svendson'
AND (FirstName='Tove' OR FirstName='Ola')
LastName='Svendson'
AND (FirstName='Tove' OR FirstName='Ola')
The result-set will look like this:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn 23
|
Sandnes
|
SQL ORDER BY Keyword
The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set.
The ORDER BY Keyword
The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set by a specified column.The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default.
If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.
SQL ORDER BY Syntax
SELECT
column_name(s)
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC
ORDER BY Example
The "Persons" table:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Tom
|
Vingvn
23
|
Stavanger
|
We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT *
FROM Persons
ORDER BY LastName
The result-set will look like this:ORDER BY LastName
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Tom
|
Vingvn
23
|
Stavanger
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
ORDER BY DESC Example
Now we want to select all the persons from the table above, however, we want to sort the persons descending by their last name.We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT *
FROM Persons
ORDER BY LastName DESC
The result-set will look like this:ORDER BY LastName DESC
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Tom
|
Vingvn
23
|
Stavanger
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
SQL INSERT INTO Statement
The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a
table.
The INSERT INTO Statement
The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert a new row in a table.SQL INSERT INTO Syntax
It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms.The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values:
INSERT
INTO table_name
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be
inserted:VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
INSERT
INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...)
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
SQL INSERT INTO Example
We have the following "Persons" table:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
We use the following SQL statement:
INSERT
INTO Persons
VALUES (4,'Nilsen', 'Johan', 'Bakken 2', 'Stavanger')
The "Persons" table will now look like this:VALUES (4,'Nilsen', 'Johan', 'Bakken 2', 'Stavanger')
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Johan
|
Bakken
2
|
Stavanger
|
Insert Data Only in Specified Columns
It is also possible to only add data in specific columns.The following SQL statement will add a new row, but only add data in the "P_Id", "LastName" and the "FirstName" columns:
INSERT
INTO Persons (P_Id, LastName, FirstName)
VALUES (5, 'Tjessem', 'Jakob')
The "Persons" table will now look like this:VALUES (5, 'Tjessem', 'Jakob')
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Johan
|
Bakken
2
|
Stavanger
|
5
|
Tjessem
|
Jakob
|
|
|
SQL UPDATE Statement
The UPDATE statement is used to update records in a table.
The UPDATE Statement
The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.SQL UPDATE Syntax
UPDATE
table_name
SET column1=value, column2=value2,...
WHERE some_column=some_value
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause
specifies which record or records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE
clause, all records will be updated!SET column1=value, column2=value2,...
WHERE some_column=some_value
SQL UPDATE Example
The "Persons" table:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Johan
|
Bakken
2
|
Stavanger
|
5
|
Tjessem
|
Jakob
|
|
|
We use the following SQL statement:
UPDATE
Persons
SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes'
WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'
The "Persons" table will now look like this:SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes'
WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Johan
|
Bakken
2
|
Stavanger
|
5
|
Tjessem
|
Jakob
|
Nissestien
67
|
Sandnes
|
SQL UPDATE Warning
Be careful when updating records. If we had omitted the WHERE clause in the example above, like this:
UPDATE
Persons
SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes'
The "Persons" table would have looked like this:SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes'
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Nissestien
67
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Nissestien
67
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Nissestien
67
|
Sandnes
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Johan
|
Nissestien
67
|
Sandnes
|
5
|
Tjessem
|
Jakob
|
Nissestien
67
|
Sandnes
|
SQL DELETE Statement
The DELETE statement is used to delete records in a table.
The DELETE Statement
The DELETE statement is used to delete rows in a table.SQL DELETE Syntax
DELETE
FROM table_name
WHERE some_column=some_value
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause
specifies which record or records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE
clause, all records will be deleted!WHERE some_column=some_value
SQL DELETE Example
The "Persons" table:
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Johan
|
Bakken
2
|
Stavanger
|
5
|
Tjessem
|
Jakob
|
Nissestien
67
|
Sandnes
|
We use the following SQL statement:
DELETE
FROM Persons
WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'
The "Persons" table will now look like this:WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'
P_Id
|
LastName
|
FirstName
|
Address
|
City
|
1
|
Hansen
|
Ola
|
Timoteivn
10
|
Sandnes
|
2
|
Svendson
|
Tove
|
Borgvn
23
|
Sandnes
|
3
|
Pettersen
|
Kari
|
Storgt
20
|
Stavanger
|
4
|
Nilsen
|
Johan
|
Bakken
2
|
Stavanger
|
Delete All Rows
It is possible to delete all rows in a table without deleting the table. This means that the table structure, attributes, and indexes will be intact:
DELETE FROM table_name
or
DELETE * FROM table_name
Note: Be very careful when deleting records. You cannot undo this
statement!or
DELETE * FROM table_name
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