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 SQL SQL SQL SQL SQL SQL SQL SQL SQL can can can can can can can can can can execute queries against a database retrieve data from a database insert records in a database update records in a database delete records from a database 2i 39 h 0 create new databases create new tables in a database create stored procedures in a database create views in a database set permissions on tables, procedures, and views

Database Tables
A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g. "Customers" or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data. Below is an example of a table called "Persons": P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

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 define indexes (keys), specify links between tables, and impose constraints between tables. The most important DDL statements in SQL are:

CREATE DATABASE - creates a new database ALTER DATABASE - modifies a database CREATE TABLE - creates a new table ALTER TABLE - modifies a table DROP TABLE - deletes a table

The SQL SELECT Statement

The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database. The result is stored in a result table, called the result-set.

SQL SELECT Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name

and

SELECT * FROM table_name

Note: SQL is not case sensitive. SELECT is the same as select.

An SQL SELECT Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select the content of the columns named "LastName" and "FirstName" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT LastName,FirstName FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan

SELECT * Example
Now we want to select all the columns from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons

Tip: The asterisk (*) is a quick way of selecting all columns! The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

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

SELECT DISTINCT Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select only the distinct values from the column named "City" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT DISTINCT City FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: City Bangalore Tumkur

The WHERE clause is used to filter records.

The WHERE Clause

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

SQL WHERE Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value

WHERE Clause Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select only the persons living in the city "Bangalore" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City='Bangalore'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Kumari Kumar FirstName Mounitha Pranav Address VPura Yelhanka City Bangalore Bangalore

Quotes Around Text Fields

SQL uses single quotes around text values (most database systems will also accept double quotes). Although, numeric values should not be enclosed in quotes. For text values:

This is correct: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Pranav' This is wrong: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName=Pranav
For numeric values:

This is correct: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year=1965 This is wrong: SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year='1965'

Operators Allowed in the WHERE Clause

With the WHERE clause, the following operators can be used: Operator Description = <> > < Equal Not equal Greater than Less than

>= <= LIKE IN

Greater than or equal Less than or equal Search for a pattern If you know the exact value you want to return for at least one of the columns

BETWEEN Between an inclusive range

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

SQL AND & OR Operators

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

The AND & OR Operators

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

AND Operator Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select only the persons with the first name equal to "Pranav" AND the last name equal to "Kumar": We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Pranav' AND LastName='Kumar'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 LastName Kumar FirstName Pranav Address Yelhanka City Bangalore

OR Operator Example
Now we want to select only the persons with the first name equal to "Pranav" OR the first name equal to "Mounitha":

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Pranav' OR FirstName='Mounitha'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Kumari Kumar FirstName Mounitha Pranav Address VPura Yelhanka City Bangalore Bangalore

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 "Kumar" AND the first name equal to "Pranav" OR to "Mounitha": We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName='Kumar' AND (FirstName='Pranav' OR FirstName='Mounitha')

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 LastName Kumar FirstName Pranav Address Yelhanka City Bangalore

SQL ORDER BY Keyword

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

The ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set by a specified column. The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default. If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.

SQL ORDER BY Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC

ORDER BY Example
The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 4 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Tom Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Vingvn 23 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur

Now we want to select all the persons from the table above, however, we want to sort the persons by their last name. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY LastName

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 3 2 1 4 LastName Gubbi Kumar Kumari Nilsen FirstName Sharan Pranav Mounitha Tom Address Hebbal Yelhanka VPura Vingvn 23 City Tumkur Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

ORDER BY DESC Example

Now we want to select all the persons from the table above, however, we want to sort the persons descending by their last name. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY LastName DESC

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 4 3 2 1 LastName Nilsen Gubbi Kumar Kumari FirstName Tom Sharan Pranav Mounitha Address Vingvn 23 Hebbal Yelhanka VPura City Tumkur Tumkur Bangalore Bangalore

SQL INSERT INTO Statement

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

The INSERT INTO Statement

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

SQL INSERT INTO Syntax

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

INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)

The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:

INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...) VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)

SQL INSERT INTO Example

We have the following "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to insert a new row in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

INSERT INTO Persons VALUES (4,'Nilsen', 'Johan', 'Bakken 2', 'Tumkur')

The "Persons" table will now look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 4 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Johan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Bakken 2 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur

Insert Data Only in Specified Columns

It is also possible to only add data in specific columns.

The following SQL statement will add a new row, but only add data in the "P_Id", "LastName" and the "FirstName" columns:

INSERT INTO Persons (P_Id, LastName, FirstName) VALUES (5, 'Tjessem', 'Jakob')
The "Persons" table will now look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Johan Jakob Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Bakken 2 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur

SQL UPDATE Statement

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

The UPDATE Statement

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

SQL UPDATE Syntax UPDATE table_name SET column1=value, column2=value2,... WHERE some_column=some_value
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated!

SQL UPDATE Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Johan Jakob Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Bakken 2 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur

Now we want to update the person "Tjessem, Jakob" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

UPDATE Persons SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Bangalore' WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'
The "Persons" table will now look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Johan Jakob Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Bakken 2 Nissestien 67 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur Bangalore

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='Bangalore'

The "Persons" table would have looked like this: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Johan Jakob Address Nissestien 67 Nissestien 67 Nissestien 67 Nissestien 67 Nissestien 67 City Bangalore Bangalore Bangalore Bangalore Bangalore

SQL DELETE Statement

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

The DELETE Statement

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

SQL DELETE Syntax DELETE FROM table_name WHERE some_column=some_value

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

SQL DELETE Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 4 5 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen Tjessem FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Johan Jakob Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Bakken 2 Nissestien 67 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur Bangalore

Now we want to delete the person "Tjessem, Jakob" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

DELETE FROM Persons WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'

The "Persons" table will now look like this: P_Id 1 2 3 4 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Johan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Bakken 2 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur

Delete All Rows

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

DELETE FROM table_name or DELETE * FROM table_name

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

SQL TOP Clause

The TOP Clause
The TOP clause is used to specify the number of records to return. The TOP clause can be very useful on large tables with thousands of records. Returning a large number of records can impact on performance. Note: Not all database systems support the TOP clause.

SQL Server Syntax SELECT TOP number|percent column_name(s) FROM table_name

SQL SELECT TOP Equivalent in MySQL and Oracle

MySQL Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name LIMIT number Oracle Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE ROWNUM <= number

SQL TOP Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 4 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Tom Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Vingvn 23 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur

Now we want to select only the two first records in the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT TOP 2 * FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Kumari Kumar FirstName Mounitha Pranav Address VPura Yelhanka City Bangalore Bangalore

SQL TOP PERCENT Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 4 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi Nilsen FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Tom Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal Vingvn 23 City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur Tumkur

Now we want to select only 50% of the records in the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT TOP 50 PERCENT * FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Kumari Kumar FirstName Mounitha Pranav Address VPura Yelhanka City Bangalore Bangalore

SQL LIKE Operator

The LIKE operator is used in a WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a column.

The LIKE Operator

The LIKE operator is used to search for a specified pattern in a column.

SQL LIKE Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name LIKE pattern

LIKE Operator Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "B" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE 'B%'

The "%" sign can be used to define wildcards (missing letters in the pattern) both before and after the pattern. The result-set will look like this:

P_Id 1 2

LastName Kumari Kumar

FirstName Mounitha Pranav

Address VPura Yelhanka

City Bangalore Bangalore

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that ends with an "r" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE '%r'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 3 LastName Gubbi FirstName Sharan Address Hebbal City Tumkur

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "mk" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE '%mk%'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 3 LastName Gubbi FirstName Sharan Address Hebbal City Tumkur

It is also possible to select the persons living in a city that NOT contains the pattern "mk" from the "Persons" table, by using the NOT keyword. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City NOT LIKE '%mk%'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Kumari Kumar FirstName Mounitha Pranav Address VPura Yelhanka City Bangalore Bangalore

SQL Wildcards
SQL wildcards can be used when searching for data in a database.

SQL Wildcards

SQL wildcards can substitute for one or more characters when searching for data in a database. SQL wildcards must be used with the SQL LIKE operator. With SQL, the following wildcards can be used: Wildcard % _ [charlist] [^charlist] or [!charlist] Description A substitute for zero or more characters A substitute for exactly one character Any single character in charlist Any single character not in charlist

SQL Wildcard Examples

We have the following "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Using the % Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "sa" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE 'Ba%'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 2 LastName Kumari Kumar FirstName Mounitha Pranav Address VPura Yelhanka City Bangalore Bangalore

Using the _ Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons with a first name that starts with any character, followed by "ri" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons

WHERE FirstName LIKE '_ri'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 LastName Kumari FirstName Mounitha Address VPura City Bangalore

Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that starts with "P", followed by any character, followed by "an", followed by any character, followed by "v" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName LIKE 'P_an_v'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 LastName Kumar FirstName Pranav Address Yelhanka City Bangalore

Using the [charlist] Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons with a first name that starts with "b" or "s" or "p" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName LIKE '[bsp]%'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 3 LastName Kumar Gubbi FirstName Pranav Sharan Address Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Tumkur

Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that do not start with "b" or "s" or "p" from the "Persons" table. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName LIKE '[!bsp]%'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 LastName Kumari FirstName Mounitha Address VPura City Bangalore

SQL IN Operator
The IN Operator
The IN operator allows you to specify multiple values in a WHERE clause.

SQL IN Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name IN (value1,value2,...)

IN Operator Example
The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select the persons with a last name equal to "Kumari" or "Gubbi" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName IN ('Kumari','Gubbi')

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 3 LastName Kumari Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Sharan Address VPura Hebbal City Bangalore Tumkur

SQL BETWEEN Operator

The BETWEEN operator is used in a WHERE clause to select a range of data between two values.

The BETWEEN Operator

The BETWEEN operator selects a range of data between two values. The values can be numbers, text, or dates.

SQL BETWEEN Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name BETWEEN value1 AND value2

BETWEEN Operator Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select the persons with a last name alphabetically between "Kumari" and "Gubbi" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName BETWEEN 'Kumari' AND 'Gubbi'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 1 3 LastName Kumari Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Sharan Address VPura Hebbal City Bangalore Tumkur

Note: The BETWEEN operator is treated differently in different databases. In some databases a person with the LastName of "Kumari" or "Gubbi" will not be listed (BETWEEN only selects fields that are between and excluding the test values). In other databases a person with the last name of "Kumari" or "Gubbi" will be listed (BETWEEN selects fields that are between and including the test values). And in other databases a person with the last name of "Kumari" will be listed, but "Gubbi" will not be listed (BETWEEN selects fields between the test values, including the first test value and excluding the last test value). Therefore: Check how your database treats the BETWEEN operator.

Example 2
To display the persons outside the range in the previous example, use NOT BETWEEN:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName

NOT BETWEEN 'Kumari' AND 'Gubbi'

The result-set will look like this: P_Id 2 LastName Kumar FirstName Pranav Address Yelhanka City Bangalore

SQL Alias
With SQL, an alias name can be given to a table or to a column.

SQL Alias
You can give a table or a column another name by using an alias. This can be a good thing to do if you have very long or complex table names or column names. An alias name could be anything, but usually it is short.

SQL Alias Syntax for Tables SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name AS alias_name SQL Alias Syntax for Columns SELECT column_name AS alias_name FROM table_name

Alias Example
Assume we have a table called "Persons" and another table called "Product_Orders". We will give the table aliases of "p" an "po" respectively. Now we want to list all the orders that "Mounitha Kumari" is responsible for. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT po.OrderID, p.LastName, p.FirstName FROM Persons AS p, Product_Orders AS po WHERE p.LastName='Kumari' WHERE p.FirstName='Mounitha'
The same SELECT statement without aliases:

SELECT Product_Orders.OrderID, Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName FROM Persons, Product_Orders WHERE Persons.LastName='Kumari'

WHERE Persons.FirstName='Mounitha'
As you'll see from the two SELECT statements above; aliases can make queries easier to both write and to read.

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

SQL JOIN
The JOIN keyword is used in an SQL statement to query data from two or more tables, based on a relationship between certain columns in these tables. Tables in a database are often related to each other with keys. A primary key is a column (or a combination of columns) with a unique value for each row. Each primary key value must be unique within the table. The purpose is to bind data together, across tables, without repeating all of the data in every table. Look at the "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Note that the "P_Id" column is the primary key in the "Persons" table. This means that no two rows can have the same P_Id. The P_Id distinguishes two persons even if they have the same name. Next, we have the "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764 P_Id 3 3 1 1 15

Note that the "O_Id" column is the primary key in the "Orders" table and that the "P_Id" column refers to the persons in the "Persons" table without using their names. Notice that the relationship between the two tables above is the "P_Id" column.

Different SQL JOINs

Before we continue with examples, we will list the types of JOIN you can use, and the differences between them.

JOIN: Return rows when there is at least one match in both tables LEFT JOIN: Return all rows from the left table, even if there are no matches in the right table RIGHT JOIN: Return all rows from the right table, even if there are no matches in the left table FULL JOIN: Return rows when there is a match in one of the tables

SQL INNER JOIN Keyword

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

SQL INNER JOIN Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 INNER JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name
PS: INNER JOIN is the same as JOIN.

SQL INNER JOIN Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764 P_Id 3 3 1 1 15

Now we want to list all the persons with any orders. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo FROM Persons INNER JOIN Orders

ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id ORDER BY Persons.LastName

The result-set will look like this: LastName Kumari Kumari Gubbi Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Mounitha Sharan Sharan OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678

The INNER JOIN keyword return rows when there is at least one match in both tables. If there are rows in "Persons" that do not have matches in "Orders", those rows will NOT be listed.

SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword

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

SQL LEFT JOIN Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 LEFT JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name
PS: In some databases LEFT JOIN is called LEFT OUTER JOIN.

SQL LEFT JOIN Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764 P_Id 3 3 1 1 15

Now we want to list all the persons and their orders - if any, from the tables above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo FROM Persons LEFT JOIN Orders ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id ORDER BY Persons.LastName
The result-set will look like this: LastName Kumari Kumari Gubbi Gubbi Kumar FirstName Mounitha Mounitha Sharan Sharan Pranav OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678

The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all the rows from the left table (Persons), even if there are no matches in the right table (Orders).

SQL RIGHT JOIN Keyword

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

SQL RIGHT JOIN Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 RIGHT JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name
PS: In some databases RIGHT JOIN is called RIGHT OUTER JOIN.

SQL RIGHT JOIN Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 OrderNo 77895 P_Id 3

2 3 4 5

44678 22456 24562 34764

3 1 1 15

Now we want to list all the orders with containing persons - if any, from the tables above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo FROM Persons RIGHT JOIN Orders ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id ORDER BY Persons.LastName
The result-set will look like this: LastName Kumari Kumari Gubbi Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Mounitha Sharan Sharan OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678 34764 The RIGHT JOIN keyword returns all the rows from the right table (Orders), even if there are no matches in the left table (Persons

SQL FULL JOIN Keyword

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

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

SQL FULL JOIN Example

The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764 P_Id 3 3 1 1 15

Now we want to list all the persons and their orders, and all the orders with their persons. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo FROM Persons FULL JOIN Orders ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id ORDER BY Persons.LastName
The result-set will look like this: LastName Kumari Kumari Gubbi Gubbi Kumar FirstName Mounitha Mounitha Sharan Sharan Pranav 34764 The FULL JOIN keyword returns all the rows from the left table (Persons), and all the rows from the right table (Orders). If there are rows in "Persons" that do not have matches in "Orders", or if there are rows in "Orders" that do not have matches in "Persons", those rows will be listed as well. OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678

SQL UNION Operator

The SQL UNION operator combines two or more SELECT statements.

The SQL UNION Operator

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

SQL UNION Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 UNION SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name2

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

SQL UNION ALL Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 UNION ALL SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name2
PS: The column names in the result-set of a UNION are always equal to the column names in the first SELECT statement in the UNION.

SQL UNION Example

Look at the following tables: "Employees_India": E_ID 01 02 03 04 "Employees_USA": E_ID 01 02 03 04 E_Name Turner, Sally Kent, Clark Kumar, Stephen Scott, Stephen E_Name Kumari, Mounitha Kumar, Pranav Kumar, Stephen Gubbi, Sharan

Now we want to list all the different employees in Norway and USA. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_India UNION SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_USA

The result-set will look like this: E_Name Kumari, Mounitha Kumar, Pranav Kumar, Stephen Gubbi, Sharan Turner, Sally Kent, Clark Scott, Stephen

Note: This command cannot be used to list all employees in India and USA. In the example above we have two employees with equal names, and only one of them will be listed. The UNION command selects only distinct values.

SQL UNION ALL Example

Now we want to list all employees in India and USA:

SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_India UNION ALL SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_USA
Result E_Name Kumari, Mounitha Kumar, Pranav Kumar, Stephen Gubbi, Sharan Turner, Sally Kent, Clark Kumar, Stephen Scott, Stephen

SQL SELECT INTO Statement

The SQL SELECT INTO statement can be used to create backup copies of tables.

The SQL SELECT INTO Statement

The SELECT INTO statement selects data from one table and inserts it into a different table. The SELECT INTO statement is most often used to create backup copies of tables.

SQL SELECT INTO Syntax

We can select all columns into the new table:

SELECT * INTO new_table_name [IN externaldatabase] FROM old_tablename

Or we can select only the columns we want into the new table:

SELECT column_name(s)

INTO new_table_name [IN externaldatabase] FROM old_tablename

SQL SELECT INTO Example

Make a Backup Copy - Now we want to make an exact copy of the data in our "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT * INTO Persons_Backup FROM Persons

We can also use the IN clause to copy the table into another database:

SELECT * INTO Persons_Backup IN 'Backup.mdb' FROM Persons

We can also copy only a few fields into the new table:

SELECT LastName,FirstName INTO Persons_Backup FROM Persons

SQL SELECT INTO - With a WHERE Clause

We can also add a WHERE clause. The following SQL statement creates a "Persons_Backup" table with only the persons who lives in the city "Bangalore":

SELECT LastName,Firstname INTO Persons_Backup FROM Persons WHERE City='Bangalore'

SQL SELECT INTO - Joined Tables

Selecting data from more than one table is also possible. The following example creates a "Persons_Order_Backup" table contains data from the two tables "Persons" and "Orders":

SELECT Persons.LastName,Orders.OrderNo INTO Persons_Order_Backup FROM Persons INNER JOIN Orders ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id

SQL CREATE DATABASE Statement

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

SQL CREATE DATABASE Syntax CREATE DATABASE database_name

CREATE DATABASE Example

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

CREATE DATABASE my_db

Database tables can be added with the CREATE TABLE statement.

SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

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

SQL CREATE TABLE Syntax CREATE TABLE table_name ( column_name1 data_type, column_name2 data_type, column_name3 data_type, .... )
The data type specifies what type of data the column can hold. For a complete reference of all the data types available in MS Access, MySQL, and SQL Server, go to our complete Data Types reference.

CREATE TABLE Example

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

CREATE TABLE Persons

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

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

SQL Constraints
SQL Constraints
Constraints are used to limit the type of data that can go into a table. Constraints can be specified when a table is created (with the CREATE TABLE statement) or after the table is created (with the ALTER TABLE statement). We will focus on the following constraints:

NOT NULL UNIQUE PRIMARY KEY FOREIGN KEY CHECK DEFAULT

The next chapters will describe each constraint in details.

SQL NOT NULL Constraint

By default, a table column can hold NULL values.

SQL NOT NULL Constraint

The NOT NULL constraint enforces a column to NOT accept NULL values. The NOT NULL constraint enforces a field to always contain a value. This means that you cannot insert a new record, or update a record without adding a value to this field.

The following SQL enforces the "P_Id" column and the "LastName" column to not accept NULL values:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )

SQL UNIQUE Constraint

SQL UNIQUE Constraint
The UNIQUE constraint uniquely identifies each record in a database table. The UNIQUE and PRIMARY KEY constraints both provide a guarantee for uniqueness for a column or set of columns. A PRIMARY KEY constraint automatically has a UNIQUE constraint defined on it. Note that you can have have many UNIQUE constraints per table, but only one PRIMARY KEY constraint per table.

SQL UNIQUE Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a UNIQUE constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is created:

SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint

SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint
The PRIMARY KEY constraint uniquely identifies each record in a database table. Primary keys must contain unique values. A primary key column cannot contain NULL values. Each table should have a primary key, and each table can have only one primary key.

SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a PRIMARY KEY on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is created:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), PRIMARY KEY (P_Id) )
To allow naming of a PRIMARY KEY constraint, and for defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:

To DROP a PRIMARY KEY Constraint

To drop a PRIMARY KEY constraint, use the following SQL: MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP PRIMARY KEY

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP CONSTRAINT pk_PersonID

SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint

SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint
A FOREIGN KEY in one table points to a PRIMARY KEY in another table. Let's illustrate the foreign key with an example. Look at the following two tables: The "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 OrderNo 77895 44678 P_Id 3 3

3 4

22456 24562

2 1

Note that the "P_Id" column in the "Orders" table points to the "P_Id" column in the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column in the "Persons" table is the PRIMARY KEY in the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column in the "Orders" table is a FOREIGN KEY in the "Orders" table. The FOREIGN KEY constraint is used to prevent actions that would destroy link between tables. The FOREIGN KEY constraint also prevents that invalid data is inserted into the foreign key column, because it has to be one of the values contained in the table it points to.

SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a FOREIGN KEY on the "P_Id" column when the "Orders" table is created: MySQL:

CREATE TABLE Orders ( O_Id int NOT NULL, OrderNo int NOT NULL, P_Id int, PRIMARY KEY (O_Id), FOREIGN KEY (P_Id) REFERENCES Persons(P_Id) )
To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN KEY constraint on

To DROP a FOREIGN KEY Constraint

To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:

ALTER TABLE Orders DROP FOREIGN KEY fk_PerOrders

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Orders DROP CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders

The TRUNCATE TABLE Statement

What if we only want to delete the data inside the table, and not the table itself? Then, use the TRUNCATE TABLE statement:

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name

SQL ALTER TABLE Statement

The ALTER TABLE Statement
The ALTER TABLE statement is used to add, delete, or modify columns in an existing table.

SQL ALTER TABLE Syntax

To add a column in a table, use the following syntax:

ALTER TABLE table_name ADD column_name datatype

To delete a column in a table, use the following syntax (notice that some database systems don't allow deleting a column):

ALTER TABLE table_name DROP COLUMN column_name

To change the data type of a column in a table, use the following syntax:

ALTER TABLE table_name ALTER COLUMN column_name datatype

SQL ALTER TABLE Example

Look at the "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to add a column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons ADD DateOfBirth date

Notice that the new column, "DateOfBirth", is of type date and is going to hold a date. The data type specifies what type of data the column can hold. For a complete reference of all the data types available in MS Access, MySQL, and SQL Server, go to our complete Data Types reference. The "Persons" table will now like this:

P_Id 1 2 3

LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi

FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan

Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal

City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

DateOfBirth

Change Data Type Example

Now we want to change the data type of the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons ALTER COLUMN DateOfBirth year

Notice that the "DateOfBirth" column is now of type year and is going to hold a year in a two-digit or four-digit format.

DROP COLUMN Example

Next, we want to delete the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP COLUMN DateOfBirth

The "Persons" table will now like this: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

SQL Views
A view is a virtual table. This chapter shows how to create, update, and delete a view.

SQL CREATE VIEW Statement

In SQL, a view is a virtual table based on the result-set of an SQL statement. A view contains rows and columns, just like a real table. The fields in a view are fields from one or more real tables in the database.

You can add SQL functions, WHERE, and JOIN statements to a view and present the data as if the data were coming from one single table.

SQL CREATE VIEW Syntax CREATE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition
Note: A view always shows up-to-date data! The database engine recreates the data, using the view's SQL statement, every time a user queries a view.

SQL CREATE VIEW Examples

If you have the Northwind database you can see that it has several views installed by default. The view "Current Product List" lists all active products (products that are not discontinued) from the "Products" table. The view is created with the following SQL:

CREATE VIEW [Current Product List] AS SELECT ProductID,ProductName FROM Products WHERE Discontinued=No
We can query the view above as follows:

SELECT * FROM [Current Product List]

Another view in the Northwind sample database selects every product in the "Products" table with a unit price higher than the average unit price:

CREATE VIEW [Products Above Average Price] AS SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice FROM Products WHERE UnitPrice>(SELECT AVG(UnitPrice) FROM Products)
We can query the view above as follows:

SELECT * FROM [Products Above Average Price]

Another view in the Northwind database calculates the total sale for each category in 1997. Note that this view selects its data from another view called "Product Sales for 1997":

CREATE VIEW [Category Sales For 1997] AS SELECT DISTINCT CategoryName,Sum(ProductSales) AS CategorySales FROM [Product Sales for 1997] GROUP BY CategoryName
We can query the view above as follows:

SELECT * FROM [Category Sales For 1997]

We can also add a condition to the query. Now we want to see the total sale only for the category "Beverages":

SELECT * FROM [Category Sales For 1997] WHERE CategoryName='Beverages'

SQL Updating a View

You can update a view by using the following syntax:

SQL CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW Syntax CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition
Now we want to add the "Category" column to the "Current Product List" view. We will update the view with the following SQL:

CREATE VIEW [Current Product List] AS SELECT ProductID,ProductName,Category FROM Products WHERE Discontinued=No

SQL Dropping a View

You can delete a view with the DROP VIEW command.

SQL DROP VIEW Syntax DROP VIEW view_name

SQL Date Functions

SQL Dates
The most difficult part when working with dates is to be sure that the format of the date you are trying to insert, matches the format of the date column in the database. As long as your data contains only the date portion, your queries will work as expected. However, if a time portion is involved, it gets complicated. Before talking about the complications of querying for dates, we will look at the most important built-in functions for working with dates.

SQL has many built-in functions for performing calculations on data.

SQL Aggregate Functions

SQL aggregate functions return a single value, calculated from values in a column. Useful aggregate functions:

AVG() - Returns the average value COUNT() - Returns the number of rows FIRST() - Returns the first value LAST() - Returns the last value MAX() - Returns the largest value MIN() - Returns the smallest value SUM() - Returns the sum

SQL Scalar functions

SQL scalar functions return a single value, based on the input value. Useful scalar functions:

UCASE() - Converts a field to upper case LCASE() - Converts a field to lower case MID() - Extract characters from a text field LEN() - Returns the length of a text field ROUND() - Rounds a numeric field to the number of decimals specified NOW() - Returns the current system date and time FORMAT() - Formats how a field is to be displayed

Tip: The aggregate functions and the scalar functions will be explained in details in the next chapters.

SQL AVG() Function

The AVG() Function
The AVG() function returns the average value of a numeric column.

SQL AVG() Syntax SELECT AVG(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL AVG() Example

We have the following "Orders" table: O_Id 1 OrderDate 2008/11/12 OrderPrice 1000 Customer Kumari

2 3 4 5 6

2008/10/23 2008/09/02 2008/09/03 2008/08/30 2008/10/04

1600 700 300 2000 100

Nilsen Kumari Kumari Jensen Nilsen

Now we want to find the average value of the "OrderPrice" fields. We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT AVG(OrderPrice) AS OrderAverage FROM Orders

The result-set will look like this: OrderAverage 950 Now we want to find the customers that have an OrderPrice value higher than the average OrderPrice value. We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT Customer FROM Orders WHERE OrderPrice>(SELECT AVG(OrderPrice) FROM Orders)

The result-set will look like this: Customer Kumari Nilsen Jensen

SQL COUNT() Function

The COUNT() function returns the number of rows that matches a specified criteria.

SQL COUNT(column_name) Syntax

The COUNT(column_name) function returns the number of values (NULL values will not be counted) of the specified column:

SELECT COUNT(column_name) FROM table_name SQL COUNT(*) Syntax

The COUNT(*) function returns the number of records in a table:

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name SQL COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) Syntax

The COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) function returns the number of distinct values of the specified column:

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) FROM table_name

Note: COUNT(DISTINCT) works with ORACLE and Microsoft SQL Server, but not with Microsoft Access.

SQL COUNT(column_name) Example

We have the following "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 6 OrderDate 2008/11/12 2008/10/23 2008/09/02 2008/09/03 2008/08/30 2008/10/04 OrderPrice 1000 1600 700 300 2000 100 Customer Kumari Nilsen Kumari Kumari Jensen Nilsen

Now we want to count the number of orders from "Customer Nilsen". We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT COUNT(Customer) AS CustomerNilsen FROM Orders WHERE Customer='Nilsen'

The result of the SQL statement above will be 2, because the customer Nilsen has made 2 orders in total: CustomerNilsen 2

SQL COUNT(*) Example

If we omit the WHERE clause, like this:

SELECT COUNT(*) AS NumberOfOrders FROM Orders

The result-set will look like this: NumberOfOrders 6

which is the total number of rows in the table.

SQL COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) Example

Now we want to count the number of unique customers in the "Orders" table. We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Customer) AS NumberOfCustomers FROM Orders

The result-set will look like this: NumberOfCustomers 3 which is the number of unique customers (Kumari, Nilsen, and Jensen) in the "Orders" table.

SQL MAX() Function

The MAX() Function
The MAX() function returns the largest value of the selected column.

SQL MAX() Syntax SELECT MAX(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL MAX() Example

We have the following "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 6 OrderDate 2008/11/12 2008/10/23 2008/09/02 2008/09/03 2008/08/30 2008/10/04 OrderPrice 1000 1600 700 300 2000 100 Customer Kumari Nilsen Kumari Kumari Jensen Nilsen

Now we want to find the largest value of the "OrderPrice" column. We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT MAX(OrderPrice) AS LargestOrderPrice FROM Orders

The result-set will look like this:

LargestOrderPrice 2000

SQL MIN() Function

The MIN() Function
The MIN() function returns the smallest value of the selected column.

SQL MIN() Syntax SELECT MIN(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL MIN() Example

We have the following "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 6 OrderDate 2008/11/12 2008/10/23 2008/09/02 2008/09/03 2008/08/30 2008/10/04 OrderPrice 1000 1600 700 300 2000 100 Customer Kumari Nilsen Kumari Kumari Jensen Nilsen

Now we want to find the smallest value of the "OrderPrice" column. We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT MIN(OrderPrice) AS SmallestOrderPrice FROM Orders

The result-set will look like this: SmallestOrderPrice 100

SQL SUM() Function

The SUM() Function
The SUM() function returns the total sum of a numeric column.

SQL SUM() Syntax SELECT SUM(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL SUM() Example

We have the following "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 6 OrderDate 2008/11/12 2008/10/23 2008/09/02 2008/09/03 2008/08/30 2008/10/04 OrderPrice 1000 1600 700 300 2000 100 Customer Kumari Nilsen Kumari Kumari Jensen Nilsen

Now we want to find the sum of all "OrderPrice" fields". We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT SUM(OrderPrice) AS OrderTotal FROM Orders

The result-set will look like this: OrderTotal 5700

SQL GROUP BY Statement

Aggregate functions often need an added GROUP BY statement.

The GROUP BY Statement

The GROUP BY statement is used in conjunction with the aggregate functions to group the result-set by one or more columns.

SQL GROUP BY Syntax SELECT column_name, aggregate_function(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value GROUP BY column_name

SQL GROUP BY Example

We have the following "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 OrderDate 2008/11/12 2008/10/23 2008/09/02 OrderPrice 1000 1600 700 Customer Kumari Nilsen Kumari

4 5 6

2008/09/03 2008/08/30 2008/10/04

300 2000 100

Kumari Jensen Nilsen

Now we want to find the total sum (total order) of each customer. We will have to use the GROUP BY statement to group the customers. We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT Customer,SUM(OrderPrice) FROM Orders GROUP BY Customer

The result-set will look like this: Customer Kumari Nilsen Jensen SUM(OrderPrice) 2000 1700 2000

Let's see what happens if we omit the GROUP BY statement:

SELECT Customer,SUM(OrderPrice) FROM Orders

The result-set will look like this: Customer Kumari Nilsen Kumari Kumari Jensen Nilsen SUM(OrderPrice) 5700 5700 5700 5700 5700 5700

The result-set above is not what we wanted. Explanation of why the above SELECT statement cannot be used: The SELECT statement above has two columns specified (Customer and SUM(OrderPrice). The "SUM(OrderPrice)" returns a single value (that is the total sum of the "OrderPrice" column), while "Customer" returns 6 values (one value for each row in the "Orders" table). This will therefore not give us the correct result. However, you have seen that the GROUP BY statement solves this problem.

GROUP BY More Than One Column

We can also use the GROUP BY statement on more than one column, like this:

SELECT Customer,OrderDate,SUM(OrderPrice) FROM Orders GROUP BY Customer,OrderDate

SQL HAVING Clause

The HAVING Clause
The HAVING clause was added to SQL because the WHERE keyword could not be used with aggregate functions.

SQL HAVING Syntax SELECT column_name, aggregate_function(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value GROUP BY column_name HAVING aggregate_function(column_name) operator value

SQL HAVING Example

We have the following "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 5 6 OrderDate 2008/11/12 2008/10/23 2008/09/02 2008/09/03 2008/08/30 2008/10/04 OrderPrice 1000 1600 700 300 2000 100 Customer Kumari Nilsen Kumari Kumari Jensen Nilsen

Now we want to find if any of the customers have a total order of less than 2000. We use the following SQL statement:

SELECT Customer,SUM(OrderPrice) FROM Orders GROUP BY Customer HAVING SUM(OrderPrice)<2000

The result-set will look like this: Customer Nilsen SUM(OrderPrice) 1700

Now we want to find if the customers "Kumari" or "Jensen" have a total order of more than 1500. We add an ordinary WHERE clause to the SQL statement:

SELECT Customer,SUM(OrderPrice) FROM Orders WHERE Customer='Kumari' OR Customer='Jensen' GROUP BY Customer HAVING SUM(OrderPrice)>1500
The result-set will look like this:

Customer Kumari Jensen

SUM(OrderPrice) 2000 2000

SQL UCASE() Function

The UCASE() Function
The UCASE() function converts the value of a field to uppercase.

SQL UCASE() Syntax SELECT UCASE(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL UCASE() Example

We have the following "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select the content of the "LastName" and "FirstName" columns above, and convert the "LastName" column to uppercase. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT UCASE(LastName) as LastName,FirstName FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: LastName KUMARI KUMAR GUBBI FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan

SQL LCASE() Function

The LCASE() Function
The LCASE() function converts the value of a field to lowercase.

SQL LCASE() Syntax SELECT LCASE(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL LCASE() Example

We have the following "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select the content of the "LastName" and "FirstName" columns above, and convert the "LastName" column to lowercase. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT LCASE(LastName) as LastName,FirstName FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan

SQL MID() Function

The MID() Function
The MID() function is used to extract characters from a text field.

SQL MID() Syntax SELECT MID(column_name,start[,length]) FROM table_name

Parameter column_name start length Description Required. The field to extract characters from. Required. Specifies the starting position (starts at 1). Optional. The number of characters to return. If omitted, the MID() function returns the rest of the text.

SQL MID() Example

We have the following "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to extract the first four characters of the "City" column above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT MID(City,1,4) as SmallCity FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: SmallCity Bang Bang Tumk

SQL LEN() Function

The LEN() Function
The LEN() function returns the length of the value in a text field.

SQL LEN() Syntax SELECT LEN(column_name) FROM table_name

SQL LEN() Example

We have the following "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Kumari Kumar Gubbi FirstName Mounitha Pranav Sharan Address VPura Yelhanka Hebbal City Bangalore Bangalore Tumkur

Now we want to select the length of the values in the "Address" column above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT LEN(Address) as LengthOfAddress FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: LengthOfAddress 5 8 6

SQL ROUND() Function

The ROUND() Function

The ROUND() function is used to round a numeric field to the number of decimals specified.

SQL ROUND() Syntax SELECT ROUND(column_name,decimals) FROM table_name

Parameter column_name decimals Description Required. The field to round. Required. Specifies the number of decimals to be returned.

SQL ROUND() Example

We have the following "Products" table: Prod_Id 1 2 3 ProductName Jarlsberg Mascarpone GorgonzMounitha Unit 1000 g 1000 g 1000 g UnitPrice 10.45 32.56 15.67

Now we want to display the product name and the price rounded to the nearest integer. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT ProductName, ROUND(UnitPrice,0) as UnitPrice FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: ProductName Jarlsberg Mascarpone GorgonzMounitha UnitPrice 10 33 16

SQL NOW() Function

The NOW() Function
The NOW() function returns the current system date and time.

SQL NOW() Syntax SELECT NOW() FROM table_name

SQL NOW() Example

We have the following "Products" table: Prod_Id 1 ProductName Jarlsberg Unit 1000 g UnitPrice 10.45

2 3

Mascarpone GorgonzMounitha

1000 g 1000 g

32.56 15.67

Now we want to display the products and prices per today's date. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT ProductName, UnitPrice, Now() as PerDate FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this: ProductName Jarlsberg Mascarpone GorgonzMounitha UnitPrice 10.45 32.56 15.67 PerDate 30/09/2012 30/09/2012 30/09/2012

SQL FORMAT() Function

The FORMAT() Function
The FORMAT() function is used to format how a field is to be displayed.

SQL FORMAT() Syntax SELECT FORMAT(column_name,format) FROM table_name

Parameter column_name format Description Required. The field to be formatted. Required. Specifies the format.

SQL FORMAT() Example

We have the following "Products" table: Prod_Id 1 2 3 ProductName Jarlsberg Mascarpone GorgonzMounitha Unit 1000 g 1000 g 1000 g UnitPrice 10.45 32.56 15.67

Now we want to display the products and prices per today's date (with today's date displayed in the following format "YYYY-MM-DD"). We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT ProductName, UnitPrice, FORMAT(Now(),'YYYY-MM-DD') as PerDate FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this:

ProductName Jarlsberg Mascarpone GorgonzMounitha

UnitPrice 10.45 32.56 15.67

PerDate 2012-09-30 2012-09-30 2012-09-30

SQL Quick Reference

SQL Statement AND / OR Syntax SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition AND|OR condition ALTER TABLE table_name ADD column_name datatype or ALTER TABLE table_name DROP COLUMN column_name AS (alias) SELECT column_name AS column_alias FROM table_name or SELECT column_name FROM table_name AS table_alias BETWEEN SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name BETWEEN value1 AND value2 CREATE DATABASE database_name CREATE TABLE table_name ( column_name1 data_type, column_name2 data_type, column_name2 data_type, ... ) CREATE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name) or CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name) CREATE VIEW CREATE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition DELETE FROM table_name WHERE some_column=some_value or

ALTER TABLE

CREATE DATABASE CREATE TABLE

CREATE INDEX

DELETE

DELETE FROM table_name (Note: Deletes the entire table!!) DELETE * FROM table_name (Note: Deletes the entire table!!) DROP DATABASE DROP INDEX DROP DATABASE database_name DROP INDEX table_name.index_name (SQL Server) DROP INDEX index_name ON table_name (MS Access) DROP INDEX index_name (DB2/Oracle) ALTER TABLE table_name DROP INDEX index_name (MySQL) DROP TABLE table_name SELECT column_name, aggregate_function(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value GROUP BY column_name SELECT column_name, aggregate_function(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value GROUP BY column_name HAVING aggregate_function(column_name) operator value SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name IN (value1,value2,..) INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (value1, value2, value3,....) or INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...) VALUES (value1, value2, value3,....) INNER JOIN SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 INNER JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 LEFT JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 RIGHT JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 FULL JOIN table_name2 ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name LIKE pattern SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name [ASC|DESC] SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name

DROP TABLE GROUP BY

HAVING

IN

INSERT INTO

LEFT JOIN

RIGHT JOIN

FULL JOIN

LIKE

ORDER BY

SELECT

SELECT * SELECT DISTINCT SELECT INTO

SELECT * FROM table_name SELECT DISTINCT column_name(s) FROM table_name SELECT * INTO new_table_name [IN externaldatabase] FROM old_table_name or SELECT column_name(s) INTO new_table_name [IN externaldatabase] FROM old_table_name

SELECT TOP TRUNCATE TABLE UNION

SELECT TOP number|percent column_name(s) FROM table_name TRUNCATE TABLE table_name SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 UNION SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name2 SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name1 UNION ALL SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name2 UPDATE table_name SET column1=value, column2=value,... WHERE some_column=some_value SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value

UNION ALL

UPDATE

WHERE