SQL Tutorial

SQL - (See quill)
SQL stands for Structured Query Language and is a very powerful and diverse language
used to create and query databases. Its loose syntax makes it easy to learn but mastering
its intricate architecture may take a lifetime.
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SQL is the language used to interact with data and databases. Armed with a firm
understanding of its structure and mechanics will allow you to build simple, dynamic
applications for the web or create robust applications for your preferred operating system.
The loose structure and flexibility of this language make it an ideal candidate for the web,
especially since there are more than a handful of database applications available for free
such as MySQL and SQL Server Express.
SQL - Fundamentals
SQL alone can input, modify, and drop data from databases. In this tutorial we use
command line examples to show you just a sample of what SQL is capable of. With the
use of web languages such as HTML and PHP, SQL becomes an even greater tool for
building dynamic web pages.
SQL - World Wide Web

SQL has become a popular among web designers due to its flexibility and simplicity.
With some basic knowledge of HTML, PHP, and a database program such as MySQL, a
web designer is capable of creating some of the most complex of web sites and
applications and most of your online web services are run using a SQL backend to store
user data. This tutorial will provide you with just a small taste of this type of
programming and architecture.
Building a web site on SQL architecture is quickly becoming the standard among web 2.0
sites. With a SQL backend it is fairly simple to store user data or email lists. SQL is an
absolute must for any e-commerce web site where orders are processed and money is
exchanged.
SQL - Tutorial Scope

Reading further you will encounter a number of hands on examples intended to introduce
you to SQL. The majority of these examples are intended to span across the different
available variations of SQL but the primary focus of this tutorial is aimed at Microsoft's
SQL Server 2000 and later.
SQL - Getting Started
To get started you will need to install database program SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, or
IBM's DB2. For installation help, we suggest you go straight to the developer
homepages:
Oracle
SQL Server
MySQL
It is preferred that you select SQL Server Express 200X, at least for the duration of this
tutorial. The express addition is available for private use for free and you can find the
download page by searching for "SQL Server Express" with Google.
Follow the on-line installation guide that Microsoft provides and once you have that
application installed you are ready to for the rest of our tutorial.
SQL - What's a Database?

A database is nothing more than an empty shell, like a vacant warehouse. It offers no real
functionality what so ever, other than holding a name. Tables are the next tier of our tree
offering a wide scope of functionality. If you follow our warehouse example, a SQL table
would be the physical shelving inside our vacant warehouse. Each SQL table is capable
of housing 1024 columns(shelves). Depending on the situation, your goods may require
reorganization, reshelving, or removal. SQL tables can be manipulated in this same way
or in any fashion the situation calls for.
SQL - Four Principles of Database Design

When designing and implementing a database, keep in mind these four guidelines.
Atomicity
Your coded statements flow without the constant need to update or "fix" your data.
Consistency
Your statements are either executed 100% or fail 100%, do not implement code that
partially works.
Isolation
Keep data files and logs away from public eyes, and limit the number of users with
administration access to your database.
Durability
Maintain reliable servers with plenty of storage space and back-up systems that save
transactions immediately.
A well thought out database will continue to serve and meet your needs for ages. It is
important to plan ahead and really put some thought into what you intend to record in
your databases. Keep in mind that tables and databases should maintain some
relationship. In many instances it is far more desirable to have several small related tables
and databases than one giant one. "Never place your eggs all in one basket."
The Database Model

Dr. Edgar F. Codd was the founding father of what is known as the relational model of
databases. In 1970, he published a groundbreaking article "A Relational Model of Data
for Large Shared Data Banks." Included within the article were 12 rules of relational
databases. These rules are as follows (paraphrased).
Information Rule
All data in the database should be represented as values in tables.
Guaranteed Access
Every piece of data should be accesible by using the table name, primary key, and
a column name.
Treatment of NULL Values
Null values must be treated as incomplete data pieces. Nulls are not to be
confused with zeros.
Active-Online Relational Catalog
A database is represented at a logical level of tables.
Sublanguage
Having one supported language with a well-defined syntax.
Updating Views
All views should be updated through the system.
Set-level Insertion, Update, and Deletion
System must support set-time insert, update, and deletion operations.
Data Independence (Physical)
Alterations to the way data is stored must not alter the application itself.
Data Independence (Logical)
Altering tables, columns, and/or rows must not alter the application itself.
Integrity Independence
The language of the database must define integrity rules.
Distribution Independence
Distributing the database to numerous locations should be anonymous and
existing applications should be unaffected.
Nonsubversion
If the system uses a low level interface to record data, then there must be a higher
level interface used when administrating.
The largest of corporations follow these rules of cataloging information to this very day.
Database Driven Web Sites

Today we experience the power of databases throughout the web. Many sites are
completely dynamic, meaning the content that is being display is held inside of a table
with columns, and columns of information to display. This is quickly becoming the ideal
way to host websites. It allows for dynamic content on the fly, user interaction, and
webmasters can store information about returning users making way for the site to
recognize returning users. Any chance at building rapport with your audience is a great
opportunity indeed.
SQL - Platforms
A SQL platform acts as the stage for building and developing your databases. Several
different platforms exist including:
• IBM's DB2
• MySQL
• PostgreSQL
• Oracle
• Microsoft's SQL Server
SQL - MySQL and PostgreSQL

MySQL and PostgreSQL are open source database programs rich in functionality and
flexibility. They are often the choice of web developers and small businesses simply
because they get the job done for a very reasonable price. Also they will go anywhere and
can operate on nearly every operating system available.
SQL - SQL Server
Microsoft's SQL Server is steadily on the rise in the commercial world gaining popularity
slowly. This platform has a GUI "Windows" type interface and is also rich with
functionality. A free trial version can be downloaded at the Microsoft web site, however
it is only available to Windows users.
SQL - DB2 and Oracle

By far the selection of choice for large corporations is either Oracle or DB2. Companies
that have large ties to IBM stick to their DB2 software whereas others have made the
switch to Oracle. These systems run on personal computers as well as large corporate
mainframes.
SQL - Queries
SQL uses commands called queries to execute tasks such as creating a databases (which
we've seen already), updating data inside a table, or selecting data rows that meet specific
criteria. Each query statement begins with a clause such as SELECT, UPDATE,
CREATE, or DELETE and the simplest query is only two words long. It is a query that
uses a built in SQL function called getdate() that will return the current server date.
Execute the following statement to have SQL go and fetch the current SQL server date
and time:
SQL Code:
SELECT getdate();
SQL Results:
2008-08-09 11:56:05.407
As you can see, this statement begins with the SELECT clause and the built in function
getdate() does all the work for you. By executing this query you are essentially telling
your database to "go and fetch" the current date.
This particular query is probably as simple and straight forward as it gets in the SQL
world. Even though you may not know exactly what is happening here or when this may
be useful, you have taken the first step toward understanding the fundamental mechanics
of SQL query statements and the very foundation on which SQL architecture resides.
SQL - Query Structure
Queries are loosely typed into your SQL prompt. Spacing and line breaks are not very
important as excess line breaks and spacing are ignored by the SQL application. We now
know that a query begins with a clause, what comes next depends on the clause.
In order to expand our understanding of queries we will need to create a table and
populate this table with some data which we can then manipulate as we introduce more
Query commands and SQL functions. The next couple of examples should be
overwhelming to newer SQL programmers but we will still take a moment to explain
what's going on and focus on the structure of each query.
SQL Create Table Query:

USE mydatabase;
CREATE TABLE orders

(
id INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY,
customer VARCHAR(50),
day_of_order DATETIME,
product VARCHAR(50),
quantity int
);
The first line of our example "use mydatabase;" is pretty straight forward, this line
defines the scope of the query and directs SQL to run the following command against the
mydatabase database as appose to some other database that exists inside our SQL
application. The blank line after is not required but it makes our query much more legible
and the line following the page break starting with the CREATE clause is where we are
actually going to tell SQL to create our new table and give this table a name, orders
(CREATE TABLE orders).
The lines contained in parenthesis() are telling SQL how to set up the columns. This is a
list and each new table column is separated by a comma (,). It isn't important to
understand many of the other details they will be explained later on in different lessons.
For now just take note that we are creating a new table to store data and this table has
only 5 essential table columns .
The next query is going to add data to our table by inserting values into each table
column.
SQL Insert Query:

use mydatabase;
INSERT INTO orders (customer,day_of_order,product, quantity)

VALUES('Tizag','8/1/08','Sharpie',4);
Listed above is a typical INSERT query used to insert data into the table we previously
created. Again, we must specify which database we intend on executing a query against
(use mydatabase - Line 1). And then we tell SQL what we want to do (INSERT INTO
orders- insert data). Finally, we have to list the columns we intend to insert data into and
the final line lists the actual values that will be inserted into each of the table columns.
SQL - Query Structure Review

Structurally, all three queries we have run in this lesson are very similar. All queries start
with a clause, telling SQL how to handle the query and then the remaining lines describe
in detail how we want SQL to go about performing our task.
SQL - Syntax
SQL follows a general syntax, there are not many quotations or other symbols to throw
into your statements. Generally we follow a Do what To what syntax, meaning first we
decide what we want to do, then we decide what we want to do it to, and finally we end
the whole thing with a semicolon (;).
A statement begins with a clause. Clauses are commands in the SQL world and the
backbone of any script. The first clause of a statement gives a general idea of what type
of action a script is taking. A few basic clauses are SELECT, INSERT, or CREATE. We
will look at each of these clauses a little more in depth on the next few pages but it may
be obvious to you already what each of those clauses does. SQL statements end with a
semicolon as most with most programming languages. A basic statement might look like
this:
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM table_name;
Above we have a SELECT clause asking for all columns and values (*) from our
database table. As shown above, a good habit is to capitalize your clauses. Later on when
we have larger statements and subqueries it will make life much easier to go back and
debug your code.
Formating your statements in a similar fashion will also aid your debugging efforts. The
common formatting technique is to begin each line with a clause or to break up and list
columns or tables as needed. More on this in a moment.
SQL Code:
SELECT *
FROM table_name;
The advantage of this isn't apparent with this example. Each are fairly easy to read.
However the example below shows an example where this format shines.
SQL Code:
SELECT column_one, column_two
FROM table_name
WHERE (
column_one,
column_two,
column_three,
)
= (SELECT column_one,
column_two
FROM table_two
WHERE table_one.id = 'table_two.id');
As you can see, when subqueries are thrown into the mix things become a little more
complicated. A one line statement will not fit across your screen. Both statements are
neither right nor wrong, each are easier to follow. Parentheses generally depict order of
operations but it is not an exact science. Quotations are not found until the predicate of
the statement.
SQL - Data Types

SQL recognizes 4 general types of data. As the database designer you will be selecting
which type of data that can be placed in each table column. Before we look at each type
of table column we will elaborate on specific data types and how they are handled in
SQL.
• Character Strings - ('Words or numbers')
• Numbers - (3, 3.423, -17)
• Booleans - (True / False)
• Nulls - (empty fields)
SQL - NULL Values

A null value may be the most foreign to new programmers. Stating that a value has a null
value indicates that nothing exists in that table field. When the table is created you may
either allow a table to have a null value or may disallow null values for each table
column.
SQL Code:
CREATE TABLE weekly_payroll
(employee_id VARCHAR(10) PRIMARY KEY,
total_hours INT NULL,
hourly_rate MONEY NOT NULL,);
SQL - Numeric Data

Dates, time stamps, integers, and money are all numeric data types. The advantage of
working with numbers is that SQL has built in functions such as the AVG() or SUM()
functions that will return the average or the sum of a numeric column.
Numbers:
rate_of_pay
27
26.66
28.40
SQL - Boolean Data

Boolean values are either yes/no (true/false) types of data. Others use a 1/0 (1 for yes 0
for no) approach. Either something is or something is not.
Boolean Values:
admin
1
1
0
SQL - Character Strings

Character strings are sentences, symbols, or a combination of both. Math functions can
not be performed with character strings.
Character Strings:
employee_id
TS_0036
TS_0078
CL_1099
SQL - Commands
SQL commands can be categorized into three distinct groups. Each type of command
plays an essential role while working with your database. One analogy might be to think
of each SQL Command as a possible tool in your tool shed. Certain duties require
specific tools and the more tools you have in your shed, the greater the chances that you
will have the exact tool you need for the appropriate job.
SQL - What is a Clause

Clauses were mentioned briefly in the SQL Queries lesson. To briefly recap, they are the
commands issued during a query. SELECT, INSERT, ADD, DROP, CREATE, etc are all
clauses that begin each SQL Query and execute some sort of action upon your database.
SQL - What is a Function

There are a number of functions built into SQL that can add column values for you,
average column values, or even change lowercase to uppercase strings. These functions
are used directly inside of your queries and are excellent tools for you to use.
SQL Code:
Count() function
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_one;

The query above will return a numeric value representing the number of rows that have
been inserted into your database. We will be covering this function as well as many
others as this tutorial continues.
SQL - What is an Operator

Operators are a means by which SQL can manipulate numbers and strings or test for
equality. They come in four flavors including: Arithmatic, Range, Equality, and Logical.
As your skills with SQL grow, you may want the language to start performing some basic
arithmatic for you or perhaps you wish to select a range of rows with a numeric column
value larger than 5. This becomes possible with operators.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM table_one WHERE column_one > 5;
SQL - Operators
Operators are used in expressions or conditional statements. they show equality,
inequality, or a combination of both. Mathematical operators are found in every computer
language and may be familiar to you. SQL operators follow the same rules you may have
learned in a math class or know from previous programming experience.
Operators come in three flavors, mathematical, logical, or range operations. Mathematical
operators add, subtract, multiply, divide, and compare equality of numbers and strings.
There are two logical operators, AND / OR. Range operators include the infamous < and
> symbols used to compare equality. Take note of the following tables for future
reference.
SQL Arithmetic Operators:

Operator Example Result Definition
+ 7+7 = 14 Addition
- 7-7 =0 Subtraction
* 7*7 = 49 Multiplication
/ 7/7 =1 Division
% 7%7 =0 Modulus
Modulus may be the only unfamiliar term on the chart. this term describes the result
when one number is divided by another number resulting in a remainder. For example 4
% 3 would result with a value of 1 since 1 is left over after 4 is divided by 3.
SQL Range Operators:

Operator Example Defined Result
< 7<4 7 less than 4? False
> 7>4 greater than 4? True
<= 7 <= 11 Is 7 less than or equal to 11? True
>= 7 >= 11 Is 7 greater than or equal to 11? False
SQL Equality Operators:

Operator Example Defined Result
= 5=5 Is 5 equal to 5? True
<> 7 <> 2 Is 7 not equal to 2? True
SQL Logical Operators:

Operator Defined Example
AND Associates two values using AND if (($x AND $y) == 5)...
OR Associates two values using OR if (($x OR $y) == 5)...
SQL - Expressions
In the programming world an expression is a special statement that returns a value. SQL
is no exception to this standard rule.
SQL - Expression Types

Expressions in SQL generally fall into one of four categories including: Boolean,
Numeric, Character, and/or Date Expressions.
SQL Code:
SELECT column_one FROM table_name;
The simplest form of an expression appears as column_one of our table. Select is our
clause telling our database what we want to do, and column_one acts as the defined
expression returning each row of that particular column.
Expressions after the where clause might appear more familiar to programmers.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_one = 'some value';
The latter example returns rows of the specified column containing 'some value'. Using
expressions like the one above gives you precise control over what results will be
returned. More information on the where clause is available at SQL Where.
SQL - Boolean Expressions

A boolean expression in any programming language returns a true/false result. Returning
to the previous example containing the where clause.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_one = 'some value';
The logic behind this query is that each row is being tested for 'some value' to appear in
our column_one. Each time a match is found (testing true), that row is selected and
returned for our viewing pleasure.
SQL - Numeric Expression

A numeric expression simply returns a numeric value. There are some built in functions
that we will be examining in greater detail later on. Using one of the following functions
is perhaps the easiest way to demonstrate the return of a number:
• AVG() -- Returns the average of a stated column.
• COUNT() -- Returns a count of the number of rows of a given column.
• SUM() -- Returns the sum of a given column.
SQL Code:
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name;
Our expression above returns a numeric value representing the number of rows that have
been inserted into your table thus far. Please be aware that the AVG(), COUNT(), and
SUM() only return results for integer table columns. Using one of these functions with a
varchar column will result in an error message.
SQL - Character Expressions

Character expressions are used to test for values of a string. Often these expressions will
appear in a where clause as follows.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE
column_one LIKE '%string';
Here we have used the percent(%) symbol to signify the start of our string. SQL tests our
expression against column_one and returns all the rows and columns where column_one
contains our string.
This might come across easier if we use a live example. Say we have created a table with
employee information. In this table we have set up a column a last_name column. The
query above will come in handy if we were wanting to pull all the employees with a
last_name that begins with a "T". Now if we plug in our hypothetical situation into our
code, we should have something like the following.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE
last_name LIKE '%T';
Keep in mind that SQL is case sensitive, using a lowercase t would not yield results for a
last_name that has been capitalized.
SQL - Date Expressions

Date expressions come in three flavors. These expressions are very straight forward,
simply type in any of those listed below and SQL will return exactly what you have
requested.
• Current_Date -- Returns the current date.
• Current_Time -- Returns the current time.
• Current_Timestamp -- Returns the current timestamp.

These expressions can also be placed into your tables as column values for any given row
with an insert statement. We will be looking more indepth at the insert clause, however
here is a glimpse of what is to come.
SQL Code:
INSERT INTO table_name(column_one,column_two,)
Values(Current_Date,Current_Timestamp);
This statement inserts a new row into our imaginary table with the current date value for
column one and the current timestamp value for columne_two.
SQL - Create
A database is nothing more than an empty shell, like a vacant warehouse. It offers no real
functionality what so ever, other than holding a name. Tables are the next tier of our tree
offering a wide scope of functionality. If you follow our warehouse example, a SQL table
would be the physical shelving inside our vacant warehouse. Depending on the situation,
your goods may require reorganization, reshelving, or removal. SQL tables can be
manipulated in this same way or in any fashion the situation calls for.
SQL - Create Database

We first need to build our warehouse, or create our database. The create clause is straight
forward. Here we have a one line script using the create clause to create a database we
named business. The exact number of databases a SQL program can handles is entirely
up to the manufacturer, visit your sites manufacturer if you would like to have specifics.
SQL Code:
CREATE DATABASE business;
We will be using this database for the remainder of the tutorial.
SQL - Create Table

Our empty shell of a database will do nothing standing alone, next we create our tables to
store and organize our data. We use the same create clause and follow the same syntax
above. Tables, however, are fairly complex. In our script we must also include
parameters for each table column as well as name each one. Naming your table columns
can be as simple or complicated as desired. SQL programs are case sensitive, keep this in
mind as you will be calling on our table columns by name a great deal as you enhance
your SQL knowledge. Also, most programs do not support spaces in column names, you
must use the underscore (_).
Column types specify what type of data can be placed inside a table column ranging from
numbers, paragraphs, or brief strings. For example, setting a column type to an int value
means your database will ONLY accept an integer value for this column type.
Column Types:
Column
Description Syntax
Type
int Accepts integer values only tinyint, int
varchar Accepts any symbol, character, or number varchar(char limit value)
text/blob lots of text including line breaks text, blob
Int, varchar, and text are the 3 most common types of columns. Text and int columns
have 3 flavors tiny, medium, and large. Every SQL program has its unique sizes, but for
this tutorial we will be using medium sized column fields for each exercise. Later on as
you expand the database it will become extremely important not to overdue the size of
your column fields. Using the correct size field will dramatically increase performance
including query speeds.
Now create the table.
SQL Code:
CREATE TABLE employees
(
id INT IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL,
Lastname VARCHAR(50),
Firstname VARCHAR(25),
Title VARCHAR(10) DEFAULT 'crew' NULL
);
Above is our table, the first column is an int column set to automatically count each row,
generally this is a great way to automatically assign a unique id to a record. Our second
line is a varchar meaning it will hold numbers, digits, or symbols, which is perfect for
short names of people. The last column has a specified default value of "crew" so that if
we add a new crew member we can simply place a default value.
We do not always have to specify a default value or state weather each column may have
a NULL value, By default, most table columns will allow null values to be recorded but
certain table columns will not allow a null value to be inserted. We recommend reading
up on each column type available to you from your database manufacturer.
SQL - Primary Key

A primary key is a property given to a table column that distinguishes that record apart
from each. For each record in the table the primary key acts like a driver's license
number, only one number exists for each person. The same principle applys here. Any
table can only be given one auto increment field and as such it is forced to be the primary
key of the table. Therefore in our following examples we use the 'id' field as our primary
key.
The alter clause is used to add or drop primary keys and indexes. To change a primary
key you must drop the first one, then add your desired primary as shown below. More
about the alter clause later.
SQL Code:
ALTER TABLE 'employees' DROP PRIMARY KEY,
ADD PRIMARY KEY ('id');
SQL - Indexes
SQL automatically creates some indexes based on column types and attributes. An index
can also be given to a table column to optimize speeds. When a query is executed
searching for a specific column value, SQL will start at the top of the table and search
each and every record until it finds matches. This becomes a performance issue when a
table holds a vast amount of records. By adding an index to columns, SQL will no longer
search the entire table, it will pinpoint your index columns and search those first. The
downside to indexing is that it enlarges the disk space consumed by a table on your web
server. Use indexes when you notice a drop in your query speeds.
SQL Code:
ALTER TABLE 'employees' ADD INDEX ('id');
or
ALTER TABLE èmployees` DROP INDEX `Lastname`;
SQL - Insert
SQL tables store data in rows, one row after another. The INSERT command is the
command used to insert new data (a new row) into a table by specifying a list of values to
be inserted. Values are specified in the query statement and must be arranged inside the
code according to the order of the table columns.
To use the INSERT command we must have an understanding of where we would like to
insert data and what types of data we want to insert. Do we plan on inserting numbers?
Strings? Files? Returning to the orders table we created in an earlier lesson. You may
recall a few of the table columns that were created:
• id
• customer
• day_of_order
• product
• quantity
Looking at the column names alone you gain a sense of what type of data is expected by
each column. The "Quantity" column for example, is expecting a number of some sort
(integer) and the "day_of_order" column is looking for a date value. With our new found
understanding of what is to be expected in each table column it doesn't take much to
effort to create an INSERT statement to add new row values to our table.
SQL Insert Query:

use mydatabase;
INSERT INTO orders (customer,day_of_order,product, quantity)

VALUES('Tizag','8/1/08','Stapler',1);
You may notice that the id column has been left out of the query statement. The reason
behind this is that when we created the table, we created this column field to carry a
special attribute called identity. SQL handles identity columns automatically for us (we'll
talk more on this later). Therefore, the first value "Tizag" corresponds with the customer
table column and this ensures SQL will insert the correct data into the correct,
corresponding table column.
Now when we run the SELECT (*) query, SQL should return two rows with our
statement instead of only a single row.
Verification Query:
use mydatabase;
SELECT *
FROM orders;
SQL Results:
id customer day_of_order product quantity
1 Tizag 2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Sharpie 4
2 Tizag 2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Stapler 1
SQL - Inserting Values

As a shortcut, you may omit the table columns entirely and only supply the values in the
INSERT statement:
SQL Insert Query:

use mydatabase;
INSERT INTO orders

VALUES('A+Maintenance','8/16/08','Hanging Files',12);
Again, we can skip the id column because it is an IDENTITY column and SQL handles
inserts into these column types automatically.
SQL Results:
1 Tizag 2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Sharpie 4
2 Tizag 2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Stapler 1
3 A+Maintenance 2008-08-16 00:00:00.000 Hanging Files 12
Before moving on, let's add some more rows by running the following insert queries. If
you are using SQL Express, you should be able to copy the entire code section below and
execute all the queries at once and track the results.
SQL Insert Queries:

use myDatabase;
INSERT INTO orders

VALUES('Gerald Garner','8/15/08','19" LCD Screen',3)
INSERT INTO orders
VALUES('Tizag','7/25/08','19" LCD Screen',3);
INSERT INTO orders
VALUES('Tizag','7/25/08','HP Printer',2);
SELECT *
FROM orders
Final Results:
1 Tizag 2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Sharpie 4
2 Tizag 2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Stapler 1
3 A+Maintenance 2008-08-16 00:00:00.000 Hanging Files 12
4 Gerald Garner 2008-08-15 00:00:00.000 19" LCD Screen 3
5 Tizag 2008-07-25 00:00:00.000 19" LCD Screen 3
6 Tizag 2008-07-25 00:00:00.000 HP Printer 2
SQL - Select
SQL SELECT may be the most commonly used command by any SQL programmer as it
is used to pull data from a database and present the data in a user-friendly table. SELECT
query statements are easily identifiable because each one begins with the "SELECT"
clause.
Select queries require two essential parts, the first part is the "WHAT" which determines
what we want SQL to go and fetch. Earlier we saw a select statement that went and
fetched the current date for us and because we used a SQL built in function to determine
"WHAT" we wanted to select, SQL automatically filled in the second part of our
SELECT query, the "FROM WHERE."
Now we would like SQL to go and fetch table column data for us from the orders table
that we created earlier. How do we translate this request into SQL code so that the
database application does all the work for us? Simple, we just need to tell SQL what we
want to select and from where to select the data.
SQL Select Query:

SELECT table_column1, table_column2, table_column3
FROM my_table;
Line one tells SQL what it is we're looking for by listing each column we would like to
retrieve. Line 2 on the other hand tells SQL where to go and look for those columns. Let's
apply this template to our orders table. Execute the following query against the orders
table and retrieve the data we previously inserted.
SQL Select Query:

use mydatabase;
SELECT id, customer, day_of_order, product, quantity

FROM orders;
SQL Orders Table Results:

1 Tizag 2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Sharpie 4
We may also manipulate the result output by rearranging the table column list inside of
the SELECT statement. Take a look at the results this query yields:
SQL Select Query:

use mydatabase;
SELECT day_of_order, customer, product, quantity

FROM orders;

day_of_order customer product quantity
2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Tizag Sharpie 4
By rearranging the table column list inside the SELECT statement we altered the
appearance of the results. Also, by not including the id column in the list SQL did not
fetch any column results for us simply because we didn't ask for them.
SQL - Select All (*)

A shortcut exists to select all of a table's columns. Use the (*) instead of listing each table
column by name and SQL will return all columns that exist inside the specified table.
Unfortunately, going this route doesn't allow for you to alter the presentation of the
results.
SQL Select All Query:

use mydatabase;
SELECT *
FROM orders;

1 Tizag 2008-08-01 00:00:00.000 Sharpie 4
We've mentioned functions a few times and now is a great opportunity to introduce the
COUNT() function. This is a built in SQL function that we can use with our SELECT
statement(s) to return the number of rows returned by our query rather than returning
each table column and value. We're not going to discuss too much detail here just go
ahead and execute the following query. The results should speak for themselves.
SQL Select COUNT() Query:

use mydatabase;
SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM orders;
SQL Count Results:
(no column name)
1
Because we enclosed our table column value (*) inside of the COUNT function SQL
interprets that differently than it would the generic query statements we used previously.
Instead of returning column data, we see only a single number representing how many
rows were returned by our SELECT command. More on this later.
SQL - Selecting Data

The (*) query statement should be used with caution. Using this against our little tutorial
database will surely do no harm but using this query against an enterprise level database
may not be the best practice. The reason being that large databases may have web
services or applications attached to them frequently updating, and accessing data as
requested by each application. Each query that is executed against a database can
temporarily lock a table for a fraction of a second. If this fraction happens to occur just as
some piece of data is being updated, you may experience data corruption.
Taking every precaution to avoid data corruption is in your best interest as a new SQL
programmer. Corrupted data may be lost and never recovered and it can even lead to
more corruption inside a database. The best habits are to be as precise as possible and in
the case of select statements this often means selecting ONLY the data than you need.
At this point you should feel comfortable with SELECT and how to look into your
database to see data as it exists in the table. This knowledge will prove invaluable as your
SQL skills develop beyond the basics and as you begin to tackle larger SQL projects.
SQL - Order By
The order by statement allows for table column assortment. It allows for ascending or
descending lists of your table column values permitting SQL to reorder your table rows
for the purpose of viewing.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees ORDER BY Lastname;
SQL Table:
ID Lastname Firstname Title
11 Davis Julie manager
10 Harris Joel crew
9 Hicks Freddy crew
2 Hively Jessica crew
1 Johnson David crew
The above example resorts our rows of data alphabetically by lastname. Here is another
example ordering by two different columns First we alphabatize our job titles and again
we order by lastname.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees ORDER BY Title,Lastname;
SQL Table:
10 Harris Joel crew
9 Hicks Freddy crew
Hint: It is possible to order by a column you do not wish to display such as an ID field.
Also notice at the bottom of each query display will be the number of rows affected by
your query. This number will also be displayed anytime an insert, select, update, or delete
statement is properly executed by your SQL program
SQL - Distinct Usage
Distinct is used to retrieve rows of your database that have unique values for a given
column. For example say we have a table of employees and in this table of employees we
have several job titles from janitors to CEOs. We would like to know just how many
distinct job titles we have.
SQL Code:
SELECT DISTINCT job_titles FROM employees;
Our statement will return the number of rows with a distinct value for our column
(job_titles).
SQL - Distinct Multiple Columns

Using the distinct function with more than one column yields some substantial results.
SQL will return the rows with distinct or unique combinations of those columns. Assume
this same employee table has another column including the salary of each employee.
With the use of the distinct function we can pull a list of unique job titles - salaries.
SQL Code:
SELECT DISTINCT job_titles, salary FROM employees;
SQL has returned all the rows with unique combinations of job titles and salaries. Any
duplicate combinations of job titles and salaries will be ignored. For example if we had
two CEOs in the table making the same salary each year, only one row would be returned
but if we had two CEOs with different salaries, both rows would be returned.
SQL - Where
The where clause sets a conditional statement for your queries. Your server will query the
database searching for rows that meet your specific where condition. A typical query will
have the following syntax.
A conditional statement has 2 parts, the left side is your table column and the right side is
the condition to be met. Example:WHERE table_column(s) = condition.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE Title = 'crew' ORDER BY Lastname;
SQL Table:
10 Harris Joel crew
9 Hicks Freddy crew
All the known typical operators can be used in the conditional statements, for a complete
list backtrack to SQL Operators
SQL - Where multiple conditionals

SQL also supports multiple conditional statements within one script by using the AND or
OR operators. Continuing the example from above we can select only those employees
that worked 36 or more hours for the week, perhaps meaning they are full time
employees.
SQL Code:
SELECT employees.Lastname,
employees.Firstname,
employees.Title,
payroll.Hours
FROM employees,payroll
WHERE employees.Lastname = payroll.Lastname
AND payroll.Hours => '36'
ORDER BY employees.Lastname;
As you can see, the where clause is a very powerful tool used to quickly pull rows from
one table or many.
SQL - In
In is a special kind of operator for use in your where clauses. Recall that in a where
expression only one value is allowed to be sent through the query. With the in operator
one can send multiple values in the where clause.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM table_name
WHERE some_column IN('value1','value2','value3');
The rows returned will have one of the values listed (value1, value2, or value3) in
brackets as the value for the specified column (column_one).
SQL - In Subqueries
To better understand the power of this function, let's use an example involving a
subquery. Say we have a database with the following tables.
Employees:
user_id last first
0045 Davis Julie
0067 Smith John
0098 Hodgensen Bruce
Logbook:
user_id timestamp
0045 000000002345
0045 000000045666
0098 000000076444
Now above we have an employees table giving us a user_id along with a first and last
name of employees we have working in the office. The second table might be a log type
table that keeps track of who accessed the database and at what time. This a security
check. A standard operating procedure if many people will be accessing the database.
What we want to know is the last name and first name of those that accessed the
database. To do this we may use a subquery like in the example below.
SQL Code:
SELECT first,last FROM employees WHERE user_id IN
(Select user_id FROM logbook);
The subquery highlighted in red selects all the values of user_id in the logbook and
returns those to the previous in statement. The result is a complete listing of the names of
the employees that have accessed the database and have been recorded inside the logbook
table. The good news is that this feat was accomplished without having to know the
user_ids of every employee in the office. This definatly adds some depth to your SQL
knowledge thus far.
SQL - Between
Between is a special operator appearing in a where statement. It allows for the selection
of a range of values between one value and another.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_one
BETWEEN value1 AND value2;
Be aware that the values you specify will also return results. For example if we were
looking for values between 5 and 10, all rows would be retrieved where our column value
is 5,6,7,8,9, or 10.
SQL - In Between (Subqueries)

This next example requires that you are familiar with the previous lesson, SQL In. You
may recall that the In operator allows the where clause to return more than one single
value for a column. Below are two tables. The employee table only stores personal
information about employees while the logbook records when and who accessed our
database.
employees
user_id last first
0045 Davis Julie
0048 Thomas David
0067 Smith John
0098 Hodgensen Bruce
logbook
user_id timestamp
0045 000000002345
0045 000000045666
0048 000000055767
0098 000000076444
Say we were thinking ahead when issuing user_ids and coordinated each user_id number
with a department. For example our data security department employees will be
numbered 004X, where X represents any number 0-9 (So data security employees are
numbered 0040-0049). Since we konw this information it will prove useful if we want to
track down database users by department.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE user_id IN
(SELECT user_id FROM logbook WHERE user_id BETWEEN 0040 AND 0049);
SQL will now retrieve exactly what we need. A listing of all the data security employees
(user_id 004X) that have accessed the database thus far.
SQL - Alter Table

The alter clause changes a table by adding, removing, or modifying an existing table
column.
The following example adds a new column to our table.
SQL Code:
ALTER TABLE employees
ADD dob varchar(10);
SQL Table:
id Lastname Firstname Title dob
Now we will remove the same column from the table.
SQL Code:
ALTER TABLE employees
DROP dob;
SQL Table:
id Lastname Firstname Title
SQL - Alter Columns

Alter is used again when changing attributes of the table cloumns. For instance if we
wanted to change a table column name or change a column from a varchar to an interger
type.
SQL Code:
ALTER TABLE 'employees' CHANGE 'ID' 'id' TINYINT ( 3 )
NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT;
Above we changed 'ID' to 'id' because SQL is case sensative and this will remove a
potential bug issue. After we have selected a new name, we list the new attributes to be
given to the altered column.
SQL - Update
The update clause updates column values of a table. Update requires a conditional
statement to select the row to be updated.
SQL Code:
UPDATE employees
SET Lastname = 'Fletcher', Firstname = 'Ron'
WHERE id = '11';
SQL Table:
11 Fletcher Ron manager
Here we changed record 11, our manager, to a new manager.
SQL - Updating Multiple Rows
With the use of expressions and operators, update allows for the manipulation of several
rows at once.
SQL Code:
UPDATE employees
SET Title = UPPER(Title);
SQL Table:
1 Johnson David CREW
2 Hively Jessica CREW
9 Hicks Freddy CREW
10 Harris Joel CREW
11 Davis Julie MANAGER
Using the UPPER expression we changed our Title field to all capital letters. Update also
supports the use of subqueries.
SQL - Delete
Entire rows can be deleted from a table using the delete clause.
SQL Code:
DELETE FROM employees
WHERE id='4';
We could use the above code to delete an employee using their unique employee number
that has been assigned by the auto_increment field.
SQL - Deleting Multiple Rows

Delete is not limited to one row at a time. We may use all of our known SQL operators as
well as subqueries to delete any or all rows that apply to our conditional.
SQL Code:
DELETE FROM employees
WHERE id <= '999';
The above example would delete every row from our table since we had previously
limited our "id" field when we set up the table. Predicates, expressions, subqueries, and
operators can be used to delete any rows you would like to remove from your table.
SQL - Truncate
We can clear an entire table using a truncate statement. Truncate quickly clears all rows
of a table without deleting the table itself. If you are following along, we don't
recommend that you run this script because you will essentially undo all of your inserts
and have only empty table field to show for it, but it is a handy statement to know and use
when the time is right.
SQL Code:
TRUNCATE TABLE employees;
SQL - Predicates
Predicates follow the where clause. Predicates allow the searching through database
records to recover specific strings and ranges or characters. Rows will be returned if they
match the predicate condition.
SQL - Like; Not Like

Like is a means of quering data in your database by keyword or keyletter means. After a
where clause, use LIKE to match a character or a string. SQL retrieves all rows
containing all or part of the string placed within the parameters. Generally, a percent sign
(%) is used to define the start and ending or your string. Escape characters can be used
for special situations.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE Lastname LIKE '%H%';
SQL Table:
10 Harris Joel crew
9 Hicks Freddy crew
Our example will retrieve any and all rows with a capital letter H in the lastname field.
Case sensitivity is important in this situation.
On a contrary note, use the Not Like predicate to find all rows that do not match the
string.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE Lastname NOT LIKE '%H%';
SQL Table:
SQL - Predicates Escaping Characters

Say you want to find a percent character(%) in your database, or all rows associated with
one. SQL Server and Oracle, require an additional statement over MySQL. With Oracle
and SQL Server, you must specify the character used to escape. Here's code example.
SQL Code:
Oracle/SQL Server
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE Lastname LIKE '%\%%' ESCAPE '\';
MySQL
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE Lastname LIKE '%\%%'

MySQL has a built in default escape character the backslash (\). MySQL also supports
the escape predicate allowing you to change your escape character exactly as it is done in
the other programs.
SQL - Between
Between is a predicate to call a range of numeric values such as 1-20 or the like. Its
syntax follows the same as above.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE id BETWEEN 1 AND 4;
SQL Table:
Between is essentially replacing your range operators. Always start your ranges with the
lowest number first.
SQL - Limit
The limit predicate allows you to limit the number of rows selected.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees LIMIT 2;
SQL Table:
SQL - Inner Join

The join clause combines columns of one table to that of another to create a single table.
Join matches up a column with one table to a column in another table. A join query does
not alter either table, but temporarily combines data from each table to be viewed as a
single table. There are three types of join statements, inner, left, and right.
We will be using our employees table from previous examples, and a new table to track
sales of each employee called invoices.
Our invoices table is set up with 3 fields, EmployeeID, Sale, and Price. If we were a
business owner we now have a means to track what was sold, and by whom and we can
bring this information together using an inner join clause.
Inner Join: An inner join returns all rows that result in a match such as the example
above.
SQL Code:
SELECT employees.Lastname, employees.Firstname, invoices.Sale,
invoices.Price
FROM employees
INNER JOIN invoices
ON employees.id = invoices.EmployeeID
SQL Table:
Lastname Firstname Sale Price
Johnson David HOT DOG 1.99
Hively Jessica LG SFT DRK 1.49
Davis Julie CD SLD 3.99
We haven't changed or updated any information in either of our tables but we were able
to fashion together a new table using a conditional that matches one table column to
another.
SQL - Left Join

A Left join returns all rows of the left of the conditional even if there is no right column
to match.
SQL Code:
invoices.Price
FROM employees
LEFT JOIN invoices
SQL Table:
Hicks Freddy
Harris Joel
This would be a great way to track sales per person per day if the invoice table had a date
field as well.
SQL - Right Join

A right join will display rows on the right side of the conditional that may or may not
have a match.
SQL Code:
invoices.Price
FROM employees
RIGHT JOIN invoices
SQL Table:
HOT DOG 1.99
LG SFT DRK 1.49
This would happen generally if perhaps nobody recieved credit for the sale or the sale
was credited to the store by default.
SQL - Union
The union clause places two serarate queries together forming one table. A union works
best when using two tables with similar columns because each cloumn must have the
same data type.
Say we had another table called employees2 with the names and information of
employees from our second store. With 2 queries, we can combine the tables into a list of
all employees.
SQL Code:
SELECT * FROM employees
UNION
SELECT * FROM employees2;
SQL Table:
9 Hicks Freddy crew
10 Harris Joel crew
101 Yazzow Jim crew
102 Anderson Craig crew
103 Carlson Kevin crew
104 Maines Brad crew
The result is a complete listing every employee from store 1 and 2.
The next example shows a more practical means of using a union clause. Here we will
select all of our employees from both tables, and join them with our invoices table to
generate a complete list of sales from both stores on a given day.
SQL Code:
invoices.Price
FROM employees
INNER JOIN invoices
UNION
SELECT employees2.Lastname, employees2.Firstname, invoices.Sale,
invoices.Price
FROM employees2
INNER JOIN invoices
ON employees2.id = invoices.EmployeeID;
SQL Table:
Davis Julie CK SLD 3.99
Yazzow Jim HOT DOG 1.99
Carlson Kevin LG SFT DRK 1.49
Here we combined a join query with the union clause to create one table.
SQL - Union All

Union all selects all rows from each table and combines them into a single table. The
difference between Union and Union all is that Union all will not eliminate duplicate
rows, instead it just pulls all rows from all tables fitting your query specifics and
combines them into a table.
SQL Code:
UNION ALL
SELECT * FROM employees2;
SQL Table:
9 Hicks Freddy crew
10 Harris Joel crew
101 Yazzow Jim crew
102 Anderson Craig crew
103 Carlson Kevin crew
104 Maines Brad crew
SQL Code:
invoices.Price
FROM employees
INNER JOIN invoices
UNION ALL
SELECT employees2.Lastname, employees2.Firstname, invoices.Sale,
invoices.Price
FROM employees2
INNER JOIN invoices
ON employees2.id = invoices.EmployeeID;
SQL Table:
Davis Julie CK SLD 3.99
Yazzow Jim HOT DOG 1.99
Carlson Kevin LG SFT DRK 1.49
SQL - Subqueries
MySQL offers a very limited support for subqueries, however Oracle and DB2 fully
support them. Subqueries are Select queries placed within an existing SQL statement.
They may exist in any of the following types of SQL statements.
• Select
• Insert
• Update
• Delete
• Set
• Do
Subqueries are great for answering very specific questions regarding your data inside
your database. For instance, as the employer you may notice employee number 101 had a
great day yesterday with sales. Just given this information we can use a subquery to pull
the employee lastname and first name from our database.
SQL Code:
WHERE id =
(SELECT EmployeeID FROM invoices WHERE EmployeeID='1');
SQL Table:
id Lastname Firstname Title
11 Davis Julie MANAGER
Here we have pulled our employee information from the employees table by only
knowing the employee number from the invoices table.
SQL - Subquery Inserts

Subqueries can be used to pull old data from your database and insert it into new tables.
For instance if we opened up a third store and we wanted to place the same manager over
3 stores we could do this by pulling the manager's information using a subquery and then
inserting the records. Also note that this form of insert will insert all cases where the
subquery is true, therefore several rows may or may not be inserted depending upon how
your table is set up.
SQL Code:
INSERT INTO employees3
(id,Lastname,Firstname,Title)
(SELECT id,Lastname,Firstname,Title
FROM employees WHERE Title='manager');
With complete mastery of a subqueries you can now see the power of the SQL language.
The language is capable of nearly all things imaginable.
SQL - Dates
Unfortunately, every SQL platform has its own version of date functions, the few listed
work in DB2, Oracle, and MySQL. Microsoft SQL Server users should skip to our SQL
Datepart lesson.
SQL - Timestamp
A timestamp servers as the catch all for dates and times. Retrieving a timestamp is very
simple and the result can be converted or manipulated in nearly every way imaginable.
SQL Code:
SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;
Return a Timestamp:
2004-06-22 10:33:11.840
Keep in mind that each platform of SQL (DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, etc...) may return
dates and times which are formatted differently.
SQL - Date Functions

As we just mentioned, it is possible to breakdown timestamps into their individual pieces
using any of the following date functions.
SQL Code:
SELECT MONTH(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);
Return a Month:
6
SQL Code:
SELECT DAY(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);
Return a Day:
22
There are many more functions available, including functions to extract milliseconds,
names of the months, names of each week day, etc. Each SQL platform varies in the
actual naming of date functions. Here's a few c\The following is a list of other date
functions available to most platforms of SQL with the exception of MS's SQL Server.
SQL Function Code:

SELECT DATE(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP); - returns a date (2004-06-22)
SELECT TIME(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP); - returns the time (10:33:11.840)
SELECT DAYOFWEEK(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP); - returns a numeric value (1-7)
SELECT DAYOFMONTH(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP); - returns a day of month (1-31)
SELECT DAYOFYEAR(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP); - returns the day of the year (1-365)
SELECT MONTHNAME(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);
- returns the month name (January - December
SELECT DAYNAME(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);
- returns the name of the day (Sunday - Saturday)
SELECT WEEK(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP); - returns number of the week (1-53)

Timestamps are often the easiest to work with, but we certainly are not limited to using
only the current_timestamp as our parameter. We can send any date, time, or timestamp
to the function which then returns our result.
SQL Code:
SELECT MONTHNAME('2004-11-27');
Return a Month Name:

MONTHNAME('2004-11-27')
November
Date functions can also be performed on table columns similarly to numeric and
mathematical functions such as SUM() or AVG().
SQL Code:
SELECT DAYOFYEAR(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE name = 'Joe';
SQL will return a numeric result from 1 - 365 representing the day of the year that Joe's
record was created/inserted.
We can expand this concept one step further with the use of a subquery. Say we have a
table with a column named timestamp. In this table column are timestamps of when each
record was entered and we would like to know what was the numeric day of the year that
a record was entered.
SQL Code:
SELECT DAYOFYEAR(
(SELECT DATE(timestamp) FROM employees WHERE name = 'James Bond')
);
Above you can see how it is possible to combine several date functions as well as a
subquery to return very specific information about Mr. James Bond.
SQL - Inserting Date Data

Date data exists as numbers, strings, and timestamps. Built into most platforms are
several date column types such as DATE or TIMESTAMP. By setting the default value to
the current date or timestamp, the table column will automatically be filled with a current
date/timestamp as each record is inserted.
Here's the code to add a timestamp column to an existing table.
SQL Code:
ALTER TABLE òrders` ADD òrder_date`
TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP NOT NULL;
Now each time an order is placed in our make believe business, a timestamp of that order
is also recorded.
A date or timestamp table column will only allow date data types to be inserted as values
so be sure to convert any strings or numbers to dates and timestamps before trying to
insert them
SQL - Datepart()
Microsoft's SQL Server takes a little different approach to working with dates. It is still
possible to extract individual parts of a timestamp and several other functions also work
as outlined in SQL - Date.
The difference is that SQL Server uses one main function as oppose to several different
functions ie the DATEPART() function. Datepart() requires two parameters, a part
argument and a date argument. By part we mean year, day of the year, day of the week,
etc. Let's look at an example.
SQL Code:
SELECT DATEPART(week, '2005-12-31');
Return the Week Number:

53
Here we have successfully pulled the "week number" from existing date. SQL's
CURRENT_DATE function could be also be substituted or a string value representing the
year ('Dec 31, 2005').
The following table lists the datepart() arguments that can be extracted from any given
date, time, or timestamp.
part Description Abbreviation(s)
year returns a 4 digit year yy,yyyy
quarter returns a value 1-4 representing the year's quarter qq,q
month returns the numeric equivalent month (1-12) mm,m
dayofyear returns the day of the year (1-365) dy,y
day returns the day of the month (1-31) dd,d
week returns the number of the week (1-53) wk,ww
weekday returns the number of the day of the week (1-7) dw
hour returns the number of hours for a given time hh
minute returns the number of minutes from a given time mi,n
second returns the number of seconds in a given time ss,s
millisecond returns the number of milliseconds in a given time ms
SQL - Case
In SQL case works with either the select or update clauses. It provides when-then-else
functionality (WHEN this_happens THEN do_this) also known as conditional
statements.
SQL - CASE (select)

For this concept, visualize the following table.
employee_name admin
Ted 0
Terry 0
Trish 1
As you can see, we have a list of a few employees and then an admin column with
boolean (true/false) values for their administration rights (admin). A zero means they are
not an admin a 1 mean they are.
Using case logic, we can present this information in a better form.
SQL Code:
SELECT employee_name
CASE admin
WHEN 1 THEN 'yes'
ELSE 'no'
END 'admin'
FROM employees;
SQL Case:
employee_name admin
Ted no
Terry no
Trish yes
In short all we really did is replace 1's and 0's with the words 'yes' and 'no'.
SQL - Case (update)

Case functions additionally allow for the updating of records within your table. For
example, we could update the prices of items in our online store, but more importantly
we could update very specific records because of the conditional logic allowed by case.
Let's use the following table for this next example.
item quantity price
goldfish 12 1.00
guppy 24 0.50
blow fish 1 5.00
Let's say we wanted to have a sale to clean out some of our overstock. We'll go ahead and
take 25% off of all our items that we currently have 20 or more of (>20). Then we'll take
10% off the items that we have 10-20 of (between 10 and 20) and everything else we will
discount only 5%.
SQL Code:
UPDATE inventory SET price = price *
CASE
WHEN quantity > 20 THEN 0.75
WHEN quantity BETWEEN 10 AND 20 THEN 0.90
ELSE 0.95
END;
SQL Case:
item quantity price
goldfish 12 .9
guppy 24 0.375
blow fish 1 4.75
Each price has automatically been reduced by the appropriate percentages

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SQL - (See quill)

SQL - World Wide Web

SQL - Tutorial Scope

SQL - What's a Database?

SQL - Four Principles of Database Design

The Database Model

Database Driven Web Sites

• Microsoft's SQL Server

SQL - MySQL and PostgreSQL

SQL - DB2 and Oracle

SQL Create Table Query:

CREATE TABLE orders

SQL Insert Query:

INSERT INTO orders (customer,day_of_order,product, quantity)

SQL - Query Structure Review

SQL - Data Types

• Character Strings - ('Words or numbers')

• Numbers - (3, 3.423, -17)

• Booleans - (True / False)

• Nulls - (empty fields)

SQL - NULL Values

SQL - Numeric Data

SQL - Boolean Data

SQL - Character Strings

SQL - What is a Clause

SQL - What is a Function

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_one;

SQL - What is an Operator

SQL Arithmetic Operators:

SQL Range Operators:

SQL Equality Operators:

SQL Logical Operators:

SQL - Expression Types

SQL - Boolean Expressions

SQL - Numeric Expression

• AVG() -- Returns the average of a stated column.

• COUNT() -- Returns a count of the number of rows of a given column.

• SUM() -- Returns the sum of a given column.

SQL - Character Expressions

SQL - Date Expressions

• Current_Date -- Returns the current date.

• Current_Time -- Returns the current time.

• Current_Timestamp -- Returns the current timestamp.

SQL - Create Database

SQL - Create Table

SQL - Primary Key

SQL Insert Query:

INSERT INTO orders (customer,day_of_order,product, quantity)

SQL - Inserting Values

SQL Insert Query:

INSERT INTO orders

SQL Insert Queries:

INSERT INTO orders

SQL Select Query:

SQL Select Query:

SELECT id, customer, day_of_order, product, quantity

SQL Orders Table Results:

SQL Select Query:

SELECT day_of_order, customer, product, quantity