STRUCTURED DATA

Accessing structured data with SQL is quite different from the full
text search of documents on
the Web. Structured data in the relational
model means data that can be represented in tables -
- rows and columns.
Each row in a table represents a different object, and the columns
represent
various "attributes" of the object. The columns have names and integrity
constraints
that specify valid values.

Since the column values are named and are represented in a consistent
format, you can select
rows very precisely, based on their contents. This
is especially helpful in dealing with numeric
data. You can also join together
data from different tables, based on matching column values.
You can do
useful types of analysis, listing objects that are in one table and missing
(or present,
or have specific attributes) from a related table. You can
extract from a large table precisely
those rows of interest, regrouping
them and generating simple statistics on them.

This document contains examples of:

creating a table
creating a view
inserting rows
updating rows
deleting rows
commit -- making changes permanent
rollback -- undoing temporary changes
enforcing integrity constraints
using an Embedded C program

INTERACTIVE SQL EXAMPLES

create a table to store information about
weather observation stations:

-- No duplicate ID fields allowed

CREATE TABLE STATION

(ID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,

CITY CHAR(20),

STATE CHAR(2),

LAT_N REAL,

LONG_W REAL);

populate the table STATION with a few rows:

INSERT INTO STATION VALUES (13, 'Phoenix', 'AZ', 33, 112);

INSERT INTO STATION VALUES (44, 'Denver', 'CO', 40, 105);

INSERT INTO STATION VALUES (66, 'Caribou', 'ME', 47, 68);

query to look at table STATION in undefined order:

SELECT * FROM STATION;

ID CITY STATE LAT_N LONG_W
13 Phoenix AZ 33 112
44 Denver  CO 40 105
66 Caribou ME 47 68
query to select Northern stations (Northern latitude > 39.7):

-- selecting only certain rows is called a "restriction".

SELECT * FROM STATION

WHERE LAT_N > 39.7;

ID CITY STATE LAT_N LONG_W

44 Denver  CO 40 105
66 Caribou ME 47 68
query to select only ID, CITY, and STATE columns:

-- selecting only certain columns is called a "projection".

SELECT ID, CITY, STATE FROM STATION;

ID CITY STATE
13 Phoenix AZ
44 Denver  CO
66 Caribou ME
query to both "restrict" and "project":

SELECT ID, CITY, STATE FROM STATION

WHERE LAT_N > 39.7;

ID CITY STATE
44 Denver  CO
66 Caribou ME
create another table to store normalized temperature and precipitation
data:

-- ID field must match some STATION table ID

(so name and location will be known).

-- allowable ranges will be enforced for

other values.

-- no duplicate ID and MONTH combinations.

-- temperature is in degrees Fahrenheit.

-- rainfall is in inches.

CREATE TABLE STATS

(ID INTEGER REFERENCES STATION(ID),

MONTH INTEGER CHECK (MONTH BETWEEN

1 AND 12),

TEMP_F REAL CHECK (TEMP_F BETWEEN -80 AND 150),

RAIN_I REAL CHECK (RAIN_I BETWEEN 0 AND 100),

PRIMARY KEY (ID, MONTH));

populate the table STATS with some statistics for January and July:

INSERT INTO STATS VALUES (13, 1, 57.4, 0.31);

INSERT INTO STATS VALUES (13, 7, 91.7, 5.15);

INSERT INTO STATS VALUES (44, 1, 27.3, 0.18);

INSERT INTO STATS VALUES (44, 7, 74.8, 2.11);

INSERT INTO STATS VALUES (66, 1, 6.7, 2.10);

INSERT INTO STATS VALUES (66, 7, 65.8, 4.52);

query to look at table STATS in undefined order:

SELECT * FROM STATS;

ID MONTH TEMP_F RAIN_I
13 1 57.4 .31
13 7 91.7 5.15
44 1 27.3 .18
44 7 74.8 2.11
66 1 6.7 2.1
66 7 65.8 4.52
query to look at table STATS, picking up location information by joining
with table
STATION on the ID column:

-- matching two tables on a common column is called a "join".

-- the column names often match, but this is not required.

-- only the column values are required to match.

SELECT * FROM STATION, STATS

WHERE STATION.ID = STATS.ID;

ID CITY ST LAT_N  LONG_W ID MONTH  TEMP_F RAIN_I
13 Phoenix  AZ 33  112 13 1  57.4 .31 
13 Phoenix  AZ 33  112 13 7  91.7 5.15 
44 Denver CO 40  105 44 1  27.3 .18 
44 Denver CO 40  105 44 7  74.8 2.11 
66 Caribou  ME 47  68 66 1  6.7 2.1 
66 Caribou  ME 47  68 66 7  65.8 4.52 
 

query to look at the table STATS, ordered by month and greatest rainfall,
with columns
rearranged:

SELECT MONTH, ID, RAIN_I, TEMP_F

FROM STATS

ORDER BY MONTH, RAIN_I DESC;

MONTH ID RAIN_I TEMP_F
1 66 2.1 6.7
1 13 .31 57.4
1 44 .18 27.3
7 13 5.15 91.7
7 66 4.52 65.8
7 44 2.11 74.8
 
query to look at temperatures for July from table STATS, lowest temperatures
first,
picking up city name and latitude by joining with table STATION
on the ID column:

SELECT LAT_N, CITY, TEMP_F

FROM STATS, STATION

WHERE MONTH = 7

AND STATS.ID = STATION.ID

ORDER BY TEMP_F;
LAT_N CITY  TEMP_F
47 Caribou  65.8
40 Denver  74.8
33 Phoenix  91.7
 

query to show MAX and MIN temperatures as well as average rainfall

for each station:

SELECT MAX(TEMP_F), MIN(TEMP_F), AVG(RAIN_I), ID

FROM STATS

GROUP BY ID;
MAX(TEMP_F) MIN(TEMP_F) AVG(RAIN_I) ID
91.7 57.4  2.73  13
74.8 27.3  1.145  44
65.8 6.7  3.31  66
 

query (with subquery) to show stations with year-round average temperature

above 50
degrees:

-- rows are selected from the STATION table based on related values
in the STATS table.

SELECT * FROM STATION

WHERE 50 < (SELECT AVG(TEMP_F) FROM STATS

WHERE STATION.ID = STATS.ID);

ID CITY  ST LAT_N LONG_W
13 Phoenix  AZ 33 112
44 Denver  CO 40 105
 

create a view (derived table or persistent

query) to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius and
inches to centimeters:

CREATE VIEW METRIC_STATS (ID, MONTH, TEMP_C, RAIN_C) AS

SELECT ID,

MONTH,

(TEMP_F - 32) * 5 /9,

RAIN_I * 0.3937

FROM STATS;
query to look at table STATS in a metric light (through the new view):

SELECT * FROM METRIC_STATS;

ID MONTH TEMP_C RAIN_C
13 1 14.1111111 .122047
13 7 33.1666667 2.027555
44 1 -2.6111111 .070866
44 7 23.7777778 .830707
66 1 -14.055556 .82677
66 7 18.7777778 1.779524
 

another metric query restricted to January below-freezing (0 Celsius)

data, sorted on
rainfall:

SELECT * FROM METRIC_STATS

WHERE TEMP_C < 0 AND MONTH = 1

ORDER BY RAIN_C;
ID MONTH TEMP_C RAIN_C
44 1 -2.6111111 .070866
66 1 -14.055556 .82677
 

Interactive SQL Update Examples

update all rows of table STATS to compensate for faulty rain gauges
known to read 0.01
inches low:

UPDATE STATS SET RAIN_I = RAIN_I + 0.01;

and take a look:

SELECT * FROM STATS;

ID MONTH TEMP_F RAIN_I
13 1 57.4 .32
13 7 91.7 5.16
44 1 27.3 .19
44 7 74.8 2.12
66 1 6.7 2.11
66 7 65.8 4.53
 

update one row, Denver's July temperature reading, to correct a data

entry error:
UPDATE STATS SET TEMP_F = 74.9

WHERE ID = 44

AND MONTH = 7;

and take a look:

SELECT * FROM STATS;

ID MONTH TEMP_F RAIN_I
13 1 57.4 .32
13 7 91.7 5.16
44 1 27.3 .19
44 7 74.9 2.12
66 1 6.7 2.11
66 7 65.8 4.53
 

make the above changes permanent:

-- they were only temporary until now.

COMMIT WORK;

update two rows, Denver's rainfall readings:

UPDATE STATS SET RAIN_I = 4.50

WHERE ID = 44;

and take a look:

SELECT * FROM STATS;

ID MONTH TEMP_F RAIN_I
13 1 57.4 .32
13 7 91.7 5.16
44 1 27.3 4.5
44 7 74.9 4.5
66 1 6.7 2.11
66 7 65.8 4.53
 

Oops! We meant to update just the July reading!

Undo that update:

-- undoes only updates since the last COMMIT WORK.

ROLLBACK WORK;

and take a look:

SELECT * FROM STATS;

ID MONTH TEMP_F RAIN_I
 13 1 57.4 .32
13 7 91.7 5.16
44 1 27.3 .19
44 7 74.9 2.12
66 1 6.7 2.11
66 7 65.8 4.53
 

now update Denver's July rainfall reading and make it permanent:

UPDATE STATS SET RAIN_I = 4.50

WHERE ID = 44

AND MONTH = 7;

COMMIT WORK;

and take a look:

SELECT * FROM STATS;

ID MONTH TEMP_F RAIN_I
13 1 57.4 .32
13 7 91.7 5.16
44 1 27.3 .19
44 7 74.9 4.5
66 1 6.7 2.11
66 7 65.8 4.53
 

delete July data and East Coast data from both

tables:

-- note that we use longitude values from the related STATION table
to determine which STAT
stations were east of 90 degrees.

DELETE FROM STATS

WHERE MONTH = 7

OR ID IN (SELECT ID FROM STATION

WHERE LONG_W < 90);

DELETE FROM STATION WHERE LONG_W < 90;

COMMIT WORK;

and take a look:

SELECT * FROM STATION;

ID CITY  ST LAT_N LONG_W
13 Phoenix  AZ 33 112
44 Denver  CO 40 105