St, Marry University

Faculty of informatics
Department of computer science

SQL
Structured Query Language

The original document is available @ http://www.w3schools.com

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Introduction to SQL
SQL is a standard language for accessing and manipulating databases.
What is SQL?
• SQL stands for Structured Query Language
• SQL lets you access and manipulate databases
• SQL is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard

What Can SQL do?

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

RDBMS
RDBMS stands for Relational Database Management System.

RDBMS is the basis for SQL, and for all modern database systems such as MS SQL Server, IBM
DB2, Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft Access.
SQL Syntax
Database Tables
A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g.
"Customers" or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data.

Below is an example of a table called "Persons":

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

The table above contains three records (one for each person) and five columns (P_Id, LastName,
FirstName, Address, and City).

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SQL Statements
Most of the actions you need to perform on a database are done with SQL statements.

The following SQL statement will select all the records in the "Persons" table:
SELECT * FROM Persons

In this tutorial we will teach you all about the different SQL statements.

Keep in Mind That...

• SQL is not case sensitive

Semicolon after SQL Statements?

Some database systems require a semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.

Semicolon is the standard way to separate each SQL statement in database systems that allow more
than one SQL statement to be executed in the same call to the server.

We are using MS Access and SQL Server 2000 and we do not have to put a semicolon after each
SQL statement, but some database programs force you to use it.

SQL DML and DDL

SQL can be divided into two parts: The Data Manipulation Language (DML) and the Data
Definition Language (DDL).

The query and update commands form the DML part of SQL:

• SELECT - extracts data from a database

• UPDATE - updates data in a database
• DELETE - deletes data from a database
• INSERT INTO - inserts new data into a database

The DDL part of SQL permits database tables to be created or deleted. It also defines indexes
(keys), specifies links between tables, and imposes constraints between tables. The most important
DDL statements in SQL are:

• CREATE DATABASE - creates a new database

• ALTER DATABASE - modifies a database
• CREATE TABLE - creates a new table
• ALTER TABLE - modifies a table
• DROP TABLE - deletes a table
• CREATE INDEX - creates an index (search key)
• DROP INDEX - deletes an index
SQL SELECT Statement
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This chapter will explain the SELECT and the SELECT * statements.
Creating New Database
SQL SELECT Syntax
CREATE column_name(s)
FROM table_name

and

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
Now we want to select 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 FirstName
Hansen Ola
Svendson Tove
Pettersen Kari

SELECT * Example
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Now we want to select all the columns from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons

Tip: The asterisk (*) is a quick way of selecting all columns!

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Navigation in a Result-set
Most database software systems allow navigation in the result-set with programming functions,
like: Move-To-First-Record, Get-Record-Content, Move-To-Next-Record, etc.

Programming functions like these are not a part of this tutorial. To learn about accessing data with
function calls, please visit our ADO tutorial or our PHP tutorial.
SQL 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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Now we want to select only the distinct values from the column named "City" from the table above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

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SELECT DISTINCT City FROM Persons

The result-set will look like this:

City
Sandnes
Stavanger

SQL WHERE Clause

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

SQL WHERE Syntax

SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name operator value
WHERE Clause Example
The "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
Now we want to select only the persons living in the city "Sandnes" from the table above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE City='Sandnes'
The result-set will look like this:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

Quotes Around Text Fields

SQL uses single quotes around text values (most database systems will also accept double quotes).

However, numeric values should not be enclosed in quotes.

For text values:

This is correct:

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SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Tove'

This is wrong:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName=Tove

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
>= Greater than or equal
<= Less than or equal
BETWEEN Between an inclusive range
LIKE Search for a pattern
IN To specify multiple possible values for a column

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 are true.

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

AND Operator Example

The "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City

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1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Now we want to select only the persons with the first name equal to "Tove" AND the last name
equal to "Svendson":

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName='Tove'
AND LastName='Svendson'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName='Tove'
OR FirstName='Ola'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

Combining AND & OR

You can also combine AND and OR (use parenthesis to form complex expressions).

Now we want to select only the persons with the last name equal to "Svendson" AND the first name
equal to "Tove" OR to "Ola":

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE
LastName='Svendson'
AND (FirstName='Tove' OR FirstName='Ola')

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The result-set will look like this:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

SQL ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set.
The ORDER BY Keyword
The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set by a specified column.

The ORDER BY keyword sorts 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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Tom Vingvn 23 Stavanger

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
4 Nilsen Tom Vingvn 23 Stavanger
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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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 LastName FirstName Address City
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Tom Vingvn 23 Stavanger
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes

SQL INSERT INTO Statement

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

SQL INSERT INTO Syntax

It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms.

The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values:
INSERT INTO table_name
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)

The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:
INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...)
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)

SQL INSERT INTO Example

We have the following "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

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', 'Stavanger')

The "Persons" table will now look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger

Insert Data Only in Specified Columns

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

The following SQL statement will add a new row, but only add data in the "P_Id", "LastName" and
the "FirstName" columns:
INSERT INTO Persons (P_Id, LastName, FirstName)
VALUES (5, 'Tjessem', 'Jakob')

The "Persons" table will now look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger
5 Tjessem Jakob

SQL 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.

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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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Now we want to insert a new row in the "Persons" table.

We use the following SQL statement:

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

The "Persons" table will now look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger

Insert Data Only in Specified Columns

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

The following SQL statement will add a new row, but only add data in the "P_Id", "LastName" and
the "FirstName" columns:
INSERT INTO Persons (P_Id, LastName, FirstName)
VALUES (5, 'Tjessem', 'Jakob')

The "Persons" table will now look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger
5 Tjessem Jakob

SQL UPDATE Statement

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

SQL UPDATE Syntax

UPDATE table_name
SET column1=value, column2=value2,...
WHERE some_column=some_value

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

SQL UPDATE Example

The "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger
5 Tjessem Jakob

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='Sandnes'
WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'

The "Persons" table will now look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger
5 Tjessem Jakob Nissestien 67 Sandnes

SQL UPDATE Warning

Be careful when updating records. If we had omitted the WHERE clause in the example above, like
this:
UPDATE Persons
SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes'

The "Persons" table would have looked like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Nissestien 67 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Nissestien 67 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Nissestien 67 Sandnes
4 Nilsen Johan Nissestien 67 Sandnes
5 Tjessem Jakob Nissestien 67 Sandnes

SQL DELETE Statement

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

SQL DELETE Syntax

DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE some_column=some_value

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

SQL DELETE Example

The "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

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4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger
5 Tjessem Jakob Nissestien 67 Sandnes

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger

Delete All Rows

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

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

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SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
LIMIT number

Example
SELECT *
FROM Persons
LIMIT 5

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

Example
SELECT *
FROM Persons
WHERE ROWNUM <=5

SQL TOP Example

The "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Tom Vingvn 23 Stavanger

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

SQL TOP PERCENT Example

The "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City

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1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
4 Nilsen Tom Vingvn 23 Stavanger

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "s" from the table above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

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SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE City LIKE 's%'

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that ends with an "s" from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE City LIKE '%s'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "tav" from the
"Persons" table.
We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE City LIKE '%tav%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

It is also possible to select the persons living in a city that does NOT contain the pattern "tav" from
the "Persons" table, by using the NOT keyword.

We use the following SELECT statement:

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

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City

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1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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 Description
% A substitute for zero or more characters
_ A substitute for exactly one character
[charlist] Any single character in charlist
[^charlist]or[!charlist] Any single character not in charlist

SQL Wildcard Examples

We have the following "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

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 'sa%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "nes" from the
"Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

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

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

Using the _ Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons with a first name that starts with any character, followed by "la"
from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName LIKE '_la'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes

Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that starts with "S", followed by any character,
followed by "end", followed by any character, followed by "on" from the "Persons" table.
We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE LastName LIKE 'S_end_on'
The result-set will look like this:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

Using the [charlist] Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons with a last name that starts 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:

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P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes

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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
Now we want to select the persons with a last name equal to "Hansen" or "Pettersen" from the table
above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE LastName IN ('Hansen','Pettersen')

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

SQL BETWEENOperator

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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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Now we want to select the persons with a last name alphabetically between "Hansen" and
"Pettersen" from the table above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE LastName
BETWEEN 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes

Note: The BETWEEN operator is treated differently in different databases!

In some databases, persons with the LastName of "Hansen" or "Pettersen" will not be listed,
because the BETWEEN operator only selects fields that are between and excluding the test values.

In other databases, persons with the LastName of "Hansen" or "Pettersen" will be listed, because
the BETWEEN operator selects fields that are between and including the test values.

And in other databases, persons with the LastName of "Hansen" will be listed, but "Pettersen" will
not be listed (like the example above), because the BETWEEN operator selects fields between the
test values, including the first test value and excluding the last test value.

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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 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

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" and "po" respectively.

Now we want to list all the orders that "Ola Hansen" is responsible for.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT po.OrderID, p.LastName, p.FirstName
FROM Persons AS p,

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Product_Orders AS po
WHERE p.LastName='Hansen' AND p.FirstName='Ola'

The same SELECT statement without aliases:

SELECT Product_Orders.OrderID, Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName
FROM Persons,
Product_Orders
WHERE Persons.LastName='Hansen' AND Persons.FirstName='Ola'

As you'll see from the two SELECT statements above; aliases can make queries easier both to 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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

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 OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 15

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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 returns 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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

The "Orders" table:

O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1

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4 24562 1
5 34764 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 FirstName OrderNo
Hansen Ola 22456
Hansen Ola 24562
Pettersen Kari 77895
Pettersen Kari 44678

The INNER JOIN keyword returns 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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

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The "Orders" table:
O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 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 FirstName OrderNo
Hansen Ola 22456
Hansen Ola 24562
Pettersen Kari 77895
Pettersen Kari 44678
Svendson Tove

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 returns all the 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:

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P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

The "Orders" table:

O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 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 FirstName OrderNo
Hansen Ola 22456
Hansen Ola 24562
Pettersen Kari 77895
Pettersen Kari 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:

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P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
The "Orders" table:
O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 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 FirstName OrderNo
Hansen Ola 22456
Hansen Ola 24562
Pettersen Kari 77895
Pettersen Kari 44678
Svendson Tove
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.
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

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The "Persons" table:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
The "Orders" table:
O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 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 FirstName OrderNo
Hansen Ola 22456
Hansen Ola 24562
Pettersen Kari 77895
Pettersen Kari 44678
Svendson Tove
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.
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

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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_Norway":
E_ID E_Name
01 Hansen, Ola
02 Svendson, Tove
03 Svendson, Stephen
04 Pettersen, Kari

"Employees_USA":
E_ID E_Name
01 Turner, Sally
02 Kent, Clark
03 Svendson, Stephen
04 Scott, Stephen

Now we want to list all the different employees in Norway and USA.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_Norway
UNION
SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_USA

The result-set will look like this:

E_Name
Hansen, Ola
Svendson, Tove
Svendson, Stephen
Pettersen, Kari
Turner, Sally

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Kent, Clark
Scott, Stephen
Note: This command cannot be used to list all employees in Norway 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 Norway and USA:
SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_Norway
UNION ALL
SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_USA

Result
E_Name
Hansen, Ola
Svendson, Tove
Svendson, Stephen
Pettersen, Kari
Turner, Sally
Kent, Clark
Svendson, 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.

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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 "Sandnes":
SELECT LastName,Firstname
INTO Persons_Backup
FROM Persons
WHERE City='Sandnes'

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

33 | P a g e
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
34 | P a g e
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 detail.
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 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:
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(

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P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
UNIQUE (P_Id)
)
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
P_Id int NOT NULL UNIQUE,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255)
)
To allow naming of a UNIQUE constraint, and for defining a UNIQUE constraint on multiple
columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
CONSTRAINT uc_PersonID UNIQUE (P_Id,LastName)
)
SQL UNIQUE Constraint on ALTER TABLE
To create a UNIQUE constraint on the "P_Id" column when the table is already created, use the
following SQL:

MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD UNIQUE (P_Id)
To allow naming of a UNIQUE constraint, and for defining a UNIQUE constraint on multiple
columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT uc_PersonID UNIQUE (P_Id,LastName)

To DROP a UNIQUE Constraint

To drop a UNIQUE constraint, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP INDEX uc_PersonID
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

36 | P a g e
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT uc_PersonID

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:
MySQL:
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)
)
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
P_Id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255)
)
To allow naming of a PRIMARY KEY constraint, and for defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint on
multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
CONSTRAINT pk_PersonID PRIMARY KEY (P_Id,LastName)
)
Note: In the example above there is only ONE PRIMARY KEY (pk_PersonID). However, the
value of the pk_PersonID is made up of two columns (P_Id and LastName).

37 | P a g e
SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint on ALTER TABLE
To create a PRIMARY KEY constraint on the "P_Id" column when the table is already created, use
the following SQL:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD 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:

MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT pk_PersonID PRIMARY KEY (P_Id,LastName)
Note: If you use the ALTER TABLE statement to add a primary key, the primary key column(s)
must already have been declared to not contain NULL values (when the table was first created).
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 LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

The "Orders" table:

O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 2
4 24562 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 links between tables.

38 | P a g e
The FOREIGN KEY constraint also prevents that invalid data form being 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)
)
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Orders
(
O_Id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
)
To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN KEY constraint on
multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Orders
(
O_Id int NOT NULL,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int,
PRIMARY KEY (O_Id),
CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
)
SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint on ALTER TABLE
To create a FOREIGN KEY constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Orders" table is already
created, use the following SQL:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN KEY constraint on
multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders
FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)

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To DROP a FOREIGN KEY Constraint
To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP FOREIGN KEY fk_PerOrders
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders
SQL CHECK Constraint
SQL CHECK Constraint
The CHECK constraint is used to limit the value range that can be placed in a column.
If you define a CHECK constraint on a single column it allows only certain values for this column.
If you define a CHECK constraint on a table it can limit the values in certain columns based on
values in other columns in the row.
SQL CHECK Constraint on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL creates a CHECK constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is
created. The CHECK constraint specifies that the column "P_Id" must only include integers greater
than 0.
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
CHECK (P_Id>0)
)
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
P_Id int NOT NULL CHECK (P_Id>0),
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255)
)
To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on multiple
columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
40 | P a g e
CONSTRAINT chk_Person CHECK (P_Id>0 AND City='Sandnes')
)

SQL CHECK Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a CHECK constraint on the "P_Id" column when the table is already created, use the
following SQL:

MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CHECK (P_Id>0)

To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on multiple
columns, use the following SQL syntax:

MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT chk_Person CHECK (P_Id>0 AND City='Sandnes')
To DROP a CHECK Constraint
To drop a CHECK constraint, use the following SQL:
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT chk_Person
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CHECK chk_Person

SQL DEFAULT Constraint

SQL DEFAULT Constraint
The DEFAULT constraint is used to insert a default value into a column.
The default value will be added to all new records, if no other value is specified.

SQL DEFAULT Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a DEFAULT constraint on the "City" column when the "Persons" table
is created:
My SQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255) DEFAULT 'Sandnes'
)
The DEFAULT constraint can also be used to insert system values, by using functions like
GETDATE():
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CREATE TABLE Orders
(
O_Id int NOT NULL,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int,
OrderDate date DEFAULT GETDATE()
)

SQL DEFAULT Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a DEFAULT constraint on the "City" column when the table is already created, use the
following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER City SET DEFAULT 'SANDNES'
SQL Server / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN City SET DEFAULT 'SANDNES'
Oracle:
ALTER TABLE Persons
MODIFY City DEFAULT 'SANDNES'

To DROP a DEFAULT Constraint

To drop a DEFAULT constraint, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER City DROP DEFAULT
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN City DROP DEFAULT

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