Writing Basic SQL SELECT Statements

Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.
Writing Basic
SQL SELECT Statements
1-2 Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.
Objectives
After completing this lesson, you should be able to
do the following:
List the capabilities of SQL SELECT statements
Execute a basic SELECT statement
Differentiate between SQL statements and
iSQL*Plus commands
Capabilities of SQL SELECT Statements
Selection Projection
Table 1 Table 2
Table 1 Table 1
Join
Basic SELECT Statement
SELECT *|{[DISTINCT] column|expression [alias],...}
FROM table;
SELECT identifies what columns
FROM identifies which table

SELECT *
FROM departments;
Selecting All Columns

Selecting Specific Columns
SELECT department_id, location_id
FROM departments;
Writing SQL Statements
SQL statements are not case sensitive.
SQL statements can be on one or more lines.
Keywords cannot be abbreviated or split
across lines.
Clauses are usually placed on separate lines.
Indents are used to enhance readability.
Column Heading Defaults
iSQL*Plus:
Default heading justification: Center
Default heading display: Uppercase
SQL*Plus:
Character and Date column headings are left-
justified
Number column headings are right-justified
Default heading display: Uppercase
Arithmetic Expressions
Create expressions with number and date data by
using arithmetic operators.
Operator
+
-
*
/
Description
Add
Subtract
Multiply
Divide

Using Arithmetic Operators
SELECT last_name, salary, salary + 300
FROM employees;

Operator Precedence
Multiplication and division take priority over
addition and subtraction.
Operators of the same priority are evaluated from
left to right.
Parentheses are used to force prioritized
evaluation and to clarify statements.

*
/ +
_

Operator Precedence
SELECT last_name, salary, 12*salary+100
FROM employees;


Using Parentheses
SELECT last_name, salary, 12*(salary+100)
FROM employees;


Defining a Null Value
A null is a value that is unavailable, unassigned,
unknown, or inapplicable.
A null is not the same as zero or a blank space.
SELECT last_name, job_id, salary, commission_pct
FROM employees;


SELECT last_name, 12*salary*commission_pct
FROM employees;
Null Values
in Arithmetic Expressions
Arithmetic expressions containing a null value
evaluate to null.

Defining a Column Alias
A column alias:
Renames a column heading
Is useful with calculations
Immediately follows the column name - there can
also be the optional AS keyword between the
column name and alias
Requires double quotation marks if it contains
spaces or special characters or is case sensitive

Using Column Aliases
SELECT last_name "Name", salary*12 "Annual Salary"
FROM employees;
SELECT last_name AS name, commission_pct comm
FROM employees;

Concatenation Operator
A concatenation operator:
Concatenates columns or character strings to
other columns
Is represented by two vertical bars (||)
Creates a resultant column that is a character
expression

Using the Concatenation Operator
SELECT last_name||job_id AS "Employees"
FROM employees;

Select concat (name,city)
from details;
Literal Character Strings
A literal is a character, a number, or a date
included in the SELECT list.
Date and character literal values must be enclosed
within single quotation marks.
Each character string is output once for each
row returned.

Using Literal Character Strings
SELECT last_name ||' is a '||job_id
AS "Employee Details"
FROM employees;

Duplicate Rows
The default display of queries is all rows, including
duplicate rows.
SELECT department_id
FROM employees;


Eliminating Duplicate Rows
Eliminate duplicate rows by using the DISTINCT
keyword in the SELECT clause.
SELECT DISTINCT department_id
FROM employees;
SQL and iSQL*Plus Interaction
SQL statements
Oracle
server
Query results
iSQL*Plus
commands
Client
Formatted report
Internet
Browser
iSQL*Plus
SQL Statements Versus
iSQL*Plus Commands
SQL
statements

SQL
A language
ANSI standard
Keyword cannot be
abbreviated
Statements manipulate
data and table definitions
in the database

iSQL*Plus
An environment
Oracle proprietary
Keywords can be
abbreviated
Commands do not allow
manipulation of values in
the database
Runs on a browser
Centrally loaded, does not
have to be implemented
on each machine
iSQL*Plus
commands
Overview of iSQL*Plus
After you log into iSQL*Plus, you can:
Describe the table structure
Edit your SQL statement
Execute SQL from iSQL*Plus
Save SQL statements to files and append SQL
statements to files
Execute statements stored in saved files
Load commands from a text file into the iSQL*Plus
Edit window
Logging In to iSQL*Plus
From your Windows browser environment:
The iSQL*Plus Environment
3 4
5
6
1
2
8
9
10
Displaying Table Structure
Use the iSQL*Plus DESCRIBE command to display
the structure of a table.
DESC[RIBE] tablename
Displaying Table Structure
DESCRIBE employees
Interacting with Script Files
SELECT last_name, hire_date, salary
FROM employees;
1
2
1
D:\temp\emp_sql.htm
SELECT last_name, hire_date, salary
FROM employees;
3
DESCRIBE employees
SELECT first_name, last_name, job_id
FROM employees;
1
2 3
Summary
SELECT *|{[DISTINCT] column|expression [alias],...}
FROM table;
In this lesson, you should have learned how to:
Write a SELECT statement that:
Returns all rows and columns from a table
Returns specified columns from a table
Uses column aliases to give descriptive column
headings
Use the iSQL*Plus environment to write, save, and
execute SQL statements and iSQL*Plus commands.
Practice 1 Overview
This practice covers the following topics:
Selecting all data from different tables
Describing the structure of tables
Performing arithmetic calculations and specifying
column names
Using iSQL*Plus

Writing Basic SQL SELECT Statements

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Copyright Oracle Corporation, 2001. All rights reserved.

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