BASIC SQL

CHAPTER 4 (6/E)
CHAPTER 8 (5/E)

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LECTURE OUTLINE
 SQL Data Definition and Data Types
 Specifying Constraints in SQL
 Basic Retrieval Queries in SQL
 Set Operations in SQL

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BASIC SQL
 Structured Query Language
 Considered one of the major reasons for the commercial success of
relational databases
 Statements for data definitions, queries, and updates
• Both DDL and DML
• Core specification plus specialized extensions
 Terminology:
Relational Model SQL
relation table
tuple row
attribute column
 Syntax notes:
• Some interfaces require each statement to end with a semicolon.
• SQL is not case-sensitive.

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SQL DATA DEFINITION
 CREATE statement
• Main SQL command for data definition
 SQL schema
• Identified by a schema name
• Includes an authorization identifier (owner)
• Components are descriptors for each schema element
• Tables, constraints, views, domains, and other constructs
 CREATE SCHEMA statement
• CREATE SCHEMA COMPANY AUTHORIZATION ‘Jsmith’;

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CREATE TABLE COMMAND
 Specify a new relation
• Provide name
• Specify attributes and initial constraints
• Base tables (base relations)
• Relation and its tuples are physically stored and managed by DBMS
 Can optionally specify schema:
• CREATE TABLE COMPANY.EMPLOYEE ...
or
• CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE ...
 Include information for each column (attribute) plus constraints
• Column name
• Column type (domain)
• Key, uniqueness, and null constraints

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BASIC DATA TYPES
 Numeric data types
• Integer numbers: INT, INTEGER, SMALLINT, BIGINT
• Floating-point (real) numbers: REAL, DOUBLE , FLOAT
• Fixed-point numbers: DECIMAL(n,m), DEC(n,m), NUMERIC(n,m), NUM(n,m)
• Character-string data types
• Fixed length: CHAR(n), CHARACTER(n)
• Varying length: VARCHAR(n), CHAR VARYING(n), CHARACTER VARYING(n),
LONG VARCHAR
 Large object data types
• Characters: CLOB, CHAR LARGE OBJECT , CHARACTER LARGE OBJECT
• Bits: BLOB, BINARY LARGE OBJECT
 Boolean data type
• Values of TRUE or FALSE or NULL
 DATE data type
• Ten positions
• Components are YEAR, MONTH, and DAY in the form YYYY-MM-DD

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MORE DATA TYPES
 Additional data types
• TIMESTAMP data type
• Includes the DATE and TIME fields
• Plus a minimum of six positions for decimal fractions of seconds
• Optional WITH TIME ZONE qualifier
• INTERVAL data type
• Specifies a relative value that can be used to increment or decrement an absolute
value of a date, time, or timestamp

 Columns can be declared to be NOT NULL

 Columns can be declared to have a default value
• Assigned to column in any tuple for which a value is not specified
 Example
CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE (
…
NICKNAME VARCHAR(20) DEFAULT NULL,
…
Province CHAR(2) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'ON',
…
);

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);

);

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DOMAINS IN SQL
 Name used in place of built-in data type
 Makes it easier to change the data type used by numerous columns
 Improves schema readability
 Example:
CREATE DOMAIN SIN_TYPE AS CHAR(9);

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SPECIFYING KEY CONSTRAINTS
 PRIMARY KEY clause
• Specifies one or more attributes that make up the primary key of a
relation
Dnumber INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
• Primary key attributes must be declared NOT NULL
 UNIQUE clause
• Specifies alternate (candidate) keys
Dname VARCHAR(15) UNIQUE;
• May or may not allow null values, depending on declaration

 If no key constraints, two or more tuples may be identical in all

columns.
• SQL deviates from pure relational model!
• Multiset (bag) behaviour

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REFERENTIAL CONSTRAINTS
 FOREIGN KEY clause
FOREIGN KEY (Dept) REFERENCES DEPARTMENT (Dnum),
• Default operation: reject update on violation
• Attach referential triggered action clause in case referenced tuple
is deleted
• Options include SET NULL, CASCADE, and SET DEFAULT
 Foreign key declaration must refer to a table already created

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SPECIFYING TUPLE CONSTRAINTS
 Some constraints involve several columns
 CHECK clause at the end of a CREATE TABLE statement
• Apply to each tuple individually
 Example
• CHECK (Dept_create_date <= Mgr_start_date)

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EXAMPLE
 Recall Employee example:

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BASIC SQL RETRIEVAL QUERIES
 All retrievals use SELECT statement:
SELECT <return list>
FROM <table list>
[ WHERE <condition> ] ;
where
<return list> is a list of expressions or column names whose
values are to be retrieved by the query
<table list> is a list of relation names required to process the
query
<condition> is a Boolean expression that identifies the tuples
to be retrieved by the query
 Example
SELECT title, year, genre
FROM Film
WHERE director = 'Steven Spielberg' AND year > 1990;

 Omitting WHERE clause implies all tuples selected.

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SEMANTICS FOR 1 RELATION
1. Start with the relation named in the FROM clause
2. Consider each tuple one after the other, eliminating those that do
not satisfy the WHERE clause.
• Boolean condition that must be true for any retrieved tuple
• Logical comparison operators
=, <, <=, >, >=, and <>
3. For each remaining tuple, create a return tuple with columns for
each expression (column name) in the SELECT clause.
• Use SELECT * to select all columns.
Film
title genre year director minutes budget gross

The Company Men drama 2010 John Wells 104 15,000,000 4,439,063

Lincoln biography 2012 Steven Spielberg 150 65,000,000 181,408,467

War Horse drama 2011 Steven Spielberg 146 66,000,000 79,883,359

Argo drama 2012 Ben Affleck 120 44,500,000 135,178,251

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SELECT-FROM-WHERE SEMANTICS
 What if there are several relations in the FROM clause?
1. Start with cross-product of all relation(s) listed in the FROM clause.
• Every tuple in R1 paired up with every tuple in R2 paired up with …
2. Consider each tuple one after the other, eliminating those that do
not satisfy the WHERE clause.
3. For each remaining tuple, create a return tuple with columns for
each expression (column name) in the SELECT clause.
Steps 2 and 3 are just the same as before.

SELECT actor, birth, movie

FROM Role, Person
WHERE actor = name and birth > 1940;
Role Person
actor movie persona name birth city
Ben Affleck Argo Tony Mendez Ben Affleck 1972 Berkeley
Alan Arkin Argo Lester Siegel Alan Arkin 1934 New York
Ben Affleck The Company Men Bobby Walker Tommy Lee Jones 1946 San Saba
Tommy Lee Jones The Company Men Gene McClary

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AMBIGUOUS COLUMN NAMES
 Same name may be used for two (or more) columns (in different
relations)
• Must qualify the column name with the relation name to prevent
ambiguity
Customer Sale LineItem
custid name address phone saleid date custid saleid product quantity price

SELECT name, date, product, quantity

FROM Customer, Sale, LineItem
WHERE price > 100 AND Customer.custid = Sale.custid AND
Sale.saleid = LineItem.saleid;
 Note
• If SELECT clause includes custid, it must specify whether to use
Customer.custid or Sale.custid even though the values are
guaranteed to be identical. 

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 2-RELATION SELECT-FROM-WHERE
SELECT award, actor, persona, Role.movie
FROM Honours, Role
WHERE category = 'actor' AND winner = actor
AND Honours.movie = Role.movie
Honours Role
movie award category winner actor movie persona
Lincoln Critic's Choice actor Daniel Day-Lewis Ben Affleck Argo Tony Mendez
Argo Critic's Choice director Ben Affleck Tommy Lee Jones Lincoln Thaddeus Stevens
Lincoln SAG supporting actor Tommy Lee Jones Daniel Day-Lewis The Boxer Danny Flynn
Lincoln Critic's Choice screenplay Tony Kushner Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln Abraham Lincoln
War Horse BMI Flim music John Williams

Honours.movie award category winner actor Role.movie persona

Lincoln Critic's Choice actor Daniel Day-Lewis Ben Affleck Argo Tony Mendez 
Lincoln Critic's Choice actor Daniel Day-Lewis Tommy Lee Jones Lincoln Thaddeus Stevens 
Lincoln Critic's Choice actor Daniel Day-Lewis Daniel Day-Lewis The Boxer Danny Flynn 
Lincoln Critic's Choice actor Daniel Day-Lewis Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln Abraham Lincoln 
Argo Critic's Choice director Ben Affleck Ben Affleck Argo Tony Mendez 
Argo Critic's Choice director Ben Affleck Tommy Lee Jones Lincoln Thaddeus Stevens 
Argo Critic's Choice director Ben Affleck Daniel Day-Lewis The Boxer Danny Flynn 
Argo Critic's Choice director Ben Affleck Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln Abraham Lincoln 
Lincoln SAG supporting actor Tommy Lee Jones Ben Affleck Argo Tony Mendez 
Lincoln SAG supporting actor Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones Lincoln Thaddeus Stevens 
Lincoln SAG supporting actor Tommy Lee Jones Daniel Day-Lewis The Boxer Danny Flynn 

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…
RECALL SAMPLE TABLES

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TABLES AS SETS IN SQL
 Duplicate tuples may appear in query results
• From duplicates in base tables
• From projecting out distinguishing columns
 Keyword DISTINCT in the SELECT clause eliminates duplicates

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SET OPERATIONS
 Result treated as a set (no duplicates)
• UNION, EXCEPT (difference), INTERSECT
 Corresponding multiset (bag) operations:
• UNION ALL, EXCEPT ALL, INTERSECT ALL
 Arguments must be union-compatible
• Same number of columns
• Corresponding columns of same type

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OTHER OPERATORS
 Standard arithmetic operators:
• Addition (+), subtraction (–), multiplication (*), and division (/)
 [NOT] LIKE comparison operator
• Used for string pattern matching
• Percent sign (%) matches zero or more characters
• Underscore (_) matches a single character
e.g., to also match Tommy Lee Jones as supporting actor:
SELECT award, actor, persona, Role.movie
FROM Honours, Role
WHERE category LIKE '%actor' AND winner = actor
AND Honours.movie = Role.movie;
 [NOT] BETWEEN comparison operator
WHERE year BETWEEN 1990 AND 2010
equivalent to WHERE year >= 1990 AND YEAR <= 2010

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LECTURE SUMMARY
 Introduction to SQL
• Comprehensive language
• Data definition including constraint specification
• Basic SELECT-FROM-WHERE
• Set operators

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