Creating Other Schema Objects

Copyright 2006, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to do the following: Create simple and complex views Retrieve data from views Create, maintain, and use sequences Create and maintain indexes Create private and public synonyms

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Database Objects

Object Table

Description Basic unit of storage; composed of rows

View
Sequence Index Synonym

Logically represents subsets of data from one or more tables

Generates numeric values Improves the performance of some queries Gives alternative names to objects

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What Is a View?
EMPLOYEES table

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Advantages of Views

To restrict data access

To make complex queries easy

To provide data independence

To present different views of the same data

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Simple Views and Complex Views

Feature Number of tables Contain functions Contain groups of data DML operations through a view

Simple Views One No No Yes

Complex Views One or more Yes Yes Not always

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Creating a View

You embed a subquery in the CREATE VIEW statement:

CREATE [OR REPLACE] [FORCE|NOFORCE] VIEW view [(alias[, alias]...)] AS subquery [WITH CHECK OPTION [CONSTRAINT constraint]] [WITH READ ONLY [CONSTRAINT constraint]];

The subquery can contain complex SELECT syntax.

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Creating a View

Create the EMPVU80 view, which contains details of employees in department 80:
CREATE VIEW empvu80 AS SELECT employee_id, last_name, salary FROM employees WHERE department_id = 80; View created.

Describe the structure of the view by using the iSQL*Plus DESCRIBE command:
DESCRIBE empvu80

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Creating a View

Create a view by using column aliases in the subquery:

CREATE VIEW salvu50 AS SELECT employee_id ID_NUMBER, last_name NAME, salary*12 ANN_SALARY FROM employees WHERE department_id = 50; View created.

Select the columns from this view by the given alias names:

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Retrieving Data from a View

SELECT * FROM salvu50;

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Modifying a View

Modify the EMPVU80 view by using a CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW clause. Add an alias for each column name:
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW empvu80 (id_number, name, sal, department_id) AS SELECT employee_id, first_name || ' ' || last_name, salary, department_id FROM employees WHERE department_id = 80; View created.

Column aliases in the CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW clause are listed in the same order as the columns in the subquery.

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Creating a Complex View

Create a complex view that contains group functions to display values from two tables:
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW dept_sum_vu (name, minsal, maxsal, avgsal) AS SELECT d.department_name, MIN(e.salary), MAX(e.salary),AVG(e.salary) FROM employees e JOIN departments d ON (e.department_id = d.department_id) GROUP BY d.department_name; View created.

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Rules for Performing DML Operations on a View

You can usually perform DML operations on simple views. You cannot remove a row if the view contains the following:
Group functions A GROUP BY clause The DISTINCT keyword The pseudocolumn ROWNUM keyword

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Rules for Performing DML Operations on a View

You cannot modify data in a view if it contains: Group functions A GROUP BY clause The DISTINCT keyword The pseudocolumn ROWNUM keyword Columns defined by expressions

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Rules for Performing DML Operations on a View

You cannot add data through a view if the view includes: Group functions A GROUP BY clause The DISTINCT keyword The pseudocolumn ROWNUM keyword Columns defined by expressions NOT NULL columns in the base tables that are not selected by the view

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Using the WITH CHECK OPTION Clause

You can ensure that DML operations performed on the view stay in the domain of the view by using the WITH CHECK OPTION clause:
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW empvu20 AS SELECT * FROM employees WHERE department_id = 20 WITH CHECK OPTION CONSTRAINT empvu20_ck ; View created.

Any attempt to change the department number for any row in the view fails because it violates the WITH CHECK OPTION constraint.

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Denying DML Operations

You can ensure that no DML operations occur by adding the WITH READ ONLY option to your view definition. Any attempt to perform a DML operation on any row in the view results in an Oracle server error.

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Denying DML Operations

CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW empvu10 (employee_number, employee_name, job_title) AS SELECT employee_id, last_name, job_id FROM employees WHERE department_id = 10 WITH READ ONLY ; View created.

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Removing a View

You can remove a view without losing data because a view is based on underlying tables in the database.
DROP VIEW view; DROP VIEW empvu80; View dropped.

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Practice 10: Overview of Part 1

This practice covers the following topics: Creating a simple view Creating a complex view Creating a view with a check constraint Attempting to modify data in the view Removing views

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Sequences

Object Table View Sequence Index Synonym

Description Basic unit of storage; composed of rows Logically represents subsets of data from one or more tables Generates numeric values Improves the performance of some queries Gives alternative names to objects

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Sequences

A sequence: Can automatically generate unique numbers Is a sharable object Can be used to create a primary key value Replaces application code Speeds up the efficiency of accessing sequence values when cached in memory

2 1 3

4 5

6 7

8 9

10

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CREATE SEQUENCE Statement: Syntax

Define a sequence to generate sequential numbers automatically:
CREATE SEQUENCE sequence [INCREMENT BY n] [START WITH n] [{MAXVALUE n | NOMAXVALUE}] [{MINVALUE n | NOMINVALUE}] [{CYCLE | NOCYCLE}] [{CACHE n | NOCACHE}];

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Creating a Sequence

Create a sequence named DEPT_DEPTID_SEQ to be used for the primary key of the DEPARTMENTS table. Do not use the CYCLE option.
CREATE SEQUENCE dept_deptid_seq INCREMENT BY 10 START WITH 120 MAXVALUE 9999 NOCACHE NOCYCLE; Sequence created.

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NEXTVAL and CURRVAL Pseudocolumns

NEXTVAL returns the next available sequence value. It returns a unique value every time it is referenced, even for different users. CURRVAL obtains the current sequence value. NEXTVAL must be issued for that sequence before CURRVAL contains a value.

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Using a Sequence

Insert a new department named Support in location ID 2500:

INSERT INTO departments(department_id, department_name, location_id) VALUES (dept_deptid_seq.NEXTVAL, 'Support', 2500); 1 row created.

View the current value for the DEPT_DEPTID_SEQ sequence:

SELECT FROM dept_deptid_seq.CURRVAL dual;

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Caching Sequence Values

Caching sequence values in memory gives faster access to those values. Gaps in sequence values can occur when:
A rollback occurs The system crashes A sequence is used in another table

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Modifying a Sequence

Change the increment value, maximum value, minimum value, cycle option, or cache option:
ALTER SEQUENCE dept_deptid_seq INCREMENT BY 20 MAXVALUE 999999 NOCACHE NOCYCLE; Sequence altered.

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Guidelines for Modifying a Sequence

You must be the owner or have the ALTER privilege for the sequence. Only future sequence numbers are affected. The sequence must be dropped and re-created to restart the sequence at a different number. Some validation is performed. To remove a sequence, use the DROP statement:
DROP SEQUENCE dept_deptid_seq; Sequence dropped.

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Indexes

Object Table View Sequence Index Synonym

Description Basic unit of storage; composed of rows Logically represents subsets of data from one or more tables Generates numeric values Improves the performance of some queries Gives alternative names to objects

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Indexes

An index: Is a schema object Can be used by the Oracle server to speed up the retrieval of rows by using a pointer Can reduce disk I/O by using a rapid path access method to locate data quickly Is independent of the table that it indexes Is used and maintained automatically by the Oracle server

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How Are Indexes Created?

Automatically: A unique index is created automatically when you define a PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE constraint in a table definition.

Manually: Users can create nonunique indexes on columns to speed up access to the rows.

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Creating an Index

Create an index on one or more columns:

CREATE INDEX index ON table (column[, column]...);

Improve the speed of query access to the LAST_NAME column in the EMPLOYEES table:
CREATE INDEX emp_last_name_idx ON employees(last_name); Index created.

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Index Creation Guidelines

Create an index when:
A column contains a wide range of values A column contains a large number of null values One or more columns are frequently used together in a WHERE clause or a join condition The table is large and most queries are expected to retrieve less than 2% to 4% of the rows in the table

Do not create an index when:

The columns are not often used as a condition in the query The table is small or most queries are expected to retrieve more than 2% to 4% of the rows in the table The table is updated frequently The indexed columns are referenced as part of an expression

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Removing an Index

Remove an index from the data dictionary by using the DROP INDEX command:
DROP INDEX index;

Remove the UPPER_LAST_NAME_IDX index from the data dictionary:

DROP INDEX emp_last_name_idx; Index dropped.

To drop an index, you must be the owner of the index or have the DROP ANY INDEX privilege.

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Synonyms

Object Table View Sequence Index Synonym

Description Basic unit of storage; composed of rows Logically represents subsets of data from one or more tables Generates numeric values Improves the performance of some queries Gives alternative names to objects

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Synonyms

Simplify access to objects by creating a synonym (another name for an object). With synonyms, you can: Create an easier reference to a table that is owned by another user Shorten lengthy object names
CREATE [PUBLIC] SYNONYM synonym FOR object;

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Creating and Removing Synonyms

Create a shortened name for the DEPT_SUM_VU view:

CREATE SYNONYM d_sum FOR dept_sum_vu; Synonym Created.

Drop a synonym:
DROP SYNONYM d_sum; Synonym dropped.

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Summary

In this lesson, you should have learned how to: Create, use, and remove views Automatically generate sequence numbers by using a sequence generator Create indexes to improve query retrieval speed Use synonyms to provide alternative names for objects

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Practice 10: Overview of Part 2

This practice covers the following topics: Creating sequences Using sequences Creating nonunique indexes Creating synonyms

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