SQL TOP Clause

Previous Next Chapter

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

SQL TOP PERCENT Example

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

SQL LIKE Operator

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

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

Previous Next Chapter

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

SQL Wildcard Examples

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

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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL IN Operator
Previous Next Chapter

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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL BETWEEN Operator

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

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

 Previous Next Chapter

SQL Alias
Previous Next Chapter
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, 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.

Previous Next Chapter

SQL Joins
Previous Next Chapter
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 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20 City Sandnes Sandnes 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 1 2 3 4 5

OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764

P_Id 3 3 1 1 15

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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL INNER JOIN Keyword

Previous Next Chapter

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

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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword

Previous Next Chapter

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

The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 OrderNo 77895 44678 P_Id 3 3

3 4 5

22456 24562 34764

1 1 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 Hansen Hansen Pettersen Pettersen Svendson FirstName Ola Ola Kari Kari Tove OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678

The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all the rows from the left table (Persons), even if there are no matches in the right table (Orders).

Previous Next Chapter

SQL RIGHT JOIN Keyword

Previous Next Chapter

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

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

Hansen Pettersen Pettersen

Ola Kari Kari

24562 77895 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).

Previous Next Chapter

SQL FULL JOIN Keyword

Previous Next Chapter

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

The "Orders" table:

O_Id 1 2 3 4 5

OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 34764

P_Id 3 3 1 1 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 Hansen Hansen Pettersen Pettersen Svendson FirstName Ola Ola Kari Kari 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. OrderNo 22456 24562 77895 44678

Previous Next Chapter

SQL UNION Operator

Previous Next Chapter

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

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

E_ID 01 02 03 04

E_Name Turner, Sally Kent, Clark Svendson, Stephen 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 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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL SELECT INTO Statement

Previous Next Chapter
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. 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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL CREATE DATABASE Statement

Previous Next Chapter

The CREATE DATABASE Statement

The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database.

SQL CREATE DATABASE Syntax

CREATE DATABASE database_name

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.

Previous Next Chapter

SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

Previous Next Chapter

The CREATE TABLE Statement

The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in a database.

SQL CREATE TABLE Syntax

CREATE TABLE ( column_name1 column_name2 column_name3 .... ) table_name data_type, data_type, 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.

Previous Next Chapter

SQL Constraints
Previous Next Chapter

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.

Previous Next Chapter

SQL NOT NULL Constraint

Previous Next Chapter
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) )

Previous Next Chapter

SQL UNIQUE Constraint

Previous Next Chapter

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 ( 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:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP CONSTRAINT uc_PersonID

SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint

Previous Next Chapter

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).

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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint

Previous Next Chapter

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

The "Orders" table: O_Id 1 2 3 4 OrderNo 77895 44678 22456 24562 P_Id 3 3 2 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.

The FOREIGN KEY constraint also prevents invalid data from 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)

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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL CHECK Constraint

Previous Next Chapter

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), 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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL DEFAULT Constraint

Previous Next Chapter

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():

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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL CREATE INDEX Statement

Previous Next Chapter
The CREATE INDEX statement is used to create indexes in tables. Indexes allow the database application to find data fast; without reading the whole table.

Indexes
An index can be created in a table to find data more quickly and efficiently. The users cannot see the indexes, they are just used to speed up searches/queries. Note: Updating a table with indexes takes more time than updating a table without (because the indexes also need an update). So you should only create indexes on columns (and tables) that will be frequently searched against.

SQL CREATE INDEX Syntax

Creates an index on a table. Duplicate values are allowed:

CREATE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name)

SQL CREATE UNIQUE INDEX Syntax

Creates a unique index on a table. Duplicate values are not allowed:

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name)

Note: The syntax for creating indexes varies amongst different databases. Therefore: Check the syntax for creating indexes in your database.

CREATE INDEX Example

The SQL statement below creates an index named "PIndex" on the "LastName" column in the "Persons" table:

CREATE INDEX PIndex ON Persons (LastName)

If you want to create an index on a combination of columns, you can list the column names within the parentheses, separated by commas:

CREATE INDEX PIndex ON Persons (LastName, FirstName)

Previous Next Chapter

SQL DROP INDEX, DROP TABLE, and DROP DATABASE

Previous Next Chapter
Indexes, tables, and databases can easily be deleted/removed with the DROP statement.

The DROP INDEX Statement

The DROP INDEX statement is used to delete an index in a table.

DROP INDEX Syntax for MS Access:

DROP INDEX index_name ON table_name

DROP INDEX Syntax for MS SQL Server:

DROP INDEX table_name.index_name

DROP INDEX Syntax for DB2/Oracle:

DROP INDEX index_name

DROP INDEX Syntax for MySQL:

ALTER TABLE table_name DROP INDEX index_name

The DROP TABLE Statement

The DROP TABLE statement is used to delete a table.

DROP TABLE table_name

The DROP DATABASE Statement

The DROP DATABASE statement is used to delete a database.

DROP DATABASE database_name

The TRUNCATE TABLE Statement

What if we only want to delete the data inside the table, and not the table itself? Then, use the TRUNCATE TABLE statement:

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name

Previous Next Chapter

SQL ALTER TABLE Statement

Previous Next Chapter

The ALTER TABLE Statement

The ALTER TABLE statement is used to add, delete, or modify columns in an existing table.

SQL ALTER TABLE Syntax

To add a column in a table, use the following syntax:

ALTER TABLE table_name ADD column_name datatype

To delete a column in a table, use the following syntax (notice that some database systems don't allow deleting a column):

ALTER TABLE table_name DROP COLUMN column_name

To change the data type of a column in a table, use the following syntax: SQL Server / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE table_name ALTER COLUMN column_name datatype

My SQL / Oracle:

ALTER TABLE table_name MODIFY column_name datatype

SQL ALTER TABLE Example

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

Now we want to add a column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons ADD DateOfBirth date

Notice that the new column, "DateOfBirth", is of type date and is going to hold a date. 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. The "Persons" table will now like this:

P_Id 1 2 3

LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen

FirstName Ola Tove Kari

Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20

City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger

DateOfBirth

Change Data Type Example

Now we want to change the data type of the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons ALTER COLUMN DateOfBirth year

Notice that the "DateOfBirth" column is now of type year and is going to hold a year in a two-digit or four-digit format.

DROP COLUMN Example

Next, we want to delete the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table. We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons DROP COLUMN DateOfBirth

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

Previous Next Chapter

SQL AUTO INCREMENT Field

Previous

Next Chapter
Auto-increment allows a unique number to be generated when a new record is inserted into a table.

AUTO INCREMENT a Field

Very often we would like the value of the primary key field to be created automatically every time a new record is inserted. We would like to create an auto-increment field in a table.

Syntax for MySQL

The following SQL statement defines the "P_Id" column to be an auto-increment primary key field in the "Persons" table:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255), PRIMARY KEY (P_Id) )
MySQL uses the AUTO_INCREMENT keyword to perform an auto-increment feature. By default, the starting value for AUTO_INCREMENT is 1, and it will increment by 1 for each new record. To let the AUTO_INCREMENT sequence start with another value, use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons AUTO_INCREMENT=100

To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will not have to specify a value for the "P_Id" column (a unique value will be added automatically):

INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName,LastName) VALUES ('Lars','Monsen')

The SQL statement above would insert a new record into the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column would be assigned a unique value. The "FirstName" column would be set to "Lars" and the "LastName" column would be set to "Monsen".

Syntax for SQL Server

The following SQL statement defines the "P_Id" column to be an auto-increment primary key field in the "Persons" table:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id int PRIMARY KEY IDENTITY, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )
The MS SQL Server uses the IDENTITY keyword to perform an auto-increment feature. By default, the starting value for IDENTITY is 1, and it will increment by 1 for each new record. To specify that the "P_Id" column should start at value 10 and increment by 5, change the identity to IDENTITY(10,5). To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will not have to specify a value for the "P_Id" column (a unique value will be added automatically):

INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName,LastName) VALUES ('Lars','Monsen')

The SQL statement above would insert a new record into the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column would be assigned a unique value. The "FirstName" column would be set to "Lars" and the "LastName" column would be set to "Monsen".

Syntax for Access

The following SQL statement defines the "P_Id" column to be an auto-increment primary key field in the "Persons" table:

CREATE TABLE Persons ( P_Id PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255), City varchar(255) )
The MS Access uses the AUTOINCREMENT keyword to perform an auto-increment feature.

By default, the starting value for AUTOINCREMENT is 1, and it will increment by 1 for each new record. To specify that the "P_Id" column should start at value 10 and increment by 5, change the autoincrement to AUTOINCREMENT(10,5). To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will not have to specify a value for the "P_Id" column (a unique value will be added automatically):

INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName,LastName) VALUES ('Lars','Monsen')

The SQL statement above would insert a new record into the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column would be assigned a unique value. The "FirstName" column would be set to "Lars" and the "LastName" column would be set to "Monsen".

Syntax for Oracle

In Oracle the code is a little bit more tricky. You will have to create an auto-increment field with the sequence object (this object generates a number sequence). Use the following CREATE SEQUENCE syntax:

CREATE SEQUENCE seq_person MINVALUE 1 START WITH 1 INCREMENT BY 1 CACHE 10

The code above creates a sequence object called seq_person, that starts with 1 and will increment by 1. It will also cache up to 10 values for performance. The cache option specifies how many sequence values will be stored in memory for faster access. To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will have to use the nextval function (this function retrieves the next value from seq_person sequence):

INSERT INTO Persons (P_Id,FirstName,LastName) VALUES (seq_person.nextval,'Lars','Monsen')

The SQL statement above would insert a new record into the "Persons" table. The "P_Id" column would be assigned the next number from the seq_person sequence. The "FirstName" column would be set to "Lars" and the "LastName" column would be set to "Monsen".

Previous Next Chapter

SQL Views
Previous Next Chapter
A view is a virtual table. This chapter shows how to create, update, and delete a view.

SQL CREATE VIEW Statement

In SQL, a view is a virtual table based on the result-set of an SQL statement. A view contains rows and columns, just like a real table. The fields in a view are fields from one or more real tables in the database. You can add SQL functions, WHERE, and JOIN statements to a view and present the data as if the data were coming from one single table.

SQL CREATE VIEW Syntax

CREATE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition
Note: A view always shows up-to-date data! The database engine recreates the data, using the view's SQL statement, every time a user queries a view.

SQL CREATE VIEW Examples

If you have the Northwind database you can see that it has several views installed by default. The view "Current Product List" lists all active products (products that are not discontinued) from the "Products" table. The view is created with the following SQL:

CREATE VIEW [Current Product List] AS SELECT ProductID,ProductName FROM Products WHERE Discontinued=No
We can query the view above as follows:

SELECT * FROM [Current Product List]

Another view in the Northwind sample database selects every product in the "Products" table with a unit price higher than the average unit price:

CREATE VIEW [Products Above Average Price] AS SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice FROM Products WHERE UnitPrice>(SELECT AVG(UnitPrice) FROM Products)
We can query the view above as follows:

SELECT * FROM [Products Above Average Price]

Another view in the Northwind database calculates the total sale for each category in 1997. Note that this view selects its data from another view called "Product Sales for 1997":

CREATE VIEW [Category Sales For 1997] AS SELECT DISTINCT CategoryName,Sum(ProductSales) AS CategorySales FROM [Product Sales for 1997] GROUP BY CategoryName
We can query the view above as follows:

SELECT * FROM [Category Sales For 1997]

We can also add a condition to the query. Now we want to see the total sale only for the category "Beverages":

SELECT * FROM [Category Sales For 1997] WHERE CategoryName='Beverages'

SQL Updating a View

You can update a view by using the following syntax:

SQL CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW Syntax

CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition
Now we want to add the "Category" column to the "Current Product List" view. We will update the view with the following SQL:

CREATE VIEW [Current Product List] AS SELECT ProductID,ProductName,Category FROM Products WHERE Discontinued=No

SQL Dropping a View

You can delete a view with the DROP VIEW command.

SQL DROP VIEW Syntax

DROP VIEW view_name

Previous Next Chapter

SQL Date Functions

Previous Next Chapter

SQL Dates
The most difficult part when working with dates is to be sure that the format of the date you are trying to insert, matches the format of the date column in the database. As long as your data contains only the date portion, your queries will work as expected. However, if a time portion is involved, it gets complicated. Before talking about the complications of querying for dates, we will look at the most important builtin functions for working with dates.

MySQL Date Functions

The following table lists the most important built-in date functions in MySQL: Function NOW() CURDATE() CURTIME() DATE() EXTRACT() DATE_ADD() Description Returns the current date and time Returns the current date Returns the current time Extracts the date part of a date or date/time expression Returns a single part of a date/time Adds a specified time interval to a date

DATE_SUB() DATEDIFF() DATE_FORMAT()

Subtracts a specified time interval from a date Returns the number of days between two dates Displays date/time data in different formats

SQL Server Date Functions

The following table lists the most important built-in date functions in SQL Server: Function GETDATE() DATEPART() DATEADD() DATEDIFF() CONVERT() Description Returns the current date and time Returns a single part of a date/time Adds or subtracts a specified time interval from a date Returns the time between two dates Displays date/time data in different formats

SQL Date Data Types

MySQL comes with the following data types for storing a date or a date/time value in the database:

DATE - format YYYY-MM-DD DATETIME - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS TIMESTAMP - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS YEAR - format YYYY or YY

SQL Server comes with the following data types for storing a date or a date/time value in the database:

DATE - format YYYY-MM-DD DATETIME - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS SMALLDATETIME - format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS TIMESTAMP - format: a unique number

Note: The date types are chosen for a column when you create a new table in your database! For an overview of all data types available, go to our complete Data Types reference.

SQL Working with Dates

You can compare two dates easily if there is no time component involved! Assume we have the following "Orders" table: OrderId 1 2 3 4 ProductName Geitost Camembert Pierrot Mozzarella di Giovanni Mascarpone Fabioli OrderDate 2008-11-11 2008-11-09 2008-11-11 2008-10-29

Now we want to select the records with an OrderDate of "2008-11-11" from the table above. We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE OrderDate='2008-11-11'

The result-set will look like this: OrderId 1 3 ProductName Geitost Mozzarella di Giovanni OrderDate 2008-11-11 2008-11-11

Now, assume that the "Orders" table looks like this (notice the time component in the "OrderDate" column): OrderId 1 2 3 4 ProductName Geitost Camembert Pierrot Mozzarella di Giovanni Mascarpone Fabioli OrderDate 2008-11-11 13:23:44 2008-11-09 15:45:21 2008-11-11 11:12:01 2008-10-29 14:56:59

If we use the same SELECT statement as above:

SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE OrderDate='2008-11-11'

we will get no result! This is because the query is looking only for dates with no time portion.

Tip: If you want to keep your queries simple and easy to maintain, do not allow time components in your dates!

Previous Next Chapter

SQL NULL Values

Previous Next Chapter
NULL values represent missing unknown data. By default, a table column can hold NULL values. This chapter will explain the IS NULL and IS NOT NULL operators.

SQL NULL Values

If a column in a table is optional, we can insert a new record or update an existing record without adding a value to this column. This means that the field will be saved with a NULL value. NULL values are treated differently from other values. NULL is used as a placeholder for unknown or inapplicable values. Note: It is not possible to compare NULL and 0; they are not equivalent.

SQL Working with NULL Values

Look at the following "Persons" table: P_Id 1 2 3 LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen FirstName Ola Tove Kari Borgvn 23 Address City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger

Suppose that the "Address" column in the "Persons" table is optional. This means that if we insert a record with no value for the "Address" column, the "Address" column will be saved with a NULL value.

How can we test for NULL values? It is not possible to test for NULL values with comparison operators, such as =, <, or <>. We will have to use the IS NULL and IS NOT NULL operators instead.

SQL IS NULL
How do we select only the records with NULL values in the "Address" column? We will have to use the IS NULL operator:

SELECT LastName,FirstName,Address FROM Persons WHERE Address IS NULL

The result-set will look like this: LastName Hansen Pettersen FirstName Ola Kari Address

Tip: Always use IS NULL to look for NULL values.

SQL IS NOT NULL

How do we select only the records with no NULL values in the "Address" column? We will have to use the IS NOT NULL operator:

SELECT LastName,FirstName,Address FROM Persons WHERE Address IS NOT NULL

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

In the next chapter we will look at the ISNULL(), NVL(), IFNULL() and COALESCE() functions.

Previous

Next Chapter

SQL NULL Functions

Previous Next Chapter

SQL ISNULL(), NVL(), IFNULL() and COALESCE() Functions

Look at the following "Products" table: P_Id 1 2 3 ProductName Jarlsberg Mascarpone Gorgonzola UnitPrice 10.45 32.56 15.67 UnitsInStock 16 23 9 20 UnitsOnOrder 15

Suppose that the "UnitsOnOrder" column is optional, and may contain NULL values. We have the following SELECT statement:

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+UnitsOnOrder) FROM Products

In the example above, if any of the "UnitsOnOrder" values are NULL, the result is NULL. Microsoft's ISNULL() function is used to specify how we want to treat NULL values. The NVL(), IFNULL(), and COALESCE() functions can also be used to achieve the same result. In this case we want NULL values to be zero. Below, if "UnitsOnOrder" is NULL it will not harm the calculation, because ISNULL() returns a zero if the value is NULL: SQL Server / MS Access

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+ISNULL(UnitsOnOrder,0)) FROM Products

Oracle Oracle does not have an ISNULL() function. However, we can use the NVL() function to achieve the same result:

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+NVL(UnitsOnOrder,0)) FROM Products

MySQL MySQL does have an ISNULL() function. However, it works a little bit different from Microsoft's ISNULL() function. In MySQL we can use the IFNULL() function, like this:

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+IFNULL(UnitsOnOrder,0)) FROM Products

or we can use the COALESCE() function, like this:

SELECT ProductName,UnitPrice*(UnitsInStock+COALESCE(UnitsOnOrder,0)) FROM Products

Previous Next Chapter