Chapter

5
More
SQL:
Complex
Queries,
Triggers,
Views, and
Schema
Modification
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley
 Chapter 5 Outline
 More Complex SQL Retrieval
Queries
 Specifying Constraints as Assertions
and Actions as Triggers
 Views (Virtual Tables) in SQL
 Schema Change Statements in SQL

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 More Complex SQL
Retrieval
Queries
 Additional features allow users to
specify more complex retrievals
from database:
 Nested queries, joined tables, outer
joins, aggregate functions, and
grouping

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Comparisons Involving
NULL and Three-Valued
Logicof NULL
 Meanings
 Unknown value
 Unavailable or withheld value
 Not applicable attribute

 Each individual NULL value

considered to be different from
every other NULL value
 SQL uses a three-valued logic:
 TRUE, FALSE, and UNKNOWN
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Comparisons Involving
NULL and Three-Valued
Logic (cont’d.)

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Comparisons Involving
NULL and Three-Valued
Logic (cont’d.)
SQL allows queries that check
whether an attribute value is NULL
 IS or IS NOT NULL

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Nested Queries, Tuples,
and Set/Multiset
Comparisons
 Nested queries
 Complete select-from-where blocks
within WHERE clause of another
query
 Outer query

 Comparison operator IN
 Compares value v with a set (or
multiset) of values V
 Evaluates to TRUE if v is one of the
elements in
V
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Nested Queries (cont’d.)

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Nested Queries (cont’d.)
 Use tuples of values in
comparisons
 Place them within parentheses

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Nested Queries (cont’d.)
 Use other comparison
operators to compare a single
value v
 = ANY (or = SOME) operator
• Returns TRUE if the value v is equal to some
value in the set V and is hence equivalent
to IN
 Other operators that can be combined
with ANY
(or SOME): >, >=, <, <=, and <>

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Nested Queries (cont’d.)
 Avoid potential errors and
ambiguities
 Create tuple variables (aliases) for all
tables referenced in SQL query

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Correlated Nested
Queries
 Correlated nested query
 Evaluated once for each tuple in the
outer query

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 The EXISTS and
UNIQUE
 EXISTSFunctions
function in SQL
 Check whether the result of a correlated
nested query is empty or not
 EXISTS and NOT EXISTS
 Typically used in conjunction with a
correlated nested query
 SQL function UNIQUE(Q)
 Returns TRUE if there are no duplicate
tuples in the result of query Q

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Explicit Sets and
Renaming of
 Can use Attributes
explicit set of in SQL
values in
WHERE clause
 Use qualifier AS followed by desired
new name
 Rename any attribute that appears in the
result of a query

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Joined Tables in SQL and
Outer
 Joined table Joins
 Permits users to specify a table resulting
from a join operation in the FROM
clause of a query
 The FROM clause in Q1A
 Contains a single joined table

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Joined Tables in SQL and
Outer Joins (cont’d.)
 Specify different types of join
 NATURAL JOIN
 Various types of OUTER JOIN

 NATURAL JOIN on two relations R

and S
 No join condition specified
 Implicit EQUIJOIN condition for each
pair of attributes with same name
from R and S

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Joined Tables in SQL and
Outer Joins (cont’d.)
 Inner join
 Default type of join in a joined table
 Tuple is included in the result only if a
matching tuple exists in the other
relation
 LEFT OUTER JOIN
 Every tuple in left table must appear in
result
 If no matching tuple
• Padded with NULL values for attributes of
right
Copyright © 2011 table
Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Joined Tables in SQL and
Outer Joins (cont’d.)
 RIGHT OUTER JOIN
 Every tuple in right table must appear in
result
 If no matching tuple
• Padded with NULL values for the attributes
of left table
 FULL OUTER JOIN
 Can nest join specifications

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Aggregate Functions in
SQL
 Used to summarize information from
multiple tuples into a single-tuple
summary
 Grouping
 Create subgroups of tuples before
summarizing
 Built-in aggregate functions
 COUNT, SUM, MAX, MIN, and AVG
 Functions can be used in the SELECT
clause or in a HAVING clause
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Aggregate Functions in
SQL
 NULL values (cont’d.)
discarded when
aggregate functions are applied to a
particular column

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Grouping: The GROUP BY
and HAVING Clauses
 Partition relation into subsets of
tuples
 Based on grouping attribute(s)
 Apply function to each such
group independently
 GROUP BY clause
 Specifies grouping attributes
 If NULLs exist in grouping
attribute
 Separate group created for all tuples
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Grouping: The GROUP BY
and HAVING Clauses
(cont’d.)
 HAVING clause
 Provides a condition on the
summary information

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

Discussion and Summary of
SQL Queries

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Specifying Constraints
as Assertions and
Actions as
 CREATE ASSERTION

Triggers
Specify additional types of constraints
outside scope of built-in relational
model constraints
 CREATE TRIGGER
 Specify automatic actions that
database system will perform when
certain events and conditions occur

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Specifying General
Constraints as
Assertions
 CREATE ASSERTION in SQL
 Specify a query that selects any
tuples that violate the desired
condition
 Use only in cases where it is not
possible to use CHECK on
attributes and domains

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Introduction to Triggers in
SQL
 CREATE TRIGGER statement
 Used to monitor the database
 Typical trigger has three
components:
 Event(s)
 Condition
 Action

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Views (Virtual Tables) in
SQL
 Concept of a view in SQL
 Single table derived from other
tables
 Considered to be a virtual table

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Specification of Views in
SQL
 CREATE VIEW command
 Give table name, list of attribute names,
and a query to specify the contents
of the view

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Specification of Views in
SQL
(cont’d.)
 Specify SQL queries on a view
 View always up-to-date
 Responsibility of the DBMS and not the
user
 DROP VIEW command
 Dispose of a view

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 View Implementation,
View Update, and
Inline
 Complex Views
problem of
efficiently implementing a
view for querying
 Query modification approach
 Modify view query into a query on
underlying base tables
 Disadvantage: inefficient for views
defined via complex queries that
are time-consuming to execute

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 View Implementation
 View materialization approach
 Physically create a temporary view table
when the view is first queried
 Keep that table on the assumption that
other queries on the view will
follow
 Requires efficient strategy for
automatically updating the view table
when the base tables are updated

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 View Implementation
(cont’d.)
 Incremental update strategies
 DBMS determines what new tuples must
be inserted, deleted, or modified in a
materialized view table

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 View Update and Inline
Views
 Update on a view defined on a single
table without any aggregate
functions
 Can be mapped to an update on
underlying base table
 View involving joins
 Often not possible for DBMS to
determine which of the updates
is intended

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 View Update and Inline
Views
 Clause WITH (cont’d.)
CHECK OPTION
 Must be added at the end of the view
definition if a view is to be updated
 In-line view
 Defined in the FROM clause of an SQL
query

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Schema Change
Statements in
SQL
 Schema evolution commands
 Can be done while the database is
operational
 Does not require recompilation of the
database schema

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 The DROP Command
 DROP command
 Used to drop named schema elements,
such as tables, domains, or
constraint
 Drop behavior options:
 CASCADE and RESTRICT
 Example:
 DROP SCHEMA COMPANY CASCADE;

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 The ALTER Command
 Alter table actions include:
 Adding or dropping a column
(attribute)
 Changing a column definition
 Adding or dropping table constraints

 Example:
 ALTER TABLE COMPANY.EMPLOYEE ADD
COLUMN Job VARCHAR(12);
 To drop a column
 Choose either CASCADE or RESTRICT
Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 The ALTER Command
(cont’d.)
 Change constraints specified on a
table
 Add or drop a named constraint

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe

 Summary
 Complex SQL:
 Nested queries, joined tables, outer
joins, aggregate functions,
grouping
 CREATE ASSERTION and
CREATE TRIGGER
 Views
 Virtual or derived tables

Copyright © 2011 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe