Database Tables: SELECT FROM Persons

Database Tables
A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g.
"Customers" or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data.
Below is an example of a table called "Persons":
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
The table above contains three records (one for each person) and five columns (P_Id,
LastName, FirstName, Address, and City).
SQL Statements
Most of the actions you need to perform on a database are done with SQL statements.
The following SQL statement will select all the records in the "Persons" table:
SELECT * FROM Persons
In this tutorial we will teach you all about the different SQL statements.
Keep in Mind That...

 SQL is not case sensitive
Semicolon after SQL Statements?

Some database systems require a semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.
Semicolon is the standard way to separate each SQL statement in database systems that allow
more than one SQL statement to be executed in the same call to the server.
We are using MS Access and SQL Server 2000 and we do not have to put a semicolon after each
SQL statement, but some database programs force you to use it.
SQL DML and DDL

SQL can be divided into two parts: The Data Manipulation Language (DML) and the Data
Definition Language (DDL).
The query and update commands form the DML part of SQL:
 SELECT - extracts data from a database
 UPDATE - updates data in a database
 DELETE - deletes data from a database
 INSERT INTO - inserts new data into a database
The DDL part of SQL permits database tables to be created or deleted. It also define indexes
(keys), specify links between tables, and impose constraints between tables. The most
important DDL statements in SQL are:
 CREATE DATABASE - creates a new database
 ALTER DATABASE - modifies a database
 CREATE TABLE - creates a new table
 ALTER TABLE - modifies a table
 DROP TABLE - deletes a table
 CREATE INDEX - creates an index (search key)
 DROP INDEX - deletes an index
This chapter will explain the SELECT and the SELECT * statements.
The SQL SELECT Statement

The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.
The result is stored in a result table, called the result-set.
SQL SELECT Syntax
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
and
SELECT * FROM table_name
Note: SQL is not case sensitive. SELECT is the same as select.
An SQL SELECT Example

The "Persons" table:
Now we want to select the content of the columns named "LastName" and "FirstName" from the
table above.
We use the following SELECT statement:
SELECT LastName,FirstName FROM Persons
The result-set will look like this:
LastName FirstName
Hansen Ola
Svendson Tove
Pettersen Kari
SELECT * Example
Now we want to select all the columns from the "Persons" table.
Tip: The asterisk (*) is a quick way of selecting all columns!
This chapter will explain the SELECT DISTINCT statement.
The SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement

In a table, some of the columns may contain duplicate values. This is not a problem, however,
sometimes you will want to list only the different (distinct) values in a table.
The DISTINCT keyword can be used to return only distinct (different) values.
SQL SELECT DISTINCT Syntax
SELECT DISTINCT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
SELECT DISTINCT Example

Now we want to select only the distinct values from the column named "City" from the table
above.
SELECT DISTINCT City FROM Persons
City
Sandnes
Stavanger
The WHERE clause is used to filter records.
The WHERE Clause

The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.
SQL WHERE Syntax
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name operator value
WHERE Clause Example


Now we want to select only the persons living in the city "Sandnes" from the table above.
WHERE City='Sandnes'

Quotes Around Text Fields

SQL uses single quotes around text values (most database systems will also accept double quotes).
Although, numeric values should not be enclosed in quotes.
For text values:
This is correct:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Tove'

This is wrong:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName=Tove

For numeric values:
This is correct:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year=1965
This is wrong:
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year='1965'
Operators Allowed in the WHERE Clause

With the WHERE clause, the following operators can be used:
Operator Description
= Equal
<> Not equal
> Greater than

< Less than
>= Greater than or equal

<= Less than or equal
BETWEEN Between an inclusive range

LIKE Search for a pattern
IN If you know the exact value you want to return for at least one of the columns
Note: In some versions of SQL the <> operator may be written as !=
SQL AND & OR Operators

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The AND & OR operators are used to filter records based on more than one condition.
The AND & OR Operators

The AND operator displays a record if both the first condition and the second condition is true.
The OR operator displays a record if either the first condition or the second condition is true.
AND Operator Example


Now we want to select only the persons with the first name equal to "Tove" AND the last name equal to "Svendson":
WHERE FirstName='Tove'
AND LastName='Svendson'
OR Operator Example
Now we want to select only the persons with the first name equal to "Tove" OR the first name equal to "Ola":
WHERE FirstName='Tove'
OR FirstName='Ola'

Combining AND & OR

You can also combine AND and OR (use parenthesis to form complex expressions).
Now we want to select only the persons with the last name equal to "Svendson" AND the first name equal to "Tove" OR to
"Ola":
SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE
LastName='Svendson'
AND (FirstName='Tove' OR FirstName='Ola')
SQL ORDER BY Keyword
The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set.
The ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set by a specified column.
The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default.
If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.
SQL ORDER BY Syntax
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC
ORDER BY Example

4 Nilsen Tom Vingvn 23 Stavanger

Now we want to select all the persons from the table above, however, we want to sort the persons by their last name.
ORDER BY LastName

ORDER BY DESC Example

Now we want to select all the persons from the table above, however, we want to sort the persons descending by their last
name.
ORDER BY LastName DESC

SQL INSERT INTO Statement
The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.
The INSERT INTO Statement

The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert a new row in a table.
SQL INSERT INTO Syntax
It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms.
The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values:
INSERT INTO table_name
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:
INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...)
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
SQL INSERT INTO Example

We have the following "Persons" table:

Now we want to insert a new row in the "Persons" table.
We use the following SQL statement:
INSERT INTO Persons
VALUES (4,'Nilsen', 'Johan', 'Bakken 2', 'Stavanger')
The "Persons" table will now look like this:


4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger
Insert Data Only in Specified Columns

It is also possible to only add data in specific columns.
The following SQL statement will add a new row, but only add data in the "P_Id", "LastName" and the "FirstName" columns:
INSERT INTO Persons (P_Id, LastName, FirstName)
VALUES (5, 'Tjessem', 'Jakob')


5 Tjessem Jakob
SQL UPDATE Statement
The UPDATE statement is used to update records in a table.
The UPDATE Statement

The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.
SQL UPDATE Syntax
UPDATE table_name
SET column1=value, column2=value2,...
WHERE some_column=some_value
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be
updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated!
SQL UPDATE Example



5 Tjessem Jakob
Now we want to update the person "Tjessem, Jakob" in the "Persons" table.
UPDATE Persons
SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes'
WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'


5 Tjessem Jakob Nissestien 67 Sandnes
SQL UPDATE Warning

Be careful when updating records. If we had omitted the WHERE clause in the example above, like this:
UPDATE Persons
SET Address='Nissestien 67', City='Sandnes'
The "Persons" table would have looked like this:
1 Hansen Ola Nissestien 67 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Nissestien 67 Sandnes

3 Pettersen Kari Nissestien 67 Sandnes
4 Nilsen Johan Nissestien 67 Sandnes

5 Tjessem Jakob Nissestien 67 Sandne
SQL DELETE Statement
The DELETE statement is used to delete records in a table.
The DELETE Statement

The DELETE statement is used to delete rows in a table.
SQL DELETE Syntax
DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE some_column=some_value
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be
deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be deleted!
SQL DELETE Example


5 Tjessem Jakob Nissestien 67 Sandnes
Now we want to delete the person "Tjessem, Jakob" in the "Persons" table.
DELETE FROM Persons
WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'


Delete All Rows

It is possible to delete all rows in a table without deleting the table. This means that the table structure, attributes, and
indexes will be intact:
DELETE FROM table_name
or
DELETE * FROM table_name

Note: Be very careful when deleting records. You cannot undo this statement!
Advance SQL
SQL TOP Clause
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
FROM table_name
LIMIT number
Example
SELECT *
FROM Persons
LIMIT 5
Oracle Syntax
FROM table_name
WHERE ROWNUM <= number
Example
SELECT *
FROM Persons
WHERE ROWNUM <=5
SQL TOP Example



Now we want to select only the two first records in the table above.
SELECT TOP 2 * FROM Persons
SQL TOP PERCENT Example



Now we want to select only 50% of the records in the table above.
SELECT TOP 50 PERCENT * FROM Persons

SQL LIKE Operator
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
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name LIKE pattern
LIKE Operator Example



Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "s" from the table above.
WHERE City LIKE 's%'
The "%" sign can be used to define wildcards (missing letters in the pattern) both before and after the pattern.

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that ends with an "s" from the "Persons" table.
WHERE City LIKE '%s'

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "tav" from the "Persons" table.
WHERE City LIKE '%tav%'

It is also possible to select the persons living in a city that NOT contains the pattern "tav" from the "Persons" table, by using
the NOT keyword.
WHERE City NOT LIKE '%tav%'
SQL Wildcards
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 Description
% A substitute for zero or more characters
_ A substitute for exactly one character
[charlist] Any single character in charlist

[^charlist] Any single character not in charlist
or
[!charlist]
SQL Wildcard Examples

We have the following "Persons" table:

Using the % Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "sa" from the "Persons" table.
WHERE City LIKE 'sa%'

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "nes" from the "Persons" table.
WHERE City LIKE '%nes%'
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.
WHERE FirstName LIKE '_la'

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.
WHERE LastName LIKE 'S_end_on'
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.
WHERE LastName LIKE '[bsp]%'

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.
WHERE LastName LIKE '[!bsp]%'
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10
SQL IN Operator
The IN Operator
The IN operator allows you to specify multiple values in a WHERE clause.
SQL IN Syntax
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name IN (value1,value2,...)
IN Operator Example


Now we want to select the persons with a last name equal to "Hansen" or "Pettersen" from the table above.
WHERE LastName IN ('Hansen','Pettersen')
SQL BETWEEN Operator
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
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name
BETWEEN value1 AND value2
BETWEEN Operator Example



Now we want to select the persons with a last name alphabetically between "Hansen" and "Pettersen" from the table above.
WHERE LastName
BETWEEN 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen'
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:
WHERE LastName
NOT BETWEEN 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen'

SQL Alias
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
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.
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 to both write and to read.
SQL Joins
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:

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 OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 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
SQL INNER JOIN Keyword
SQL INNER JOIN Keyword

The INNER JOIN keyword return rows when there is at least one match in both tables.
SQL INNER JOIN Syntax
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 "Orders" table:
O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 15
Now we want to list all the persons with any orders.
SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo
FROM Persons
INNER JOIN Orders
ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id
ORDER BY Persons.LastName
LastName FirstName OrderNo
Hansen Ola 22456

Hansen Ola 24562
Pettersen Kari 77895

The INNER JOIN keyword return 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.
SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword
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
FROM table_name1
LEFT JOIN table_name2
PS: In some databases LEFT JOIN is called LEFT OUTER JOIN.
SQL LEFT JOIN Example



The "Orders" table:
O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 15
Now we want to list all the persons and their orders - if any, from the tables above.
FROM Persons
LEFT JOIN Orders
Hansen Ola 22456
Hansen Ola 24562

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

The RIGHT JOIN keyword Return all rows from the right table (table_name2), even if there are no matches in the left table
(table_name1).
SQL RIGHT JOIN Syntax
FROM table_name1
RIGHT JOIN table_name2
PS: In some databases RIGHT JOIN is called RIGHT OUTER JOIN.
SQL RIGHT JOIN Example


The "Orders" table:
O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 15
Now we want to list all the orders with containing persons - if any, from the tables above.
FROM Persons
RIGHT JOIN Orders
Hansen Ola 22456
Hansen Ola 24562


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)
SQL FULL JOIN Keyword
SQL FULL JOIN Keyword

The FULL JOIN keyword return rows when there is a match in one of the tables.
SQL FULL JOIN Syntax
FROM table_name1
FULL JOIN table_name2
SQL FULL JOIN Example


The "Orders" table:
O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 1
4 24562 1
5 34764 15
Now we want to list all the persons and their orders, and all the orders with their persons.
FROM Persons
FULL JOIN Orders
Hansen Ola 22456

Hansen Ola 24562

Svendson 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.
SQL UNION Operator
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
Note: The UNION operator selects only distinct values by default. To allow duplicate values, use UNION ALL.
SQL UNION ALL Syntax
UNION ALL
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 E_Name
01 Hansen, Ola
02 Svendson, Tove
03 Svendson, Stephen
04 Pettersen, Kari
"Employees_USA":
E_ID E_Name
01 Turner, Sally
02 Kent, Clark
03 Svendson, Stephen
04 Scott, Stephen
Now we want to list all the different employees in Norway and USA.
SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_Norway
UNION
SELECT E_Name FROM Employees_USA
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
SQL SELECT INTO Statement
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:
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.
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
SQL CREATE DATABASE Statement
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.
SQL CREATE TABLE Statement
The CREATE TABLE Statement

The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in a database.
SQL CREATE TABLE Syntax
CREATE TABLE table_name
(
column_name1 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:

The empty table can be filled with data with the INSERT INTO statement.
SQL Constraints
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 details.
SQL NOT NULL Constraint
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:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
City varchar(255)
)
SQL UNIQUE Constraint
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:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
City varchar(255),
UNIQUE (P_Id)
)
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL UNIQUE,
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:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
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:
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:
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
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT uc_PersonID
SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint
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:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
City varchar(255),
PRIMARY KEY (P_Id)
)
(
P_Id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
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:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
City varchar(255),
CONSTRAINT pk_PersonID PRIMARY KEY (P_Id,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:
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
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
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT pk_PersonID
SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint
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 "Orders" table:
O_Id OrderNo P_Id
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 2
4 24562 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 that invalid data form 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)
)
CREATE TABLE Orders
(
O_Id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
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
CREATE TABLE Orders
(
O_Id 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:
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders
FOREIGN KEY (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
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders
SQL CHECK Constraint
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.
My SQL:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
City varchar(255),
CHECK (P_Id>0)
)
(
P_Id int NOT NULL CHECK (P_Id>0),
City varchar(255)
)
To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL
syntax:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
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:
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:
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:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT chk_Person
SQL DEFAULT Constraint
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:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
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,
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'
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN City SET DEFAULT 'SANDNES'
To DROP a DEFAULT Constraint

To drop a DEFAULT constraint, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER City DROP DEFAULT
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN City DROP DEFAULT
SQL CREATE INDEX Statement
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)
SQL DROP INDEX, DROP TABLE, and DROP DATABASE

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
SQL ALTER TABLE Statement
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):
DROP COLUMN column_name
To change the data type of a column in a table, use the following syntax:
ALTER COLUMN column_name datatype
SQL ALTER TABLE Example

Look at the "Persons" table:

Now we want to add a column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.
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 completeData Types reference.
The "Persons" table will now like this:
P_Id LastName FirstName Address City DateOfBirth

Change Data Type Example

Now we want to change the data type of the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.
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.
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP COLUMN DateOfBirth
The "Persons" table will now like this:

SQL AUTO INCREMENT Field
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:
(
P_Id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
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

(
P_Id int PRIMARY KEY IDENTITY,
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).
Syntax for Access

(
P_Id PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
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).
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".
SQL Views
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
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)
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
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
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
SQL Date Functions
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 built-in functions for working
with dates.
MySQL Date Functions

The following table lists the most important built-in date functions in MySQL:
Function Description
NOW() Returns the current date and time
CURDATE() Returns the current date

CURTIME() Returns the current time
DATE() Extracts the date part of a date or date/time expression

EXTRACT() Returns a single part of a date/time
DATE_ADD() Adds a specified time interval to a date

DATE_SUB() Subtracts a specified time interval from a date
DATEDIFF() Returns the number of days between two dates

DATE_FORMAT() 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 Description
GETDATE() Returns the current date and time
DATEPART() Returns a single part of a date/time

DATEADD() Adds or subtracts a specified time interval from a date
DATEDIFF() Returns the time between two dates

CONVERT() 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 ProductName OrderDate
1 Geitost 2008-11-11
2 Camembert Pierrot 2008-11-09
3 Mozzarella di Giovanni 2008-11-11

4 Mascarpone Fabioli 2008-10-29
Now we want to select the records with an OrderDate of "2008-11-11" from the table above.
SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE OrderDate='2008-11-11'
1 Geitost 2008-11-11
3 Mozzarella di Giovanni 2008-11-11

Now, assume that the "Orders" table looks like this (notice the time component in the "OrderDate" column):
1 Geitost 2008-11-11 13:23:44
2 Camembert Pierrot 2008-11-09 15:45:21

3 Mozzarella di Giovanni 2008-11-11 11:12:01
4 Mascarpone Fabioli 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!
SQL NULL Values
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:
1 Hansen Ola Sandnes

3 Pettersen Kari 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
LastName FirstName Address
Hansen Ola
Pettersen Kari
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
LastName FirstName Address
Svendson Tove Borgvn 23
In the next chapter we will look at the ISNULL(), NVL(), IFNULL() and COALESCE() functions.
SQL NULL Functions
SQL ISNULL(), NVL(), IFNULL() and COALESCE() Functions

Look at the following "Products" table:
P_Id ProductName UnitPrice UnitsInStock UnitsOnOrder
1 Jarlsberg 10.45 16 15
2 Mascarpone 32.56 23
3 Gorgonzola 15.67 9 20
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
SQL Data Types
Data types and ranges for Microsoft Access, MySQL and SQL Server.
Microsoft Access Data Types

Data type Description Storage
Text Use for text or combinations of text and numbers. 255 characters maximum
Memo Memo is used for larger amounts of text. Stores up to 65,536 characters. Note: You
cannot sort a memo field. However, they are searchable
Byte Allows whole numbers from 0 to 255 1 byte
Integer Allows whole numbers between -32,768 and 32,767 2 bytes

Long Allows whole numbers between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647 4 bytes
Single Single precision floating-point. Will handle most decimals 4 bytes

Double Double precision floating-point. Will handle most decimals 8 bytes
Currency Use for currency. Holds up to 15 digits of whole dollars, plus 4 decimal 8 bytes
places. Tip: You can choose which country's currency to use
AutoNumber AutoNumber fields automatically give each record its own number, usually starting at 4 bytes
1
Date/Time Use for dates and times 8 bytes

Yes/No A logical field can be displayed as Yes/No, True/False, or On/Off. In code, use the 1 bit
constants True and False (equivalent to -1 and 0). Note: Null values are not allowed in
Yes/No fields
Ole Object Can store pictures, audio, video, or other BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects) up to 1GB
Hyperlink Contain links to other files, including web pages
Lookup Wizard Let you type a list of options, which can then be chosen from a drop-down list 4 bytes
MySQL Data Types

In MySQL there are three main types : text, number, and Date/Time types.
Text types:
Data type Description
CHAR(size) Holds a fixed length string (can contain letters, numbers, and special characters). The fixed size is
specified in parenthesis. Can store up to 255 characters
VARCHAR(size) Holds a variable length string (can contain letters, numbers, and special characters). The maximum
size is specified in parenthesis. Can store up to 255 characters. Note: If you put a greater value
than 255 it will be converted to a TEXT type
TINYTEXT Holds a string with a maximum length of 255 characters

TEXT Holds a string with a maximum length of 65,535 characters
BLOB For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 65,535 bytes of data
MEDIUMTEXT Holds a string with a maximum length of 16,777,215 characters
MEDIUMBLOB For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 16,777,215 bytes of data
LONGTEXT Holds a string with a maximum length of 4,294,967,295 characters
LONGBLOB For BLOBs (Binary Large OBjects). Holds up to 4,294,967,295 bytes of data
ENUM(x,y,z,etc.) Let you enter a list of possible values. You can list up to 65535 values in an ENUM list. If a value is
inserted that is not in the list, a blank value will be inserted.
Note: The values are sorted in the order you enter them.
You enter the possible values in this format: ENUM('X','Y','Z')
SET Similar to ENUM except that SET may contain up to 64 list items and can store more than one
choice
Number types:
TINYINT(size) -128 to 127 normal. 0 to 255 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in
parenthesis
SMALLINT(size) -32768 to 32767 normal. 0 to 65535 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be
specified in parenthesis
MEDIUMINT(size) -8388608 to 8388607 normal. 0 to 16777215 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be
specified in parenthesis
INT(size) -2147483648 to 2147483647 normal. 0 to 4294967295 UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of

digits may be specified in parenthesis
BIGINT(size) -9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807 normal. 0 to 18446744073709551615
UNSIGNED*. The maximum number of digits may be specified in parenthesis
FLOAT(size,d) A small number with a floating decimal point. The maximum number of digits may be specified in
the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal point is specified in
the d parameter
DOUBLE(size,d) A large number with a floating decimal point. The maximum number of digits may be specified in
the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal point is specified in
the d parameter
DECIMAL(size,d) A DOUBLE stored as a string , allowing for a fixed decimal point. The maximum number of digits
may be specified in the size parameter. The maximum number of digits to the right of the decimal
point is specified in the d parameter
*The integer types have an extra option called UNSIGNED. Normally, the integer goes from an negative to positive value.
Adding the UNSIGNED attribute will move that range up so it starts at zero instead of a negative number.
Date types:
DATE() A date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD
Note: The supported range is from '1000-01-01' to '9999-12-31'
DATETIME() *A date and time combination. Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS

Note: The supported range is from '1000-01-01 00:00:00' to '9999-12-31 23:59:59'
TIMESTAMP() *A timestamp. TIMESTAMP values are stored as the number of seconds since the Unix epoch
('1970-01-01 00:00:00' UTC). Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
Note: The supported range is from '1970-01-01 00:00:01' UTC to '2038-01-09 03:14:07' UTC
TIME() A time. Format: HH:MM:SS

Note: The supported range is from '-838:59:59' to '838:59:59'
YEAR() A year in two-digit or four-digit format.
Note: Values allowed in four-digit format: 1901 to 2155. Values allowed in two-digit format: 70 to
69, representing years from 1970 to 2069
*Even if DATETIME and TIMESTAMP return the same format, they work very differently. In an INSERT or UPDATE query, the
TIMESTAMP automatically set itself to the current date and time. TIMESTAMP also accepts various formats, like
YYYYMMDDHHMMSS, YYMMDDHHMMSS, YYYYMMDD, or YYMMDD.
SQL Server Data Types

Character strings:
char(n) Fixed-length character string. Maximum 8,000 characters n
varchar(n) Variable-length character string. Maximum 8,000 characters

varchar(max) Variable-length character string. Maximum 1,073,741,824 characters
text Variable-length character string. Maximum 2GB of text data

Unicode strings:
nchar(n) Fixed-length Unicode data. Maximum 4,000 characters
nvarchar(n) Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 4,000 characters

nvarchar(max) Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 536,870,912 characters
ntext Variable-length Unicode data. Maximum 2GB of text data

Binary types:
bit Allows 0, 1, or NULL
binary(n) Fixed-length binary data. Maximum 8,000 bytes
varbinary(n) Variable-length binary data. Maximum 8,000 bytes
varbinary(max) Variable-length binary data. Maximum 2GB

image Variable-length binary data. Maximum 2GB
Number types:
tinyint Allows whole numbers from 0 to 255 1 byte

smallint Allows whole numbers between -32,768 and 32,767 2 bytes
int Allows whole numbers between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647 4 bytes

bigint Allows whole numbers between -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 and 8 bytes
9,223,372,036,854,775,807
decimal(p,s) Fixed precision and scale numbers. 5-17 bytes

Allows numbers from -10^38 +1 to 10^38 –1.
The p parameter indicates the maximum total number of digits that can be stored
(both to the left and to the right of the decimal point). p must be a value from 1 to 38.
Default is 18.
The s parameter indicates the maximum number of digits stored to the right of the
decimal point. s must be a value from 0 to p. Default value is 0
numeric(p,s) Fixed precision and scale numbers. 5-17 bytes

Allows numbers from -10^38 +1 to 10^38 –1.
The p parameter indicates the maximum total number of digits that can be stored
(both to the left and to the right of the decimal point). p must be a value from 1 to 38.
Default is 18.
The s parameter indicates the maximum number of digits stored to the right of the
decimal point. s must be a value from 0 to p. Default value is 0
smallmoney Monetary data from -214,748.3648 to 214,748.3647 4 bytes

money Monetary data from -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to 922,337,203,685,477.5807 8 bytes
float(n) Floating precision number data from -1.79E + 308 to 1.79E + 308. 4 or 8
The n parameter indicates whether the field should hold 4 or 8 bytes. float(24) holds a bytes
4-byte field and float(53) holds an 8-byte field. Default value of n is 53.
real Floating precision number data from -3.40E + 38 to 3.40E + 38 4 bytes

Date types:
datetime From January 1, 1753 to December 31, 9999 with an accuracy of 3.33 milliseconds 8 bytes
datetime2 From January 1, 0001 to December 31, 9999 with an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds 6-8 bytes
smalldatetime From January 1, 1900 to June 6, 2079 with an accuracy of 1 minute 4 bytes
date Store a date only. From January 1, 0001 to December 31, 9999 3 bytes
time Store a time only to an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds 3-5 bytes

datetimeoffset The same as datetime2 with the addition of a time zone offset 8-10 bytes
timestamp Stores a unique number that gets updated every time a row gets created or modified.
The timestamp value is based upon an internal clock and does not correspond to real
time. Each table may have only one timestamp variable
Other data types:
sql_variant Stores up to 8,000 bytes of data of various data types, except text, ntext, and timestamp
uniqueidentifier Stores a globally unique identifier (GUID)

xml Stores XML formatted data. Maximum 2GB
cursor Stores a reference to a cursor used for database operations

table Stores a result-set for later processing

Database Tables: SELECT FROM Persons

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Database Tables: SELECT FROM Persons

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Database Tables

Keep in Mind That...

Semicolon after SQL Statements?

SQL DML and DDL

The SQL SELECT Statement

Note: SQL is not case sensitive. SELECT is the same as select.

An SQL SELECT Example

The SQL SELECT DISTINCT Statement

SELECT DISTINCT Example

The WHERE clause is used to filter records.

The WHERE Clause

WHERE Clause Example

2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes

Quotes Around Text Fields

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Tove'

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName=Tove

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year=1965

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE Year='1965'

Operators Allowed in the WHERE Clause

> Greater than

>= Greater than or equal

BETWEEN Between an inclusive range

SQL AND & OR Operators

The AND & OR Operators

AND Operator Example

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Combining AND & OR

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The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the result-set.

The ORDER BY Keyword

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4 Nilsen Tom Vingvn 23 Stavanger

4 Nilsen Tom Vingvn 23 Stavanger

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ORDER BY DESC Example

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The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.

The INSERT INTO Statement

SQL INSERT INTO Example

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1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes

3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Insert Data Only in Specified Columns

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4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger

The UPDATE statement is used to update records in a table.

The UPDATE Statement

SQL UPDATE Example

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4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger

2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

4 Nilsen Johan Bakken 2 Stavanger

SQL UPDATE Warning

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4 Nilsen Johan Nissestien 67 Sandnes

The DELETE statement is used to delete records in a table.

The DELETE Statement

SQL DELETE Example

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3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Delete All Rows

DELETE * FROM table_name

The TOP Clause

SQL SELECT TOP Equivalent in MySQL and Oracle

SQL TOP Example

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SQL TOP PERCENT Example

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The LIKE Operator

LIKE Operator Example