SQL & Programming

Basics

Database Programming
Declarative & Procedural Languages
 In a procedural language
 You define the whole process
 i.e. provide the step-by-step instruction on how to do something

 In a Declarative Language
 You just set the command and pass it on to the system
 The system knows how to complete that order

 SQL is a Declarative Language

 You write a SQL statement, and
 The DBMS comes up with an execution plan

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Transact SQL
 Most RDBMSs have a Procedural Language extensions
to the standard SQL
 SQL Server - T-SQL
 ORACLE - PL/SQL
 T-SQL
 Stands for Transact SQL
 T-SQL = SQL + Procedural Programming Language
 T-SQL extends SQL by adding constructs found in other
procedural languages, such as
 Variables, data types and operators
 Flow Control Structures
 Procedures
 Functions (user-defined and built-in), etc.
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Batches
 A batch is a grouping of T-SQL statements into one
logical unit
 Batches are used when something has to happen either
before or after some other task in your script
 All statements in a batch are compiled into one
execution plan
 Batches are delimited by the GO statement
 The GO statement
 The GO statement must be on its own line
 Is not a T-SQL command
 It is a command recognized by the SQL Server command utilities

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The Query Window – SQL Server

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Batches (cont.)
 All statements in the same batch
 Are parsed together
 Must pass a validation of the syntax as a unit
 The statements in the batch are compiled into a single execution plan
 Runtime errors may result in the partial execution of statements
in a batch
 Summary
 If a statement fails at parse-time (syntax error), then none of the
statements in the batch are executed.
 If a statement fails at runtime, all statements in the batch before
the error happened have already run.
 Each batch is processed independently
 An error in one batch does not prevent another batch from running

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Statements in a Batches
 You cannot create and object (eg. a table) and use the
table in the same batch
 If you want to combine any of these statements with
other statements in a single script
 You will need to break them up by using GO statements

Exceptions
 Some commands must be in their own batch:
 Example
 CREATE PROCEDURE
 CREATE TRIGGER
 CREATE VIEW

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Scripts
 A script is one or more SQL statement(s) stored in a
FILE
 Scripts generally have a unified goal
 All the statements within a script have one overall purpose
 SQL scripts are stored as text files (.txt or .sql)
 Scripts are usually treated as a unit
 You normally execute the entire script
 SQL script - Summary
 a collection of SQL commands
 Can include multiple batches
 It is stored in a text file
 All the statements in a script have one unified goal

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Scripts (cont.)
 Scripts are usually used for repetitive Tasks
 Tasks that get executed over and over on a regular basis
 Example: Backing up a database

 Advantages of using a script

 Ease of Use - The scripts can be saved and loaded when
needed.
 Consistent Operation
 The same task is performed in the same manner
 The statements are tested and therefore they are free from errors
 Scheduled Operation
 Scripts can be scheduled to run at a time when it is convenient
 Can be automated

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Review
 Procedural & Declarative programming languages
 SQL and T-SQL
 SQL and PL/SQL

 Batch
 GO statement
 Script

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Programming
in
T-SQL
Basic Symbols
 End of statement [ ; ]
 This is optional

 Comments
 Single line [ -- ]
 Multi-line [ /*…*/ ]

 String [ '…’ ]

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Operators
 Arithmetic Operators [ + , - , * , / , % ]
 Comparison Operators
 >, <, >=, <=, =, <> (or !=, which is the standard)
 BETWEEN … AND …
 IN (…)
 LIKE, IS NULL

 Logical Operators
 AND
 OR
 NOT
 EXISTS

 Concatenation Operator [ + ]

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Data Types
 Data types used in scripts are the same as column data
types

 Examples
VARCHAR(50)
INT
DECIMAL(6,2)

 Other Data Types

 TABLE
 CURSOR

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LOCAL Variables
 The scope of a local variable is the current batch
 Syntax:

DECLARE @<variable name> <variable type> [= <value>]

[, @<variable name> <variable type> [= <value>] ]]

 Example
DECLARE @price decimal(4,1)
DECLARE @product varchar(50), @UnitPrice decimal(6,2)

 A variable cannot be of text, ntext, or image data type

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GLOBAL Variables
 Global variables represent a special type of variable
 Also referred as SYSTEM-DEFINED Functions
 The server always maintains the values of these variables
 Global variables represent
 information specific to the server or
 information on the current user session

 Global variable names begin with a @@ prefix

 You cannot declare global variables
 You do not need to declare them
 You simple READ what the system stores in the global variables

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GLOBAL Variables - Examples
 @@ERROR
 Returns the error number for the last Transact-SQL statement
executed
 @@IDENTITY
 Returns the last-inserted identity value
 @@ROWCOUNT
 Returns the number of rows affected by the last statement
 @@SERVERNAME
 Returns the name of the local server that is running SQL Server
 @@VERSION
 Returns system and build information for the current installation
of SQL Server

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Review
 Variable Declaration
 Local Variable
 Global Variable

 NEXT - Variable Assignment

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Variables Assignment
 The value of a variable will be NULL until it is initialized
 Two ways to set the value in a variable
 Use the SELECT or SET statement
 Assignment Operator [ = ]
 Compound assignment operator [ +=, *=, etc. ]
 Example
 Variable declaration and assignment
DECLARE @price decimal(4,1) = 9.9
 Variable Assignment

SET @price = 12.50

 Multiple Values
SET @price = 12.50 , @quantity = 12
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Variables - Example
USE MyDB
GO
DECLARE @MyMsg VARCHAR(50)
SELECT @MyMsg = 'Hello, World.'
GO -- @MyMsg is not valid after this GO ends the batch.

PRINT @MyMsg
-- Error because @MyMsg not declared in this batch
GO
SELECT @@VERSION;
-- Error: Must be EXEC sp_who if not first statement
sp_who
GO
 sp_who - Provides information about current users, sessions, and
processes
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SELECT and SET
 Use SET
 When you are performing a simple assignment of a variable
 Where the value is known (explicit value or from other variable)
 Use SELECT
 When you are basing the assignment of your variable on a
query
 A SELECT statement that assigns a value to a variable must not
be combined with data-retrieval operations
 Use Variables with Queries
DECLARE @product varchar(10) = ‘screw’
SELECT *
FROM Products
WHERE ProductName LIKE '%’ + @product + '%';
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Example
DECLARE @product varchar(50)
, @UnitPrice decimal(6,2)
, @QntyPerUnit varchar(20)

DECLARE @proID int = 15;

SELECT @product = ProductName,

@QntyPerUnit = QuantityPerUnit,
@UnitPrice = UnitPrice
FROM Products
WHERE ProductID = @ proID

Print @product + ' is ‘ + convert(varchar(20)

, @UnitPrice) + ‘ BIRR per ‘ + @QntyPerUnit

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Example - Using SET
1. SET @price = 9.9
2. SET @TotalCost = @UnitCost * 1.1

3. DECLARE @MaxSalary money;

SET @MaxSalary = ( SELECT MAX(Salary)

FROM Employee )

SELECT @MaxSalary = MAX(Salary)

FROM Employee

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SELECT or SET - Examples
DECLARE @cat int=7

SELECT *
FROM Products
WHERE CategoryID = @cat

 Assigning a value from a query

DECLARE @rows INT
SELECT @rows = COUNT(*) FROM Products
PRINT @rows

SET @rows = ( SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Products )

PRINT @rows

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Table Data Type
DECLARE @MyTableVar table
(
FN varchar(50)
, LN varchar(50)
)

INSERT @MyTableVar (FN, LN)

SELECT FirstName , FatherName
FROM Student

SELECT FN, LN
FROM @MyTableVar

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Table Data Type (cont.)
 We can UPDATE records in our table variable as well as
DELETE records
UPDATE @ProductTotals
SET Revenue = Revenue * 1.15
WHERE ProductID = 62

 Update data in the table variable

DELETE FROM @ProductTotals

WHERE ProductID = 60

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Table Data Type (cont.)
 Constraints can be used with table variables
DECLARE @MyTable TABLE
(
ProductID int UNIQUE,
Price money CHECK(Price < 10.0)
)

 You can also declare primary keys, identity columns, and

default values
DECLARE @MyTable TABLE
(
ProductID int IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY,
Name varchar(10) NOT NULL DEFAULT('Unknown')
)

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Table Data Type (cont.)
 The table definition of a table variable cannot change
after the DECLARE statement
 If you are using a table variable in a join, you will need to
alias the table in order to execute the query

SELECT ProductName, Revenue

FROM Products P JOIN @ProductTotals PT
ON P.ProductID = PT.ProductID

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Review : Main Topics
 Declarative vs Procedural Programming
 Batch
 Script
 Variable declaration
 Scope of a variable
 Global variable
 Assignment statement
 SET
 SELECT

 TABLE variable

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Control-of-Flow
Statements

Database Programming
Overview
 T-SQL has the following control of flow statement:
 IF ... ELSE
 WHILE
 GOTO
 RETURN

 CASE Expression ( not a Control of Flow statement )

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Conditional Statement (IF…ELSE)
 Syntax
IF <Boolean Expression>
<SQL statement> | BEGIN <code series> END
[ ELSE
<SQL statement> | BEGIN <code series> END ]

 The test condition can be any expression that return a

Boolean value
 Basic structures
 if …
 if … else
 if … else if … else

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Conditional Statement (cont.)
 The IF statement controls the conditional execution of
one ore more statements
 An IF statement will execute only the very next
statement after it if a statement block is not used

 Statements blocks
 Created by using BEGIN … END
 ALL or NONE of the statements in a block are executed

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Conditional Statement (cont.)
 Conditional execution of a statement
IF @myvar IS NULL
-- Do something

 Checking existence of a table

IF NOT EXISTS ( SELECT T.name
FROM sys.tables T
WHERE T.name = 'Employee' )
-- CREATE the table 'Employee’

ELSE PRINT 'The table already exists’

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The WHILE Statement
 The WHILE statement tests a condition and executes
the statement(s) as long as the test condition is TRUE

 The syntax:

WHILE <Boolean expression>

[ BEGIN
<statement block>
[BREAK]
<statement block>
[CONTINUE]
END ]

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WHILE Statement - Example
DECLARE @counter int = 1
DECLARE @max int = 10

WHILE @counter <= @max

BEGIN
PRINT @counter
SET @counter = @counter + 1
END

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BREAK and CONTINUE
 The BREAK statement is a way of exiting the loop
without waiting for the bottom of the loop

 The CONTINUE statement tells the WHILE loop to go

back to the beginning of the loop-control regardless of
where you are in the loop
 you immediately go back to the top and re-evaluate the
expression (exiting if the expression is no longer TRUE)

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WHILE Statement - Example
 What is the result of the following loop?

WHILE (SELECT SUM(Salary) FROM Employee) < 150000

BEGIN
UPDATE Employee
SET Salary += 100

IF ( SELECT MIN(Salary) FROM Employee ) > 7000

BREAK
ELSE
CONTINUE
END

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The GOTO Statement
 Causes the flow of execution to a LABEL
 The LABEL is an identifier followed by a colon
 The statements that follow GOTO are skipped and
processing continues at the label
 GOTO statements and labels can be used anywhere
within a procedure, batch, or statement block
 The GOTO statements and the Label must be in the
same Batch

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GOTO Statement - Example
DECLARE @Counter int;
SET @Counter = 1;
WHILE @Counter < 10
BEGIN
SELECT @Counter
SET @Counter = @Counter + 1
IF @Counter = 4 GOTO BranchOne --Jumps to the first branch.
IF @Counter = 5 GOTO BranchTwo --This will never execute.
END
BranchOne:
SELECT 'Jumping To Branch One.'
GOTO BranchThree; --This will prevent BranchTwo from executing.
BranchTwo:
SELECT 'Jumping To Branch Two.'
BranchThree:
SELECT 'Jumping To Branch Three.' 40
The RETURN Statement
 Exits unconditionally from a query or procedure
 RETURN can be used at any point to exit from a
procedure, batch, or statement block
 Statements that follow RETURN are not executed

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Exercise
 Rewrite the following code using variables

WHILE (SELECT SUM(Salary) FROM Employee) < 150000

BEGIN
UPDATE Employee
SET Salary += 100

IF ( SELECT MIN(Salary) FROM Employee ) > 7000

BREAK
ELSE
CONTINUE
END

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The CASE Expression
 The CASE Expression evaluates several conditions and
return a single value
 When two conditions evaluate to TRUE, only the first
condition is used
 ELSE can be included as a default option
 Two type of the CASE expression exist
 The simple CASE expression
 The Search CASE expression

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The Simple CASE Expression
CASE …
WHEN … THEN …
WHEN … THEN …
END
 A simple CASE expression
 Needs a condition to be specified after the “CASE” keyword
 The CASE block returns a value or expression
 The return value can be used with other statements.
DECLARE @x int = 20
PRINT
CASE @x % 2
WHEN 0 THEN ‘EVEN number’
WHEN 1 THEN ‘ODD number’
END
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Simple CASE Expression (cont.)
 Example

DECLARE @x int = 20
PRINT
CASE @x % 2
WHEN 0 THEN ‘EVEN number’
WHEN 1 THEN ‘ODD number’
END

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The Search CASE
 Same as a simple CASE, except:
 There is no input expression
 Each of the WHEN expressions must evaluate to a Boolean
value
 The ELSE can still be included as a default option
 Note
 You can use different expressions for each condition
 Any expression that evaluates to a Boolean value can be used

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The Search CASE (cont.)
 Example
DECLARE @x int = 20
CASE
WHEN @x % 2 = 0 THEN ‘EVEN number’
WHEN @x % 2 = 1 THEN ‘ODD number’
END

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Uses of CASE Expr
 Replacing codes or abbreviation to more readable
values
 Example
SELECT ProductName
, Status = CASE Discontinued
WHEN 0 THEN ‘Discontinued’
WHEN 1 THEN ‘Active’
END
FROM Products
ORDER BY Status

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Uses of CASE Expr (cont.)
 Example - Categorizing data

SELECT ProductName
, CASE
WHEN UnitPrice < 10 THEN ‘Cheap‘
WHEN UnitPrice BETWEEN 10 AND 20 THEN
‘Normal‘
ELSE ‘Expensive’
FROM Products

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Use the following table definitions for the following questions

CREATE TABLE Department

(
DepID int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
DepName varchar(50) NOT NULL,
City varchar(50) NOT NULL
(
GO

CREATE TABLE Employee

(
EmpID int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
FName varchar(50) NOT NULL,
LName varchar(50) NULL,
EmptDate Date NOT NULL DEFAULT GetDate(),
dID int References Department(DepID)
(

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Exercise
1. GetDate() is a built-in function that returns the current
date from the system.
1. Declare a variable and assign the value returned from GetDate()
into the variable.
2. Display the value stored in the variable that you declared

2. Write a SINGLE statement to change all the FName and

LName of the employees to upper case in the Employee
table.

3. Use a Table variable to store the full names of the

Employees along with their department names

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