Oracle SQL FAQ Topics What is SQL and where does it come from?
? What are the difference between DDL, DML and DCL commands? How does one escape characters when building SQL ueries? How does one eliminate duplicate rows from a table? How does one generate primar! "e! #alues for a table? How does one get the time difference between two date columns? How does one add a da!$hour$minute$second to a date #alue? How does one count different data #alues in a column? How does one count$sum %&'()S of data #alues in a column? Can one retrie#e onl! the 'th row from a table? Can one retrie#e onl! rows * to + from a table? How does one select ),)%+ 'th row from a table? How does one select the -./ ' rows from a table? How does one code a tree0structured uer!? How does one code a matri1 report in SQL? How does one implement 230-H)'0)LS) in a select statement? How can one dump$ e1amine the e1act content of a database column? Can one drop a column from a table? Can one rename a column in a table? How can 2 change m! .racle password? How does one find the ne1t #alue of a se uence? Wor"around for snapshots on tables with L.'( columns Where can one get more info about SQL? 4ac" to .racle 3&Q 2nde1 What is SQL and where does it come from? Structured Quer! Language 5SQL6 is a language that pro#ides an interface to relational database s!stems7 SQL was de#eloped b! 24M in the 89:;s for use in S!stem %, and is a de facto standard, as well as an 2S. and &'S2 standard7 SQL is often pronounced S)Q<)L7 2n common usage SQL also encompasses DML 5Data Manipulation Language6, for 2'S)%-s, </D&-)s, D)L)-)s and DDL 5Data Definition Language6, used for creating and modif!ing tables and other database structures7 -he de#elopment of SQL is go#erned b! standards7 & ma=or re#ision to the SQL standard was completed in 899>, called SQL>7 SQL? support ob=ect e1tensions and are 5partiall!?6 implemented in .racle@ and 97 4ac" to top of file What are the difference between DDL, DML and DCL commands? DDL is Data Definition Language statements. Some examples: C%)&-) 0 to create ob=ects in the database &L-)% 0 alters the structure of the database D%./ 0 delete ob=ects from the database -%<'C&-) 0 remo#e all records from a table, including all spaces allocated for the records are remo#ed [Link])'- 0 add comments to the data dictionar! (%&'- 0 gi#es userAs access pri#ileges to database %),.B) 0 withdraw access pri#ileges gi#en with the (%&'- command
DML is Data Manipulation Language statements. Some examples: S)L)C- 0 retrie#e data from the a database 2'S)%- 0 insert data into a table </D&-) 0 updates e1isting data within a table
D)L)-) 0 deletes all records from a table, the space for the records remain C&LL 0 call a /L$SQL or Ca#a subprogram )*/L&2' /L&' 0 e1plain access path to data [Link] -&4L) 0 control concurrenc!
DCL is Data Control Language statements. Some examples: C.MM2- 0 sa#e wor" done S&,)/.2'- 0 identif! a point in a transaction to which !ou can later roll bac" %.LL4&CB 0 restore database to original since the last C.MM2S)- -%&'S&C-2.' 0 Change transaction options li"e what rollbac" segment to use
4ac" to top of file How does one escape special characters when building SQL queries? -he L2B) "e!word allows for string searches7 -he ADA wild card character is used to match e1actl! one character, AEA is used to match Fero or more occurrences of an! characters7 -hese characters can be escaped in SQL7 )1ampleG SELECT name FROM emp WHERE id LIKE '%\_%' ESCAPE '\'; <se two uotes for e#er! one displa!ed7 )1ampleG SELECT 'Franks''s Ora !e si"e' FROM #$AL; SELECT 'A ''%&'"ed'' ('rd)' FROM #$AL; SELECT 'A ''''d'&*!e %&'"ed'''' ('rd)' FROM #$AL; 4ac" to top of file How does one eliminate duplicates rows from a table? Choose one of the following ueries to identif! or remo#e duplicate rows from a table lea#ing uni ue records in the tableG Method 1: S+L, #ELETE FROM "a*!e_name A WHERE ROWI# , . SELECT min-r'(id/ FROM "a*!e_name 0 1 WHERE A)ke2_3a!&es 4 0)ke2_3a!&es/; Method 2: S+L, rea"e "a*!e "a*!e_name. as se!e " dis"in " 5 6r'm "a*!e_name7; S+L, dr'p "a*!e_name7; S+L, rename "a*!e_name. "' "a*!e_name7; Method 3: (thanks to Kenneth !anlu"anee# S+L, #e!e"e 6r'm m2_"a*!e (8ere r'(id n'" inS+L, se!e " ma9-r'(id/ 6r'm m2_"a*!e S+L, :r'&p *2 m2_ '!&mn_name /; Method $: (thanks to Dennis %urni&k# S+L, de!e"e 6r'm m2_"a*!e "7 S+L, (8ere e9is"s -se!e " '9' 6r'm m2_"a*!e ". S+L, (8ere ".)ke2_3a!&e7 4 "7)ke2_3a!&e7 S+L, and ".)ke2_3a!&e. 4 "7)ke2_3a!&e. S+L, and ".)r'(id , "7)r'(id/; 'oteG 2f !ou create an inde1 on the =oined fields in the inner loop, !ou, for all intents purposes, eliminate 'H> operations 5no need to loop through the entire table on each pass b! a record67 -his will speed0up th 'ote >G 2f !ou are comparing '.-0'<LL columns, use the ',L function7 %emember that '<LL is not e ual to '<LL7 -his should not be a problem as all "e! columns should be '.- '<LL b! definition7 4ac" to top of file How does one generate primary key values for a table? Create !our table with a '.- '<LL column 5sa! S)Q'.67 -his column can now be populated with uni ue #aluesG S+L, $P#ATE "a*!e_name SET se%n' 4 ROW;$M; or use a se uences generatorG S+L, CREATE SE+$E;CE se%&en e_name START WITH 7 I;CREME;T 0< 7;
S+L, $P#ATE "a*!e_name SET se%n' 4 se%&en e_name);E=T>AL; 3inall!, create a uni ue inde1 on this column7 4ac" to top of file How does one get the time difference between two date columns Loo" at this e1ample uer!G se!e " 6!''r---da"e7?da"e./5.@5AB5AB/C1ABB/ DD ' HO$RS ' DD 6!''r----da"e7?da"e./5.@5AB5AB/ ? 6!''r---da"e7?da"e./5.@5AB5AB/C1ABB/51ABB/CAB/ DD ' MI;$TES ' DD r'&nd----da"e7?da"e./5.@5AB5AB/ ? 6!''r---da"e7?da"e./5.@5AB5AB/C1ABB/51ABB ? -6!''r----da"e7?da"e./5.@5AB5AB/ ? 6!''r---da"e7?da"e./5.@5AB5AB/C1ABB/51ABB/CAB/5AB/// DD ' SECS ' "ime_di66eren e 6r'm ))) 2f !ou donAt want to go through the floor and ceiling math, tr! this method 5contributed b! )ri" Wile6G se!e " "'_ 8ar-"'_da"e-'BBEBBEBB'F'HH.@EMIESS'/ G -da"e7 ? da"e./F 'HH.@EMIESS'/ "ime_di66eren e 6r'm ))) 'ote that the second uer! onl! uses the time0of0da! portion of the date fields and thus will ne#er return a #alue bigger than >?GI9GI97 4ac" to top of file How does one add a day/hour/minute/second to a date value? -he S+SD&-) pseudo0column shows the current s!stem date and time7 &dding 8 to S+SD&-) will ad#ance the date b! 8 da!7 <se fractions to add hours, minutes or seconds to the date7 Loo" at these e1amplesG S+L, se!e " s2sda"eF s2sda"eG7C.@F s2sda"e G7C7@@BF s2sda"e G 7CHA@BB 6r'm d&a!; S<S#ATE S<S#ATEG7C.@ S<S#ATEG7C7@@B S<S#ATEG7CHA@BB ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? B1?I&!?.BB. BHE1.E7. B1?I&!?.BB. BJE1.E7. B1?I&!?.BB. BHE11E7. B1?I&!?.BB. BHE1.E71 -he following format is fre uentl! used with .racle %eplicationG se!e " s2sda"e ;OWF s2sda"eG1BC-.@5AB5AB/ ;OW_PL$S_1B_SECS 6r'm d&a!; ;OW ;OW_PL$S_1B_SECS ???????????????????? ???????????????????? B1?I$L?.BB. 7AE@KE.1 B1?I$L?.BB. 7AE@KEL1 4ac" to top of file How does one count different data values in a column? <se this simple uer! to count the number of data #alues in a columnG se!e " m2_"a*!e_ '!&mnF '&n"-5/ 6r'm m2_"a*!e :r'&p *2 m2_"a*!e_ '!&mn; & more sophisticated e1ample777 se!e " dep"F s&m- de 'de-se9F'M'F7FB// MALEF s&m- de 'de-se9F'F'F7FB// FEMALEF '&n"-de 'de-se9F'M'F7F'F'F7// TOTAL 6r'm m2_emp_"a*!e :r'&p *2 dep"; 4ac" to top of file How does one count/sum RANGES of data values in a column? & #alue 1 will be between #alues ! and F if (%)&-)S-51, !6 J L)&S-51, F67 Loo" at this e1ampleG se!e " 6.F s&m-de 'de-:rea"es"-67FLJ/F !eas"-67F7BB/F 7F B// MRan:e AB?7BBMF s&m-de 'de-:rea"es"-67F1B/F !eas"-67F LJ/F 7F B// MRan:e 1B?LJMF s&m-de 'de-:rea"es"-67F B/F !eas"-67F .J/F 7F B// MRan:e BB?.JM
6r'm m2_"a*!e :r'&p *2 6.; 3or e ual siFe ranges it might be easier to calculate it with D)C.D)5-%<'C5#alue$range6, ;, rateD;, 8, rateD8, 77767 )g7 se!e " ename M;ameMF sa! MSa!ar2MF de 'de- "r&n -6.C7BBBF B/F BF B)BF 7F B)7F .F B).F 1F B)17/ MTa9 ra"eM 6r'm m2_"a*!e; 4ac" to top of file Can one retrieve only the Nth row from a table? Shai" Bhaleel pro#ided this solution to select the 'th row from a tableG SELECT 5 FROM SELECT E;AMEFROW;$M R; FROM EMP WHERE ROW;$M N 7B7 / WHERE R; 4 7BB; 'oteG 'oteG 2n this first it select onl! one more than the re uired row, then it selects the re uired one7 2ts far better than using M2'<S operation7 %a#i /achalla pro#ided this solutionG SELECT 67 FROM "7 WHERE r'(id 4 SELECT r'(id FROM "7 WHERE r'(n&m N4 7B MI;$S SELECT r'(id FROM "7 WHERE r'(n&m N 7B/; <ernati#el!777 SELECT 5 FROM emp WHERE r'(n&m47 A;# r'(id ;OT I; -SELECT r'(id FROM emp WHERE r'(n&m N 7B/; /lease note, there is no e1plicit row order in a relational database7 Howe#er, this uer! is uite fun and ma! e#en help in the odd situation7 4ac" to top of file Can one retrieve only rows X to Y from a table? Shai" Bhaleel pro#ided this solution to the problemG SELECT 5 FROM SELECT E;AMEFROW;$M R; FROM EMP WHERE ROW;$M N 7B7 / WHERE R; *e"(een J7 and 7BB ; 'oteG the 8;8 is =ust one greater than the ma1imum row of the re uired rows 5means 1J 9;, !J8;;, so the inner #alues is !K867 ¬her solution is to use the M2'<S operation7 3or e1ample, to displa! rows I to :, construct a uer! li"e thisG SELECT 5 FROM "a*!e= WHERE r'(id in SELECT r'(id FROM "a*!e= WHERE r'(n&m N4 K MI;$S SELECT r'(id FROM "a*!e= WHERE r'(n&m N L/; /lease note, there is no e1plicit row order in a relational database7 Howe#er, this uer! is uite fun and ma! e#en help in the odd situation7 4ac" to top of file How does one select EVERY Nth row from a table? .ne can easil! select all e#en, odd, or 'th rows from a table using SQL ueries li"e thisG Method 1: <sing a sub uer! SELECT 5 FROM emp WHERE -ROWI#FB/ I; -SELECT ROWI#F MO#-ROW;$MF@/ FROM emp/; Method 2: <se d!namic #iews 5a#ailable from .racle:7>6G
SELECT 5 FROM - SELECT r'(n&m rnF empn'F ename FROM emp / "emp WHERE MO#-"emp)ROW;$MF@/ 4 B; /lease note, there is no e1plicit row order in a relational database7 Howe#er, these ueries are uite fun and ma! e#en help in the odd situation7 4ac" to top of file How does one select the TOP N rows from a table? 3orm .racle@i one can ha#e an inner0 uer! with an .%D)% 4+ clause7 Loo" at this e1ampleG SELECT 5 FROM -SELECT 5 FROM m2_"a*!e OR#ER 0< '!_name_7 #ESC/ WHERE ROW;$M N 7B; <se this wor"around with prior releasesG SELECT 5 FROM m2_"a*!e a WHERE 7B ,4 -SELECT CO$;T-#ISTI;CT ma9 '!/ FROM m2_"a*!e * WHERE *)ma9 '! ,4 a)ma9 '!/ OR#ER 0< ma9 '! #ESC; 4ac" to top of file How does one code a tree-structured query? -ree0structured ueries are definitel! non0relational 5enough to "ill Codd and ma"e him roll in his gra#e67 &lso, this feature is not often found in other database offerings7 -he SC.--$-2()% database schema contains a table )M/ with a self0referencing relation 5)M/'. and M(% columns67 -his table is perfect for tesing and demonstrating tree0structured ueries as the M(% column contains the emplo!ee number of the LcurrentL emplo!eeAs boss7 -he L),)L pseudo0column is an indication of how deep in the tree one is7 .racle can handle ueries with a depth of up to >II le#els7 Loo" at this e1ampleG se!e " LE>ELF EMP;OF E;AMEF MOR 6r'm EMP 'nne " *2 pri'r EMP;O 4 MOR s"ar" (i"8 MOR is ;$LL; .ne can produce an indented report b! using the le#el number to substring or lpad56 a series of spaces, and concatenate that to the string7 Loo" at this e1ampleG se!e " !pad-' 'F LE>EL 5 ./ DD E;AME )))))))) .ne uses the Lstart withL clause to specif! the start of the tree7 More than one record can match the starting condition7 .ne disad#antage of ha#ing a Lconnect b! priorL clause is that !ou cannot perform a =oin to other tables7 -he Lconnect b! priorL clause is rarel! implemented in the other database offerings7 -r!ing to do this programmaticall! is difficult as one has to do the top le#el uer! first, then, for each of the records open a cursor to loo" for child nodes7 .ne wa! of wor"ing around this is to use /L$SQL, open the dri#ing cursor with the Lconnect b! priorL statement, and the select matching records from other tables on a row0b!0row basis, inserting the results into a temporar! table for later retrie#al7 4ac" to top of file How does one code a matrix report in SQL? Loo" at this e1ample uer! with sample outputG SELECT 5 FROM -SELECT P'*F s&m-de 'de-dep"n'F7BFsa!// s&m-de 'de-dep"n'[Link]!// s&m-de 'de-dep"n'F1BFsa!// s&m-de 'de-dep"n'F@BFsa!// FROM s '"")emp ORO$P 0< P'*/ OR#ER 0< 7;
#EPT7BF #[Link] #EPT1BF #EPT@B
IO0 #EPT7B #EPT.B #EPT1B #EPT@B ????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? A;AL<ST ABBB
CLERK MA;AOER PRESI#E;T SALESMA; 4ac" to top of file
71BB .@LB LBBB
7JBB .JKL
JLB .HLB LABB
How does one implement IF-THEN-ELSE in a select statement? -he .racle de&ode function acts li"e a procedural statement inside an SQL statement to return different #alues or columns based on the #alues of other columns in the select statement7 Some examples: se!e " de 'de-se9F 'M'F 'Ma!e'F 'F'F 'Fema!e'F '$nkn'(n'/ 6r'm emp!'2ees; se!e " aF *F de 'de- a*s-a?*/F a?*F 'a , *'F BF 'a 4 *'F 'a N *'/ 6r'm "a*!e=; se!e " de 'de- OREATEST-AF0/F AF 'A is :rea"er OR E+$AL "8an 0'F '0 is :rea"er "8an A'/))) se!e " de 'de- OREATEST-AF0/F AF de 'de-AF 0F 'A ;OT OREATER THA; 0'F 'A OREATER THA; 0'/F 'A ;OT OREATER THA; 0'/))) 'ote: -he decode function is not &'S2 SQL and is rarel! implemented in other %D4MS offerings7 2t is one of the good things about .racle, but use it sparingl! if portabilit! is re uired7 3rom .racle @i one can also use C&S) statements in SQL7 Loo" at this e1ampleG SELECT enameF CASE WHE; sa!,7BBB THE; 'O3er paid' ELSE '$nder paid' E;# FROM emp; 4ac" to top of file How can one dump/ examine the exact content of a database column? SELECT #$MP- '!7/ FROM "a*7 WHERE 'nd7 4 3a!7; #$MP-COL7/ ????????????????????????????????????? T2p4JA Len4@E ALFAAFAKF1. 3or this e1ample the t!pe is 9M, indicating CH&%, and the last b!te in the column is ?>, which is the &SC22 code for a space7 -his tells us that this column is blan"0padded7 4ac" to top of file Can one drop a column from a table? 3rom .racle@i one can D%./ a column from a table7 Loo" at this sample script, demonstrating the ALTER TABLE table_name DROP COLUMN column_name; command7 .ther wor"aroundsG 7) S+L, &pda"e "7 se" '!&mn_"'_dr'p 4 ;$LL; S+L, rename "7 "' "7_*ase; S+L, rea"e 3ie( "7 as se!e " Nspe i6i '!&mns, 6r'm "7_*ase; .) S+L, rea"e "a*!e ". as se!e " Nspe i6i S+L, dr'p "a*!e "7; S+L, rename ". "' "7; 4ac" to top of file Can one rename a column in a table? 'o, this is listed as )nhancement %e uest 8M?I897 Some wor"aroundsG 7) ?? $se a 3ie( (i"8 'rre " '!&mn names))) rename "7 "' "7_*ase; rea"e 3ie( "7 N '!&mn !is" (i"8 ne( name, as se!e " 5 6r'm "7_*ase; .) ?? Re rea"e "8e "a*!e (i"8 'rre " '!&mn names))) rea"e "a*!e ". N '!&mn !is" (i"8 ne( name, as se!e " 5 6r'm "7; '!&mns, 6r'm "7;
dr'p "a*!e "7; rename ". "' "7; 1) ?? Add a '!&mn (i"8 a ne( name and dr'p an '!d a!"er "a*!e "7 add - ne( '!ame da"a"2pe /; &pda"e "7 se" ne( '!name4'!d '!name; a!"er "a*!e "7 dr'p '!&mn '!d '!name; 4ac" to top of file How can I change my Oracle password? 2ssue the following SQL commandG ALTER $SER N&sername, I#E;TIFIE# 0< Nne(_pass('rd, C 3rom .racle@ !ou can =ust t!pe LpasswordL from SQLN/lus, or if !ou need to change another userAs password, t!pe Lpassword userDnameL7 4ac" to top of file How does one find the next value of a sequence? /erform an L&L-)% S)Q<)'C) 777 '.C&CH)L to unload the unused cached se uence numbers from the .racle librar! cache7 -his wa!, no cached numbers will be lost7 2f !ou then select from the <S)%DS)Q<)'C)S dictionar! #iew, !ou will see the correct high water mar" #alue that would be returned for the ne1t ')*-,&LL call7 &fterwards, perform an L&L-)% S)Q<)'C) 777 C&CH)L to restore caching7 +ou can use the abo#e techni ue to pre#ent se uence number loss before a SHUTDOWN ABORT, or an! other operation that would cause gaps in se uence #alues7 4ac" to top of file Workaround for snapshots on tables with LONG columns +ou can use the SQLN/lus C./+ command instead of snapshots if !ou need to cop! L.'( and L.'( %&W #ariables from one location to another7 )gG COP< TO SCOTTCTIOERQREMOTE ? CREATE IMAOE_TA0LE $SI;O ? SELECT IMAOE_;OF IMAOE ? FROM IMAOES; 'oteG 2f !ou run .racle@, con#ert !our L.'(s to L.4s, as it can be replicated7 4ac" to top of file Where can one get more info about SQL? -he SQL 3&Q 2ntroduction to Structured Quer! Language SQL -utorial -ina LondonAs SQL (uide '!&mn)))
