MIS-410, MySQL Basics EWU, Summer -2013

What is MySQL?
MySQL is (as of 2008) the world's most widely used open source relational database management
system (RDBMS) that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is
named after co-founder Michael Widenius' daughter, My. The SQL phrase stands for Structured Query
Language.

The MySQL development project has made its source code available under the terms of the GNU
General Public License, as well as under a variety of proprietary agreements. MySQL was owned and
sponsored by a single for-profit firm, the Swedish company MySQL AB, now owned by Oracle
Corporation.

MySQL is a popular choice of database for use in web applications, and is a central component of the
widely used LAMP open source web application software stack (and other 'AMP' stacks). LAMP is an
acronym for "Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python." Free-software-open source projects that
require a full-featured database management system often use MySQL.

For commercial use, several paid editions are available, and offer additional functionality. Applications
which use MySQL databases include: TYPO3, Joomla, WordPress, phpBB, MyBB, Drupal and other
software. MySQL is also used in many high-profile, large-scale websites, including Wikipedia, Google
(though not for searches), Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.

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

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Number types:

Data type Description

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:
Data type Description
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.

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SQL UNIQUE Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a UNIQUE constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is
created:

MySQL:

CREATE TABLE Persons

(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
UNIQUE (P_Id)
)

SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a PRIMARY KEY on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is created:

MySQL:

CREATE TABLE Persons

(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
PRIMARY KEY (P_Id)
)

SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint

A FOREIGN KEY in one table points to a PRIMARY KEY in another table.

Let's illustrate the foreign key with an example. Look at the following two tables:

The "Persons" table:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City

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

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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)
)

SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a FOREIGN KEY constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Orders" table is already created,
use the following SQL:

MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Orders

ADD FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)

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To DROP a FOREIGN KEY Constraint

To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:

MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Orders

DROP FOREIGN KEY fk_PerOrders

SQL CHECK Constraint

The CHECK constraint is used to limit the value range that can be placed in a column.

If you define a CHECK constraint on a single column it allows only certain values for this column.

If you define a CHECK constraint on a table it can limit the values in certain columns based on values
in other columns in the row.

SQL CHECK Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a CHECK constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Persons" table is
created. The CHECK constraint specifies that the column "P_Id" must only include integers greater
than 0.

MySQL:

CREATE TABLE Persons

(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
CHECK (P_Id>0)
)

SQL CHECK Constraint on ALTER TABLE

To create a CHECK constraint on the "P_Id" column when the table is already created, use the
following SQL:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CHECK (P_Id>0)
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To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on multiple columns, use
the following SQL syntax:

MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons

ADD CONSTRAINT chk_Person CHECK (P_Id>0 AND City='Sandnes')

To DROP a CHECK Constraint

To drop a CHECK constraint, use the following SQL:

MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons

DROP CHECK chk_Person

SQL DEFAULT Constraint

The DEFAULT constraint is used to insert a default value into a column.

The default value will be added to all new records, if no other value is specified.

SQL DEFAULT Constraint on CREATE TABLE

The following SQL creates a DEFAULT constraint on the "City" column when the "Persons" table is
created:

My SQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

CREATE TABLE Persons

(
P_Id int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255) DEFAULT 'Sandnes'
)

The DEFAULT constraint can also be used to insert system values, by using functions like GETDATE():

CREATE TABLE Orders

(
O_Id int NOT NULL,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int,

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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'

To DROP a DEFAULT Constraint

To drop a DEFAULT constraint, use the following SQL:

MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons

ALTER City DROP DEFAULT

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 Example

Look at the "Persons" table:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City

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

Now we want to add a column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.

We use the following SQL statement:

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ALTER TABLE Persons

ADD DateOfBirth date

Notice that the new column, "DateOfBirth", is of type date and is going to hold a date. The data type
specifies what type of data the column can hold. For a complete reference of all the data types
available in MS Access, MySQL, and SQL Server, go to our complete Data Types reference.

The "Persons" table will now like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City DateOfBirth

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

Change Data Type Example

Now we want to change the data type of the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.

We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons

ALTER COLUMN DateOfBirth year

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

DROP COLUMN Example

Next, we want to delete the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.

We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons

DROP COLUMN DateOfBirth

The "Persons" table will now like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City

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

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AUTO INCREMENT a Field

Very often we would like the value of the primary key field to be created automatically every time a
new record is inserted.

We would like to create an auto-increment field in a table.

Syntax for MySQL

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

CREATE TABLE Persons

(
P_Id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Address varchar(255),
City varchar(255),
PRIMARY KEY (P_Id)
)

MySQL uses the AUTO_INCREMENT keyword to perform an auto-increment feature.

By default, the starting value for AUTO_INCREMENT is 1, and it will increment by 1 for each new
record.

To let the AUTO_INCREMENT sequence start with another value, use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons AUTO_INCREMENT=100

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

INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName,LastName)

VALUES ('Lars','Monsen')