Creating Other Schema Objects

Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to do

the following:
• Create simple and complex views
• Retrieve data from views
• Create, maintain, and use sequences
• Create and maintain indexes
• Create private and public synonyms

10-2 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Database Objects

Object Description

Table Basic unit of storage; composed of rows

View Logically represents subsets of data from
one or more tables
Sequence Generates numeric values
Index Improves the performance of some
queries
Synonym Gives alternative names to objects

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 What Is a View?

EMPLOYEES table

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 Advantages of Views

To restrict To make complex

data access queries easy

To provide To present
data different views of
independence the same data

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 Simple Views and Complex Views

Feature Simple Views Complex Views

Number of tables One One or more
Contain functions No Yes
Contain groups of data No Yes
DML operations Yes Not always
through a view

10-6 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Creating a View

• You embed a subquery in the CREATE VIEW

statement:
CREATE [OR REPLACE] [FORCE|NOFORCE] VIEW view
[(alias[, alias]...)]
AS subquery
[WITH CHECK OPTION [CONSTRAINT constraint]]
[WITH READ ONLY [CONSTRAINT constraint]];

• The subquery can contain complex SELECT

syntax.

10-7 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Creating a View

• Create the EMPVU80 view, which contains details

of employees in department 80:
CREATE VIEW empvu80
AS SELECT employee_id, last_name, salary
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 80;
View created.
• Describe the structure of the view by using the
iSQL*Plus DESCRIBE command:

DESCRIBE empvu80

10-8 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Creating a View

• Create a view by using column aliases in the

subquery:
CREATE VIEW salvu50
AS SELECT employee_id ID_NUMBER, last_name NAME,
salary*12 ANN_SALARY
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 50;
View created.

• Select the columns from this view by the given

alias names:

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 Retrieving Data from a View

SELECT *
FROM salvu50;

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 Modifying a View

• Modify the EMPVU80 view by using a CREATE OR

REPLACE VIEW clause. Add an alias for each
column name:
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW empvu80
(id_number, name, sal, department_id)
AS SELECT employee_id, first_name || ' '
|| last_name, salary, department_id
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 80;
View created.
• Column aliases in the CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW
clause are listed in the same order as the columns
in the subquery.

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 Creating a Complex View

Create a complex view that contains group functions

to display values from two tables:
CREATE VIEW dept_sum_vu
(name, minsal, maxsal, avgsal)
AS SELECT d.department_name, MIN(e.salary),
MAX(e.salary),AVG(e.salary)
FROM employees e, departments d
WHERE e.department_id = d.department_id
GROUP BY d.department_name;
View created.

10-12 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Rules for Performing
DML Operations on a View

• You can usually perform DML operations

on simple views.
• You cannot remove a row if the view contains the
following:
– Group functions
– A GROUP BY clause
– The DISTINCT keyword
– The pseudocolumn ROWNUM keyword

10-13 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Rules for Performing
DML Operations on a View

You cannot modify data in a view if it contains:

• Group functions
• A GROUP BY clause
• The DISTINCT keyword
• The pseudocolumn ROWNUM keyword
• Columns defined by expressions

10-14 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Rules for Performing
DML Operations on a View

You cannot add data through a view if the view

includes:
• Group functions
• A GROUP BY clause
• The DISTINCT keyword
• The pseudocolumn ROWNUM keyword
• Columns defined by expressions
• NOT NULL columns in the base tables that are not
selected by the view

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 Using the WITH CHECK OPTION Clause

• You can ensure that DML operations performed on

the view stay in the domain of the view by using
the WITH CHECK OPTION clause:
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW empvu20
AS SELECT *
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 20
WITH CHECK OPTION CONSTRAINT empvu20_ck ;
View created.

• Any attempt to change the department number for

any row in the view fails because it violates the
WITH CHECK OPTION constraint.

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 Denying DML Operations

• You can ensure that no DML operations occur by

adding the WITH READ ONLY option to your view
definition.
• Any attempt to perform a DML operation on any
row in the view results in an Oracle server error.

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 Denying DML Operations

CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW empvu10

(employee_number, employee_name, job_title)
AS SELECT employee_id, last_name, job_id
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 10
WITH READ ONLY ;
View created.

10-18 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Removing a View

You can remove a view without losing data because a

view is based on underlying tables in the database.
DROP VIEW view;

DROP VIEW empvu80;

View dropped.

10-19 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Practice 10: Overview of Part 1

This practice covers the following topics:

• Creating a simple view
• Creating a complex view
• Creating a view with a check constraint
• Attempting to modify data in the view
• Removing views

10-20 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Sequences

Object Description

Table Basic unit of storage; composed of rows

View Logically represents subsets of data from
one or more tables
Sequence Generates numeric values
Index Improves the performance of some
queries
Synonym Gives alternative names to objects

10-21 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Sequences

A sequence:
• Can automatically generate unique numbers
• Is a sharable object
• Can be used to create a primary key value
• Replaces application code
• Speeds up the efficiency of accessing sequence
values when cached in memory

2 4 6 8 10
1 3 5 7 9

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 CREATE SEQUENCE Statement:
Syntax

Define a sequence to generate sequential numbers

automatically:
CREATE SEQUENCE sequence
[INCREMENT BY n]
[START WITH n]
[{MAXVALUE n | NOMAXVALUE}]
[{MINVALUE n | NOMINVALUE}]
[{CYCLE | NOCYCLE}]
[{CACHE n | NOCACHE}];

10-23 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Creating a Sequence

• Create a sequence named DEPT_DEPTID_SEQ to

be used for the primary key of the DEPARTMENTS
table.
• Do not use the CYCLE option.
CREATE SEQUENCE dept_deptid_seq
INCREMENT BY 10
START WITH 120
MAXVALUE 9999
NOCACHE
NOCYCLE;
Sequence created.

10-24 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 NEXTVAL and CURRVAL Pseudocolumns

• NEXTVAL returns the next available sequence

value. It returns a unique value every time it is
referenced, even for different users.
• CURRVAL obtains the current sequence value.
• NEXTVAL must be issued for that sequence before
CURRVAL contains a value.

10-25 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Using a Sequence

• Insert a new department named “Support” in

location ID 2500:
INSERT INTO departments(department_id,
department_name, location_id)
VALUES (dept_deptid_seq.NEXTVAL,
'Support', 2500);
1 row created.

• View the current value for the DEPT_DEPTID_SEQ

sequence:
SELECT dept_deptid_seq.CURRVAL
FROM dual;

10-27 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Caching Sequence Values

• Caching sequence values in memory gives faster

access to those values.
• Gaps in sequence values can occur when:
– A rollback occurs
– The system crashes
– A sequence is used in another table

10-28 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Modifying a Sequence

Change the increment value, maximum value,

minimum value, cycle option, or cache option:

ALTER SEQUENCE dept_deptid_seq

INCREMENT BY 20
MAXVALUE 999999
NOCACHE
NOCYCLE;
Sequence altered.

10-29 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Guidelines for Modifying
a Sequence

• You must be the owner or have the ALTER

privilege for the sequence.
• Only future sequence numbers are affected.
• The sequence must be dropped and
re-created to restart the sequence at a different
number.
• Some validation is performed.
• To remove a sequence, use the DROP statement:
DROP SEQUENCE dept_deptid_seq;
Sequence dropped.

10-30 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Indexes

Object Description

Table Basic unit of storage; composed of rows

View Logically represents subsets of data from
one or more tables
Sequence Generates numeric values
Index Improves the performance of some
queries
Synonym Gives alternative names to objects

10-31 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Indexes

An index:
• Is a schema object
• Is used by the Oracle server to speed up the
retrieval of rows by using a pointer
• Can reduce disk I/O by using a rapid path access
method to locate data quickly
• Is independent of the table that it indexes
• Is used and maintained automatically by the
Oracle server

10-32 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 How Are Indexes Created?

• Automatically: A unique index is created

automatically when you define a PRIMARY KEY or
UNIQUE constraint in a table definition.

• Manually: Users can create nonunique indexes on

columns to speed up access to the rows.

10-33 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Creating an Index

• Create an index on one or more columns:

CREATE INDEX index

ON table (column[, column]...);

• Improve the speed of query access to the

LAST_NAME column in the EMPLOYEES table:

CREATE INDEX emp_last_name_idx

ON employees(last_name);
Index created.

10-34 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Index Creation Guidelines

Create an index when:

 A column contains a wide range of values
 A column contains a large number of null values
 One or more columns are frequently used together in a WHERE
clause or a join condition
 The table is large and most queries are expected to retrieve less
than 2% to 4% of the rows in the table
Do not create an index when:
 The columns are not often used as a condition in the query

 The table is small or most queries are expected to retrieve more

than 2% to 4% of the rows in the table
 The table is updated frequently

 The indexed columns are referenced as part of an expression

10-35 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Removing an Index

• Remove an index from the data dictionary by

using the DROP INDEX command:

DROP INDEX index;

• Remove the UPPER_LAST_NAME_IDX index from

the data dictionary:
DROP INDEX emp_last_name_idx;
Index dropped.
• To drop an index, you must be the owner of the
index or have the DROP ANY INDEX privilege.

10-36 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Synonyms

Object Description

Table Basic unit of storage; composed of rows

View Logically represents subsets of data from
one or more tables
Sequence Generates numeric values
Index Improves the performance of some
queries
Synonym Gives alternative names to objects

10-37 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Synonyms

Simplify access to objects by creating a synonym

(another name for an object). With synonyms, you can:
• Create an easier reference to a table that is owned
by another user
• Shorten lengthy object names
CREATE [PUBLIC] SYNONYM synonym
FOR object;

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 Creating and Removing Synonyms

• Create a shortened name for the DEPT_SUM_VU

view:
CREATE SYNONYM d_sum
FOR dept_sum_vu;
Synonym Created.

• Drop a synonym:
DROP SYNONYM d_sum;
Synonym dropped.

10-39 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Summary

In this lesson, you should have learned how to:

• Create, use, and remove views
• Automatically generate sequence numbers by
using a sequence generator
• Create indexes to improve query retrieval speed
• Use synonyms to provide alternative names for
objects

10-40 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Practice 10: Overview of Part 2

This practice covers the following topics:

• Creating sequences
• Using sequences
• Creating nonunique indexes
• Creating synonyms

10-41 Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.