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Introduction

Probably before using a database, you must first have one. A database is primarily a group of computer files that each has a name and a location. Just as there are different ways to connect to a server, in the same way, there are also different ways to create a database.

The Name of a Database

Probably the most important requirement of creating a database is to give it a name. The SQL is very flexible when it comes to names. In fact, it is very less restrictive than most otherco mput er languages. Still, there are rules you must follow when naming the objects in your databases:

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A name can start with either a letter (a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z), a digit (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9), an underscore (_) or a non-readable character. Examples are_n,ac t,%783,Seco nd

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After the first character (letter, digit, underscore, or symbol), the name can

have combinations of underscores, letters, digits, or symbols. Examples are

_n24or act_52_t

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A name can include spaces. Example are c0untries st@ts,go vmnt

(records), or gl0b# $urvey||

Microsoft SQL Server Primary Settings

Introduction

When you install Microsoft SQL Server, it also installs 4 databases namedmast er,

model, msdb, and tempdb. These databases will be for internal use. This means

that you should avoid directly using them, unless you know exactly what you are

doing.

The System Databases

One of the databases installed with Microsoft SQL Server is namedmast er. This database holds all the information about the server on which your MS SQL Server is installed. For example, we saw earlier that, to perform any operation on the server, you must login. The master database identifies any person, called a user, who accesses the database, about when and how.

Besides identifying who accesses the system, themast er database also keeps track of everything you do on the server, including creating and managing databases.

You should not play with the master database; otherwise you may corrupt the system. For example, if the master database is not functioning right, the system would not work.

A Namespace

A namespace is a technique of creating a series of items that each has a unique name. For example, if you start creating many databases, there is a possibility that you may risk having various databases with the same name. If using a namespace, you can isolate the databases in various namespaces. In reality, to manage many other aspects of your database server, you use namespaces and you put objects, other than databases, within those namespaces. Therefore, a namespace and its content can be illustrated as follows:

Notice that there are various types of objects within a namespace.

The Schema of a Database

Within a namespace, you can create objects as you wish. To further control and manage the objects inside of a namespace, you can put them in sub-groups called schemas. Therefore, a schema is a group of objects within a namespace. This also means that, within a namespace, you can have as many schemas as you want:

To manage the schemas in a namespace, you need a way to identify each schema. Based on this, each schema must have a name. In our illustration, one schema is named Schema1. Another schema is named Schema2. Yet another schema is named Schema_n.

Inside of a schema, two objects cannot have the same name, but an object in one schema can have the same name as an object in another schema. Based on this, if you are accessing an object within its schema, you can simply use its name, since that name would be unique. On the other hand, because of the implied possibility of dealing with objects with similar names in your server, when accessing an object outside of its schema, you must qualify it. To do this, you would type the name of the schema that contains the object you want to use, followed by the period operator, followed by the name of the object you want to use. From our illustration, to access the Something1 object that belongs to Schema1, you would type:

Schema1.Something1

There are two types of schemas you can use, those built-in and those you create. When Microsoft SQL Server is installed, it also creates a few schemas. One of the schemas is calledsys.

Thesys schema contains a list of some of the objects that exist in your system. One of these objects is calleddat abases (actually, it's a view). When you create a database, its name is entered in thedatabases object using the same name you gave it.