Oracle8 DBA:SQL and PL/SQL

Oracle8 DBA: SQL and PL/SQL - CramNotes SQL COMMANDS

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SQL consists of DDL, DCL, and DML statements. DDL (Data Definition Language) consists of commands used to define or alter database internal structures such as tables, views, indexes, and so on. DDL commands include CREATE, ALTER, DROP, and TRUNCATE. DCL (Data Control Language) consists of commands used to control data access, such as the several forms of the GRANT command. DML (Data Manipulation Language) consists of commands used to populate or alter database data contents. DML commands include INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and SELECT. SQL has intrinsic functions that allow for data type conversion and data manipulation. SQL has operators that define operations between values and expressions. SELECT statements make use of joins, which can be one of the following types: H EquijoinsState equality or inequality operations. H Outer joinsUsed when one of the tables is deficient in data to complete the specified relationships. Self-joinsUsed when a table is joined to itself by use of table aliases. SQL supports SORT, COLLECTION, and SET operations.
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PRECEDENCE OF OPERATORS
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The precedence of operators are as follows: H (+) and (-)Unary operators (positive and negative number indicators) and the PRIOR operators.
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(*) and (/)Multiplication and division operators. Binary (=)Arithmetic operators (such as addition + and subtraction -) and the concatenation operator (||).

All comparison operatorsThis includes the NOT, AND, and OR logical operators. Parentheses always override precedence. Operators inside parentheses are always evaluated first. Functions are either scalar (single row) or aggregate (group) in nature. A single-row function returns a single result row for each row of a queried table or view, whereas an aggregate function returns a single value for a group of rows. A single-value function can appear in a SELECT if the SELECT doesnt contain a GROUP BY clause. Single-value functions can also appear in WHERE, START with, and CONNECT By clauses. Single-row functions can also be nested.

FUNCTIONS
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LIMITS ON A VIEW
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A view cant be updated if: H It has a join.

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It uses SET operator. It contains a GROUP BY clause. It uses any group function. It uses a DISTINCT operator. It has flattened subqueries. It uses nested table columns. It uses CAST and MULTISET expressions.

DELETE AND TRUNCATE COMMANDS

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The DELETE command is used to remove some or all rows from a table allowing ROLLBACK of the command if no COMMIT is executed. The TRUNCATE command is used to remove all rows from a table, and no ROLLBACK is allowed. The restrictions on outer joins are: H The (+) operator can appear only in the WHERE clause and can apply only to a table or view.
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OUTER JOINS
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If there are multiple join conditions, the (+) operator must be used in all of these conditions. The (+) operator can be applied to a column only, not to an expression. However, it can be applied to a column inside an arbitrary expression. A condition containing a column with a (+) cannot be OR related to another condition; neither can it be used in an IN condition. A column marked with the (+) operator cannot be compared to a subquery. Only one table in a multitable join can have the (+) operator applied to its joins to one other table.

THE ALTER TABLE COMMAND

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The following are things you can do with the ALTER TABLE command:
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Use the ADD clause to add columns that have null values to any table. Use the MODIFY clause to increase the size of columns or to change the precision of numeric columns. Use the MODIFY clause to change columns with all null values so that the columns are shorter or have a different data type. Alter the PCTREE, PCTUSED, INITRANS, or MAXTRANS values for any table. Use the STORAGE clause to alter the storage parameters for any table. Use the PARALLEL clause to change or remove the parallelism of a table. Use CACHE or NONCACHE to specify whether a table is to be cached or not.

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Oracle8 DBA:SQL and PL/SQL

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Use the DROP clause to remove a constraint. Use the DEFAULT value clause to add a default value to any column. Use the DISABLE clause to disable a constraint. (This is the only way to disable a constraint.) When the CASCADE option is specified with DISABLE, it also disables all dependent integrity constraints. Use the DEALLOCATE UNUSED clause to deallocate space that is not being used. (You can use the KEEP option to specify a safety margin above the high-water mark.) Use the ENABLE clause to enable a constraint that was created as disabled. (The ENABLE clause can be used only in CREATE and ALTER TABLE commands.)

Use the ADD CONSTRAINT clause to add a primary, not null, check, or foreign key constraint to an existing table. The things you cant do with the ALTER TABLE command include:
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Modify a column that has values to be shorter or to be a different data type than it already is. Add a NOT NULL column to a table that has rows in a single step operation with only the ALTER TABLE command. Alter a column to NOT NULL if it has rows with null values in that column. Rename a column. Drop a column. Change a columns data type to an incompatible data tyoe.

DATA DICTIONARY
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At its lowest level, the data dictionary consists of X$ and K$ C structs, not normally viewable or used by DBA. The data dictionary has V$ virtual views or tables, which contain variable data such as statistics. The data dictionary has dollar ($) tables, which actually contain database metadata about tables, views, indexes and other database structures. At the uppermost layer, the data dictionary has DBA_ views about all the objects, ALL_ views about all objects a user can access, and USER_ views about all objects a user owns. PL/SQL consists of the PL/SQL engine, which can be incorporated in the forms, SQL*Plus, or reports executables. The PL/SQL engine processes procedural statements and passes the SQL statements to the SQL server. A PL/SQL procedure may return one or more values. It is used to perform many functions, such as table input, table output, and value processing. A PL/SQL function must return one and only one value and cannot be used to perform input and output. A function should be used only to manipulate existing data; this ties in with the concept of function purity. A procedure consists of header, declarative, and executable (which may contain an exception handling block) sections. An anonymous PL/SQL block is an externally stored PL/SQL block that is not named and contains at a minimum an executable block. It may, however,

PL/SQL
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contain a declarative and executable (with or without exception handling block) section. An anonymous PL/SQL block can be called from any Oracle environment. An anonymous PL/SQL block is used to form the heart of table triggers.
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To process SELECT commands, PL/SQL uses either an explicit cursor (which usually returns more than one row) or an implicit cursor (which can return only one row or an exception will be raised). Flow control in PL/SQL uses loops, which can be counted FOR loops, conditional WHILE loops, or conditional infinite loops. Conditional flow control uses the IFTHENELSE construct in PL/SQL. Multiple IF constructs can be nested using the IFELSIF construct. The GOTO is used for unconditional branching in PL/SQL. The NULL command is a special command in PL/SQL used to fulfill the requirement for a flow control command to be followed by an executable command. Although NULL is an executable command, it does nothing. SQL in the form of DML can be used in PL/SQL. Generally speaking, without using specially provided procedure packages, DDL cannot be used in PL/SQL. COMMIT is used in PL/SQL to commit changed data explicitly. ROLLBACK is used in PL/SQL to return altered data to its previous state. Users can be created, altered, and dropped using the CREATE, ALTER, and DROP commands. Users are granted profiles, roles, and privileges. Profiles are used to limit resource usage and can be used to enforce password limitations. Roles are used to group a collection of privileges, roles, and grants that can then be granted en masse to a user or another role. Grants and privileges are given at he system table, or column level. Special roles such as OSOPER, OSDBA, CONNECT, RESOURCE, and DBA are automatically created: H OSOPERGrants all rights except the ability to create a database.
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USERS AND GRANTS

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OSDBAGrants OSOPER and the right to create databases. CONNECTGrants a basic set of privileges. RESOURCEGrants a set of privileges that specifically apply to a developer. DBAGrants almost unlimited rights that a DBA would use.

DATABASE DESIGN
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The five-step system development cycle consists of: H Strategy and analysisUsers are interviewed and requirements are generated. Design documents are written. Entities, attributes, and relationships are identified as well as relationships.
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DesignThe actual system is designed in detail. Entity relationship diagrams (ERDs), function decompositions, and data flow diagrams are created. In object-oriented design, Universal Modeling Language (UML) diagrams may be used instead of ERDs.

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Build and DocumentThe system is built mapping the ERD to tables and columns (or objects) and relationships to primary key and foreign key relationships (or REF values). The function decompositions and data flows are used to create forms, reports, and other application modules. TransitionThe system is moved from development into production. During this period, user acceptance testing is performed and final documentation is generated. ProductionThe system is placed into production, code is locked down, and a firm change control process is implemented. This is the final stage.

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Entities (or objects) can be either parent, or child, dependent, or independent. An entity (or object) is a thing of importance. Relationships (or REFs) are named associations between things of significance and have cardinality and optionality. Relationships can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or even many-to-many, although most should be either required or optional one-to-manys. A REF can be only a one-one relationship from child back to parent record. Normalization is the process where repeating values (attributes) are removed from an entity until all attributes in the entity relate only to the entitys unique identifier. The most common form of normalization is third normal form.

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