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Information Systems
~ Database Use~
Jose M. del Alamo

Departamento de Ingeniería de
Sistemas Telemáticos
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Data manipulation
SQL (Structured Query Language) is a declarative language to let
the database know what you want to achieve:
◆ Data Definition Language (DDL): To implement and modify the
database schema (tables and constraints)
◆ Data Manipulation Language (DML): To work with the data stored
in the database
SQL is case insensitive, but UPPER-CASE LETTERS are used to write
the language keywords
You can use ; to end a statement (though is not required)

Although SQL has been standardized most database vendors

have introduced changes not supported by the others:
◆ Stay within the standard as much as possible
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Data manipulation
Keywords you should know:
◆ Query
SELECT – Gets records from the database
◆ Modification
UPDATE
DELETE
INSERT INTO – Adds records to the database
◆ Database instance management
CREATE DATABASE – Creates a new instance
ALTER DATABASE – Modifies a database instance
◆ Table management
CREATE TABLE
ALTER TABLE – Modifies a existing table
DROP TABLE – Deletes a table (and all the associated data!!)
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Data manipulation
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Data manipulation
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Running the database
◆ Starting a simple SQL editor online
https://sqliteonline.com/ - PostgreSQL
◆ Setting up a new schema
1. Open apsv.sql (available in Moodle)
2. Copy all its contents
3. Paste it into the SQL console (PostgreSQL)
4. Run the code
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SELECT statement
Get the chosen data from the columns of a table
Syntax:
SELECT col1, col2
FROM table;

Some examples:
◆ SELECT acronym FROM groups;
◆ SELECT name FROM researchers;
◆ SELECT * FROM projects;
◆ SELECT DISTINCT rgroup FROM researchers;
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Built-in functions
Aggregate functions return a single value, calculated from values in
a column
AVG(), COUNT(), MAX(), MIN()…
◆ SELECT COUNT(*) FROM researchers;
◆ SELECT MAX(budget) FROM projects;
◆ SELECT MAX(budget), name FROM projects;

Scalar functions return a single value, based on the input value

UPPER(), LOWER(), INITCAP()…
◆ SELECT UPPER(name) FROM researchers;
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WHERE clause
Filter records, returning only those that fulfil the WHERE criteria
Syntax:
SELECT col1, col2
FROM table
WHERE colx operator value;
Some examples:
◆ SELECT * FROM projects WHERE budget=25000;
◆ SELECT * FROM projects WHERE budget<100000 AND budget>40000;
◆ SELECT * FROM groups WHERE acronym=‘STRAST’;
◆ SELECT * FROM groups WHERE acronym IN (‘STRAST’, ‘GSI’);
◆ SELECT * FROM researchers WHERE name LIKE ‘%Juan%’
% - zero or more characters
_ - one single character
[abc] – any character within the range
[!abc] – any character but those in the range
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Sorting results
It does not change the results, but just how they are presented
Syntax:
SELECT col1, col2
FROM table
ORDER BY colx ASC | DESC
LIMIT 1;

Some examples:
◆ SELECT * FROM projects ORDER BY budget ASC;
◆ SELECT * FROM projects ORDER BY budget DESC;
◆ SELECT * FROM researchers WHERE rgroup=‘STRAST’ ORDER BY name;
◆ SELECT * FROM researchers ORDER BY rgroup, name;
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Querying several tables
SELECT * FROM researchers, groups
WHERE researchers.rgroup=groups.acronym

JOIN is used to combine rows from two or more tables when

there are common fields between them e.g. as for a FK

There are three major types of JOINs:

◆ INNER JOIN: Returns all rows when there is at least one match
in both tables
◆ LEFT JOIN: Return all rows from the left table, and the matched
rows from the right table
◆ RIGHT JOIN: Return all rows from the right table, and the
matched rows from the left table
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INNER JOIN
Returns all rows when there is at least one match in BOTH tables
Syntax:
SELECT table1.col1, table2.col2
FROM table1
INNER JOIN table2
ON table1.colX comp table2.colY;

Examples – Researchers and their groups:

SELECT researchers.name, groups.name
FROM groups
INNER JOIN researchers ON groups.acronym=researchers.rgroup;
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LEFT JOIN
Return all rows from the left table, and the matched rows from the
right table
Syntax:
SELECT table1.col1, table2.col2
FROM table1
LEFT JOIN table2
ON table1.colX comp table2.colY;

Example – All the groups, w/ and wo/ researchers:

SELECT researchers.name, groups.name
FROM groups
LEFT JOIN researchers ON groups.acronym=researchers.rgroup;
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RIGHT JOIN
Return all rows from the right table, and the matched rows from the left
table
Syntax:
SELECT table1.col1, table2.col2
FROM table1
RIGHT JOIN table2
ON table1.colX comp table2.colY;

Example – All the researchers and their groups:

SELECT researchers.name, groups.name
FROM groups
RIGHTJOIN researchers ON groups.acronym=researchers.rgroup;
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Grouping resulting rows by columns
All the results can be groups by one or several columns when they
share the same column value
◆ The HAVING clause filters the resulting groups according to the
criteria
Syntax:
SELECT col1, col2
FROM table
GROUP BY colx
HAVING criteria;

Example – Researchers participating in 2 projects:

SELECT researchers.name, count(*)
FROM researchers
INNER JOIN participants ON researchers.id = participants.researcher
GROUP BY researchers.name
HAVING count(*)>2;
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SQL Subquery (inner/nested query)
◆ A subquery is a SQL query within a query
It can return individual values or a list of
records
It must be enclosed in brackets (…)
Syntax:
SELECT x.cols
FROM (subquery) AS x;
SELECT cols FROM table
WHERE colx operator (subquery);
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INSERT statement
Adds a row to a table
Syntax:
INSERT INTO table
VALUES(val1, val2, val3);

INSERT INTO table(colx, coly)

VALUES(val1, val2);

Example:
◆ INSERT INTO groups(name, acronym)
VALUES(‘Grupo de Sistemas Inteligentes', ’GSI')
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UPDATE statement
Changes the values to one or more columns in one or several tables
◆ The WHERE clause is used to choose the rows to update
◆ If WHERE is not used all rows will be updated

Syntax:
UPDATE table
SET colX=val1, colY=val2
WHERE colZ comp val;

Example:
◆ UPDATE groups
SET acronym=‘gSI’
WHERE acronym=‘GSI’;
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DELETE statement
Deletes rows from a table
◆ The WHERE clause is used to choose the rows to delete
◆ If WHERE is not used all rows will be deleted

Syntax:
DELETE FROM table
WHERE colZ comp val;

Example – Delete a course:

◆ DELETE FROM researchers
WHERE name=‘Juan’;
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Summary and next steps
SQL defines a language to talk to relational databases
◆ SELECT to query the database
Filtering the results and applying functions
In one or several tables
◆ INSERT to add data
◆ UPDATE to modify data
◆ DELETE to remove data

How to go deeper
◆ Details on SQL
http://www.w3schools.com/sql
◆ Details on PostgreSQL
https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/