Database Management Systems

Chapter 4
Queries

Jerry Post
Copyright © 2003
1
D Why do we Need Queries
A
 Natural languages (English) are too vague
T  With complex questions, it can be hard to verify that the
question was interpreted correctly, and that the answer we
A received is truly correct.
 Consider the question: Who are our best customers?

B  We need a query system with more structure

 We need a standardized system so users and
A developers can learn one method that works on any
(most) systems.
S  Query By Example (QBE)
 SQL
E
2
D Four Questions to Create a Query
A
 What output do you want to see?
T  What do you already know (or what constraints are
given)?
A  What tables are involved?

B  How are the tables joined together?

A
S
E
3
D Tables Animal

A
AnimalOrder Animal A nimalID
OrderItem N ame SaleAnimal
OrderID * * *
OrderID C ategory
Orde rDate * SaleID
AnimalID Breed
* R eceiveD ate AnimalID
Cost Breed * D ateBorn

T
SupplierID * SalePrice
Gender
ShippingCost Category
R egistered
EmployeeID * Breed
C olor
Employee
ListPrice
Supplier C ustomer
EmployeeID Photo

A SupplierID
Name
ContactName
Phone
C ity
C ityID
ZipCode
LastName
FirstName
Phone
Address
Sale
SaleID
SaleDate
C ustomerID
Phone
FirstName
LastName

B
Address ZipCode * Address
C ity Employe eID
ZipCode * CityID ZipCode
State CustomerID * *
CityID TaxPayerID C ityID
AreaCode SalesTax
* DateHired Category
Population1990
DateReleased
Population1980 Category

A
C oun try Registration
SaleItem
Latitude
*
Longitude Merchandise SaleID
OrderItem
ItemID
* ItemID
PONumber * Quantity

S
Merchandise * Description
Orde r ItemID SalePrice
QuantityO nHand
Quantity
PONumber ListPrice
Cost
Orde rDate Category
R eceiveD ate *

E
SupplierID
* EmployeeID
ShippingCost *

4
D Organization
A
 Single table
T  Constraints

A  Computations
 Groups/Subtotals
B  Multiple Tables

A
S
E
5
D Sample Questions
A  List all animals with yellow in
their color.
 List all dogs with yellow in
 How many cats are in the
animal list?
 Count the number of animals in
T their color born after 6/1/04.
 List all merchandise for cats
each category.
 List the CustomerID of everyone

A with a list price greater than

$10.
who bought something between
4/1/04 and 5/31/04.
 List all dogs who are male  List the first name and phone of
B and registered or who were
born before 6/1/04 and have
every customer who bought
something between 4/1/04 and
white in their color.
A  What is the average sale
price of all animals?
5/31/04.
 List the last name and phone of
anyone who bought a registered
S  What is the total cost we paid
for all animals?
white cat between 6/1/04 and
12/31/04.

E  List the top 10 customers

and total amount they spent.
 Which employee has sold the
most items?

6
 Query04_01

D Query By Example & SQL

A What tables? SELECTAnimalID, Category, Breed, Color

T Animal
FROM Animal
WHERE (Color LIKE ‘%Yellow%’);

A AnimalID
Name
Category
What to see?

B Breed
DateBorn
Gender
What conditions?

A Field AnimalID Categor

y
Breed Color

S Table
Sort
Animal Animal Animal Animal

E
Criteria Like ‘%Yellow%’
Or
List all animals with yellow in their color

7
D Basic SQL SELECT
A
T SELECT columns
FROM tables
What do you want to see?
What tables are involved?
A JOIN conditions How are the tables joined?

B WHERE criteria What are the constraints?

A
S
E
8
D ORDER BY
A SELECT
FROM
JOIN
columns
tables
join columns
T WHERE
ORDER BY
conditions
columns (ASC DESC)

A Animal SELECT Name, Category, Breed Name Category Breed

AnimalID FROM Animal Cathy Bird African Grey

B Name
Category
Breed
ORDER BY Category, Breed; Bird
Debbie Bird
Canary
Cockatiel
Bird Cockatiel

A DateBorn
Gender
Terry Bird
Bird
Lovebird
Other
Field Name Category Breed Charles Bird Parakeet

S Table
Sort
Animal Animal
Ascending
Animal
Ascending
Curtis
Ruby
Bird
Bird
Parakeet
Parakeet
Sandy Bird Parrot

E Criteria
Or
Hoyt Bird
Bird
Parrot
Parrot

9
D DISTINCT
A SELECT Category
FROM Animal;
SELECT DISTINCT Category
FROM Animal;

T Category
Fish
Category
Bird
Dog
A Fish
Cat
Cat
Dog
Fish

B Cat
Dog
Fish
Mammal
Reptile
Spider
A Dog
Dog
Dog
S Fish
Cat

E Dog
...

10
 Query04_02

D Constraints: And
A
T Animal
SELECTAnimalID, Category, DateBorn
A AnimalID
Name
Category
FROM Animal
WHERE ((Category=‘Dog’)
AND (Color Like ‘%Yellow%’)
B
Breed
DateBorn AND (DateBorn>’01-Jun-2004’));
Gender

A Field AnimalID Categor

y
DateBorn Color

S
Table Animal Animal Animal Animal
Sort
Criteria ‘Dog’ >’01-Jun-2004’ Like ‘%Yellow%’

E Or
List all dogs with yellow in their color born after 6/1/04.

11
D Boolean Algebra a=3

A And: Both must be true.

Or: Either one is true.
b = -1
c=2
T Not: Reverse the value.
(a > 4) And (b < 0)
A F
F
T

B (a > 4) Or (b < 0)
F T
A T

S NOT (b < 0)
T
E F

12
D Boolean Algebra
A The result is affected by the order
of the operations. a=3

T Parentheses indicate that an

operation should be performed first.
b = -1
With no parentheses, operations are c=2
A performed left-to-right.
( (a > 4) AND (b < 0) ) OR (c > 1)
B F
F
T T
T
A T

(a > 4) AND ( (b < 0) OR (c > 1) )

S Always use parentheses,
so other people can read
F T T
F T
E and understand your query. F

13
D DeMorgan’s Law Example
A Customer: "I want to look at a cat, but I don’t want any cats that are
registered or that have red in their color."

T Animal SELECT AnimalID, Category, Registered, Color

A AnimalID
Name
Category
FROM Animal
WHERE (Category=‘Cat’) AND
NOT ((Registered is NOT NULL)
B Breed
DateBorn
Gender
OR (Color LIKE ‘%Red%’)).

A Field
Table
AnimalID
Animal
Category
Animal
Registered
Animal
Color
Animal

S
Sort
Criteria ‘Cat’ Is Null Not Like ‘%Red%’
Or

E
14
D DeMorgan’s Law
A  Negation of clauses
 Not (A And B) becomes

T Not A Or Not B
 Not (A Or B) becomes Registered=ASCF
Not A And Not B Color=Black
A NOT ((Registered is NOT NULL) OR (Color LIKE ‘%Red%’))

B T
not
or
T
F

A F
(Registered is NULL) AND NOT (Color LIKE ‘%Red%’)

S F
and
not
T
F

E F

15
 Query04_03

D Conditions: AND, OR
SELECT AnimalID, Category, Gender, Registered, DateBorn, Color

A FROM Animal
WHERE (( Category=‘Dog’) AND
( ( (Gender=‘Male’) AND (Registered Is Not Null) ) OR

T Animal
( (DateBorn<’01-Jun-2004’) AND (Color Like ‘%White%’) ) ) );

A AnimalID
Name
Category

B Breed
DateBorn
Gender

A Field AnimalID Categor

y
Gender Registere
d
DateBorn Color

Table Animal Animal Animal Animal Animal Animal

S Sort
Criteria ‘Dog’ ‘Male’ Is Not Null

E Or
List all dogs who are‘Dog’ < ’01-Jun-
male and registered or who were
have white in their color.
born before Like
2004’
‘%White%’
6/1/2004 and

16
D Useful Where Conditions
A Comparisons Examples

T Operators
Numbers
<, =, >, <>, BETWEEN, LIKE, IN
AccountBalance > 200

A Text
Simple Name > ‘Jones’

B Pattern match one

Pattern match any
License LIKE ‘A_ _82_’
Name LIKE ‘J%’

A Dates SaleDate BETWEEN ’15-Aug-2004’

AND ’31-Aug-2004’

S
Missing Data City IS NULL
Negation Name IS NOT NULL

E Sets Category IN (‘Cat’, ‘Dog’, ‘Hamster’)

17
D Simple Computations
A SaleItem(OrderID, ItemID, SalePrice, Quantity)

T Select OrderID, ItemID, SalePrice, Quantity,

SalePrice*Quantity As Extended

A From SaleItem;
OrderID ItemID Price Quantity Extended

B 151
151
9764
7653
19.50
8.35
2
3
39.00
25.05

A 151 8673 6.89 2 13.78

S
Basic computations (+ - * /) can be performed on numeric data.
E The new display column should be given a meaningful name.

24
 Query04_04

D Computations: Aggregation--Avg
A
SELECT Avg(SalePrice) AS AvgOfSalePrice

T FROM SaleAnimal;

SaleAnimal Sum
A SaleID
AnimalID
Avg
Min
SalePrice

B Max
Count
StDev or StdDev
Field SalePrice

A Table
Total
SaleAnimal
Avg
Var

S Sort
Criteria

E
Or

What is the average sale price of all animals?

25
 Query04_05

D Computations (Math Operators)

A OrderItem

T PONumber SELECT Sum(Quantity*Cost) AS OrderTotal

ItemID FROM OrderItem
Quantity WHERE (PONumber=22);
Cost

A Field PONumber OrderTotal: Quantity*Cost

B
Table OrderItem OrderItem
Total
Sort
OrderTotal

A Criteria
Or
=22
1798.28

S  What is the total value of the order for PONumber 22?

E  Use any common math operators on numeric data.

 Operate on data in one row at a time.

26
D SQL Differences
A
T
A
B
A
S
E
27
 Query04_06

D Subtotals (Where)
A
T Animal
AnimalID
Name
SELECT Count(AnimalID) AS CountOfAnimalID

A Category
Breed
DateBorn
FROM Animal
WHERE (Category = ‘Cat’);

B
Gender

Field AnimalID Category

A
Table Animal Animal
Total Count Where
Sort

S Criteria
Or
‘Cat’

E How many cats are in the Animal list?

28
 Query04_07

D Groups and Subtotals

A Animal
SELECT
FROM
GROUP BY
Category, Count(AnimalID) AS CountOfAnimalID
Animal
Category

T AnimalID
Name
Category
ORDER BY Count(AnimalID) DESC;

A
Breed
DateBorn Category CountOfAnimalID
Gender Dog 100

B Field Category AnimalID Cat 47

Table Animal Animal
Bird 15
Fish 14

A
Total Group Count
By Reptile 6
Mammal 6
Sort Descendin
Spider 3
S
g
Criteria
OrCount the number of animals in each category.

E  You could type in each WHERE clause, but that is slow.

 And you would have to know all of the Category values.

29
 Query04_08

D Conditions on Totals (Having)

A Animal
SELECT Category, Count(AnimalID) AS CountOfAnimalID

T AnimalID
Name
Category
FROM
GROUP BY
HAVING
Animal
Category
Count(AnimalID) > 10
Breed

A DateBorn
Gender
ORDER BY Count(AnimalID) DESC;

B
Field Category AnimalID
Table Animal Animal
Category CountOfAnimalID
Dog 100
Total Group Count

A Sort
By
Descending
Cat
Bird
Fish
47
15
14

S
Criteria >10
Or

E Count number of Animals in each Category, but only list them if more than 10.

30
 Query04_09

D Where (Detail) v Having (Group)

A Animal SELECT Category, Count(AnimalID) AS CountOfAnimalID
FROM Animal

T
AnimalID
Name WHERE DateBorn > ’01-Jun-2004’
Category GROUP BY Category
Breed HAVING Count(AnimalID) > 10

A DateBorn
Gender
ORDER BY Count(AnimalID) DESC;

B Field
Table
Category
Animal
AnimalID
Animal
DateBorn
Animal

A
Total Group Count Where Category CountOfAnimalID
By
Dog 30
Sort Descendin Cat 18

S
g
Criteria >10 >’01-Jun-
2004’

E Or
Count Animals born after 6/1/2004 in each Category, but only list Category if more
than 10.

31
 Query04_10

D Multiple Tables (Intro & Distinct)

A Sale SELECT DISTINCT CustomerID
CustomerI D
6
8

T SaleID
SaleDate
EmployeeID
FROM Sale
WHERE (SaleDate Between ’01-Apr-2004’
And ’31-May-2004’)
14
19
22

A
CustomerID ORDER BY CustomerID; 24
SalesTax 28
36
37

B Field

Table
CustomerI
D
Sale
SaleDate

Sale
38
39
42

A Sort
Criteria
Ascending
Between ’01-Apr-2004’
50
57
58

S
And ’31-May-2004’ 63
74
Or
80
90

E List the CustomerID of everyone who bought something between 01-Apr-2004 and
31-May-2004.

32
 Query04_11

D Joining Tables
A SELECT DISTINCT Sale.CustomerID, Customer.LastName
FROM Customer
INNER JOIN Sale ON Customer.CustomerID = Sale.CustomerID

T WHERE (SaleDate Between ’01-Apr-2004’ And ’31-May-2004’)

ORDER BY Customer.LastName;

A
Sale Customer
SaleID CustomerID
SaleDate Phone CustomerID LastName
22 Adkins

B
EmployeeID FirstName
CustomerID LastName 57 Carter
38 Franklin
42 Froedge
Field CustomerI LastName SaleDate

A
63 Grimes
D 74 Hinton
Table Sale Customer Sale 36 Holland
6 Hopkins

S
Sort Ascendin
50 Lee
g 58 McCain
Criteria Between ’01-Apr-2004’ …

E
And ’31-May-2004’
List LastNames of Customers who bought between 4/1/2004 and
Or
5/31/2004.

33
D SQL JOIN
A FROM table1
INNER JOIN table2
T ON table1.column = table2.column

A SQL 92 syntax (Access and SQL Server)

FROM table1, table2
B WHERE table1.column = table2.column
SQL 89 syntax (Oracle)
A
FROM table1, table2
S JOIN table1.column = table2.column

E Informal syntax

34
D Syntax for Three Tables
A SQL ‘92 syntax to join three tables

T
FROM Table1
INNER JOIN (Table2 INNER JOIN Table3

A ON Table2.ColA = Table3.ColA)
ON Table1.ColB = Table2.ColB

B
A Easier notation, but not correct syntax
FROM Table1, Table2, Table3

S JOIN Table1.ColB = Table2.ColB

Table2.ColA = Table3.ColA

E
35
 Query04_12

D Multiple Tables (Many)

SELECT DISTINCTROW Customer.LastName, Customer.Phone

A FROM Customer INNER JOIN (Sale INNER JOIN (Animal INNER JOIN SaleAnimal
ON Animal.AnimalID = SaleAnimal.AnimalID) ON Sale.SaleID = SaleAnimal.SaleID)
ON Customer.CustomerID = Sale.CustomerID

T WHERE ((Animal.Category=‘Cat’) AND (Animal.Registered Is Not Null)

AND (Color Like ‘%White%’) AND (SaleDate Between ’01-Jun-2004’ And ’31-Dec-2004’));

A
Animal SaleAnimal Sale Customer
AnimalID SaleID SaleID CustomerID
Name AnimalID SaleDate Phone

B
Category SalePrice EmployeeID FirstName
Breed CustomerID LastName

Field LastName Phone Categor Registere Color SaleDate

A
Table Customer Customer
y
Animal
d
Animal Animal Sale

S
Sort Ascendin
g
Criteria ‘Cat’ Is Not Null Like ‘%White%’ Between ’01-Jun-2004’

E
And ’31-Dec-2004’
 List the Last Name and Phone of anyone who bought a registered
Or White cat between 6/1/2004 and 12/31/2004.

36
D Oracle
A select lastname, phone

T from customer inner join sale on customer.customerid = sale.customerid

inner join saleanimal on sale.saleid = saleanimal.saleid

A inner join animal on saleanimal.animalid = animal.animalid

where (category = 'Cat') and (Registered is not null) and (color like '%White
B %')
AND (saledate between '01-Jun-2004' and '31-Dec-2004')

A ;

S
E
37
D Building a Query
A  List the Last Name and Phone of anyone who bought a registered
White cat between 6/1/04 and 12/31/04.

T
 Identify the tables involved.
 Look at the columns you want to see.
 LastName, Phone: Customer
A  Look at the columns used in the constraints.
 Registered, Color, Category: Animal

B  Sale Date: Sale

 Find connector tables.

A
 To connect Animal to Sale: SaleAnimal
 Select the desired columns and test the query.

S
Enter the constraints.
 Set Order By columns.

E
Add Group By columns.
 Add summary computations to the SELECT statement.

38
D Joining Tables (Hints)
A  Build Relationships First  Multiple Tables

T  Drag and drop

 From one side to many side
 FROM (Table1
 INNER JOIN Table2

A  Avoid multiple ties between  ON T1.ColA = T2.ColB )

tables  INNER JOIN Table3
 SQL  ON T3.ColC = T3.ColD

B  FROM Table1
 INNER JOIN Table2
 Shorter Notation
 FROM T1, T2, T3

A  ON Table1.ColA = Table2.ColB
 Join columns are often keys, but
 JOIN T1.ColA = T2.ColB
 T1.ColC = T3.ColD
they can be any columns--as  Shorter Notation is not correct
S long as the domains (types of
data) match.
syntax, but it is easier to write.

E
39
D Tables with Multiple Joins
A  Potential problem with three or more tables.
 Access uses predefined relationships to

T automatically determine JOINs.

 JOINS might loop. AnimalOrder

A
OrderID
 Most queries will not work with loops. OrderDate
¥ ReceiveDate
SupplierID
ShippingCost
¥

B
EmployeeID
A query with these four tables
with four JOINS would only return Supplier
1 1
Employee
SupplierID
rows where the Employee had the EmployeeID

A
Name
LastName
ContactName
same ZipCode as the Supplier. If Phone
City
FirstName
Phone
Address
you only need the Supplier city, ZipCode CityID
Address
ZipCode

S
CityID
just delete the JOIN between ZipCode
City
CityID
TaxPayerID
Employee and ZipCode. If you State
AreaCode
DateHired
DateReleased
want both cities, add the ZipCode Population1990

E
Population1980
table again as a fifth table. Country
Latitude
Longitude

40
D Table Alias
A CityID
City Supplier
SupplierID
AnimalOrder
OrderDate
Employee
EmployeeID
City2
CityID
ZipCode Address SupplierID LastName ZipCode

T City
State
ZipCode
CityID
ShippingCost
EmployeeID
ZipCode
CityID
City
State

A SELECT Supplier.SID, Supplier.CityID, City.City, Employee.EID,

Employee.LastName, Employee.CityID, City2.City
FROM (City INNER JOIN Supplier ON City.CityID = Supplier.CityID) INNER JOIN

B ((City AS City2 INNER JOIN Employee ON City2.CityID = Employee.CityID)

INNER JOIN AnimalOrder ON Employee.EmployeeID = AnimalOrder.EmployeeID)
ON Supplier.SupplierID = AnimalOrder.SupplierID;

A SID Supplier.CityID City.City EID LastName Employee.CityID City2.City

4 7972 Middlesboro 5 James 7083 Orlando

S 2
4
9
10896
7972
10740
Springfield
Middlesboro
Columbia
1
3
8
Reeves
Reasoner
Carpenter
9201
8313
10592
Lincoln
Springfield
Philadelphia

E 5 10893 Smyrna 3 Reasoner 8313 Springfield

41
D Saved Query: Create View
A  Save a query
T
CREATE VIEW Kittens AS
 Faster: only enter once
 Faster: only analyze once SELECT *

A  Any SELECT statement

 Can use the View within
FROM Animal
WHERE (Category = ‘Cat’) AND

B other SQL queries. (Today - DateBorn < 180);

A SELECT Avg(ListPrice)

S FROM Kittens
WHERE (Color LIKE ‘%Black%’);

E
42
D Updateable Views
A
OrderItem(OrderID, ItemID, Quantity) Item(ItemID, Description)
T
A OrderLine(OrderID, ItemID, Description, Quantity)

B  To be updateable, a view must focus on one primary

table. (OrderItem)
A  Goal is to change data in only one table. (OrderItem)
 Data can be displayed from other tables. (Item)

S  Never include or attempt to change primary keys from

more than one table. (Item.ItemID)

E
43
D Non Updateable View
A OrderItem(OrderID, ItemID, Quantity)

121 57 3
Item(ItemID, Description)

57 Cat food

T 121
122
82
57
2
1
58
59
Dog food
Bird food

A
B
OrderLine(OrderID, Item.ItemID, Description, Quantity)
121 57 Cat food 3

A
121 82 Bird feeder 2
122 57 Cat food 1
32

S If you attempt to change the Item.ItemID in the OrderLineView:

You will simply change the primary key value in the Item table.
E It will not add a new row to the OrderItem table.

44
D SQL Syntax: ALTER TABLE
A ALTER TABLE table
T ADD COLUMN column datatype (size)
DROP COLUMN column
A
B
A
S See also:
CREATE TABLE

E DROP TABLE

45
D SQL Syntax: COMMIT
A COMMIT WORK
T
A
B
A
S See also: ROLLBACK

E
46
D SQL Syntax: CREATE INDEX
A CREATE [UNIQUE] INDEX index
T ON table (column1, column2, … )
WITH {PRIMARY | DISALLOW NULL | IGNORE NULL}
A
B
A
S See also: CREATE TABLE

E
47
D SQL Syntax: CREATE TABLE
A CREATE TABLE table
T (
column1 datatype (size) [NOT NULL] [index1] ,
A column2
…,
datatype (size) [NOT NULL] [index2],

B CONSTRAINT pkname PRIMARY KEY (column, …),

CONSTRAINT fkname FOREIGN KEY (column)
REFERENCES existing_table (key_column)
A ON DELETE CASCASDE
)
S See also:
ALTER TABLE

E DROP TABLE

48
D SQL Syntax: CREATE VIEW
A CREATE VIEW viewname AS
T SELECT …

A
B
A
S See also: SELECT

E
49
D SQL Syntax: DELETE
A DELETE
T FROM table
WHERE condition
A
B
A
S See also: DROP

E
50
D SQL Syntax: DROP
A DROP INDEX index ON table
T DROP TABLE
A DROP VIEW

B
A
S See also: DELETE

E
51
D SQL Syntax: INSERT
A INSERT INTO table (column1, column2, …)
T VALUES (value1, value2, … )

A INSERT INTO newtable (column1, column2, …)

SELECT …

B
A
S See also: SELECT

E
52
D SQL Syntax: GRANT
A GRANT privilege privileges
T ON object
TO user | PUBLIC
ALL, ALTER, DELETE, INDEX,
INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE

A
B
A
S See also: REVOKE

E
53
D SQL Syntax: REVOKE
A REVOKE privilege privileges
T ON object
FROM user | PUBLIC
ALL, ALTER, DELETE, INDEX,
INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE

A
B
A
S See also: GRANT

E
54
D SQL Syntax: ROLLBACK
A SAVEPOINT savepoint {optional}
T ROLLBACK WORK
A TO savepoint

B
A
S See also: COMMIT

E
55
D SQL Syntax: SELECT
A SELECT DISTINCT table.column {AS alias} , . . .
FROM table/query
T INNER JOIN table/query ON T1.ColA = T2.ColB
WHERE (condition)

A GROUP BY column
HAVING (group condition)
ORDER BY table.column
B { UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT … }

A
S
E
56
D SQL Syntax: SELECT INTO
A SELECT column1, column2, …
T INTO newtable
FROM tables
A WHERE condition

B
A
S See also: SELECT

E
57
D SQL Syntax: UPDATE
A UPDATE TABLE table
T SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2, …
WHERE condition
A
B
A
S See also: DELETE

E
58