A Guide to Oracle9i1 Creating and Modifying Database Tables Chapter 2.
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A Guide to Oracle9i 1
Creating and ModifyingDatabase Tables
Chapter 2
A Guide to Oracle9i 2
Objectives
• Become acquainted with Structured Query Language (SQL)
• Learn about Oracle9i user schemas• Learn how to define Oracle9i database tables• Create database tables using SQL*Plus
A Guide to Oracle9i 3
Objectives
• Learn how to debug Oracle9i SQL commands and use Oracle Corporation online help resources
• Learn how to view information about your database tables using Oracle9i data dictionary views
• Modify and delete database tables using SQL*Plus
A Guide to Oracle9i 4
Introduction to SQL
• Structured Query Language (SQL): the standard query language for relational databases
• Data definition language (DDL)– Create new database objects– Modify or delete existing objects.
• Data manipulation language (DML)– Insert, update, delete, and view database data.
A Guide to Oracle9i 5
Oracle9i User Accounts
• User account - identified by a unique username and password
• User schema - all of the objects that the user creates and stores in the database
• Object owner has privileges to perform all possible actions on an object
A Guide to Oracle9i 6
Defining Oracle9i Database Tables
• To create a new table specify:– Table name
– Name of each data field
– Data type and size of each data field
• Constraints: restrictions on the data values that a field can store• Oracle Naming Standard:
– Series of rules Oracle Corporation established for naming all database objects
– Objects must be from 1 to 30 characters long
– Can contain letters, numbers, and the special symbols $, _, and #
– Must begin with a character
A Guide to Oracle9i 7
Creating a Table
CREATE TABLE tablename
(fieldname1data_type,
(fieldname2 data_type,
…)
A Guide to Oracle9i 8
Oracle9i Data Types
• Data type: specifies the kind of data that a field stores
• Assigning a data type provides a means for error checking
• Data types enable the DBMS to use storage space more efficiently by internally storing different types of data in different ways
A Guide to Oracle9i 9
Character Data Types
• VARCHAR2 – Stores variable-length character data up to a
maximum of 4,000 characters– Values in different records can have a different
number of characters– fieldname VARCHAR2(maximum_size)
A Guide to Oracle9i 10
Character Data Types
• CHAR– Fixed-length character data up to a maximum size
of 2,000 characters– Data values for different records all have the same
number of characters– DBMS adds trailing blank spaces to the end of the
entry to make the entry fill the maximum_size value
– Data longer than maximum_size causes an error– fieldname CHAR[(maximum_size)]
A Guide to Oracle9i 11
Character Data Types
• NVARCHAR2 and NCHAR– Analogous to VARCHAR2 and CHAR but use
Unicode rather than ASCII– Used to hold character data in languages other
than English
A Guide to Oracle9i 12
Number Data Types
• Stores negative, positive, fixed, and floating point numbers between 10–130 and 10125, with precision up to 38 decimal places
• General Syntax: fieldname NUMBER [([precision,] [scale])]
• Integer: fieldname NUMBER(precision) • Fixed point: fieldname NUMBER[([precision],[scale])] • Floating point: fieldname NUMBER
A Guide to Oracle9i 13
Date and Time Data Types
• DATE– Dates from December 31, 4712 BC to December 31, 4712
AD– Default format DD-MON-YY– Default time format HH:MI:SS A.M.– fieldname DATE
• TIMESTAMP – Similar to DATE but stores fractional seconds– fieldname TIMESTAMP (fractional_seconds_precision)
A Guide to Oracle9i 14
Date and Time Data Types
• INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH – Time interval, expressed in years and months
– +02-11 specifies a positive time interval of 2 years and 11 months
– fieldname INTERVAL YEAR[(year_precision)] TO MONTH
• INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND– Time interval, expressed in days, hours, minutes, and seconds
– -04 03:20:32.00: 4 days, 3 hours, 20 minutes, and 32 seconds
– fieldname INTERVAL DAY[(leading_precision)] TO SECOND[(fractional_seconds_precision)]
A Guide to Oracle9i 15
Large Object (LOB) Data Types
A Guide to Oracle9i 16
Constraints• Rules that restrict the data values that you can enter into a field in a
database table
• Integrity constraints: define primary and foreign keys
• Value constraints: define specific data values or data ranges that must be inserted into columns and whether values must be unique or not NULL
• Table constraint: restricts the data value with respect to all other values in the table
• Field constraint: limits the value that can be placed in a specific field, irrespective of values that exist in other table records
A Guide to Oracle9i 17
Oracle Constraint Naming Convention
• tablename_ fieldname_constraintID
A Guide to Oracle9i 18
Integrity Constraints
• Define primary key fields
• Specify foreign keys and their corresponding table and column references
• Specify composite keys
A Guide to Oracle9i 19
Value Constraints
• Check conditions: field value must be a specific value or fall within a range of values
• NOT NULL constraints: specify whether a field value can be NULL
• Default constraints: specify that a field has a default value that the DBMS automatically inserts for every record, unless the user specifies an alternate value
• Unique constraints: specify that a field must have a unique value for every table record
A Guide to Oracle9i 20
Creating Database Tables Using SQL*Plus
• Type SQL commands at the SQL prompt
• End each command with a semicolon (;)
• Not case sensitive
A Guide to Oracle9i 21
Log On to SQL*Plus
A Guide to Oracle9i 22
SQL*Plus Program Window
A Guide to Oracle9i 23
Create a Table
A Guide to Oracle9i 24
Table Creation Sequence
• When creating tables with foreign key references, create referenced tables first
• Always create tables without foreign keys before those with foreign keys
A Guide to Oracle9i 25
Using Notepad
• Useful to use Notepad to edit sql commands– Commands can be edited without retyping– Commands can be saved– Saving multiple sql commands in a file creates a
script
A Guide to Oracle9i 26
Errors
• When an error occurs error information is displayed:– Line number– Position on line– Error code– Description of error
• Error codes– 3 letter prefix (I.e. ORA) – 5 digit code– More information on errors can be found at
http://otn.oracle.com
A Guide to Oracle9i 27
Exiting SQL*Plus
• Three ways to exit SQL*Plus:– Type exit at the SQL prompt lick File on the menu bar, and then click Exit– Click the Close button on the program window title
bar
• Database session ends when SQL*Plus exits
A Guide to Oracle9i 28
Create Table with Foreign Key Constraint
A Guide to Oracle9i 29
Viewing Information About Tables
• describe tablename: displays column names and data types
• Data dictionary: tables that contain information about the structure of the database.– USER: shows the objects in the current user’s schema– ALL: shows both objects in the current user’s schema and
objects that the user has privileges to manipulate– DBA: allows users who are database administrators to view
information about all database objects
A Guide to Oracle9i 30
Viewing Tables in the Database
A Guide to Oracle9i 31
Viewing Constraints on One Table
A Guide to Oracle9i 32
Modifying and Deleting Database Tables
• Modify existing database tables by:– Changing the name of a table– Adding new columns– Deleting columns that are no longer needed– Changing the data type or maximum size of an existing
column
• Unrestricted action: some specifications can always be modified
• Restricted action: specifications modified only in certain situations
A Guide to Oracle9i 33
Unrestricted Action
A Guide to Oracle9i 34
Restricted Actions
A Guide to Oracle9i 35
Deleting and Renaming Tables
• To delete:– Drop table [tablename]– Use with caution– To delete foreign key constraints, add “cascade constraints”
• To rename:– Rename old_tablename to new_tablename– DBMS automatically transfers to the new table integrity
constraints, indexes, and privileges that referenced the old table.
A Guide to Oracle9i 36
Adding Fields to Existing Tables
• To add a field:– ALTER TABLE tablename ADD(fieldname
data_declaration constraints);
A Guide to Oracle9i 37
Modifying Existing Field Data Definitions
• Can only change datatype to compatible data type (i.e. varchar2 to char)
• ALTER tablename MODIFY(fieldname new_data_declaration);
A Guide to Oracle9i 38
Deleting a Field
• ALTER TABLE tablename DROP COLUMN fieldname;
• Can be used to rename a field – first drop, then add
A Guide to Oracle9i 39
Adding and Deleting Constraints
• Add a constraint: ALTER TABLE tablename ADD CONSTRAINT constraint_name constraint_definition;
• Remove a constraint: ALTER TABLE tablename DROP CONSTRAINT constraint_name;
A Guide to Oracle9i 40
Enabling and Disabling Constraints
• When modifying a database it can be useful to disable constraints
• Constraints are enabled by default
• To disable a constraint: ALTER TABLE tablename DISABLE CONSTRAINT constraint_name;
• To enable a constraint: ALTER TABLE tablename ENABLE CONSTRAINT constraint_name;
A Guide to Oracle9i 41
Summary
• SQL commands include:– Data description language (DDL) commands: create, modify,
Deleted database objects– Data manipulation language (DML) commands: insert,
update, delete, view database data
• To create a table: – specify the table name, the name of each data field, and the
data type and size of each data field
• Data types ensure correct data values• Constraints restrict values of database fields• SQL*Plus commands are not case sensitive
A Guide to Oracle9i 42
Summary
• Errors include line number, position, error code
• Use DESCRIBE command to display a table’s fieldnames and data types
• Tables can be modified or deleted but some changes are restricted
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