Database Management
Systems
Subject Teacher: Zartasha Baloch
2
Group Functions
Lecture # 16
Disclaimer: The material used in this presentation to deliver the lecture i.e., definitions/text and
pictures/graphs etc. does not solely belong to the author/presenter. The presenter has gathered this
lecture material from various sources on web/textbooks. Following sources are especially
acknowledged:
1. Connolly, Thomas M., and Carolyn E. Begg. Database systems: a practical approach to design, implementation,
and management. Pearson Education, 2005.
2. Gorman, Tim, Inger Jorgensen, Melanie Caffrey, and Lex deHaan. Beginning Oracle SQL: For Oracle Database
12c. Apress, 2014.
3. Greenberg, Nancy, and Instructor Guide PriyaNathan. "Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL." ORACLE, USA (2001).
Objectives
After completing this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
Identify the available group functions
Describe the use of group functions
Group data using the GROUP BY clause
Include or exclude grouped rows by using the HAVING clause
What Are Group Functions?
EMPLOYEES
Group functions operate on
sets of rows to give one result
per group.
The
maximum
salary in
the
EMPLOYEES
table.
…
Types of Group Functions
AVG
COUNT
MAX
MIN
STDDEV
SUM
VARIANCE
Group Functions Syntax
SELECT [column,] group_function(column), ...
FROM table
[WHERE condition]
[GROUP BY column]
[ORDER BY column];
Using the AVG and SUM Functions
You can use AVG and SUM for numeric data.
SELECT AVG(salary), MAX(salary),
MIN(salary), SUM(salary)
FROM employees
WHERE job_id LIKE '%REP%';
Using the MIN and MAX Functions
You can use MIN and MAX for any data type.
SELECT MIN(hire_date), MAX(hire_date)
FROM employees;
Using the COUNT Function
COUNT(*) returns the number of rows in a table.
SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 50;
Using the COUNT Function
COUNT(expr) returns the number of rows with non-null values
for the expr.
Display the number of department values in the EMPLOYEES
table, excluding the null values.
SELECT COUNT(commission_pct)
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 80;
Using the DISTINCT Keyword
COUNT(DISTINCT expr) returns the number of distinct non-
null values of the expr.
Display the number of distinct department values in the
EMPLOYEES table.
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT department_id)
FROM employees;
Group Functions and Null Values
Group functions ignore null values in the column.
SELECT AVG(commission_pct)
FROM employees;
Using the NVL Function
with Group Functions
The NVL function forces group functions to include
null values.
SELECT AVG(NVL(commission_pct, 0))
FROM employees;
Creating Groups of Data
EMPLOYEES
4400
9500
The
3500 average
salary
in
EMPLOYEES
6400 table
for each
department.
10033
…
Creating Groups of Data:
The GROUP BY Clause Syntax
SELECT column, group_function(column)
FROM table
[WHERE condition]
[GROUP BY group_by_expression]
[ORDER BY column];
Divide rows in a table into smaller groups by using the
GROUP BY clause.
Using the GROUP BY Clause
All columns in the SELECT list that are not in group
functions must be in the GROUP BY clause.
SELECT department_id, AVG(salary)
FROM employees
GROUP BY department_id ;
Using the GROUP BY Clause
The GROUP BY column does not have to be in the
SELECT list.
SELECT AVG(salary)
FROM employees
GROUP BY department_id ;
Grouping by More Than One Column
EMPLOYEES
“Add up the
salaries in
the EMPLOYEES
table
for each job,
grouped by
department.
…
Using the GROUP BY Clause
on Multiple Columns
SELECT department_id dept_id, job_id, SUM(salary)
FROM employees
GROUP BY department_id, job_id ;
Illegal Queries
Using Group Functions
Any column or expression in the SELECT list that is
not an aggregate function must be in the GROUP BY
clause.
SELECT department_id, COUNT(last_name)
FROM employees;
SELECT department_id, COUNT(last_name)
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00937: not a single-group group function
Column missing in GROUP BY clause
Illegal Queries
Using Group Functions
You cannot use the WHERE clause to restrict groups.
You use the HAVING clause to restrict groups.
You cannot use group functions in the WHERE clause.
SELECT department_id, AVG(salary)
FROM employees
WHERE AVG(salary) > 8000
GROUP BY department_id;
WHERE AVG(salary) > 8000
*
ERROR at line 3:
ORA-00934: group function is not allowed here
Excluding Group Results
EMPLOYEES
The maximum
salary
per department
when it is
greater than
$10,000
…
Excluding Group Results: The HAVING
Clause
Use the HAVING clause to restrict groups:
1. Rows are grouped.
2. The group function is applied.
3. Groups matching the HAVING clause are displayed.
SELECT column, group_function
FROM table
[WHERE condition]
[GROUP BY group_by_expression]
[HAVING group_condition]
[ORDER BY column];
Using the HAVING Clause
SELECT department_id, MAX(salary)
FROM employees
GROUP BY department_id
HAVING MAX(salary)>10000 ;
Using the HAVING Clause
SELECT job_id, SUM(salary) PAYROLL
FROM employees
WHERE job_id NOT LIKE '%REP%'
GROUP BY job_id
HAVING SUM(salary) > 13000
ORDER BY SUM(salary);
Nesting Group Functions
Display the maximum average salary.
SELECT MAX(AVG(salary))
FROM employees
GROUP BY department_id;
Summary
In this lesson, you should have learned how to:
Use the group functions COUNT, MAX, MIN, AVG
Write queries that use the GROUP BY clause
Write queries that use the HAVING clause
SELECT column, group_function(column)
FROM table
[WHERE condition]
[GROUP BY group_by_expression]
[HAVING group_condition]
[ORDER BY column];
