Week-6
1.1 Defining Data: DDL
Data Definition Language actually consists of the SQL commands that can be used to
define the database schema. It simply deals with descriptions of the database schema
and is used to create and modify the structure of database objects in the database. DDL
is a set of SQL commands used to create, modify, and delete database structures but not
data.
SQLs data definition language (DDL) defines information about each relation in a
database which is listed below in detail:
➢ DDL specifies the schema of each relation i.e. the logical design of each relation
which states the name of that relation, attributes it carries and also specifies
the domain of those attributes.
➢ DDL specifies the integrity constraint which makes sure that any changes made
to the database don’t affect the consistency of data.
➢ DDL also maintains the set of indices for each relation which let you retrieve the
records from the database quickly.
➢ DDL maintains the information about the security of data in the database and it
also keeps the information regarding the authorization for each relation in the
database.
➢ DDL also describes the storage structure of each relation on the hard disk.
List of DDL commands:
➢ CREATE: This command is used to create the database or its objects (like table,
index, function, views, store procedure, and triggers).
➢ DROP: This command is used to delete objects from the database.
➢ ALTER: This is used to alter the structure of the database.
➢ TRUNCATE: This is used to remove all records from a table, including all
spaces allocated for the records are removed.
➢ COMMENT: This is used to add comments to the data dictionary.
➢ RENAME: This is used to rename an object existing in the database.
1.2 CREATE:
There are two CREATE statements available in SQL:
1. CREATE DATABASE
2. CREATE TABLE
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a new database in SQL.
Syntax:
CREATE DATABASE database_name;
For Example:
CREATE DATABASE TEST;
This query will create a new database in SQL and name the database as TEST
The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in SQL. We know that a table
comprises of rows and columns. So while creating tables we have to provide all the
information to SQL about the names of the columns, type of data to be stored in columns, size
of the data etc.
Syntax:
CREATE TABLE table_name
(
column1 data_type(size),
column2 data_type(size),
column3 data_type(size),
....
);
Where
table_name: name of the table.
column1 :name of the first column.
data_type: Type of data we want to store in the particular column.
For example, integer for integer data.
size: Size of the data we can store in a particular column. For example if for
a column we specify the data_type as int and size as 10 then this column can store an integer
Number of maximum 10 digits.
Example :
CREATE TABLE Student
(
ROLL_NO integer,
NAME varchar(20),
address varchar(20)
);
INDEX
Indexes are special lookup tables that the database search engine can use to speed up
data retrieval. Simply put, an index is a pointer to data in a table. An index in a database
is very similar to an index in the back of a book.
Syntax:
CREATE INDEX index_name
ON table_name (column1, column2, ...);
For Example:
1) CREATE INDEX idx_lastname
ON Persons (LastName);
2) CREATE INDEX idx_pname
ON Persons (LastName, FirstName)
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX Syntax
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name
ON table_name (column1, column2, ...);
1.3 ALTER
ALTER TABLE is used to add, delete/drop or modify columns in the existing table. It
is also used to add and drop various constraints on the existing table.
ALTER TABLE – ADD COLUMN
ADD is used to add columns into the existing table. Sometimes we may require adding
additional information, in that case we do not require to create the whole database
again, ADD comes to our rescue.
Syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD Column_name Datatype(SIZE);
For Example:
ALTER TABLE STUDENT ADD Phoneno integer;
ALTER TABLE – DROP COLUMN
DROP COLUMN is used to drop column in a table. Deleting the unwanted columns
from the table.
Syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name;
For Example:
ALTER TABLE STUDENT DROP COLUMN BRANCH;
ALTER TABLE - MODIFY COLUMN
To change the data type of a column in a table, use the following syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
MODIFY COLUMN column_name datatype;
For Example
ALTER TABLE Persons
MODIFY COLUMN DateOfBirth year;
ALTER TABLE – ADD CONSTRAINT:
The syntax for creating a unique constraint using an ALTER TABLE statement in
MySQL is:
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD CONSTRAINT constraint_name
UNIQUE (column1, column2, ... column_n);
For Example:
1) ALTER TABLE STUDENT ADD CONSTRAINT phone_unique
UNIQUE(Phoneno);
2) ALTER TABLE STUDENT ADD CONSTRAINT roll_pk PRIMARY
KEY(ROLL_No);
DROP CONSTRAINT:
The syntax for dropping constraint using an ALTER TABLE statement in MySQL is
ALTER TABLE table_name DROP CONSTRAINT constraint_name;
For Example;
ALTER TABLE STUDENT DROP CONSTRAINT roll_pk;
➢ Change the name of column NAME to FIRST_NAME in table Student
ALTER TABLE Student RENAME COLUMN NAME TO FIRST_NAME
➢ Change the name of the table Student to Student_Details
ALTER TABLE Student RENAME TO Student_Details;
1.4 DROP
DROP is schema changing statement in SQL
DROP TABLE:
DROP TABLE removes tables from the database. Only its owner may destroy a table. To
empty a table of rows without destroying the table, use DELETE or TRUNCATE.
DROP TABLE always removes any indexes, rules, triggers, and constraints that exist for the
target table. However, to drop a table that is referenced by a view or a foreign-key
constraint of another table, CASCADE must be specified. (CASCADE will remove a
dependent view entirely, but in the foreign-key case it will only remove the foreign-key
constraint, not the other table entirely.
Parameters
IF EXISTS
Do not throw an error if the table does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.
Name
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to drop.
CASCADE
Automatically drop objects that depend on the table (such as views).
RESTRICT
Refuse to drop the table if any objects depend on it. This is the default.
For Example:
1)DROP TABLE IF EXISTS films;
This does not throw an error.
2) DROP TABLE STUDENT CASCADE;
Automatically drop objects that depend on the table student (such as views)
3) DROP TABLE STUDENT RESTRICT;
This does not drop the table student since child table referencing STUDENT may
exist.
1.5 Temporary tables
A TEMPORARY table is visible only within the current session, and is dropped
automatically when the session is closed. This means that two different sessions can use the
same temporary table name without conflicting with each other or with an existing non-
TEMPORARY table of the same name.
To create a temporary table, you use the CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE statement.
Syntax:
CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE temp_table_name(
column_list );
In this syntax:
➢ First, specify the name of the temporary table after the CREATE TEMPORARY
TABLE keywords.
➢ Second, specify the column list, which is the same as the one in the CREATE
TABLE statement.
The TEMP and TEMPORARY keywords are equivalent so you can use them interchangeably
1.6 Managing constraints
MySQL - CONSTRAINTS
1. NOT NULL Constraint − Ensures that a column cannot have NULL value.
2. UNIQUE Constraint − Ensures that all values in a column are different.
3. PRIMARY Key − uniquely identifies each row/record in a database table.
4. FOREIGN Key − Constrains data based on columns in other tables.
5. CHECK Constraint − The CHECK constraint ensures that all values in a column satisfy
certain conditions
For Example:
CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE
(SSN INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INTEGER,
PHONE INTEGER UNIQUE,
CHECK (age>18));
CREATING FOREIGN Key Constraints:
CREATE TABLE products (
product_no integer PRIMARY KEY,
name text,
price numeric
);
CREATE TABLE orders (
order_id integer PRIMARY KEY,
product_no integer REFERENCES products (product_no),
quantity integer
);
ADD CONSTRAINT:
The syntax for creating a unique constraint using an ALTER TABLE statement in
MySQL is:
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD CONSTRAINT constraint_name
UNIQUE (column1, column2, ... column_n);
For Example:
ALTER TABLE STUDENT ADD CONSTRAINT phone_unique UNIQUE(Phoneno);
ALTER TABLE STUDENT ADD CONSTRAINT roll_pk PRIMARY
KEY(ROLL_No);
DROP CONSTRAINT:
The syntax for dropping constraint using an ALTER TABLE statement in MySQL is
ALTER TABLE table_name DROP CONSTRAINT constraint_name;
