Data Definition
Language.
DDL stands for Data Definition Language.
These commands are used to change the structure of a database
and database objects
DATABASE ADMINISTRATIVE AND
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
PRACTICAL
DDL Operations
DDL commands can be used to add, remove, or modify tables with in
a database.
The DDL commands are:
CREATE
ALTER
DROP
TRUNCATE
RENAME
CREATE TABLE TABLE_NAME (
DDL Operations continue
1. CREATE :
This command is used to create table in the relational database .
This can be done by specifying the names and datatypes of various
columns.
Syntax:
CREATE TABLE TABLE_NAME
( column_name1 datatype1,
column_name2 datatype2,
column_name3 datatype3,
column_name4 datatype4 );
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The column_name in create table command will tell the name of the
column and corresponding datatype will specify the datatype of that
column.Here in this table the three column_names namely –
Student_id is of type int ,Name is of type varchar and Marks is of type
int.
for example:
CREATE TABLE
Employee
(Student_id INT,
Name VARCHAR(100),
Marks INT);
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Student_id Name Marks
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2. ALTER :
Alter command is used for altering the table in many forms like:
Add a column
Rename existing column
Drop a column
Modify the size of the column or change datatype of the column
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ADD using ALTER –
Syntax to add column
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD(
column_name datatype);
The above command will add a new column to the table.And the
resulting table will have one more column like this:
ALTER TABLE Student
ADD
(Address VARCHAR(200))
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Here this command will add a new column “Address” in the table
Student of datatype varchar(200);
Student_id Name Marks Address
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RENAME using ALTER –
Syntax to rename column
ALTER TABLE
table_name
RENAME
old_column_name TO new_column_name;
The above command will rename the existing column to new column.
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ALTER TABLE
Employee
RENAME
Marks TO Age;
The command above will change the column_name from Marks to
Age;
Student_id Name Age Address
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DROP using ALTER –
Syntax to Drop a column :
ALTER TABLE
table_name
DROp
(column_name);
The above command will delete the existing column
For example:
ALTER TABLE Employee
DROP
(Age);
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Here the column_name =”Age”, has been deleted by this command;
Student_id Name Address
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MODIFY using ALTER –
Syntax to Modify a column
ALTER TABLE
Employee MODIFY
(column_name datatype);
The above command will modify the existing column .
For example:
ALTER TABLE
student
MODIFY
(name varchar(300));
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The above command will modify the column_name “Name” by
changing the size of that column.
Student_id Name Address
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3. TRUNCATE :
This command removes all the records from a table. But this
command will not destroy the table’s structure.
Syntax :
TRUNCATE TABLE table_name
This will delete all the records from the table.For example the below
command will remove all the records from table student.
Example:
TRUNCATE TABLE Student;
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4. DROP :
This command completely removes the table from the database
along with the destruction of the table structure.
Syntax –
DROP TABLE table_name
This will delete all the records as well as the structure of the table.
This is the main difference between TRUNCATE AND DROP.-TRUNCATE
only removes the records whereas DROP completely destroys the
table.
Example:
DROP TABLE Student;
This command will remove the table records as well as destroys the
schema too.
This is all about the DDL commands.
Applications of DDL
Creating Database Objects: DDL statements can be used to create
various database objects such as tables, views, indexes, and stored
procedures.
Modifying Database Objects: DDL statements can be used to modify
the structure of existing database objects such as adding or dropping
columns from tables, modifying the data type of columns, renaming
tables or columns, etc.
Managing Database Constraints: DDL statements can be used to
create or alter database constraints such as primary keys, foreign
keys, unique constraints, and check constraints.
Applications of DDL
Granting or Revoking Permissions: DDL statements can be used to
grant or revoke permissions to various database objects such as
tables, views, stored procedures, and indexes.
Indexing: DDL statements can be used to create or modify indexes on
database tables, which can improve the performance of SQL queries.
Partitioning: DDL statements can be used to create or modify
partitioned tables, which can improve the performance of queries that
access large amounts of data.
Overall, DDL is an essential part of SQL and is used extensively in
database management systems to create, modify and manage
database objects.
