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11.521: Spatial Database Management and Advanced Geographic Information Systems |
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11.523: Fundamentals of Spatial Database Management |
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11.524: Advanced Geographic Information System Project |
SELECT [DISTINCT] column_name1[, column_name2, ...]
FROM table_name1[, table_name2, ...]
WHERE search_condition1
[AND search_condition2 ...]
[OR search_condition3...]
[GROUP BY column_names]
[ORDER BY column_names];
Notes about SELECT (see examples at the bottom):
SELECT medianhinc income, whitepop+blackpop people
FROM census
|
= |
equality |
|
<> |
inequality |
|
!= |
inequality |
|
> |
greater than |
|
>= |
greater than or equal to |
|
< |
less than |
|
<= |
less than or equal to |
|
IN (a, b, c, ...) |
one of a, b, c, etc. |
|
BETWEEN a AND b |
greater than or equal to a and less than or equal to b |
Creating a temporary table:
CREATE TABLE tempname AS
SELECT [..same as above..]
CREATE TABLE table_name
(columname1 datatype1[, columname2 datatype2, ...]);
The primary data types are: number, date, and varchar2(n) where 'n' is an integer
SELECT [..same as above..]
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name IN
(SELECT ...);
SELECT e.name, d.floor
FROM employee e, department d
WHERE e.dname = d.dname and e.name = 'joe';
UPDATE table_name
SET column_name1 = expression1 [, ...]
[WHERE search_condition];
CREATE VIEW view_name [(column_name1, column_name2, ...)]
AS SELECT column_names
FROM table_name
WHERE search_condition
SELECT SUBSTR(lastname,1,10) lastname10
FROM table_name;
Note that comments that will be ignored by SQL*Plus can be introduced at any point on a line by using two dashes (--). Everything after the two dashes on the line will be ignored.
-- 1. The simplest query on the TAX table
SELECT * FROM tax;-- 2. A query with an expression and a column alias
SELECT parcelid, (landval + bldval) tot_val, tax
FROM tax;-- 3. A simple query that groups over a whole table
SELECT COUNT(*), MIN(tax), MAX(tax), AVG(tax)
FROM tax;-- 4. This example uses a literal string in the SELECT list
SELECT parcelid, 'Total prop value is', (landval + bldval), tax
FROM tax;-- 5. The simplest query from the PARCELS table
SELECT * FROM parcels;
-- The COLUMN command is not a SQL command but rather a SQL*Plus
-- command that tells the program how to format column output.
-- This is very useful for producing readable output.
-- The first example formats a numeric column to display 3 digits ('990').
-- The second formats a character column to display 8 characters ('A8').
-- See the SQL*Plus Reference information on the COLUMN command
-- for details on specifying the formats.
COLUMN parcelid FORMAT 990
COLUMN add2 FORMAT A8-- 6. The simplest query on the PARCELS table
SELECT * FROM parcels;-- 7. A simple query using the "IS NULL" syntax
SELECT *
FROM parcels
WHERE sqft >= 20000 OR sqft IS NULL;-- 8. Compare the results of the query above with the one below.
-- Why are they different?
SELECT *
FROM parcels
WHERE sqft >= 20000 OR sqft = NULL;-- 9. A query to find values within a certain range
SELECT *
FROM parcels
WHERE sqft >= 10000 AND sqft <= 100000;
-- 10. Another way of writing the query above using the
-- "BETWEEN" keyword
SELECT *
FROM parcels
WHERE sqft BETWEEN 10000 AND 100000;-- 11. A simple join between PARCELS and FIRES
SELECT p.*, f.estloss
FROM parcels p, fires f
WHERE p.parcelid = f.parcelid;-- 12. A slight variation
SELECT p.parcelid, p.sqft, p.landuse, f.estloss
FROM parcels p, fires f
WHERE p.parcelid = f.parcelid
ORDER BY f.estloss;-- 13. A simple GROUP BY query
SELECT zip, COUNT(DISTINCT pid) parcels, AVG(sqft) avg_sqft
FROM parcels
GROUP BY zip
ORDER BY zip;-- 14. Show all the fires
SELECT f.*
FROM fires f
ORDER BY f.parcelid, f.fdate;
-- 15. Show all the fires that have a matching record
-- in the ZONING table.
SELECT f.*
FROM fires f, zoning z
WHERE f.parcelid = z.parcelid
ORDER BY f.parcelid, f.fdate;
-- 16. This example uses the "NOT IN" syntax
-- with a subquery to find the fires that
-- do NOT have a matching record in the
-- ZONING table (i.e., the records from query
-- 14 that did NOT appear in query 15).
SELECT f.*
FROM fires f
WHERE f.parcelid NOT IN
(SELECT z.parcelid
FROM zoning z);
-- 17. A three-table join to show the owners of parcels
-- with fires
SELECT p.parcelid, landuse, oname, estloss
FROM parcels p, owners o, fires f
WHERE p.parcelid = f.parcelid and
p.onum = o.ownernum
ORDER BY oname;-- 18. Find the properties owned by "GERALD RAPPAPORT"
-- that had fires and permits.
SELECT distinct o.oname, p.add1, p.add2, p.parcelid
FROM owners o, parcels p, fires f, permits e
WHERE o.oname = 'GERALD RAPPAPORT'
AND o.ownernum = p.onum
AND p.parcelid = f.parcelid
AND p.pid = e.pid and p.wpb = e.wpb;
Here are some useful tips and tricks to customize your SQL*Plus environment and to save and retrieve SQL queries and output tables from Unix files:
SELECT * FROM cat;
This SQL query lists most of the tables (and synonyms and views) from which you have permission to make selections including all those that you have created (but not some that others have created and given you permission to use).
SQL*Plus stores your most recent SQL statement in a buffer. You place a command in the buffer either by typing (or cutting-and- pasting) one in at the 'SQL>' prompt or loading one in from a file. The following commands make use of the SQL buffer:
GET file
Loads file into the SQL buffer. By default, SQL*Plus assumes that the file name ends with '.sql'. For example, the commands
GET query1.sql
and
GET query1
load the same file. The file should contain only one SQL statement.
SAVE file
SAV file
Saves the statement in the SQL buffer to file. The file extension '.sql' is assumed. Hence, the commands SAVE query2.sql and SAVE query2 will write to the same file.
LIST
L
Lists the contents of the SQL buffer
RUN
R
Lists and runs the current command in the SQL buffer
/ (forward slash)
Runs the current command in the SQL buffer without listing it first
START
file
STA file
@file
Loads and runs the commands in file. The extension '.sql' is assumed. For example, the command START command1.sql and START command1 execute the same file. Unlike GET, files run with START may contain many SQL statements or SQL*Plus commands.
SPOOL file
SPO file
Begins saving all output from the SQL*Plus session (including what you type) to file. The file extension '.lst' is assumed. Hence, the commands SPOOL log.lst and SPOOL log would both create a file called 'log.lst'.
SPOOL OFF
SPO OFF
Stops writing SQL*Plus output to a spool file opened using the 'SPOOL file' command.
SET ECHO ON
After this command is issued, the START command will display each statement in the command file just before it is executed.
SET ECHO OFF
After this command is issued, the START command will not display statements in the command file as they are executed.
SET LINESIZE n
Sets the number of characters printed on a line to n. For example,
SET LINESIZE 150
will instruct SQL*Plus to print 150 characters on a line. This command is useful once you have increased the width of an xterm window beyond the standard 80 characters to see more columns. The default setting is 'SET LINESIZE 80'.
SET PAGESIZE n
Sets the number of lines that SQL*Plus displays before repeating the column headings to n. The default setting is 'SET PAGESIZE 14', which is generally too small. 'SET PAGESIZE 24' is recommended.
SET PAUSE '--Hit return
to continue--'
SET
Use these two commands to cause SQL*Plus to pause before each page of output. Note that a pause will also occur before the FIRST page, so that you will need to press the return key to see any output.
HELP
HELP topic
Accesses the on-line help system. 'HELP' alone displays an introductory message; 'HELP topic' provides information about a specific topic. For example, HELP SELECT provides information about the SELECT statement.
COLUMN column_name FORMAT format_type
Sets the display format of columnname to formattype. Using this command can help improve the appearance of your queries. Some examples:
COLUMN FTYPE FORMAT A5
COLUMN HHINDEX FORMAT 999990
COLUMN TENURE FORMAT 9990.0
Note that each SQL statement you enter should be terminated with a semicolon
(;). If you forget it, you can enter it on a line by itself or use the forward
slash (/) to run your statement. SQL statements (e.g., SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE,
DELETE) may be spread over any number of lines; just press return when you want
to start a new line. Using multiple lines for each clause in the statement
significantly improves their readability, so this technique is highly
recommended. SQL*Plus commands that are NOT SQL statements (e.g., SET, SPOOL,
HELP, COLUMN) must appear on one line and do NOT require semicolons at the end.
SQL statements and SQL*Plus commands are NOT case sensitive. Case DOES matter, however, for any text enclosed in either single (') or double (") quotation marks.
Doing the homework exercises requires
setting up temporary tables. At least initially, the class setup for Oracle has
everyone using the same Oracle userid for some of the
class datasets. Hence, several people could end up trying to create a table
with the same name at the same time. To avoid this problem, you should
pre-append a unique id to the name of every temporary table that you create.
Suppose, for example, the 7th person in the class list wanted to save all parcels
with more than 10,000 square feet into a temporary table called BIGPARCELS.
Then this person would append 't7' to the front of any temporary table name.
For example:
CREATE TABLE t7bigparcels as SELECT * FROM parcelsWHERE sqft > 10000;
When done with the table, please 'drop' it via:
DROP TABLE t7bigparcels;
so that the
database is not cluttered with lots of old temporary tables.
Complete Oracle 8i documentation is available online at
http://download-west.oracle.com/docs/cd/A87860_01/doc/server.817/index.htm.
The documentation is generally available both in HTML
format (good for viewing online in a browser) and PDF format (better for
printing).
Particularly useful references:
Note: To access this documentation you will need to register for a free membership to the Oracle Technology Network. To register, click the 'My Profile' button in the upper right portion of the page and then complete and submit the registration form.
A recommended Oracle reference book:
Kevin Loney and George Koch
Oracle8i: The Complete Reference
Home | Syllabus | Lectures | Labs | CRL | MIT
For more information about this page, please contact the 11.521 Staff Mailing List
<11.521staff@MIT.EDU>.
Last modified:
Written by Thomas H. Grayson
and Joseph Ferreira, Jr.
Revised:
Minor fix:
Converted to HTML and
revised for Oracle 8i by Thomas H. Grayson,
Minor updates:
Minor fix:
Updated for Spring 2001: 8
Feb. 2001, jf (with minor fixes by thg)
Updated for Spring 2002: 5 Feb. 2002, thg