Oracle PL/SQL Built-ins Pocket Reference

By Steven Feuerstein, John Beresniewicz and Chip Dawes

The Oracle PL/SQL Built-ins Pocket Reference is a quick reference guide to the many built-in packages and functions provided by Oracle Corporation. It contains a concise description of the syntax for the following

• Built-in packages
• Built-in functions
• RESTRICT REFERENCES pragmas for the built-in packages
• Nonprogram elements (e.g., constants, exceptions, etc.) defined in the built-in packages

Although we don't include every single package and function in this pocket reference, we've included all the built-ins that most PL/SQL developers will ever need to use.

The purpose of this pocket reference is to help PL/SQL users find the syntax of specific built-in headers. It is not a self-contained user guide; basic knowledge of PL/SQL and its built-ins is required.

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Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference

By Steven Feuerstein, Bill Pribyl and Chip Dawes

The Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference is a quick reference guide to the PL/SQL programming language, which provides procedural extensions to the SQL relational database language and a range of Oracle development tools.

Where a package, program, or function is supported only for a particular version of Oracle (e.g., Oracle8i), we indicate this in the text.

The purpose of this pocket reference is to help PL/SQL users find the syntax of specific language elements.

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Oracle Web Applications: PL/SQL Developer's Introduction

By Andrew Odewahn

Why PL/SQL?

Combining HTML with PL/SQL gives us all we need to develop useful web systems that are powerful, easy to design, and easy to develop. The language offers several benefits to overworked developers:

PL/SQL is easy to learn and use
PL/SQL is an evolutionary, not revolutionary, step for most IS developers because it's a straightforward extension of standard SQL that's ideally suited for database processing.

PL/SQL fosters code reuse
Packages (groups of procedures and functions) provide many of the benefits of object-oriented languages without the hassle of learning a brand new programming methodology.

PL/SQL integrates with other Oracle tools
PL/SQL stored procedures are accessible from any SQL*Net or ODBC product, from Oracle Forms to Pro*C to Microsoft Access to Java. As a result, you can implement a business rule in the database as a PL/SQL procedure and use it in any frontend tool, rather than writing the same logic again and again for each development environment.

PL/SQL is portable
PL/SQL is included with Oracle version 7 and above and is supported on all Oracle platforms.

PL/SQL is fast
Oracle8 introduced, and Oracle8i refined, a host of performance improvements to PL/SQL. Additionally, packages are parsed, stored, and executed inside the database, providing superfast data access. Once loaded, these packages may be shared across multiple sessions, resulting in even better performance.

PL/SQL is proven
Millions of lines of production PL/SQL code are quietly humming away in companies across the world. While it may not have the sex appeal of some other technologies, PL/SQL has proven itself a scalable, robust solution in thousands of mission-critical applications.
The major downside of PL/SQL is that it's a proprietary language supported only on Oracle systems. If you are concerned about locking yourself into an Oracle-only solution, you should consider using Java.

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Advanced Oracle PL/SQL Programming with Packages

By Steven Feuerstein

Objectives of This Book
Why did I write this book? I have the following modest objectives:
Make sure as many PL/SQL developers as possible know about packages and how to use them. Students who attend my training sessions soon come to realize after a day or two that the answer to almost any question I ask is: "Build a package." They also often stumble out of the sessions chanting the mantra: "Packages, packages, packages..." I wrote this book and the companion software because I believe that packages are the single most important element of the PL/SQL language. You can never go wrong putting your code inside a package. You will, on the other hand, almost always regret not placing your functions and procedures inside packages from the get-go.

Get my software into the hands of as many PL/SQL developers as possible. I like to see others get the benefit of my efforts. I like the idea that my prebuilt software will free up your time. This book contains a full-use version of the PL/Vision product, PL/Vision Lite, along with extensive documentation on how to use this library.

(Unless otherwise noted, all references in this book to PL/Vision are to PL/Vision Lite.) You might use just a little bit of PL/Vision; you might leverage every single package into your production applications. Many readers will do nothing more than cannibalize PL/Vision, learning from these packages how to improve their own code. All of these variations are welcome and encouraged!

Make my readers more creative and effective problem solvers. I've had a wonderful time thinking about how to modularize and construct in layers basic packages to improve PL/SQL programming. I learned about effective ways to construct packages and about all kinds of magic you can do when you internalize the features and benefits of packages stored in shared memory. When I encountered an obstacle, I didn't throw up my hands and look for a workaround. Instead, I asked myself: "What kind of package can I build to solve this problem?" That attitude forced me to be creative, and there is nothing more exciting than unleashed creativity. I hope that this book and the software that comes with it inspires every one of my readers to fashion new answers to old questions and newer answers to new questions. You will never regret the conceptual leaps you take in the process.

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Oracle Built-in Packages

By Steven Feuerstein, Charles Dye and John Beresniewicz

After publishing more than 1,600 pages on Oracle PL /SQL in two previous books, I marvel at the existence now of this third book covering yet other aspects of the PL /SQL language. I can still remember quite distinctly a moment in September, 1994, when I embarked on writing the first draft of Oracle PL /SQL Programming and wondered: are there really 400 pages worth of material on that much-used and often-maligned procedural language from a nonprocedural (SQL) company? If the answer to that question was a resounding "yes" in 1994, then the answer is a deafening roar today!

Maybe PL /SQL isn't the answer to every object-oriented programmer's deepest desires. Maybe developers are badly in need of -- and unreservedly deserve -- better tools with which to write, debug, and reuse PL /SQL programs. Maybe PL /SQL isn't perfect, but the reality is that hundreds of thousands of people around the world work (and struggle) with PL /SQL on a daily basis. We all need as much information as possible about how we can make the best possible use of Oracle PL /SQL.

And that is the objective of Oracle Built-in Packages. If you are going to build complex applications using PL /SQL, you will not succeed unless you learn about and figure out how to utilize many of the packages described in this book. Packages are the method of choice for Oracle and third parties like RevealNet, Inc., to extend the base PL /SQL language, to improve ease of use, and to provide brand-new functionality in the language. Writing PL /SQL code without knowing about or using built-in packages is akin to building an automobile and ignoring the last 20 years of technological advances. The resulting machine will run more slowly, use more gas, and be harder to repair.

Oracle Built-in Packages grew out of Chapter 15 of the first edition of Oracle PL /SQL Programming. When Oracle released Oracle8, it was time to update that book to include the wide-ranging new PL /SQL8 functionality. It was clear from the start that this second edition, if organized like the first, would have been well over 1,500 pages in length -- a totally impractical size for a developer's handbook.

What to do? Based on feedback from developers about Oracle PL /SQL Programming, there was an enormous amount of interest in, and often confusion surrounding, the built-in packages. These Oracle-provided "add-ons" to PL /SQL clearly needed more detailed coverage, more examples, more tips, more of just about everything. My single chapter of 100 pages was woefully inadequate. We made the decision to move that single chapter out of Oracle PL /SQL Programming and expand it into a book all its own. You are holding the result.

I recognized early in the process that I couldn't personally cover all of the Oracle built-in packages discussed in this book. I didn't have the necessary expertise, nor the time to learn, nor the time to write it all. So I sought and received the help of two excellent Oracle technologists: John Beresniewicz and Charles Dye.

Over the past six months, John, Charles, and I have researched the packages provided by Oracle in the database, verified the documentation, uncovered aberrant behavior, and discovered neat tricks. We also made it a priority to construct package-based utilities that you will be able to put to immediate use.

While Oracle Built-in Packages is a collaborative effort, it is also a combination of very individual efforts. As such, you will find differences in coding styles and philosophies. Rather than try to enforce a single standard throughout, I welcomed the variations (as long as all contributed in their own way to a deeper, clearer understanding of the PL /SQL technology). There is rarely a single right way to do anything, and there is an enormous amount we can learn from the different journeys each of us takes to a solution.

For purposes of directing feedback and questions, you may find it useful to know who wrote each of the chapters. In the next section, "Structure of this Book," you will find the names of the authors listed with their chapters. You will also see that there are two other names: Chuck Sisk and Chip Dawes. While many people helped in many ways to produce Oracle Built-in Packages (see the "Acknowledgements" for details), Chuck and Chip actually contributed entire chapters.

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Oracle PL/SQL Programming Guide to Oracle8i Features

By Steven Feuerstein

2700 pages and still writing! Sometimes I feel like the Energizer Bunny of PL/SQL. But Oracle keeps the features coming, and after all these years, I'm still enthusiastic about what PL/SQL can do to improve the quality of life for developers. Even with the coming of Java(TM) in Oracle8i, I believe strongly that the future is bright for PL/SQL developers.

This short book is something of a departure for me -- those of you who have read my larger tomes may wonder if I've found a ghostwriter! Now that Oracle8i is here, it's my intention to update Oracle PL/SQL Programming (now in its second edition) to cover the new version of the Oracle database. Along with developing a third edition of that book (with my coauthor Bill Pribyl), I'm taking a critical look at all of my books to make sure that the O'Reilly & Associates PL/SQL series offers a comprehensive resource for PL/SQL developers.

For now, though, PL/SQL developers need current and useful information about the latest PL/SQL features; there are a lot of them, and some represent major changes in the language. This small book is intended to get you started on understanding these features and using them to best advantage.

For many people, the big news about Oracle8i is Java, and the big question for many PL/SQL developers is how (and whether) to use Java in conjunction with PL/SQL. Chapter 9, Calling Java from PL/SQL, is a roadmap showing PL/SQL developers how to employ Java right now. It doesn't attempt to teach you the basics of Java -- there are many other books that serve that purpose -- but it does teach you how to access Java from within PL/SQL.

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Oracle PL/SQL Programming

By Steven Feuerstein and Bill Pribyl

Objectives of This Book
What, specifically, will this book help you do?
Take full advantage of PL/SQL. The reference manuals may describe all the features of the PL/SQL language, but they don't tell you how to apply the technology. In fact, in some cases, you'll be lucky to even understand how to use a given feature after you've made your way through the railroad diagrams. Books and training courses tend to cover the same standard topics in the same limited way. In this book, we'll venture beyond to the edges of the language, to the nonstandard ways in which a particular feature can be tweaked to achieve a desired result.

Use PL/SQL to solve your problems. You don't spend your days and nights writing PL/SQL modules so that you can rise to a higher plane of existence. You use PL/SQL to solve problems for your company or your customers. In this book, I try hard to help you tackle real-world problems, the kinds of issues developers face on a daily basis (at least those problems that can be solved with mere software). To do this, I've packed the book with examples -- not just small code fragments, but complete application components you can apply immediately to your own situations. There is a good deal of code in the book itself, and much more on the disk that accompanies the book. In this book I guide you through the analytical process used to come up with a solution. In this way I hope you'll see, in the most concrete terms, how to apply PL/SQL features and undocumented applications of those features to a particular situation.

Write efficient, maintainable code. PL/SQL and the rest of the Oracle products offer the potential for incredible development productivity. If you aren't careful, however, this rapid development capability will simply let you dig yourself into a deeper, darker hole than you've ever found yourself in before. I would consider this book a failure if it only ended up helping programmers write more code in less time than ever before. I want to help you develop the skills and techniques that give you the time to build modules which readily adapt to change and are easily understood and maintained. I want to teach you to use comprehensive strategies and code architectures which allow you to apply PL/SQL in powerful, general ways to many of the problems you will face.

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Special Edition Using Microsoft SQL Server 6.5

By Stephen Wynkoop

All of data processing is involved with the operations of storing and retrieving data. A database, such as Microsoft SQL Server, is designed as the central repository for all the data of an organization. The crucial nature of data to any organization underlines the importance of the method used to store it and enable its later retrieval.

Microsoft SQL Server uses features similar to those found in other databases and some features that are unique. Most of these additional features are made possible by SQL Server's tight integration with the Windows NT operating system. SQL Server contains the data storage options and the capability to store and process the same volume of data as a mainframe or minicomputer.

Like most mainframe or minicomputer databases, SQL Server is a database that has seen an evolution from its introduction in the mid-1960s until today. Microsoft's SQL Server is founded in the mature and powerful relational model, currently the preferred model for data storage and retrieval.

Unlike mainframe and minicomputer databases, a server database is accessed by users--called clients--from other computer systems rather than from input/output devices, such as terminals. Mechanisms must be in place for SQL Server to solve problems that arise from the access of data from perhaps hundreds of computer systems, each of which can process portions of the database independently from the data on the server. Within the framework of a client/server database, a server database also requires integration with communication components of the server in order to enable connections with client systems. Microsoft SQL Server's client/server connectivity uses the built-in network components of Windows NT.

Unlike a stand-alone PC database or a traditional mainframe or minicomputer database, a server database, such as Microsoft SQL Server, adds service-specific middleware components--such as Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)--on top of the network components. ODBC enables the interconnection of different client applications without requiring changes to the server database or other existing client applications.

SQL Server also contains many of the front-end tools of PC databases that traditionally haven't been available as part of either mainframe or minicomputer databases. In addition to using a dialect of Structured Query Language (SQL), GUI applications can be used for the storage, retrieval, and administration of the database.

Now, with the addition of new database-aware components, you can also use your SQL Server with your Internet-based applications. Tools such as the Internet Database Connector, or IDC, and the Advanced Data Connector, or ADC, are available that will help you integrate SQL Server database information into your Web pages. Depending on the tool or approach you select, you'll have access that ranges from static Web pages to dynamic, Visual Basic-enhanced Web pages. These exciting tools are making Web-based applications a reality.

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Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft SQL Server 7 in 21 Days

By Richard Waymire and Rick Sawtell

Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft SQL Server 7 in 21 Days gives you the new features and capabilities of SQL Server 7, in a tutorial environment. This book features information on: Row-level locking; SQL Server Query Analyzer (formerly the ISQL/w); Microsoft Manage-ment Console (platform that the Enterprise Manager is now based upon); Update Replication feature (multisite, improved performance and scriptable replication objects); New Wizards such as: Create Database, Create Job, Index Tuning, Version Upgrade and Security; SQL Server Agent which provides unattended job execution and alter/response management; New Transact-SQL statements such as ALTER PROCEDURE, ALTER TRIGGER; and information on recursive triggers and local cursors. It walks you through the features of SQL Server 7, increasing the performance and scalability of your database.

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Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Guides

This will provide quick access to the documentation for Microsoft SQL Server 2000.

You will learn

• SQL Server architecture
• Relational Database Components
• Database Architecture
• Administration Architecture
• Replication Architecture
• Application Development Architecture
• Analysis Services Architecture
• Meta Data Services Architecture
• New features in SQL Server 2000
• Installing, upgrading, and running SQL Server 2000
• Overview of Installing SQL Server 2000
• Upgrading to SQL Server 2000: Overview
• Installing Analysis Services
• Installing English Query
• Upgrading From Earlier Versions
• Planning and designing a new database
• Creating and Maintaining Databases Overview
• Performing administrative tasks
• Importing and Exporting Data
• Backing Up and Restoring Databases
• Automating Administrative Tasks
• Managing Security
• Security and Authentication
• Monitoring Server Performance and Activity
• Getting Started with Command Prompt Utilities
• Administering Analysis Services
• PivotTable Service
• MDX
• Data warehousing and online analytical processing (OLAP)
• DTS Overview
• Data Warehousing and OLAP
• Data Warehousing
• Developing applications
• Transact-SQL Syntax Elements
• Programming ADO SQL Server Applications
• Programming OLE DB SQL Server Applications
• Developing SQL-DMO Applications
• Getting Started with Replication Programming
• Programming DTS Applications
• Programming Extended Stored Procedures
• Programming Embedded SQL for C
• Getting Started with DB-Library for C
• Decision Support Objects
• Add-Ins
• PivotTable Service
• Programming Meta Data Services Applications
• Planning and designing data cubes
• Monitoring Server Performance and Activity
• Optimizing Database Performance Overview
• Analyzing and Optimizing Performance
• Optimizing Repository Performance
• Transact-SQL Tips
• Troubleshooting Overview
• Analysis Services Troubleshooting

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Microsoft SQL Server 2000 High Availability Series

By Allan Hirt and Cathan Cook

The Microsoft SQL Server 2000 High Availability Series helps you plan and deploy a highly available data center that uses Microsoft SQL Server 2000 through proper procedures that increase availability, backups help recover from catastrophic disasters, redundant components prevent downtime, and redundant servers minimize downtime.

The series consists of:

• PLANNING to help you design a data center to achieve the level of availability needed for the business environment.
• DEPLOYMENT to help you implement selected server redundancy solutions to minimize unavailability caused by server failures and planned downtime.
  

The Microsoft SQL Server 2000 High Availability Series helps you plan and deploy a highly available data center that uses Microsoft SQL Server 2000. If you are a consultant, designer, or systems engineer involved in designing and deploying a SQL Server 2000 high-availability data center, this series is for you.

The Microsoft SQL Server 2000 High Availability Series is designed for business decision makers, Microsoft Certified Solution Providers, Microsoft Consulting Services, IT professionals, and developers responsible for application or infrastructure development and deployment.

This series assumes you have a basic understanding of the following areas of SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system:

• Windows 2000 Active Directory service and DNS
• Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS)
• Database design for online transaction processing (OLTP) and online analytical processing (OLAP)
• Application design for databases
• SQL Server operational procedures
• SQL Server backup and restore procedures
• SQL Server security model
• Redundant Array of Independent Drives (RAID)
• Storage Area Networks (SANs)
• Network Load Balancing (NLB)

The series consists of a Planning Guide and a Solution Guide. The Planning Guide helps you design a data center to achieve the level of availability needed for the business environment. The Solution Guide helps you implement selected server redundancy solutions to minimize unavailability caused by server failures and planned downtime.

The series provides guidance in achieving a highly available data center, including:

• Understanding barriers to high availability
• Developing procedures to minimize the risk and length of downtime
• Using backups to recover from server failure and database corruption
• Using redundant components to prevent downtime
• Evaluating server redundancy solutions
• Implementing server redundancy solutions

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Dissecting SQL Server Execution Plans

By Grant Fritchey

Author Grant Fritchey describes how SQL Prompt Pro and SQL Data Generator help speed up performance tuning:

"Understanding the execution plan is only part of the problem when it comes to performance tuning. I also need to write accurate, clear TSQL code and I need to test the code prior to releasing it into the wild of a production environment. To perform these tasks, Red Gate supplies a lot of what I need. SQL Prompt, especially SQL Prompt Pro, helps me write accurate code faster by supplying me with type-ahead in the Query Editor and in Visual Studio.

I love how the columns popup after only a couple of key strokes and how the key fields are read, even compound keys, and output for me when writing joins and all of it with accurate aliases and correct case. Not only does this increase my speed but it increases my accuracy because the code completion means fewer typos. The Pro version also supplies a nice way to format the code automatically so that all my queries are structured the same way. All this makes this tool a must have for writing TSQL.

Once it's written and I have to test the code, SQL Data Generator has recently become the go-to tool to provide a bloated database. The way the tool works with existing data or from disparate sources as well as its ability to generate data makes creating a complex load easy. I can bloat a database quickly and repeatedly. It makes a huge difference in the accuracy of my testing."

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Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008

by Peter DeBetta, Greg Low, and Mark Whitehorn

Learn about major new features in SQL Server 2008 including security, administration, and performance.

• Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008:
• Security and Administration
• Performance
• Type System
• Programmability
• Storage
• Enhancements for High Availability
• Business Intelligence Enhancements

The objective of this book is not to give an in-depth view of the new features of SQL Server 2008. This book will hopefully help peope begin to grasp what can be done with SQL Server 2008. The book is part conceptual, exploring the new features and abilities of this next generation enterprise database product, and it is part tangible, demonstrating features via C# code and a new improved T-SQL. I hope to give you enough knowledge to get your feet wet and to explore further.

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SQL Server Crib Sheet Compendium

 By Amirthalingam Prasanna, Grant Fritchey, Phil Factor, Robert Sheldon and Robyn Page

As a developer, DBA or manager, you may not want to know all about XML, replication or Reporting Services, but if you next project uses one or more of these technologies heavily then the best place to start is from the 'jungle roof'.

Crib Sheets aim to give you the broad view. Each one tackles a key area of database development, administration or deployment and provides both a management view and a technical view of that topic. Each starts with the business reasons that will underpin a certain technology requirement and then moves on to the methods available to implement them.

A Crib Sheet is not about code solutions – see the Simple-Talk Workbench series for that – but about providing a good understanding of all the core concepts and terminology that surround a given technology or discipline. The aim is to cover each topic in just enough detail to perform a given function, no more.

This book contains a collection of Simple-Talk Crib Sheets published between 2006 and 2008. It focuses on SQL Server topics, but also covers two .NET issues that are relevant to all SQL Server developers and DBAs:

• SQL Server Security
• SQL Server XML
• SQL Server Reporting Services
• SQL Server Data Warehousing
• SQL Server Database Backups
• SQL Server Performance
• SQL Server Replication
• Entity Framework
• .NET Performance

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The Best of SQLServerCentral.com Vol. 7

SQLServerCentral.com brings you a variety of articles on all aspects of SQL Server from administration to SML and everything in between.

The articles are written by real DBAs and developers, based on the articles and scripts they use in their daily work. This book is a collection of the best articles from the past year from over 50 authors.

If you work with SQL Server enough to use this book then you'd benefit from the SQL Toolbelt.

The SQL Toolbelt allows developers and DBAs to gain access to all the SQL Sever tools we currently produce. This means that when you are working with SQL Server databases, you can have the most powerful set of tools immediately to hand.

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Hierarchical SQL

By Joe Celko

In the early days of SQL, one of the objections to the relational approach to data was that it could not handle hierarchies and tree structures. In those days, IMS from IBM was the major storage tool in large corporations. It still is.

IMS is a pure tree structure that the user navigates. This was the basis for all serious, large-scale DP work, so people assumed that if SQL could not handle such structures, it would never be a serious production tool. You might use it for a reporting tool or something off to the side, but not as the main database for the enterprise.

Well, IMS is still out there and it holds a lot of data, but SQL has moved into serious production databases. As it turned out, the problem was not that SQL could not model hierarchies. The problem was programmers had to learn how to model hierarchies. New tools are like that; you surprise yourself when you finally get the feel for them.

There are many different ways to represent trees in SQL and this short article discusses one of them. This material is taken, slightly modified, from Chapter 3 of my new book, Trees & Hierarchies in SQL for Smarties from Morgan-Kaufmann Publishers.

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Learning SQL Using phpMyAdmin

By Marc Delisle

This tutorial is aimed at programmers, analysts, and designers of dynamic Web sites who want to learn the basics of SQL.

What is SQL?
Structured Query Language is a non-procedural language used to define, manipulate and retrieve data. It was developed by IBM (System/R project) in 1974-1979. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) published in 1986 the first official standard of the language (later revised in 1989, 1992 and 1999), and since then,  the industry has widely adopted SQL as the relational database language. Virtually every database system nowadays is interfaced through SQL.

The specific data architecture addressed by SQL is called the relational architecture. The various pieces of data (columns) are grouped into tables contained in databases, and we retrieve data using relations expressed between the tables.

In this article, we will use MySQL, a popular open-source implementation of SQL that is deployed by most Web host providers.

Toolkit for this guide
To be able to do the exercises in this guide, you will need an access to a MySQL server. Your interface to MySQL will be phpMyAdmin, a PHP application running on a PHP-enabled Web server. The book Mastering phpMyAdmin for effective MySQL Management is recommended for a comprehensive coverage of the phpMyAdmin tool.

This guide will show you the SQL syntax, sometimes by asking you to enter statements, and sometimes by letting you see how phpMyAdmin generates SQL statements based on your actions using the interface.

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SQL Guide and Reference

By Red Hat

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a language used for creating, maintaining, and querying relational databases. This chapter describes the general syntax of SQL.

SQL input consists of a sequence of commands. A command is composed of a sequence of tokens, terminated by a semicolon (";"). The end of the input stream also terminates a command. Which tokens are valid depends on the syntax of the particular command.

A token can be a key word, an identifier, a quoted identifier, a literal (or constant), or a special character symbol. Tokens are normally separated by whitespace (space, tab, newline), but need not be if there is no ambiguity (which is generally only the case if a special character is adjacent to some other token type).

Additionally, SQL input may include comments. These are not tokens; they are effectively equivalent to whitespace.

For example, the following is (syntactically) valid SQL input:

SELECT * FROM MY_TABLE;
UPDATE MY_TABLE SET A = 5;
INSERT INTO MY_TABLE VALUES (3, 'hi there');

This is a sequence of three commands, one per line (although this is not required; more than one command can be on a line, and commands can be split across lines).

The SQL syntax is not very consistent regarding which tokens identify commands and which are operands or parameters. The first few tokens are generally the command name, so in the above example we would usually speak of a "SELECT", an "UPDATE", and an "INSERT" command. However, the syntax rules for SQL statements can vary. For instance, the UPDATE command always requires a SET token to appear in a certain position, and the particular variation of the INSERT shown above also requires a VALUES token in order to be complete. The precise syntax rules for each command are described in the SQL Guide and Reference.

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SQL-Help : a Tutorial to SQL

by Andre Muller

This is an attempt to introduce you to SQL and to explain what relational databases are, what the relational data model is and how you can extract data from databases with SQL.

The author has written this SQL-help in his free time because a quick and permanently online SQL-tutorial was needed. This is only a part of the whole SQL-standart, for more information about its implementations on different database systems please contact the software manyfacturers. The "Standard-SQL", first developed by IBM, was improved by software firms that develop relational database management systems (RDBMS). But all of this improvements can not be discussed in an brief help file. The small table after the command/keyword indicates in some cases, in wich system this command/keyword is implemented.

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Comparison of different SQL implementations

By Troels Arvin

The goal of this page — which is a work in progress — is to gather information relevant for people who are porting SQL from one product to another and/or are interested in possibilities and limits of 'cross-product' SQL.

The following tables compare how different DBMS products handle various SQL (and related) features. If possible, the tables also state how the implementations should do things, according to the SQL standard.

I will only write about subjects that I've worked with personally, or subjects which I anticipate to find use for in the near future. Subjects on which there are no significant implementation variances are not covered. Beta-versions of software are not examined.

I'm sorry about the colors. They are a result of wanting to mark each DBMS differently and at the same time wanting to be relatively nice to printers.

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SQL Course

By SQLCourse.com

This unique introductory SQL tutorial not only provides easy-to-understand SQL instructions, but it allows you to practice what you learn using the on-line SQL interpreter. You will receive immediate results after submitting your SQL commands. You will be able to create your own unique tables as well as perform selects, inserts, updates, deletes, and drops on your tables. This SQL tutorial currently supports a subset of ANSI SQL. The basics of each SQL command will be covered in this introductory tutorial. Unless otherwise stated, the interpreter will support everything covered in this course.

If you're already familar with the basics of SQL, you can still use this as a refresher, and practice some SQL statements.

What is SQL?
SQL (pronounced "ess-que-el") stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is used to communicate with a database. According to ANSI (American National Standards Institute), it is the standard language for relational database management systems. SQL statements are used to perform tasks such as update data on a database, or retrieve data from a database. Some common relational database management systems that use SQL are: Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server, Access, Ingres, etc. Although most database systems use SQL, most of them also have their own additional proprietary extensions that are usually only used on their system. However, the standard SQL commands such as "Select", "Insert", "Update", "Delete", "Create", and "Drop" can be used to accomplish almost everything that one needs to do with a database. This tutorial will provide you with the instruction on the basics of each of these commands as well as allow you to put them to practice using the SQL Interpreter.

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SQL Tutorial By Erack Network

By Erack Network

SQL stands for Structured Query Language, and it is a very powerful and diverse language used to create and query databases. Its loose syntax makes it easy to learn, but mastering its intricate architecture may take a bit longer.

Arming yourself with a firm understanding of its structure and mechanics will allow you to build simple, dynamic applications for the web or to create robust applications using data and databases.

The loose structure and flexibility of this language make it an ideal candidate for the web, especially since there are more than a handful of database applications available for developers o use for free, such as Microsoft's SQL Server Express and MySQL.

Some of the basic functions of SQL are inputting, modifying, and dropping data from databases. In this tutorial, we use command line examples to give you an idea of what SQL is capable of. Coupled with the use of web languages such as HTML and PHP, SQL becomes an even greater tool for building dynamic web applications.

Reading further, you will encounter a number of hands-on examples intended to introduce you to SQL. The majority of these examples are intended to span across the different available variations of SQL, but the primary focus of this tutorial is Microsoft's SQL Server Express.

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SQL Tutorial By 1keydata.com

By 1keydata.com

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a computer language aimed to store, manipulate, and retrieve data stored in relational databases. The first incarnation of SQL appeared in 1974, when a group in IBM developed the first prototype of a relational database. The first commercial relational database was released by Relational Software (later becoming Oracle).

Standards for SQL exist. However, the SQL that can be used on each one of the major RDBMS today is in different flavors. This is due to two reasons: 1) the SQL standard is fairly complex, and it is not practical to implement the entire standard, and 2) each database vendor needs a way to differentiate its product from others. In this tutorial, such differences are noted where appropriate.

This SQL programming help site lists commonly-used SQL statements, and is divided into the following sections:

• SQL Commands: Basic SQL statements for storing, retrieving, and manipulating data in a relational database.
• Table Manipulation: How SQL statements are used to manage tables inside the database.
• Advanced SQL: Advanced SQL commands.
• SQL Syntax: A single page that lists the syntax for all the SQL commands in this tutorial.

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SQL Tutorial - Learn SQL

By Art Branch

SQL is short for Structured Query Language and is a widely used database language, providing means of data manipulation (store, retrieve, update, delete) and database creation.

Almost all modern Relational Database Management Systems like MS SQL Server, Microsoft Access, MSDE, Oracle, DB2, Sybase, MySQL, Postgres and Informix use SQL as standard database language. Now a word of warning here, although all those RDBMS use SQL, they use different SQL dialects. For example MS SQL Server specific version of the SQL is called T-SQL, Oracle version of SQL is called PL/SQL, MS Access version of SQL is called JET SQL, etc.

Our SQL tutorial will teach you how to use commonly used SQL commands and you will be able to apply most of the knowledge gathered from this SQL tutorial to any of the databases above.

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SQL Tutorial By FFE Software

By  FFE Software

This document is a general tutorial on the database sublanguage - SQL. It is not product oriented but rather uses standard SQL (SQL92). The tutorial doesn't cover all of SQL92; it concentrates on a subset of the standard that is both usable and commonly supported.

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a database sublanguage for querying and modifying relational databases. It was developed by IBM Research in the mid 70's and standardized by ANSI in 1986.

The Relational Model defines two root languages for accessing a relational database -- Relational Algebra and Relational Calculus. Relational Algebra is a low-level, operator-oriented language. Creating a query in Relational Algebra involves combining relational operators using algebraic notation. Relational Calculus is a high-level, declarative language. Creating a query in Relational Calculus involves describing what results are desired.

SQL is a version of Relational Calculus. The basic structure in SQL is the statement. Semicolons separate multiple SQL statements.

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Teach Yourself SQL in 21 Days, Second Edition

By Ryan K. Stephens, Ronald R. Plew, Bryan Morgan and Jeff Perkins

Late one Friday afternoon your boss comes into your undersized cubicle and drops a new project on your desk. This project looks just like the others you have been working on except it includes ties to several databases. Recently your company decided to move away from homegrown, flat-file data and is now using a relational database. You have seen terms like SQL, tables, records, queries, and RDBMS, but you don't remember exactly what they all mean. You notice the due date on the program is three, no, make that two, weeks away. (Apparently it had been on your boss's desk for a week!) As you begin looking for definitions and sample code to put those definitions into context, you discover this book.

This book is for people who want to learn the fundamentals of Structured Query Language (SQL)--quickly. Through the use of countless examples, this book depicts all the major components of SQL as well as options that are available with various database implementations. You should be able to apply what you learn here to relational databases in a business setting.

The first 14 days of this book show you how to use SQL to incorporate the power of modern relational databases into your code. By the end of Week 1, you will be able to use basic SQL commands to retrieve selected data.

At the end of Week 2, you will be able to use the more advanced features of SQL, such as stored procedures and triggers, to make your programs more powerful. Week 3 teaches you how to streamline SQL code; use the data dictionary; use SQL to generate more SQL code; work with PL/SQL, Transact-SQL, and SQL*Plus; and handle common SQL mistakes and errors.

The syntax of SQL is explained and then brought to life in examples using Personal Oracle7, Microsoft Query, and other database tools. You don't need access to any of these products to use this book--it can stand alone as an SQL syntax reference. However, using one of these platforms and walking though the examples will help you understand the nuances.

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Introduction to Structured Query Language: Version 4.11

By intermedia.net

This page is a tutorial of the Structured Query Language (also known as SQL) and is a pioneering effort on the World Wide Web, as this is the first comprehensive SQL tutorial available on the Internet. SQL allows users to access data in relational database management systems, such as Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server, Access, and others, by allowing users to describe the data the user wishes to see. SQL also allows users to define the data in a database, and manipulate that data. This page will describe how to use SQL, and give examples. The SQL used in this document is "ANSI", or standard SQL, and no SQL features of specific database management systems will be discussed until the "Nonstandard SQL" section. It is recommended that you print this page, so that you can easily refer back to previous examples.

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Introduction to SQL By w3shools.com

By w3shools.com

SQL is a standard language for accessing and manipulating databases.

What is SQL?

• SQL stands for Structured Query Language
• SQL lets you access and manipulate databases
• SQL is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard

What Can SQL do?

• SQL can execute queries against a database
• SQL can retrieve data from a database
• SQL can insert records in a database
• SQL can update records in a database
• SQL can delete records from a database
• SQL can create new databases
• SQL can create new tables in a database
• SQL can create stored procedures in a database
• SQL can create views in a database
• SQL can set permissions on tables, procedures, and views

SQL is a Standard - BUT....
Although SQL is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard, there are many different versions of the SQL language.

However, to be compliant with the ANSI standard, they all support at least the major commands (such as SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT, WHERE) in a similar manner.

Note: Most of the SQL database programs also have their own proprietary extensions in addition to the SQL standard!

Using SQL in Your Web Site
To build a web site that shows some data from a database, you will need the following:

• An RDBMS database program (i.e. MS Access, SQL Server, MySQL)
• A server-side scripting language, like PHP or ASP
• SQL
• HTML / CSS

RDBMS
RDBMS stands for Relational Database Management System. RDBMS is the basis for SQL, and for all modern database systems like MS SQL Server, IBM DB2, Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft Access. The data in RDBMS is stored in database objects called tables. A table is a collections of related data entries and it consists of columns and rows.

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Introduction to Structured Query Language By James Hoffman

By James Hoffman

This page is a introductory tutorial of the Structured Query Language (also known as SQL) and is a pioneering effort on the World Wide Web, as this is the first comprehensive SQL tutorial available on the Internet. SQL allows users to access data in relational database management systems, such as Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server, Access, and others, by allowing users to describe the data the user wishes to see. SQL also allows users to define the data in a database, and manipulate that data. This page will describe how to use SQL, and give examples. The SQL used in this document is "ANSI", or standard SQL, and no SQL features of specific database management systems will be discussed until the "Nonstandard SQL" section. It is recommended that you print this page, so that you can easily refer back to previous examples.

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Structured Query Language (SQL): A Practical Introduction

By Akeel I Din

The Structured Query Language, SQL is a query language which is used with relational databases. This chapter starts by describing some of the terms used in data processing and how they relate to SQL. The later part of this chapter describes relational databases and how SQL is used to query them.

Let's start from basics. What is a database? In very general terms, a database is a collection of related data. Notice the word related, this implies that the collection of letters on this page do not by themselves constitute a database. But if we think of them as a collection of letters arranged to form words, then they can be conceptualised as data in a database. Using similar reasoning, we can also say that a tome such as a telephone directory is also a database. It is a database first, because it is a collection of letters that form words and second, because it is an alphabetical listing of people's names, their addresses and their telephone numbers. How we think of a database depends on what use we want to make of the information that it contains.

So far, we have talked about a database in it's broadest sense. This very general definition is not what most people mean when they talk about a database. In this electronic age, the word database has become synonymous with the term "computerised database". Collins English Dictionary describes a database as "A store of a large amount of information, esp. in a form that can be handled by a computer." In this book, we will be dealing only with computerised databases. In keeping with popular trend though, we will be using the word database to refer to a computerised database.

A database (computerised database remember) by itself, is not much use. The data is stored electronically on the computer's disk in a format which we humans cannot read or understand directly. What we need is some way of accessing this data and converting it into a form which we do understand. This is the job of the database management system or DBMS for short. A DBMS is essentially a suite of programs that act as the interface between the human operator and the data held in the database. Using the DBMS, it is possible to retrieve useful information, update or delete obsolete information and add new information to the database. As well as data entry and retrieval, the DBMS plays an important role in maintaining the overall integrity of the data in the database. The simplest example of is ensuring that the values entered into the database conform to the data types that are specified. For example, in the telephone book database, the DBMS might have to ensure that each phone number entered conforms to a set format of XXX-XXXXXXX where X represents an integer.

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