Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 24 Hours

By Ron Plew and Ryan Stephens

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Authors
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: A SQL Concepts Overview
  • Hour 1. Welcome to the World of SQL
  • Part II: Building Your Database
  • Hour 2. Defining Data Structures
  • Hour 3. Managing Database Objects
  • Hour 4. The Normalization Process
  • Hour 5. Manipulating Data
  • Hour 6. Managing Database Transactions
  • Part III: Getting Effective Results from Queries
  • Hour 7. Introduction to the Database Query
  • Hour 8. Using Operators to Categorize Data
  • Hour 9. Summarizing Data Results from a Query
  • Hour 10. Sorting and Grouping Data
  • Hour 11. Restructuring the Appearance of Data
    • The Concepts of ANSI Character Functions
    • Various Common Character Functions
    • Miscellaneous Character Functions
    • Mathematical Functions
    • Conversion Functions
    • The Concept of Combining Character Functions
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 12. Understanding Dates and Times
  • Part IV: Building Sophisticated Database Queries
  • Hour 13. Joining Tables in Queries
  • Hour 14. Using Subqueries to Define Unknown Data
  • Hour 15. Combining Multiple Queries into One
  • Part V: SQL Performance Tuning
  • Hour 16. Using Indexes to Improve Performance
  • Hour 17. Improving Database Performance
  • Part VI: Using SQL to Manage Users and Security
  • Hour 18. Managing Database Users
  • Hour 19. Managing Database Security
  • Part VII: Summarized Data Structures
  • Hour 20. Creating and Using Views and Synonyms
  • Hour 21. Working with the System Catalog
  • Part VIII: Applying SQL Fundamentals in Today's World
  • Hour 22. Advanced SQL Topics
  • Hour 23. Extending SQL to the Enterprise, the Internet, and the Intranet
  • Hour 24. Extensions to Standard SQL
  • Part IX: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Common SQL Commands
  • Appendix B. Using MySQL for Exercises
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes and Exercises
  • Appendix D. CREATE TABLE Statements for Book Examples
  • Appendix E. INSERT Statements for Data in Book Examples
  • Appendix F. Glossary
  • Appendix G. Bonus Exercises

Workshop

The following workshop is composed of a series of quiz questions and practical exercises. The quiz questions are designed to test your overall understanding of the current material. The practical exercises are intended to afford you the opportunity to apply the concepts discussed during the current hour, as well as build upon the knowledge acquired in previous hours of study. Please take time to complete the quiz questions and exercises before continuing. Refer to Appendix C,"Answers to Quizzes and Exercises," for answers.

Quiz

Match the descriptions with the possible functions.

1. True or false: Using functions in a select statement to restructure the appearance of data in output will also affect the way the data is stored in the database.

2. True or false: The outermost function is always resolved first when functions are embedded within other functions in a query.

Exercises

1. Type the following code at the mysql> prompt to concatenate each employee's last name and first name:

   
                  SELECT CONCAT(LAST_NAME, ', ', FIRST_NAME) 
   
                  FROM EMPLOYEE_TBL;
   
               

2. Type the following code to print each employee's concatenated name and their area code:

   
                  SELECT CONCAT(LAST_NAME, ', ', FIRST_NAME), SUBSTRING(PHONE, 1, 3) 
   
                  FROM EMPLOYEE_TBL;
   
               

3. Write a SQL statement that lists employee emails. Email is not a stored column. The email for each employee should be as follows:

   FIRST.LAST@PERPTECH.COM 
   

   For example, John Smith's would be JOHN.SMITH@PERPTECH.COM.

4. Write a SQL statement that lists employee emails. Email is not a stored column. The email for each employee should be as follows:

   FIRSTINITIAL.LAST@PERPTECH.COM 
   

   For example, John Smith's would be JSMITH@PERPTECH.COM.

5. Write a SQL statement that lists each employee's name, employee ID, and phone number in the following formats:

   NAME = SMITH, JOHN 
   EMP_ID = 999-99-9999
   PHONE = (999)999-9999
   

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