# 1# 1 Creating Tables, Setting Constraints, and Datatypes What is a constraint and why do we use it? What is a datatype? What does CHAR mean? CS 105 Spring 2010

SQL commands below CS 105 Spring 2010 CREATE TABLE DemoForClass (FirstName varchar(12) NOT NULL default 'First Name', LastName varchar(12) NOT NULL default 'Last Name', Year year(4) NOT NULL default '2006', SSN varchar(11) NOT NULL default ' ')

What the table looks like CS 105 Spring 2010 Note: the name Kingfishersmith was truncated

Language explained CS 105 Spring 2010 CREATE TABLE tablename (column1 datatype, column2 datatype, column3 datatype ); create table means create a table ( begin defining fields with a ( ) end of fields is signaled by ) ; end of statement don’t forget the )

Creating a table in SQLyog Using a Wizard CS 105 Spring 2010

Language layout “field name" "datatype" [other constraints], ssn CHAR(11) NOT NULL,

Primary Key as shown in old client CS 105 Spring 2010 The Primary Key specifies the field that uniquely identifies each record in the Table

Setting a Primary Key A primary key is a column (field) that uniquely identifies the rest of the data in any given record. More than one field can be combined to establish a primary key (e.g., Deanne + Smith rather than Smith) (MySQL may give you trouble, but trust us) CS 105 Spring 2010

Validation, Constraints The database will automatically check that entered data is appropriate to the field type If the field is an item price, you can create a constraint that input is to be numbers only and no letters are allowed. We will not cover "Input Masks" this semester CS 105 Spring 2010 NOT NULL means that the column must have a value in each row. If NULL is used, that column may be left empty in a given row.

What is a constraint? A constraint is basically a rule associated with a column that the data entered into that column must follow. "Not Null" -- a column can't be left blank It is required See SAMS book, lessons 17 and 22 CS 105 Spring 2010

Popular datatypes – see Appendix D char(size) Fixed-length character string. Size is specified in parenthesis. Max 255 bytes. varchar(size) Variable-length character string. Max size is specified in parenthesis. VARCHAR(30) -- entry of varying length, maximum possible is 30 characters, can be less TEXT – a character string that does not have a fixed length CS 105 Spring 2010

More datatypes number(size) unsigned (no negative numbers) date Date value – Timestamp ---YYYY-MM-DD CS 105 Spring 2010

Number value in a field CS 105 Spring 2010 No negative numbers allowed, and field will not take letters! PK is for Primary Key Binary is for pictures, etc.

Default value in SQL CREATE TABLE tablestudents (FirstName VARCHAR (12) DEFAULT ‘First Name’ NOT NULL (etc.) CS 105 Spring 2010

NULL Values and calculations If you add a value to another value that is NULL, the answer that MySQL gives you is NULL! The same thing sometimes happens in our Compass GradeBook—if a score is missing, sometimes the total score is not computed. It all depends on what software you use. CS 105 Spring 2010

Adding Items Can Be Tricky CS 105 Spring 2010

Alter Table – Using a Query CS 105 Spring 2010 Adding a field….

Variation 1 of the Insert Statement If you know the order of the fields, you don’t have to specify the field names INSERT INTO Customers VALUES (' ', 'Village Toys', '200 Maple Lane', 'Detroit', 'MI', '44444', 'USA', 'John Smith', CS 105 Spring 2010

Variation 2 of Insert Statement You don’t have to insert a value for every field, unless it is a required (NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY) field INSERT INTO Customers (cust_id, cust_name, cust_ ) VALUES (' ', 'Village Toys', CS 105 Spring 2010

Update Statement See page 131 and 132 of SAM’s book Modifies data in a table UPDATE players SET firstname= 'fred' WHERE ssn=' ' CS 105 Spring 2010

Before running Update CS 105 Spring 2010

After running the statement CS 105 Spring 2010

What did we learn? What is a constraint? How do we change information? Can a Primary Key be Null? CS 105 Spring 2010