1. MBAC 611

2.  We have been using MS Access to query and modify our databases.  MS Access provides a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that hides much of the SQL code that is typically needed to build databases, query databases, etc.  MS Access is actually interpreting SQL but one can, for the most part, avoid writing SQL to perform most queries.  Sometimes you may need to work with a database that provides only a text-based interface. We will look at one such database SQLite.

3.  SQLite should already be installed on your lab computer (on the desktop).  Double-click on the SQLite icon and skip to the NEXT slide.  If needed, copy of the SQLite zip file is in Moodle  It can also be downloaded from: http://www.sqlite.org/download.html  Download the first “Precompiled Binary for Windows” to your c:\temp folder.

4. You should now see the following SQLite command window. This is where you will enter you SQL commands. Notice that the second line states that we can enter “.help” for instructions. Enter.help into the command window and then hit the Enter key.

5. You can use the scroll-bar on the right-hand side of the window to view the commands. Notice all commands must start with a period. These commands are different from SQL commands. SQL commands are issued on a database whereas the other commands are issued to the database management software (SQLite) to perform tasks that the SQL language doesn’t address – such as exiting the database and requesting help. So while the SQL language is a standard the other commands for performing system-specific tasks are not.

6.  SQL can be viewed as programming language for databases. As such we can write programs that the database will execute.  In order to avoid having to retype the SQL commands every time we start the database software we typically store the SQL commands in a file. This file is referred to as a SQL script or SQL program.  We can then instruct the database software to execute the SQL script.

7.  We will now look at a SQL script that creates a three table database about movies.  From Moodle save the rating.sql script onto the desktop (or folder containing the sqlite3 program).

8.  In order to tell SQLite to run a sql script we must issue the “.read” command.  Inside the SQLite command window enter the following command (note the period at the beginning of the command):.read rating.sql

9. No output will result if the SQL script executed successfully. However, a number of tables should have been created. We can which tables have been created using the “.tables” command. Type the following command into the SQLite command window and then press the Enter key:.tables The result show should be a list of three tables: Movie, Reviewer, Rating The script created these three tables. Lets take a closer look at the script.

10.  Start WordPad (not Notepad) - it can be found under the Accessories Program group. The script does not display well in Notepad – that is why we are using WordPad.  From within WordPad open the rating.sql file that is found in your sqlite-shell folder in the c:\temp folder.

11. The comments in the script tell us what the SQL code does. The comments are written with /* and */ characters. The first three statements utilize the SQL drop command that deletes the tables if they previously existed. One cannot create tables if they already exist. The SQL create command creates the tables and the insert into command adds data to the tables.

12.  Lets view the records contained in the Movie table.  Type the following SQL statement into the SQLite command window and then press the Enter key (note the semicolon at the end of the statement – this is needed to tell SQLite that the statement is complete): select * from movie;

13. You should see the following output: Lab Exercise 1: Start MS Word and save the empty file to your private network directory under the name lab9. Write and execute the SQL code to display the records of the Reviewer table. Using the Snipping Tool take a screenshot of the result. Paste the screenshot into the lab9 MS Word file under the heading Exercise 1.

14. Below is a graphical view of the tables created by the rating.sql script. This view copied from the Stanford DB class website: http://www.db-class.org/course/resources/index?page=moviedata

15.  SQLite doesn’t offer great editing capabilities – there isn’t a built-in editor to write and save scripts. This would allow us to correct mistakes in our SQL code.  Therefore we will use NotePad to write our scripts. You can also use WordPad but you may be more familiar with Notepad.  Close WordPad and Start NotePad.

16. Below we will answer some of SQL assignment questions that are posted on the Stanford DB course website: http://www.db-class.org/course/quiz/attempt?quiz_id=63 http://www.db-class.org/course/quiz/attempt?quiz_id=106 Question 1: Find the names of all reviewers who rated the movie “Gone with the Wind”. It looks like we will need all three tables for the query. In NotePad enter (or paste) the following SQL code: select name from Movie, Reviewer, Rating where title="Gone with the Wind" and Movie.mID=Rating.mID and Reviewer.rID=Rating.rID; Save the file in your sqlite-shell folder under the name "one.sql" (note that the quotes ARE needed). To run the code type the command.read one.sql into the SQLite command window and then press the Enter key.

17. The result should look like the following: Note that “Sarah Martinez” is listed twice. This is not a mistake as the Rating table does indeed list “Sarah Martinez” twice – the reviews were given on two different days.

18. Exercise 2: For any rating where the reviewer is the same as the director of the movie, return the reviewer name, movie title, and number of stars. Write the SQL query in NotePad. Run it in SQLite. Copy the SQL code to your lab9 file and ADD a screenshot of the output to the lab9 file. The screenshot should look similar to the following: Below is a copy of the tables to help you write the query:

19. Exercise 3: Find the titles of all movies not reviewed by Chris Jackson. Note that you will need to use the difference operator for this query. In the query use the word “except” (without quotes) instead of the word “difference”. Write the SQL query in NotePad. Run it in SQLite. Copy the SQL code to your lab9 file and ADD a screenshot of the output to the lab9 file. The screenshot should look similar to the following: Below is a copy of the tables to help you write the query:

20. Exercise 4: For each movie find the lowest rating (fewest stars) currently in the database. Hint use an aggregate operator and “Group By”. Write the SQL query in NotePad. Run it in SQLite. Copy the SQL code to your lab9 file and ADD a screenshot of the output to the lab9 file. The screenshot should look similar to the following: Below is a copy of the tables to help you write the query:

21. Exercise 5: Some reviewers didn't provide a date with their rating. Find the names of all reviewers who have ratings with a NULL value for the date. Remember in a query one writes “is null” NOT “=null”. Write the SQL query in NotePad. Run it in SQLite. Copy the SQL code to your lab9 file and ADD a screenshot of the output to the lab9 file. The screenshot should look similar to the following: Below is a copy of the tables to help you write the query:

22.  Save your lab9 Word file.  Submit the lab9 file to the lab9 Moodle assignment.