Oracle PL/SQL in 10 Minutes, Sams Teach Yourself

Covers Oracle DBMS versions 10, 11, 12, and XE

 

Sams Teach Yourself Oracle PL/SQL in 10 Minutes offers straightforward, practical answers when you need fast results. By working through the book’s 26 lessons of 10 minutes or less, you’ll learn what you need to know to take advantage of Oracle’s PL/SQL language.

 

This handy pocket guide starts with simple data retrieval and moves on to more complex topics, including the use of joins, subqueries, regular expression and full text-based searches, stored procedures, cursors, triggers, table constraints, and much more.

  

10 minutes is all you need to learn how to...

• Use PL/SQL in the Oracle environments and tools
• Construct complex PL/SQL statements using multiple clauses and operators
• Retrieve, sort, and format database contents
• Pinpoint the data you need using a variety of filtering techniques
• Use string, date-time, and math functions to manipulate your data
• Join two or more related tables
• Insert, update, and delete data
• Create and alter database tables
• Work with views, stored procedures, cursors, triggers, and more

Introduction     1
What Is This Book?      1
Who Is This Book For?      2
Companion Website     3
Conventions Used in This Book     3
Chapter 1: Understanding SQL     5
Database Basics     5
What Is SQL?      10
Try It Yourself     11
Summary     12
Chapter 2: Getting Started with Oracle and PL/SQL     13
What Is Oracle?      13
Getting Set Up     16
Summary      20
Chapter 3: Working with Oracle     21
Creating a Working Environment     21
Making the Connection     25
A Quick Introduction to Oracle SQL Developer     27
Creating and Populating the Example Tables     28
One More Look at Oracle SQL Developer     32
Summary      32
Chapter 4: Retrieving Data     33
The SELECT Statement     33
Retrieving Individual Columns     33
Retrieving Multiple Columns     36
Retrieving All Columns     37
Retrieving Distinct Rows     38
Using Fully Qualified Table Names     40
Using Comments     40
Summary     42
Chapter 5: Sorting Retrieved Data     43
Sorting Data     43
Sorting by Multiple Columns     45
Specifying Sort Direction     47
Summary     49
Chapter 6: Filtering Data     51
Using the WHERE Clause     51
The WHERE Clause Operators     53
Summary     59
Chapter 7: Advanced Data Filtering     61
Combining WHERE Clauses     61
Using the IN Operator     65
Using the NOT Operator     67
Summary     68
Chapter 8: Using Wildcard Filtering     69
Using the LIKE Operator     69
Tips for Using Wildcards     74
Summary     74
Chapter 9: Searching Using Regular Expressions     75
Understanding Regular Expressions     75
Using Oracle PL/SQL Regular Expressions     76
Summary     89
Chapter 10: Creating Calculated Fields     91
Understanding Calculated Fields     91
Concatenating Fields     92
Performing Mathematical Calculations     96
Summary     98
Chapter 11: Using Data Manipulation Functions     99
Understanding Functions     99
Using Functions     100
Summary     107
Chapter 12: Summarizing Data     109
Using Aggregate Functions     109
Aggregates on Distinct Values     117
Combining Aggregate Functions     118
Summary     119
Chapter 13: Grouping Data     121
Understanding Data Grouping     121
Creating Groups     122
Filtering Groups     123
Grouping and Sorting     126
SELECT Clause Ordering     129
Summary     129
Chapter 14: Working with Subqueries     131
Understanding Subqueries     131
Filtering by Subquery     131
Using Subqueries as Calculated Fields     136
Summary     140
Chapter 15: Joining Tables     141
Understanding Joins     141
Creating a Join     144
Summary     152
Chapter 16: Creating Advanced Joins     153
Using Table Aliases     153
Using Different Join Types     154
Using Joins with Aggregate Functions     160
Using Joins and Join Conditions     161
Summary     162
Chapter 17: Combining Queries     163
Understanding Combined Queries     163
Creating Combined Queries     164
Summary     169
Chapter 18: Inserting Data     171
Understanding Data Insertion     171
Inserting Complete Rows     172
Inserting Retrieved Data     176
Summary     178
Chapter 19: Updating and Deleting Data     179
Updating Data      179
Deleting Data     181
Guidelines for Updating and Deleting Data     183
Summary     184
Chapter 20: Creating and Manipulating Tables     185
Creating Tables     185
Updating Tables     190
Deleting Tables     193
Renaming Tables     193
Summary     194
Chapter 21: Using Views     195
Understanding Views     195
Using Views     197
Summary     204
Chapter 22: Working with Stored Procedures     205
Understanding Stored Procedures     205
Why Use Stored Procedures     206
Using Stored Procedures     207
Summary     214
Chapter 23: Using Cursors     215
Understanding Cursors     215
Working with Cursors     216
Summary     222
Chapter 24: Using Triggers     223
Understanding Triggers     223
Creating Triggers     224
Dropping Triggers     225
Using Triggers     225
Summary     232
Chapter 25: Managing Transaction Processing     233
Understanding Transaction Processing     233
Controlling Transactions     235
Summary     238
Chapter 26: Managing Security     239
Understanding Access Control     239
Managing Users     240
Summary     244
Appendix A: The Example Tables     245
Understanding the Sample Tables     245
Appendix B: Oracle PL/SQL Datatypes     251
String Datatypes     252
Numeric Datatypes     253
Appendix C: Oracle PL/SQL Reserved Words and Keywords     255
Index     259