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Basic SQL Statements

December 8th, 2008 by Gabriel

Basic SQL Statements :

SQL is used to query the database which are almost same for SQL Server, MS Access, Oracle and MySQL.
There are four types of basic queries :-

SELECT
INSERT
UPDATE
DELETE
ORDER BY

Different combination of parameters can be passed to a query.

1] SELECT :-

its the most common SQL statement using which data can be selected from database and the output is returned to user.The result is

stored in a result table, called the result-set.SQL is not case sensitive. SELECT is the same as select.
Here is a simple example -

select name, bdate from user;
this will return all names and bdates from the table user.

select * from user;
this will return all records of user table.

select * from user where name=’john’;
this will return all records in which name = john

select * from user where name=’john’ OR name=’paul’ OR bdate=01012007
this way you can add multiple filtering using “OR” , “AND” clause.

2] INSERT :-

it is used to take the data input from user and insert it into table of the database. Data can be taken from any form or it can be

directly inserted using query.It is used to insert a new row in a table.
Simple example-
Insert into Table1 (FirstName, LastName, Phone) Values (’Gabriel’, ‘R’, ‘1112222′);

3] UPDATE :-

Using Update, we edit / modify any exisiting table. Either all the rows can be updated, or a subset may be chosen using a condition.
Simple example -
Update Table1 Set name=@FirstName, LastName=@LastName, Phone=@Phone where id=@ID

WHERE clause us very important in Update query. If you don’t use WHERE then it will update all existing records in the table.

4] DELETE :-

It is used to delete rows in a table. It also uses WHERE claue. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be deleted.
Here is an example of a Delete statement-

Delete From Table1 where ID=10

it will delete all records in which ID = 10

5] Order By Clauses :-

It is used to sort the output returned by a query. Using this clause, you can sort by any field in the table.
Example -
Select * from Table1 Order By name

This will list all returned records sorted by Name alphabetically.

‘ASC’ (ascending order) or ‘DESC’ (descending order) can be included in Orderby query to sort the output in ascending or descending order respectively.
Like -

Select * from Table1 Order By name DESC

How to start SQL server 2000 in Single User Mode

November 26th, 2008 by Gabriel

sql_logo How to start SQL server 2000 in Single User Mode

Single User mode allows only one single user to connect to the database.
Even if SQL server is in Single User Mode, you can connect the SQL Query Analyzer with the SA user.

Single user mode specifies that only one user at a time can access the database. Basically it is used for maintenance purposes.

If any other users are connected to the database and you  switch the database to single user mode then their connections to the database will be closed without any warning message.

Following are the steps to start SQL server in Single User mode -

On your server :

Start >> Run >> type in CMD and hit Ok >> it will open up Command Prompt >> here execute the following command

net stop MSSqlServer

>> it will stop the SQL service >> now to start SQL in Single User mode execute following command

sqlservr -m

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How to Set a single database into Single User Mode :-

You can set a single database into single user mode using an alternative procedure but this process cannot be used to set the MASTER database into single user mode.

# Connect to SQL Server using SQL Query Analyzer with SA user

# Execute the following command -

alter database database-name set SINGLE_USER

where “database-name” is the actual name of the database.

This cannot be used to place the databases MASTER, MSDB or TEMPDB in single user mode.

# To set the database back into normal multi-user mode use, execute the following command -

alter database db-name set MULTI_USER

Database Connection String

November 24th, 2008 by Gabriel

A connection string is a string which contains information about a data source and its connectivity.
Connection string is always passed to a driver or provider which initiate the actual database connection.
It includes the attributes like name of the driver, server/host address, database name, security information like user name and password.
The format of a connection string is a semicolon-delimited list of key/value parameter pairs.

Following is a sample SQL database connection string :-

<add name=”SampleConnectionString” connectionString=”Data Source=AAAAAA;Initial Catalog=BBBBBB;User ID=CCCCCC;Password=DDDDDD” providerName=”System.Data.SqlClient” />

Where :
AAAAAA : Your server’s actual IP address.
BBBBBB : Your database’s actual Name.
CCCCCC : Your database’s actual Username.
DDDDDD : Your database’s actual Password.

System Databases in SQL Server

November 19th, 2008 by Gabriel

System Databases in SQL Server :-

A Database Administrator shold be aware of system databases which is an integral part of the SQL Server.

System Databases are essential for the operation of a server instance.

Following are System Database in SQL Server 2005 & 2008.

Master Database :-

Master database is the heart of SQL Server, it records all system-level information of a SQL Server which includes instance-wide metadata such as logon accounts, endpoints, linked servers, system configuration settings, System Level Stored Procedures, System level Functions, all other existing databases, their MDF/LDF data file location etc.
Each SQL instance have its own Master database.
Master database consists of two physical files, namely master.mdf (data file) and mastlog.ldf (log file).
SQL Service can not be started if there is any problem with master database or its database files.
There are some restrictions on Master Database, you are not allowed to perform all the operations that you perform with normal database like, you can not add files or file groups, you can not change the owner, you can not drop the database, you can not change the collation, you can not remove the filegroup, primary data file, or log file, you can not take the database offline…

Model Database :-

The model database is used as the template for all databases created on an instance of SQL Server.
While creating a new database, SQL Server create it by getting a template from Model Database. Hence any change that you make in Model Database will reflect in newly created database as well for e.g. if a user creates any tables, stored procedures, user defined data types in Model database then those objects will be available in every newly created database as well.
Model database consists of two physical files namely Model.mdf (data file) and ModelLog.ldf (log file).
If the Model database is damaged or corrupted then SQL Server Service will not start up as it will not be able to create the tempdb database as TempDB database is recreated on every restart of SQL service.
Restrictions on Model Database are the same as that on Master Database.

MSDB Database :-

MSDB is the database used by SQL server Agent to store configuration information, Agent Jobs, Job schedules, Alerts, Operators, Service Broker, Log Shipping, database backups and restore information, Maintenance Plan Configuration, Configuration of Database Mail etc.
MSDB database consists of two physical files namely MSDBData.mdf (data file) and MSDBLog.ldf (log file).
The scheduling information used by SQL Server Agent will be lost in case of any problem occured with MSDB database.
Restrictions on MSDB Database are the same as that on Master Database.

TempDB Database :-

The TempDB is the only database which is recreated every time when SQL Server restarts.
It is besically used to store all the temporary objects like temporary tables, temporary stored procedures, cursors, table variables etc.
TempDB database consists of two physical files namely tempdb.mdf (data file) and templog.ldf (log file).
A clean/new copy copy of TempDB is created on each restart of SQL server, there is never anything stored in tempdb from one session of SQL Server to another.