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Lab #11 Worksheet

This document provides information about triggers and cursors in database systems. It discusses how triggers allow automated actions to be performed in response to data changes, and how they are defined using trigger functions attached to tables. It also explains how cursors allow iterating through result sets row by row, and how they are declared and used to fetch data within loops. Examples are provided of triggers to maintain derived attributes and balances, and of using a cursor in a stored procedure to print customers by area code.

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Mehdi Talbi
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38 views

Lab #11 Worksheet

This document provides information about triggers and cursors in database systems. It discusses how triggers allow automated actions to be performed in response to data changes, and how they are defined using trigger functions attached to tables. It also explains how cursors allow iterating through result sets row by row, and how they are declared and used to fetch data within loops. Examples are provided of triggers to maintain derived attributes and balances, and of using a cursor in a stored procedure to print customers by area code.

Uploaded by

Mehdi Talbi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CSC 3326 Database Systems Lab Fall 2022

Lab #11 Worksheet

1. Triggers

A trigger is procedural SQL code associated with a given table, and is automatically
executed before or after some update/insertion/deletion on that table (triggering
event). A trigger can be used to enforce constraints, to automate critical actions (like
updating some derived attribute). A trigger can update values, insert records, and
call procedures. A table may have multiple triggers that are fired on different events
and can do different things. Triggers add processing capabilities to a database
application (event-based actions).

To create a new trigger in PostgreSQL, you follow these steps:

● First, create a trigger function using CREATE FUNCTION statement.

Second, bind the trigger function to a table by using CREATE TRIGGER statement.

CREATE FUNCTION trigger_function()


RETURNS TRIGGER
LANGUAGE PLPGSQL
AS $$ BEGIN
-- trigger logic
END;
$$;

A trigger function receives data about its calling environment through a special
structure called TriggerData which contains a set of local variables. For example,
OLD and NEW represent the states of the row in the table before or after the
triggering event.
CREATE TRIGGER trigger_name {BEFORE | AFTER} { event }
ON table_name
[FOR [EACH] { ROW | STATEMENT }]
EXECUTE PROCEDURE trigger_function

a) First add a new smallint attribute called reorder in the table Product. The new
attribute will have value 1 when the quantity on hand for a given product falls below
the minimum allowed quantity on hand.

ALTER TABLE Product ADD COLUMN reorder smallint;

i) Now create the following trigger:

CREATE FUNCTION update_prod() RETURNS TRIGGER


AS $$
BEGIN

Ziyad Mourabiti — DB Systems Lab — Fall 2022


CSC 3326 Database Systems Lab Fall 2022

UPDATE Product
SET reorder = 1
WHERE productCode = NEW.productCode;
RETURN NEW;
END;
$$
LANGUAGE plpgsql;

CREATE TRIGGER trProdUpd AFTER UPDATE ON


Product FOR EACH ROW
WHEN (OLD.quantityOnHand IS DISTINCT FROM NEW.quantityOnHand
AND NEW.quantityOnHand < NEW.minQuantityOnHand) EXECUTE
FUNCTION update_prod();

ii) Now pick a product that has reorder different than 1, and decrease its quantity on
hand so that it becomes less than its minQoH. For example:

UPDATE Product
SET quantityOnHand = quantityOnHand -9
WHERE productCode = '1546-QQ2';

Check that product’s row values.

What happened? Please note that this trigger may need improvement.

b) In this example, a trigger will be used to maintain a derived attribute (amount) in


the Invoice table:

i) Add attribute amount of type decimal (8, 2) (not nullable) to table Invoice,
with a

defaultvalue 0. Give the SQL statement to do that.

ii) Update the amount attribute to be the sum of the corresponding total line
prices. You can use a correlated subquery. Give the corresponding SQL
statement.

iii) Create a trigger that will automatically update (increase) the invoice
amount every time a line is inserted (use the example trigger on the handout
online).

iv) Insert some invoice line for some existing invoice and check the effect on
the corresponding invoice.

c) Create a trigger that would update (increase) the customer balance every time an
amount is invoiced for that customer (example trigger on the handout online).

2. Cursors.

Ziyad Mourabiti — DB Systems Lab — Fall 2022


CSC 3326 Database Systems Lab Fall 2022

A cursor is a procedural SQL mechanism that allows for walking through the result
set of a query that may return more than one row. It is used to fetch the information
one record at a time. A cursor needs first to be declared; the basic syntax looks like:

DECLARE cursorName CURSOR FOR SelectStatement;

You also need to declare local variables where to fetch data from cursor; for example

DECLARE varName dataType[,...n];

At some point in the code, the cursor needs to be opened to execute:

OPEN cursorName;

To get the first record, we have to fetch the next row:

FETCH NEXT FROM cursorName INTO variableName[, ...n]];

The special variable FOUND can be checked to see whether a row was obtained or
not.

Then a typical use of a cursor will proceed as follows:

FETCH NEXT FROM cursorName INTO variableName,...; WHILE FOUND


= TRUE

LOOP

-- process/print/do something with variableName, ... ...

-- fetch next row and loop back to process it FETCH NEXT FROM
cursorName INTO variableName,...;

END LOOP;

CLOSE cursorName;

a) Create the stored procedure spPrintCustByArea() that uses a cursor to print


customers in a specific area code.

b) Run the above stored procedure:

CALL spPrintCustByArea('0161');

What is the output?

NB. Please note that cursors can be used in SQL functions as well.

Ziyad Mourabiti — DB Systems Lab — Fall 2022

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