Chapter 1:

Introduction to SQL
1. Introduction to Database
A databaseis an organized collection of data. More specifically, a database is an electronic system that
allows data to be easily accessed, manipulated and updated.
In other words, a database is used by an organization as an electronic way to store, manage and retrieve
information. The database is one of the cornerstones of enterprise IT, and its ability to organize, process
and manage information in a structured and controlled manner is the key to many aspects of modern
business efficiency.
A database may be any size and complexity. A large corporation and companies maintain a large
database consisting of servers, terabytes of data on large mainframe computers that is used for decision
making.
A database is a collection of related data. Data is the raw material from which useful information is
derived. Data is commonly used in both singular or plural forms. It is defined as raw facts or
observations. It takes variety of forms including numeric data, text, voice, and images.
Data is a collection of facts, which is unorganized but can be made organized into useful information.
Database and database technologies are having a major impact on the growing use of computers. It is fair
to say that database will play a critical role in almost all areas, where computers are used including
business, engineering, medicine, law, education and library science and so on.
History of Database
Charles Bachman was the first person to develop the Integrated Data Store (IDS) which was based on
network data model. It was developed in early 1960’s.
In the late 1960’s, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) developed the Integrated
Management Systems which is the standard database system used till date in many places. It was
developed based on the hierarchical database model. It was during the year 1970 that the relational
database model was developed by Edgar Codd. Many of the database models we use today are
relational based. It was considered the standardized database model from then.
The relational model was still in use by many people in the market. Later during the same decade
(1980’s), IBM developed the Structured Query Language (SQL) as a part of R project. It was declared
as a standard language for the queries by ISO and ANSI.
Traditional File System
File system is collection of data. In this system, user has to write procedures for managing database. It
provides details of data representation and storage of data. In this –
• Data is stored in files.
• Each file has specific format.
• Programs that use these files depend on knowledge about that format.
• In earlier days, database applications were built on top of file systems.
This approach is mostly obsolete but –
• Understanding problems inherent in file based systems may prevent us from repeating these
problems in our database system.
• Understanding how file system works is extremely useful when converting a file-based system to a
database system.

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Basically, it is a collection of application programs that performs services for end users such as
production of reports. Each file defines and manages its own data.
It doesn’t have a crash mechanism i.e., if system crashes while entering some data, then content of file
will be lost. This is disadvantage of traditional file based system. Also, it is very difficult to protect a
file under the file system. This system can’t efficiently store and retrieve data.

Advantages of Traditional File System:

• File processing cost less and can be more speed than database.
• File processing design approach was well suited to mainframe hardware and batch input.
• Companies mainly use file processing to handle large volumes of structured data on a regular basis.
• It can be more efficient and cost less than DBMS in certain situations.
• Design is simple.
• Customization is easy and efficient.
Disadvantages of Traditional File System:
• Data redundancy and inconsistency.
• Difficulty in accessing data.
• Data isolation – multiple files and formats.
• Integrity problems
• Unauthorized access is not restricted.
• It co-ordinates only physical access.
To overcome disadvantages of File system, DBMS came in use

DBMS- A Database Management System (DBMS) is a software system that is designed to manage and
organize data in a structured manner. It allows users to create, modify, and query a database, as well as
manage the security and access controls for that database.
1. Data modeling: A DBMS provides tools for creating and modifying data models, which define the
structure and relationships of the data in a database.
2. Data storage and retrieval: A DBMS is responsible for storing and retrieving data from the
database, and can provide various methods for searching and querying the data.
3. Concurrency control: A DBMS provides mechanisms for controlling concurrent access to the
database, to ensure that multiple users can access the data without conflicting with each other.
4. Data integrity and security: A DBMS provides tools for enforcing data integrity and security
constraints, such as constraints on the values of data and access controls that restrict who can access
the data.
5. Backup and recovery: A DBMS provides mechanisms for backing up and recovering the data in the
event of a system failure.
RDBMS- RDBMS stands for Relational DataBase Management Systems. It is basically a program
that allows us to create, delete, and update a relational database. Relational Database is a database
system that stores and retrieves data in a tabular format organized in the form of rows and columns. It
is a smaller subset of DBMS which was designed by E.F Codd in the 1970s. The major DBMS like
SQL, My-SQL, ORACLE are all based on the principles of relational DBMS.

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Relational DBMS owes its foundation to the fact that the values of each table are related to others. It
has the capability to handle larger magnitudes of data and simulate queries easily.
Characteristics
• Data must be stored in tabular form in DB file, that is, it should be organized in the form of rows
and columns.
• Each row of table is called record/tuple . Collection of such records is known as the cardinality of
the table
• Each column of the table is called an attribute/field. Collection of such columns is called the arity
of the table.
• No two records of the DB table can be same. Data duplicity is therefore avoided by using a
candidate key. Candidate Key is a minimum set of attributes required to identify each record
uniquely.
• Tables are related to each other with the help for foreign keys.
• Database tables also allow NULL values, that is if the values of any of the element of the table are
not filled or are missing, it becomes a NULL value, which is not equivalent to zero.
Example:
The following table STUDENT consists of three columns Roll Number, Name, Section and four
records of students 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively.

Roll number Name Section

1 Ravi A

2 Ajay B

3 Ravi A

4 Mallika C

No. DBMS RDBMS

1) DBMS applications store data as file. RDBMS applications store data in a tabular form.

2) In DBMS, data is generally stored in In RDBMS, the tables have an identifier called primary
either a hierarchical form or a key and the data values are stored in the form of tables.
navigational form.

3) Normalization is not present in Normalization is present in RDBMS.

DBMS.

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4) DBMS does not apply any RDBMS defines the integrity constraint for the
security with regards to data purpose of ACID (Atomocity, Consistency, Isolation
manipulation. and Durability) property.

5) DBMS uses file system to store data, in RDBMS, data values are stored in the form of tables,
so there will be no relation between so a relationship between these data values will be
the tables. stored in the form of a table as well.

6) DBMS has to provide some uniform RDBMS system supports a tabular structure of the data
methods to access the stored and a relationship between them to access the stored
information. information.

7) DBMS does not support distributed RDBMS supports distributed database.

database.

8) DBMS is meant to be for small RDBMS is designed to handle large amount of data.
organization and deal with small it supports multiple users.
data. it supports single user.

9) Examples of DBMS are file Example of RDBMS are mysql, postgre, sql
systems, xml etc. server, oracle etc.

SQL (Structured Query Language)

Structured Query Language is a standard Database language which is used to create, maintain and
retrieve the relational database.
The recent ISO standard version of SQL is SQL:2019.

SQL is widely used in data science and analytics. Following are the reasons which explain why it is
widely used:
o The basic use of SQL for data professionals and SQL users is to insert, update, and delete the data
from the relational database.
o SQL allows the data professionals and users to retrieve the data from the relational database
management systems.
o It also helps them to describe the structured data.
o It allows SQL users to create, drop, and manipulate the database and its tables.
o It also helps in creating the view, stored procedure, and functions in the relational database.
o It allows you to define the data and modify that stored data in the relational database.
o It also allows SQL users to set the permissions or constraints on table columns, views, and stored
procedures.

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Process of SQL

When we are executing the command of SQL on any Relational database management system, then the
system automatically finds the best routine to carry out our request, and the SQL engine determines how
to interpret that particular command.

Structured Query Language contains the following four components in its process:
o Query Dispatcher
o Optimization Engines
o Classic Query Engine
o SQL Query Engine, etc.

A classic query engine allows data professionals and users to maintain non-SQL queries. The
architecture of SQL is shown in the following diagram:

Sub languages of SQL

Structured Query Language (SQL) as we all know is the database language by the use of which
we can perform certain operations on the existing database and also we can use this language to create
a database. SQL uses certain commands like Create, Drop, Insert, etc. to carry out the required tasks.
These SQL commands are mainly categorized into five categories as:
1. DDL – Data Definition Language
2. DQL – Data Query Language
3. DML – Data Manipulation Language
4. DCL – Data Control Language
5. TCL – Transaction Control Language

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DDL (Data Definition Language):
DDL or Data Definition Language actually consists of the SQL commands that can be used to define
the database schema. It simply deals with descriptions of the database schema and is used to create and
modify the structure of database objects in the database. DDL is a set of SQL commands used to
create, modify, and delete database structures but not data. These commands are normally not used by
a general user, who should be accessing the database via an application.
List of DDL commands:
• CREATE: This command is used to create the database or its objects (like table, index, function,
views, store procedure, and triggers).
• DROP: This command is used to delete objects from the database.
• ALTER: This is used to alter the structure of the database.
• TRUNCATE: This is used to remove all records from a table, including all spaces allocated for the
records are removed.
• COMMENT: This is used to add comments to the data dictionary.
• RENAME: This is used to rename an object existing in the database.
DQL (Data Query Language):
DQL statements are used for performing queries on the data within schema objects. The purpose of the
DQL Command is to get some schema relation based on the query passed to it. We can define DQL as
follows it is a component of SQL statement that allows getting data from the database and imposing
order upon it. It includes the SELECT statement. This command allows getting the data out of the
database to perform operations with it. When a SELECT is fired against a table or tables the result is
compiled into a further temporary table, which is displayed.
List of DQL:
• SELECT: It is used to retrieve data from the database.
DML(Data Manipulation Language):
The SQL commands that deals with the manipulation of data present in the database belong to DML or
Data Manipulation Language and this includes most of the SQL statements. It is the component of the
SQL statement that controls access to data and to the database. Basically, DCL statements are grouped
with DML statements.
List of DML commands:
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• INSERT : It is used to insert data into a table.
• UPDATE: It is used to update existing data within a table.
• DELETE : It is used to delete records from a database table.
DCL (Data Control Language):
DCL includes commands such as GRANT and REVOKE which mainly deal with the rights,
permissions, and other controls of the database system.
List of DCL commands:
• GRANT: This command gives users access privileges to the database.
• REVOKE: This command withdraws the user’s access privileges given by using the GRANT
command.
TCL (Transaction Control Language):
Transactions group a set of tasks into a single execution unit. Each transaction begins with a specific
task and ends when all the tasks in the group successfully complete. If any of the tasks fail, the
transaction fails. Therefore, a transaction has only two results: success or failure. Hence, the following
TCL commands are used to control the execution of a transaction:
• COMMIT: Commits a Transaction.
• ROLLBACK: Rollbacks a transaction in case of any error occurs.
• SAVEPOINT: Sets a save point within a transaction.

Difference between 10g vs 11g vs 12c

Oracle 10g is the first database management system designed for network computing;
Oracle 11g merges and expands Oracle’s unique functions to realize the advantages of grid computing,
transforming the data center from a distributed island of system resources to a shared server and storage
Pool;
Oracle 12c is designed for cloud computing.
The g of 10g and 11g is grid.
12c is a later version. From 12 onwards, c is used. It means cloud, which means cloud. Cloud means that
multiple services can be provided for multiple customers to customize and provide services according to
their needs.
Oracle 12c is just upgraded version of the Oracle 11g with some new features like cloud support and
pluggable database, kind of like master slave architecture. With the Oracle 12 c, you can plug your
database to cloud anytime. It has multiple new features like JSON support, multitenant architecture and
etc.
Sr. Key Oracle 11g Oracle 12c
No.

1 Basic It was released in released in It is High performance RDbMS

2008 and has no pluggable which is released in 2014. It is
database pluggable database.

2 Identity We can't set primary key to raise We can set primary key to rise
column automatically automatically.

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Sr. Key Oracle 11g Oracle 12c
No.

3 JSON type We can't store Json directly to Oracle has introduced JSON
the column as Oracle 11g doesn't column type.
have JSON column type.

4. Cloud Oracle 11g doesn't have cloud It provides Oracle cloud

support services services.

5. In-memory No in-memory capabilities It has in-memory capabilities.

capabilities

Installation of 12c

Expand the database folder that you extracted in the previous section. Double-click setup.

Click Yes in the User Account Control window to continue with the installation.

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The Configure Security Updates window appears. Enter your email address and My Oracle
Support password to receive security issue notifications via email. If you do not wish to receive
notifications via email, deselect "I wish to receive security updates via My Oracle Support".
Click Next to continue. Click "Yes" in the confirmation window to confirm your preference.

The Download Software Updates window appears with the following options:

o Select "Use My Oracle Support credentials for download" to download and apply the latest
software updates.
o Select "Use pre-downloaded software updates" to apply software updates that you
previously downloaded.
o Select "Skip software updates" if do not want to apply any updates.

Accept the default and click Next.

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The Select Installation Option window appears with the following options:

o Select "Create and configure a database" to install the database, create database instance
and configure the database.
o Select "Install database software only" to only install the database software.
o Select "Upgrade an existing database" to upgrade the database that is already installed.

In this OBE, we create and configure the database. Select the Create and configure a
database option and click Next.

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The System Class window appears. Select Desktop Class or Server Class depending on the type
of system you are using. In this OBE, we will perform the installation on a desktop/laptop.
Select Desktop class and click Next.

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The Oracle Home User Selection window appears. Starting with Oracle Database 12c Release 1
(12.1), Oracle Database on Microsoft Windows supports the use of an Oracle Home User,
specified at the time of installation. This Oracle Home User is used to run the Windows services
for a Oracle Home, and is similar to the Oracle User on Oracle Database on Linux. This user is
associated with an Oracle Home and cannot be changed to a different user post installation.

Note:

o Different Oracle homes on a system can share the same Oracle Home User or use different
Oracle Home Users.
o The Oracle Home User is different from an Oracle Installation User. The Oracle
Installation User is the user who requires administrative privileges to install Oracle
products. The Oracle Home User is used to run the Windows services for the Oracle Home.

The window provides the following options:

o If you select "Use Existing Windows User", the user credentials provided must be a
standard Windows user account (not an administrator).
▪ If this is a single instance database installation, the user can be a local user, a
domain user, or a managed services account.
▪ If this is an Oracle RAC database installation, the existing user must be a Windows
domain user. The Oracle installer will display an error if this user has administrator
privileges.
o If you select "Create New Windows User", the Oracle installer will create a new standard
Windows user account. This user will be assigned as the Oracle Home User. Please note
that this user will not have login privileges. This option is not available for an Oracle RAC
Database installation.
o If you select "Use Windows Built-in Account", the system uses the Windows Built-in
account as the Oracle Home User.

Select the Create New Windows User option. Enter the user name as OracleHomeUser1 and
password as Welcome1. Click Next.

Note: Remember the Windows User password. It will be required later to administer or manage
database services.

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The Typical Install Configuration window appears. Click on a text field and then the balloon

icon ( )to know more about the field. Note that by default, the installer creates a container
database along with a pluggable database called "pdborcl". The pluggable database contains the
sample HR schema. Change the Global database name to orcl. Enter the "Administrative
password" as Oracle_1. This password will be used later to log into administrator accounts such
as SYS and SYSTEM. Click Next.

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The prerequisite checks are performed and a Summary window appears. Review the settings and
click Install.

Note: Depending on your firewall settings, you may need to grant permissions to allow java to
access the network.

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The progress window appears.

The Database Configuration Assistant creates the database.

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After the Database Configuration Assistant creates the database, you can navigate
to https://localhost:5500/em as a SYS user to manage the database using Enterprise Manager
Database Express. You can click "Password Management..." to unlock accounts. Click OK to
continue.

The Finish window appears. Click Close to exit the Oracle Universal Installer.

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About SQL*Plus and use of developer tool

SQL*Plus is an interactive and batch query tool that is installed with every Oracle Database Server or
Client installation. It has a command-line user interface, a Windows Graphical User Interface (GUI) and
the iSQL*Plus web-based user interface.

SQL*Plus has its own commands and environment, and it provides access to the Oracle Database. It
enables you to enter and execute SQL, PL/SQL, SQL*Plus and operating system commands to perform
the following:

• Format, perform calculations on, store, and print from query results
• Examine table and object definitions
• Develop and run batch scripts
• Perform database administration

You can use SQL*Plus to generate reports interactively, to generate reports as batch processes, and to
output the results to text file, to screen, or to HTML file for browsing on the Internet. You can generate
reports dynamically using the HTML output facility of SQL*Plus, or using the dynamic reporting
capability of iSQL*Plus to run a script from a web page.
Datatypes in Oracle

A datatype associates a fixed set of properties with the values that can be used in a column of a table or
in an argument of a procedure or function. These properties cause Oracle to treat values of one datatype
differently from values of another datatype; for example, Oracle can add values of NUMBER datatype
but not values of RAW datatype.

Oracle supplies the following built-in datatypes:

• character datatypes
o CHAR
o NCHAR
o VARCHAR2 and VARCHAR
o NVARCHAR2
o CLOB
o NCLOB
o LONG
• NUMBER datatype
• DATE datatype
• binary datatypes
o BLOB
o BFILE
o RAW
o LONG RAW

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Another datatype, ROWID, is used for values in the ROWID pseudocolumn, which represents the unique
address of each row in a table.
Datatype Description Column Length and Default
CHAR (size) Fixed-length character data of Fixed for every row in the table (with trailing
length size bytes. blanks); maximum size is 2000 bytes per row,
default size is 1 byte per row. Consider the character
set (one-byte or multibyte) before setting size.
VARCHAR2 Variable-length character data. Variable for each row, up to 4000 bytes per row.
(size) Consider the character set (one-byte or multibyte)
before setting size. A maximum size must be
specified.
NCHAR(size) Fixed-length character data of Fixed for every row in the table (with trailing
length size characters or bytes, blanks). Column size is the number of characters for
depending on the national a fixed-width national character set or the number of
character set. bytes for a varying-width national character set.
Maximum size is determined by the number of bytes
required to store one character, with an upper limit of
2000 bytes per row. Default is 1 character or 1 byte,
depending on the character set.
NVARCHAR2 Variable-length character data of Variable for each row. Column size is the number of
(size) length size characters or bytes, characters for a fixed-width national character set or
depending on national character the number of bytes for a varying-width national
set. A maximum size must be character set. Maximum size is determined by the
specified. number of bytes required to store one character, with
an upper limit of 4000 bytes per row. Default is 1
character or 1 byte, depending on the character set.
CLOB Single-byte character data. Up to 2^32 - 1 bytes, or 4 gigabytes.
NCLOB Single-byte or fixed-length Up to 2^32 - 1 bytes, or 4 gigabytes.
multibyte national character set
(NCHAR) data.
LONG Variable-length character data. Variable for each row in the table, up to 2^31 - 1
bytes, or 2 gigabytes, per row. Provided for
backward compatibility.
NUMBER (p, Variable-length numeric data. Variable for each row. The maximum space required
s) Maximum precision p and/or for a given column is 21 bytes per row.
scale s is 38.
DATE Fixed-length date and time data, Fixed at 7 bytes for each row in the table. Default
ranging from Jan. 1, 4712 B.C.E. format is a string (such as DD-MON-YY) specified
to Dec. 31, 4712 C.E. by NLS_DATE_FORMAT parameter.
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BLOB Unstructured binary data. Up to 2^32 - 1 bytes, or 4 gigabytes.
BFILE Binary data stored in an external Up to 2^32 - 1 bytes, or 4 gigabytes.
file.
RAW (size) Variable-length raw binary data. Variable for each row in the table, up to 2000 bytes
per row. A maximum size must be specified.
Provided for backward compatibility.
LONG RAW Variable-length raw binary data. Variable for each row in the table, up to 2^31 - 1
bytes, or 2 gigabytes, per row. Provided for
backward compatibility.
ROWID Binary data representing row Fixed at 10 bytes (extended ROWID) or 6 bytes
addresses. (restricted ROWID) for each row in the table.
MLSLABEL Trusted Oracle datatype. See the Trusted Oracle documentation.

Operators in Oracle
An operator manipulates individual data items and returns a result. The data items are
called operands or arguments. Operators are represented by special characters or by keywords. For
example, the multiplication operator is represented by an asterisk (*) and the operator that tests for nulls
is represented by the keywords IS NULL. There are two general classes of operators: unary and binary.
Oracle Database Lite SQL also supports set operators.
PL/SQL language is rich in built-in operators and provides the following types of operators −
• Arithmetic operators
• Relational operators
• Comparison operators
• Logical operators
• String operators

Here, we will understand the arithmetic, relational, comparison and logical operators one by one. The
String operators will be discussed in a later chapter − PL/SQL - Strings.

Arithmetic Operators
Following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by PL/SQL. Let us assume variable
A holds 10 and variable B holds 5, then −
Operator Description Example

+ Adds two operands A + B will give 15

- Subtracts second operand from the first A - B will give 5

* Multiplies both operands A * B will give 50

/ Divides numerator by de-numerator A / B will give 2

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** Exponentiation operator, raises one operand to the A ** B will give
power of other 100000

Relational Operators
Relational operators compare two expressions or values and return a Boolean result. Following table
shows all the relational operators supported by PL/SQL. Let us assume variable A holds 10
and variable B holds 20, then −
Operator Description Example

Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not, if yes (A = B) is not
=
then condition becomes true. true.

!=
Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not, if (A != B) is
<> values are not equal then condition becomes true. true.
~=

Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value (A > B) is not
>
of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. true.

Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of (A < B) is
<
right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. true.

Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to (A >= B) is

>= the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes not true.
true.

Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the (A <= B) is
<=
value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. true

Comparison Operators
Comparison operators are used for comparing one expression to another. The result is always
either TRUE, FALSE or NULL.
Operator Description Example

The LIKE operator compares a character, If 'Zara Ali' like 'Z% A_i'
string, or CLOB value to a pattern and returns a Boolean true,
LIKE
returns TRUE if the value matches the whereas, 'Nuha Ali' like 'Z%
pattern and FALSE if it does not. A_i' returns a Boolean false.

The BETWEEN operator tests whether a If x = 10 then, x between 5

BETWEEN
value lies in a specified range. x and 20 returns true, x

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 BETWEEN a AND b means that x >= a between 5 and 10 returns
and x <= b. true, but x between 11 and 20
returns false.

If x = 'm' then, x in ('a', 'b', 'c')

The IN operator tests set membership. x IN
returns Boolean false but x in
IN (set) means that x is equal to any member
('m', 'n', 'o') returns Boolean
of set.
true.

The IS NULL operator returns the

BOOLEAN value TRUE if its operand is
If x = 'm', then 'x is null'
IS NULL NULL or FALSE if it is not NULL.
returns Boolean false.
Comparisons involving NULL values
always yield NULL.

Logical Operators
Following table shows the Logical operators supported by PL/SQL. All these operators work on Boolean
operands and produce Boolean results. Let us assume variable A holds true and variable B holds false,
then −
Operator Description Examples

Called the logical AND operator. If both the operands are (A and B) is
and
true then condition becomes true. false.

Called the logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is (A or B) is

or
true then condition becomes true. true.

Called the logical NOT Operator. Used to reverse the logical not (A and B)
not state of its operand. If a condition is true then Logical NOT is true.
operator will make it false.

Understanding Schema design and objects

Associated with each database user is a schema. A schema is a collection of schema objects. Examples of
schema objects include tables, views, sequences, synonyms, indexes, clusters, database links, procedures,
and packages.
Schema objects are logical data storage structures.
Schema: Schema is such that describes the structural read of a information that confirms the tables that
will be concerned in making a information, the table’s attributes and their association.

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A database object is any defined object in a database that is used to store or reference data. Anything
which we make from create command is known as Database Object. It can be used to hold and
manipulate the data. Some of the examples of database objects are : view, sequence, indexes, etc.
• Table – Basic unit of storage; composed rows and columns
• View – Logically represents subsets of data from one or more tables
• Sequence – Generates primary key values
• Index – Improves the performance of some queries
• Synonym – Alternative name for an object

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