This Post does not give a lesson on data modeling and creating a proper database schema. In order to write proper SQL statements, familiarity with database objects (tables, views, constraints) are essential.
One general rule to follow when you are writing SQL statements is that data types cannot be mixed. Conversion utilities are available to convert from one type to another. These conversion functions are covered later in this Post.
Numeric
The NUMBER data type is used to store zero, negative, positive, fixed, and floating point numbers with up to 38 digits of precision. Numbers range between 1.0x10 -130 and 1.0x10 126.
Numbers can be defined in one of three ways:
NUMBER(p,s)
where p is the precision up to 38 digits and s is the scale (number of digits to the right of the decimal point). The scale can range between -84 to 127.
NUMBER (p)
This is a fixed-point number with a scale of zero and a precision of p.
NUMBER
This is a floating-point number with a precision of 38.
The following table shows how Oracle stores different scales and precisions:
Actual Data Defined as Stored as
123456.789 NUMBER(6,2) 123456.79
123456.789 NUMBER(6) 123457
123456.789 NUMBER(6,-2) 123400
123456.789
NUMBER
123456.789
Character
There are four character types available:
1. The CHAR data type is used where fixed-length fields are necessary. Any length up to 255 characters can be specified. The default length is 1. When data is entered, any space left over will be filled with blanks. All alpha-numeric characters are allowed.
2. The VARCHAR2 is used for variable-length fields. A length component must be supplied when you use this data type. The maximum length is 2000 characters. All alpha-numeric characters are allowed.
3. The LONG data type is used to store large amounts of variable-length text. Any length up to 2 GB can be specified. Be aware that there are some restrictions to using this data type, such as:
Only one column per table can be defined as LONG.
A LONG column cannot be indexed.
A LONG column cannot be passed as an argument to a procedure.
A function cannot be used to return a LONG column.
A LONG column cannot be used in where, order by, group by, or connect by clauses.
4. The VARCHAR data type is synonymous with VARCHAR2. Oracle Corporation is reserving this for future use. Do not use this data type.
Binary
Two data types, RAW and LONGRAW, are available for storing binary type data such as digitized sound and images. These data types take on similar characteristics as the VARCHAR2 and LONG data types already mentioned.
Use the RAW data type to store binary data up to 2000 characters and use the LONGRAW data type to store binary data up to 2 GB.
Oracle only stores and retrieves binary data; no string manipulations are allowed. Data is retrieved as hexadecimal character values.
Others
Every row in the database has an address. You can retrieve this address by using the ROWID function. The format of the ROWID is as follows:
BLOCK.ROW.FILE
BLOCK is the data block of the data FILE containing the ROW. The data is in hexadecimal format and has the data type ROWID.
MLSLABEL is a data type used to store the binary format of a label used on a secure operating system.
What is RDBMS?
In recent years, database management systems (DBMS) have established themselves as the primary means of data storage for information systems ranging from large commercial transaction processing applications to PC-based desktop applications. At the heart of most of today's information systems is a relational database management system (RDBMS). RDBMSs have been the workhorse for data management operations for over a decade and continue to evolve and mature, providing sophisticated storage, retrieval, and distribution functions to enterprise-wide data processing and information management systems. Compared to the file systems, relational database management systems provide organizations with the capability to easily integrate and leverage the massive amounts of operational data into meaningful information systems. The evolution of high-powered database engines such as Oracle7 has fostered the development of advanced "enabling" technologies including client/server, data warehousing, and online analytical processing, all of which comprise the core of today's state-of-the-art information management systems.
Examine the components of the term relational database management system. First, a database is an integrated collection of related data. Given a specific data item, the structure of a database facilitates the access to data related to it, such as a student and all of his registered courses or an employee and his dependents. Next, a relational database is a type of database based in the relational model; non-relational databases commonly use a hierarchical, network, or object-oriented model as their basis. Finally, a relational database management system is the software that manages a relational database. These systems come in several varieties, ranging from single-user desktop systems to full-featured, global, enterprise-wide systems, such as Oracle7.
This blog discusses the basic elements of a relational database management system, the relational database, and the software systems that manage it. Also included is a discussion of nonprocedural data access. If you are a new user to relational database technology, you'll have to change your thinking somewhat when it comes to referencing data nonprocedurally.
The Relational Database Model
Most of the database management systems used by commercial applications today are based on one of three basic models: the hierarchical model, the network model, or the relational model. The following sections describe the various differences and similarities of the models.
Hierarchical and Network Models
The first commercially available database management systems were of the CODASYL type, and many of them are still in use with mainframe-based, COBOL applications. Both network and hierarchical databases are quite complex in that they rely on the use of permanent internal pointers to relate records to each other. For example, in an accounts payable application, a vendor record might contain a physical pointer in its record structure that points to purchase order records. Each purchase order record in turn contains pointers to purchase order line item records.
The process of inserting, updating, and deleting records using these types of databases requires synchronization of the pointers, a task that must be performed by the application. As you might imagine, this pointer maintenance requires a significant amount of application code (usually written in COBOL) that at times can be quite cumbersome.
Elements of the Relational Model
Relational databases rely on the actual attribute values as opposed to internal pointers to link records. Instead of using an internal pointer from the vendor record to purchase order records, you would link the purchase order record to the vendor record using a common attribute from each record, such as the vendor identification number.
Although the concepts of academic theory underlying the relational model are somewhat complex, you should be familiar with are some basic concepts and terminology. Essentially, there are three basic components of the relational model: relational data structures, constraints that govern the organization of the data structures, and operations that are performed on the data structures.
Relational Data Structures
The relational model supports a single, "logical" structure called a relation, a two-dimensional data structure commonly called a table in the "physical" database. Attributes represent the atomic data elements that are related by the relation. For example, the Customer relation might contain such attributes about a customer as the customer number, customer name, region, credit status, and so on.
Key Values and Referential Integrity
Attributes are grouped with other attributes based on their dependency on a primary key value. A primary key is an attribute or group of attributes that uniquely identifies a row in a table. A table has only one primary key, and as a rule, every table has one. Because primary key values are used as identifiers, they cannot be null. Using the conventional notation for relations, an attribute is underlined to indicate that it is the primary key of the relation. If a primary key consists of several attributes, each attribute is underlined.
You can have additional attributes in a relation with values that you define as unique to the relation. Unlike primary keys, unique keys can contain null values. In practice, unique keys are used to prevent duplication in the table rather than identify rows. Consider a relation that contains the attribute, United States Social Security Number (SSN). In some rows, this attribute may be null in since not every person has a SSN; however for a row that contains a non-null value for the SSN attribute, the value must be unique to the relation.
Linking one relation to another typically involves an attribute that is common to both relations. The common attributes are usually a primary key from one table and a foreign key from the other. Referential integrity rules dictate that foreign key values in one relation reference the primary key values in another relation. Foreign keys might also reference the primary key of the same relation. Figure illustrates two foreign key relationships.
Oracle and Client/Server
Oracle Corporation's reputation as a database company is firmly established in its full-featured, high-performance RDBMS server. With the database as the cornerstone of its product line, Oracle has evolved into more than just a database company, complementing its RDBMS server with a rich offering of well-integrated products that are designed specifically for distributed processing and client/server applications. As Oracle's database server has evolved to support large-scale enterprise systems for transaction processing and decision support, so too have its other products, to the extent that Oracle can provide a complete solution for client/server application development and deployment. This chapter presents an overview of client/server database systems and the Oracle product architectures that support their implementation.
An Overview of Client/Server Computing
The premise of client/server computing is to distribute the execution of a task among multiple processors in a network. Each processor is dedicated to a specific, focused set of subtasks that it performs best, and the end result is increased overall efficiency and effectiveness of the system as a whole. Splitting the execution of tasks between processors is done through a protocol of service requests; one processor, the client, requests a service from another processor, the server. The most prevalent implementation of client/server processing involves separating the user interface portion of an application from the data access portion.
On the client, or front end, of the typical client/server configuration is a user workstation operating with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) platform, usually Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, or Motif. At the back end of the configuration is a database server, often managed by a UNIX, Netware, Windows NT, or VMS operating system.
Client/server architecture also takes the form of a server-to-server configuration. In this arrangement, one server plays the role of a client, requesting database services from another server. Multiple database servers can look like a single logical database, providing transparent access to data that is spread around the network.
Designing an efficient client/server application is somewhat of a balancing act, the goal of which is to evenly distribute execution of tasks among processors while making optimal use of available resources. Given the increased complexity and processing power required to manage a graphical user interface (GUI) and the increased demands for throughput on database servers and networks, achieving the proper distribution of tasks is challenging. Client/server systems are inherently more difficult to develop and manage than traditional host-based application systems because of the following challenges:
The components of a client/server system are distributed across more varied types of processors. There are many more software components that manage client, network, and server functions, as well as an array of infrastructure layers, all of which must be in place and configured to be compatible with each other.
The complexity of GUI applications far outweighs that of their character-based predecessors. GUIs are capable of presenting much more information to the user and providing many additional navigation paths to elements of the interface.
Troubleshooting performance problems and errors is more difficult because of the increased number of components and layers in the system.
Databases in a Client/Server Architecture
Client/server technologies have changed the look and architecture of application systems in two ways. Not only has the supporting hardware architecture undergone substantial changes, but there have also been significant changes in the approach to designing the application logic of the system.
Prior to the advent of client/server technology, most Oracle applications ran on a single node. Typically, a character-based SQL*Forms application would access a database instance on the same machine with the application and the RDBMS competing for the same CPU and memory resources. Not only was the system responsible for supporting all the database processing, but it was also responsible for executing the application logic. In addition, the system was burdened with all the I/O processing for each terminal on the system; each keystroke and display attribute was controlled by the same processor that processed database requests and application logic.
Client/server systems change this architecture considerably by splitting all of the interface management and much of the application processing from the host system processor and distributing it to the client processor.
Combined with the advances in hardware infrastructure, the increased capabilities of RDBMS servers have also contributed to changes in the application architecture. Prior to the release of Oracle7, Oracle's RDBMS was less sophisticated in its capability to support the processing logic necessary to maintain the integrity of data in the database. For example, primary and foreign key checking and enforcement was performed by the application. As a result, the database was highly reliant on application code for enforcement of business rules and integrity, making application code bulkier and more complex. Figure 2.1 illustrates the differences between traditional host-based applications and client/server applications. Client/server database applications can take advantage of the Oracle7 server features for implementation of some of the application logic.
