Lecture 07: SQL
Constraints and Programming
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
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Agenda
• Tales from real database research life
• Constraints in SQL
• Systems aspects of SQL.
2
Constraints in SQL
• A constraint = a property that we’d like our
database to hold
• The system will enforce the constraint by
taking some actions:
– forbid an update
– or perform compensating updates
3
Constraints in SQL
Constraints in SQL:
• Keys, foreign keys
• Attribute-level constraints
• Tuple-level constraints
• Global constraints: assertions
simplest
Most
complex
The more complex the constraint, the harder it is to
check and to enforce
4
Keys
CREATE TABLE Product (
name CHAR(30) PRIMARY KEY,
category VARCHAR(20))
OR:
CREATE TABLE Product (
name CHAR(30),
category VARCHAR(20)
PRIMARY KEY (name))
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Keys with Multiple Attributes
CREATE TABLE Product (
name CHAR(30),
category VARCHAR(20),
price INT,
PRIMARY KEY (name, category))
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Other Keys
CREATE TABLE Product (
productID CHAR(10),
name CHAR(30),
category VARCHAR(20),
price INT,
PRIMARY KEY (productID),
UNIQUE (name, category))
There is at most one PRIMARY KEY;
there can be many UNIQUE
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Foreign Key Constraints
Referential
integrity
constraints
CREATE TABLE Purchase (
prodName CHAR(30)
REFERENCES Product(name),
date DATETIME)
prodName is a foreign key to Product(name)
name must be a key in Product
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Product
Purchase
Name
Category
ProdName
Store
Gizmo
gadget
Gizmo
Wiz
Camera
Photo
Camera
Ritz
OneClick
Photo
Camera
Wiz
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Foreign Key Constraints
• OR
CREATE TABLE Purchase (
prodName CHAR(30),
category VARCHAR(20),
date DATETIME,
FOREIGN KEY (prodName, category)
REFERENCES Product(name, category)
• (name, category) must be a PRIMARY
KEY
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What happens during updates ?
Types of updates:
• In Purchase: insert/update
• In Product: delete/update
Product
Purchase
Name
Category
ProdName
Store
Gizmo
gadget
Gizmo
Wiz
Camera
Photo
Camera
Ritz
OneClick
Photo
Camera
Wiz
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What happens during updates ?
• SQL has three policies for maintaining
referential integrity:
• Reject violating modifications (default)
• Cascade: after a delete/update do a
delete/update
• Set-null set foreign-key field to NULL
READING ASSIGNEMNT: 7.1.5, 7.1.6
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Constraints on Attributes and
Tuples
• Constraints on attributes:
NOT NULL
-- obvious meaning...
CHECK condition -- any condition !
• Constraints on tuples
CHECK condition
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What
is the difference from
Foreign-Key ?
CREATE TABLE Purchase (
prodName CHAR(30)
CHECK (prodName IN
SELECT Product.name
FROM Product),
date DATETIME NOT NULL)
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General Assertions
CREATE ASSERTION myAssert CHECK
NOT EXISTS(
SELECT Product.name
FROM Product, Purchase
WHERE Product.name = Purchase.prodName
GROUP BY Product.name
HAVING count(*) > 200)
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Final Comments on Constraints
• Can give them names, and alter later
– Read in the book !!!
• We need to understand exactly when they
are checked
• We need to understand exactly what actions
are taken if they fail
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Triggers in SQL
• A trigger contains an event, a condition, an action.
• Event = INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE
• Condition = any WHERE condition (may refer to
the old and the new values)
• Action = more inserts, deletes, updates
• Many, many more bells and whistles...
• Read in the book (it only scratches the surface...)
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Embedded SQL
• direct SQL (= ad-hoc SQL) is rarely used
• in practice: SQL is embedded in some
application code
• SQL code is identified by special syntax
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Impedance Mismatch
• Example: SQL in C:
– C uses int, char[..], pointers, etc
– SQL uses tables
• Impedance mismatch = incompatible types
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The Impedance Mismatch
Problem
Why not use only one language?
• Forgetting SQL: “we can quickly dispense with
this idea” [textbook, pg. 351].
• SQL cannot do everything that the host language
can do.
Solution: use cursors
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Programs with Embedded SQL
Host language + Embedded SQL
Preprocessor
Preprocessor
Host Language + function calls
Host
Host language
language compiler
compiler
Call-level
interface (CLI):
ODBC,JDBC,
ADO
Host language program
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Interface: SQL / Host Language
Values get passed through shared variables.
Colons precede shared variables when they occur within the
SQL statements.
EXEC SQL: precedes every SQL statement in the host language.
The variable SQLSTATE provides error messages and status
reports (e.g., “00000” says that the operation completed with no
problem).
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
char productName[30];
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
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Example
Product (pname, price, quantity, maker)
Purchase (buyer, seller, store, pname)
Company (cname, city)
Person(name, phone, city)
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Using Shared Variables
Void simpleInsert() {
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
char n[20], c[30];
/* product-name, company-name */
int p, q;
/* price, quantity */
char SQLSTATE[6];
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
/* get values for name, price and company somehow */
EXEC SQL INSERT INTO Product(pname, price, quantity, maker)
VALUES (:n, :p, :q, :c);
}
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Single-Row Select Statements
int getPrice(char *name) {
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
char n[20];
int p;
char SQLSTATE[6];
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
strcpy(n, name); /* copy name to local variable */
EXEC SQL
SELECT price INTO :p
FROM Product
WHERE Product.name = :n;
return p;
}
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Cursors
1.
2.
3.
4.
Declare the cursor
Open the cursor
Fetch tuples one by one
Close the cursor
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Cursors
void product2XML() {
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
char n[20], c[30];
int p, q;
char SQLSTATE[6];
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
EXEC SQL DECLARE crs CURSOR FOR
SELECT pname, price, quantity, maker
FROM Product;
EXEC SQL OPEN crs;
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Cursors
printf(“<allProducts>\n”);
while (1) {
EXEC SQL FETCH FROM crs INTO :n, :p, :q, :c;
if (NO_MORE_TUPLES) break;
printf(“ <product>\n”);
printf(“
<name> %s </name>\n”, n);
printf(“
<price>
%d </price>\n”, p);
printf(“
<quantity> %d </quantity>\n”, q);
printf(“
<maker> %s </maker>\n”, c);
printf(“ </product>\n”);
}
EXECT SQL CLOSE crs;
printf(“</allProducts>\n”);
}
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• What is NO_MORE_TUPLES ?
#define NO_MORE_TUPLES !(strcmp(SQLSTATE,”02000”))
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More on Cursors
• cursors can modify a relation as well as read it.
• We can determine the order in which the cursor will get
tuples by the ORDER BY keyword in the SQL query.
• Cursors can be protected against changes to the
underlying relations.
• The cursor can be a scrolling one: can go forward, backward
+n, -n, Abs(n), Abs(-n).
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Dynamic SQL
• So far the SQL statements were visible to
the compiler
• In dynamic SQL we have an arbitrary string
that represents a SQL command
• Two steps:
– Prepare: compiles the string
– Execute: executes the compiled string
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Dynamic SQL
Void someQuery() {
EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION;
char *command=“UPDATE Product SET quantity=quantity+1 WHERE name=“gizmo”
EXEC SQL END DECLARE SECTION;
EXEC SQL PREPARE myquery FROM :command;
EXEC SQL EXECUTE myquery;
}
myquery = a SQL variable, does not need to be prefixed by “:”
32
Transactions
Address two issues:
• Access by multiple users
– Remember the “client-server” architecture: one
server with many clients
• Protection against crashes
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Multiple users: single statements
Client 1:
UPDATE Product
SET Price = Price – 1.99
WHERE pname = ‘Gizmo’
Client 2:
UPDATE Product
SET Price = Price*0.5
WHERE pname=‘Gizmo’
Two managers attempt to do a discount.
Will it work ?
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Multiple users: multiple
statements
Client 1: INSERT INTO SmallProduct(name, price)
SELECT pname, price
FROM Product
WHERE price <= 0.99
DELETE Product
WHERE price <=0.99
Client 2: SELECT count(*)
FROM Product
SELECT count(*)
FROM SmallProduct
What’s wrong ?
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Protection against crashes
Client 1:
INSERT INTO SmallProduct(name, price)
SELECT pname, price
FROM Product
WHERE price <= 0.99
Crash !
DELETE Product
WHERE price <=0.99
What’s wrong ?
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Transactions
• Transaction = group of statements that must be
executed atomically
• Transaction properties: ACID
– ATOMICITY = all or nothing
– CONSISTENCY = leave database in consistent state
– ISOLATION = as if it were the only transaction in the
system
– DURABILITY = store on disk !
37
Transactions in SQL
• In “ad-hoc” SQL:
– Default: each statement = one transaction
• In “embedded” SQL:
BEGIN TRANSACTION
[SQL statements]
COMMIT or ROLLBACK (=ABORT)
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Transactions: Serializability
Serializability = the technical term for
isolation
• An execution is serial if it is completely
before or completely after any other
function’s execution
• An execution is serializable if it equivalent
to one that is serial
• DBMS can offer serializability guarantees
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Serializability
• Enforced with locks, like in Operating Systems !
• But this is not enough:
User 1
LOCK A
[write A=1]
UNLOCK A
...
...
...
...
LOCK B
[write B=2]
UNLOCK B
User 2
LOCK A
[write A=3]
UNLOCK A
LOCK B
[write B=4]
UNLOCK B
What is wrong ?
time
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Serializability
• Solution: two-phase locking
– Lock everything at the beginning
– Unlock everything at the end
• Read locks: many simultaneous read locks
allowed
• Write locks: only one write lock allowed
• Insert locks: one per table
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Isolation Levels in SQL
1.
“Dirty reads”
SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ UNCOMMITTED
2.
“Committed reads”
SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED
3.
“Repeatable reads”
SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL REPEATABLE READ
4.
Serializable transactions (default):
SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE
Reading assignment: chapter 8.6
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