Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Provides instruction to relational database design and management using Oracle examples. This book features step-by-step tutorials, end-of-chapter reviews, practice questions, key term lists, and lab projects.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. xvii)
• Chapter 1 Introducing Relational Databases (p. 1)
• What Exactly Is a Database? (p. 1)
• Tables (p. 1)
• Rows/Records (p. 2)
• Columns/Fields (p. 2)
• How Is a Database Different from a Spreadsheet? (p. 3)
• Many Rows (p. 3)
• Many Users Simultaneously (p. 4)
• Security (p. 4)
• Relational Abilities (p. 5)
• Constraints to Ensure Data Quality (p. 6)
• Case Study--Clapham Specialty Store (p. 6)
• Designing Your First Database (p. 7)
• How Will Knowing This Help You? (p. 8)
• When Developing Software (p. 8)
• When Doing Database Administration (p. 8)
• When Doing Business Analysis (p. 8)
• If You Just Want to Know How to Use Databases Better (p. 9)
• History of SQL (p. 9)
• Chapter 1 Review (p. 11)
• Chapter 2 Storing and Retrieving Data: The Basics (p. 16)
• Prepare to Work with a Database (p. 17)
• Creating a Table (p. 17)
• Inserting Records (p. 18)
• Selecting Records (p. 18)
• Dropping a Table (p. 18)
• Creating Tables (p. 20)
• Guidelines for Naming Tables and Columns (p. 21)
• Creating a More Involved Table (p. 24)
• Determining a Table's Structure (p. 30)
• NULL and NOT NULL Columns (p. 31)
• Inserting Data--Additional Techniques (p. 32)
• How to Insert Records Containing NULL Values (p. 32)
• Creating and Populating a Table (p. 35)
• How to Insert Data That Contains Apostrophes (p. 37)
• Viewing Data from a Table--Additional Techniques (p. 37)
• Selecting Specific Columns (p. 38)
• Changing Column Order (p. 38)
• Performing Math Using Data in a Table (p. 39)
• Connecting Two or More Pieces of Text Together (p. 41)
• Assigning Aliases to Columns (p. 42)
• Changing the Data Values You View (p. 43)
• Chapter 2 Review (p. 45)
• Chapter 3 Performing Advanced Data Manipulation (p. 52)
• SQL Command Categories (p. 53)
• Data Definition (p. 53)
• Data Manipulation (p. 53)
• Data Control (p. 53)
• Data Retrieval (p. 54)
• Transaction Control (p. 54)
• Limiting Which Records You Select (p. 54)
• Filtering Records Based on Numbers (p. 55)
• Filtering Records Based on Text (p. 59)
• Filtering Records Based on Dates (p. 60)
• Viewing Records in a Different Order (p. 62)
• Sorting on Individual Columns (p. 63)
• Sorting on Multiple Columns (p. 63)
• Showing Only Unique Values (p. 64)
• Selecting from the DUAL Table (p. 66)
• Modifying Data in a Table (p. 67)
• Removing Records from a Table (p. 68)
• Deleting Rows Matching Specific Criteria (p. 68)
• Deleting All Rows (p. 68)
• Transaction Control (p. 69)
• Undoing DML Transactions (p. 69)
• Making Data Available to Others (p. 72)
• Implicit and Explicit COMMITs (p. 73)
• Performing Advanced Data Manipulation (p. 74)
• Chapter 3 Review (p. 75)
• Chapter 4 Controlling SQL*Plus (p. 80)
• Editing Prior Commands (p. 81)
• Using a Text Editor (p. 81)
• Using the EDIT Command (p. 82)
• Line-Level Editing (p. 83)
• Copying and Pasting (p. 85)
• Using Your Mouse to Edit Text (p. 86)
• Clearing the SQL*Plus Screen (p. 87)
• Customizing the SQL*Plus Environment (p. 87)
• Customizing Using the SQL*Plus Menu (p. 87)
• Customizing Using Commands (p. 89)
• Saving Environment Customizations (p. 89)
• Producing More Readable Output (p. 90)
• Formatting Numbers in SQL*Plus (p. 90)
• Formatting Text in SQL*Plus (p. 91)
• Formatting Column Headings in SQL*Plus (p. 92)
• Spooling Output to Disk (p. 94)
• SQL Script Files (p. 95)
• Creating a Script File (p. 95)
• Running a Script File (p. 96)
• Using Variables in Script Files (p. 96)
• Chapter 4 Review (p. 99)
• Chapter 5 Oracle SQL Built-in Functions (p. 104)
• Implementing Commonly Used Single-Row Functions (p. 105)
• System Variables (p. 106)
• Number Functions (p. 108)
• Text Functions (p. 110)
• Using Single-Row Functions (p. 120)
• Date (p. 121)
• Data Conversion (p. 126)
• Other Functions (p. 132)
• Implementing Commonly Used Group Functions (p. 139)
• Grouping Data via the GROUP BY Clause (p. 142)
• Including and Excluding Grouped Rows via the HAVING Clause (p. 143)
• Using Group Functions (p. 145)
• Chapter 5 Review (p. 147)
• Chapter 6 Indexes, Joins, and Subqueries (p. 152)
• Creating the Test Tables (p. 153)
• Indexes (p. 155)
• Indexes in Databases (p. 155)
• How to Create Indexes (p. 156)
• Types of Indexes (p. 157)
• B-Tree Indexes (p. 157)
• Bitmap Indexes (p. 159)
• Bitmap Versus B-Tree Indexes (p. 160)
• Function-Based Indexes (p. 160)
• When to Use Indexes (p. 161)
• Relationships Between Tables (p. 162)
• Creating an Index (p. 163)
• Writing SELECT Statements to Display Data from More Than One Table (p. 164)
• Types of Joins (p. 167)
• Set Operators (p. 173)
• Writing Subqueries (p. 177)
• What Is a Subquery? (p. 177)
• Types of Problems Subqueries Can Solve (p. 177)
• Single-Row Subqueries (p. 177)
• Multirow Subqueries (p. 179)
• Multicolumn Subqueries (p. 180)
• Correlated Subqueries (p. 181)
• Chapter 6 Review (p. 183)
• Chapter 7 Creating a Program with PL/SQL (p. 188)
• What Is PL/SQL? (p. 189)
• Describing PL/SQL (p. 192)
• Who's Who in SQL, PL/SQL, and SQL*Plus (p. 193)
• Stored Procedures, Functions, and Triggers (p. 194)
• Stored Procedures and SQL Scripts (p. 196)
• Structure of a PL/SQL Block (p. 196)
• Header Section (p. 197)
• Declaration Section (p. 197)
• Execution Section (p. 198)
• Exception Section (p. 198)
• Creating a Simple PL/SQL Procedure (p. 199)
• Calling Procedures and Functions (p. 200)
• PL/SQL Variables and Constants (p. 201)
• Declaring PL/SQL Variables (p. 202)
• Declaring PL/SQL Constants (p. 202)
• Assigning Values to Variables (p. 203)
• Using Variables (p. 204)
• Control Structures in PL/SQL (p. 205)
• IF Statement (p. 206)
• Loops (p. 208)
• Cursors (p. 210)
• Nested Loops and Cursor Example (p. 215)
• Error Handling (p. 217)
• Exceptions (p. 217)
• System-Defined Exceptions (p. 218)
• Programmer-Defined Exceptions (p. 220)
• Creating a Programmer-Defined Exception (p. 221)
• Chapter 7 Review (p. 223)
• Chapter 8 Reading a Data Model (p. 230)
• Overview of Data Model Design (p. 231)
• Purpose and Benefits of Models (p. 231)
• Relational Integrity: Quality Data (p. 232)
• Types of Data Models (p. 233)
• Conceptual Model (p. 233)
• Logical Data Model (p. 234)
• Physical Data Model (p. 234)
• Reading an Entity Relationship Diagram (p. 236)
• Entities (p. 236)
• Attributes (p. 237)
• Relationships (p. 238)
• Cardinality and Optionality Notations (p. 240)
• Reading an Entity Relationship Diagram (p. 241)
• Chapter 8 Review (p. 242)
• Chapter 9 Basics of Designing a Database's Structure (p. 246)
• The Business Specification: Let the Data Tell You Where It Goes (p. 247)
• Selecting the Database's Grain (p. 247)
• Entities and Attributes (p. 248)
• Identifying Records Reliably: Primary Keys (p. 251)
• Why Do You Need a Primary Key? (p. 251)
• Composite Primary Keys (p. 251)
• Natural Primary Keys vs. Surrogate Primary Keys (p. 252)
• Relationships: Referring to Data in Other Tables (p. 254)
• Common Data Model Standards (p. 255)
• Crow's Foot (IE) (p. 256)
• IDEF1X (p. 256)
• Relationships: Cardinality and Optionality (p. 258)
• One-to-Many (p. 258)
• Many-to-Many (p. 259)
• One-to-One (p. 260)
• Optionality (p. 261)
• Dependency: Identifying Relationships (p. 263)
• Recursive vs. Binary (p. 264)
• Modeling Multiple Categories: Supertype and Subtypes (p. 264)
• Creating Basic Data Models (p. 265)
• Categories, Supertypes, and Subtypes (p. 265)
• Implementing Super/Subtypes in a Physical Model (p. 267)
• Chapter 9 Review (p. 268)
• Chapter 10 Normalization (p. 272)
• The Process of Normalization (p. 273)
• Dependency (p. 273)
• Dependents and Determinants (p. 273)
• The First Three Normal Forms (p. 275)
• First Normal Form: Eliminate Repeating Groups (p. 275)
• Second Normal Form: Eliminate Redundant Data (p. 277)
• Third Normal Form: Eliminate Attributes Not Dependent on the Primary Key (p. 278)
• Apply the Normal Forms to a Database Model (p. 279)
• The Fourth and Fifth Normal Forms (p. 279)
• Fourth Normal Form: Isolate Independent Multiple Relationships (p. 280)
• Fifth Normal Form: Isolate Semantically Related Multiple Relationships (p. 282)
• The Rules You Really Need (p. 283)
• Anomalies in the Data (p. 283)
• Normalizing the Data (p. 284)
• Insert (p. 285)
• Delete (p. 285)
• Update (p. 285)
• A Tax on Being Law-Abiding (p. 286)
• Moving from Logical to Physical Models (p. 286)
• Choosing Your Engine (p. 286)
• Changing Terminology (p. 287)
• Translating Super- and Subtypes (p. 287)
• Chapter 10 Review (p. 289)
• Chapter 11 Analyzing Data Quality Issues (p. 294)
• Datatypes and Missing Data: Quality Basics (p. 295)
• Handling Missing Values (p. 295)
• Apples and Oranges: Defining Datatypes (p. 296)
• Choosing a Datatype (p. 298)
• Creating a Table and Inserting Data (p. 299)
• Converting Datatypes: Weak and Strong Typing (p. 301)
• Data Domains: Sanity Checks (p. 301)
• Domains as Sets of Values (p. 301)
• Column and Table Constraints (p. 302)
• Column Constraints (p. 303)
• Table Constraints (p. 305)
• Primary Key Constraints and Indexes (p. 307)
• Uniqueness and How to Enforce It (p. 307)
• Alternate Keys (p. 310)
• Other Indexes (p. 311)
• Foreign Key Constraints: Values from Other Tables (p. 312)
• Adding the Constraint (p. 313)
• Implementing Cardinality and Optionality (p. 314)
• Cascading Effects (p. 316)
• Cascade Delete on a Recursive Relationship (p. 319)
• The Cascades That Don't (p. 321)
• Creating the Movie Database (p. 322)
• Declarative Relational Integrity: Pros and Cons (p. 326)
• Declaring Foreign Key Constraints (p. 327)
• Triggers and Procedural Code (p. 327)
• Naming Constraints: Make It Easy for the Programmers (p. 329)
• Naming Tables and Columns (p. 330)
• Naming Check Constraints (p. 330)
• Naming Foreign Key Constraints (p. 330)
• Naming Indexes (p. 331)
• Chapter 11 Review (p. 332)
• Chapter 12 Other Useful Oracle Techniques (p. 338)
• Transferring Data Between Tables (p. 339)
• Transferring Data Using INSERT (p. 342)
• Creating a New Table Based on an Existing One (p. 343)
• Renaming Tables (p. 344)
• Altering a Table's Structure (p. 345)
• Adding Columns (p. 345)
• Changing Column Datatypes (p. 345)
• Changing NULL Options (p. 346)
• Views (p. 348)
• Creating a View (p. 349)
• Updateable Views (p. 350)
• Dropping Views (p. 351)
• Top N Analysis (p. 352)
• Creating a View on a Table (p. 353)
• Other Database Objects (p. 358)
• Sequences (p. 358)
• Synonyms (p. 362)
• Chapter 12 Review (p. 365)
• Appendix On the CD-ROMs (p. 370)
• About Oracle 9i Standard Edition for Windows (p. 370)
• System Requirements (p. 370)
• Registering with the Oracle Technology Network (p. 371)
• Installing Oracle 9i Standard Edition (p. 372)
• Glossary (p. 373)
• Index (p. 385)