Lession 5 the columns of a table

Lecturer: Tran Dinh Vuong Home page: www.fit.vimaru.edu.vn/~vuongtd
Phone : 0982.113.274 Email : vuongtd@vimaru.edu.vn
83
Lession 5: The Columns of a Table
Columns Fundamentals
Introduction
In our introduction to tables, we saw that a list could be organized in categories called
columns. Here is the example we saw:
Name Age Gender Relationship
Judie 18 Female Sister
Ernest 24 Male Cousin
Bill 52 Unknown Uncle
David 36 Male Brother
Hermine 12 Unknown Niece
As you can see from this arrangement, a column is used to particularly classify one type
of data. For example, one column can be used to list some names. Another column can be
used to list numbers. Yet another column can be used for a select list of items that keep
repeating those items.
To organize the information that a column holds, a table needs a series of details about
each column. Two aspects are particularly important: a name and the type of data that a
column should/must/can hold.
Practical Learning: Starting a Database
1. Start Microsoft SQL Server, connect and, in the Object Explorer, expand the
Databases node
2. In the Object Explorer, right-click Databases and click New Database...
3. In the New Database dialog box, set the Database Name to bcr1 (it stands for
Bethesda Car Rental)
4. Click OK
5. In the Object Explorer, expand the bcr1 node (click its + button)

84
6. Under bcr1, right-click Tables and click New Table...
The Name of a Column
To be able to recognize the categories of information that a column holds, the column
should have a name. In Microsoft SQL Server, the name of a column displays in the top,
the header part, of the column. The name of a column allows the database as a file to
identify the column. The name of a column also will help you, the database developer, to
identify that column. There are rules and suggestions you must or should follow when
naming the columns of a table.
The name of a column:
Can start with a letter, a digit, or an underscore
Can include letters, digits, and spaces in any combination
After respecting these rules, you can add your own rules. In our lessons, here are the
rules we will use to name our columns:
A name will start with a letter. Examples are n, act, or Second
After the first character as an underscore or a letter, the name will have
combinations of underscores, letters, and digits. Examples are n24 or col_52_t
Unless specified otherwise, a name will not include special characters such as !, @,
#, $, %, ^, &, or *
If the name is a combination of words, each word will start in uppercase. Examples
are Date Hired, LastName, Drivers License Number, or EmailAddress
Practical Learning: Setting Columns Names
As the caret is blinking under the Column Name column, type FirstName
The Types of Data

85
After deciding on the name of a column, the database needs to know what kind of
information the column would hold. Since there are various kinds of information a
database can deal with, we saw in Lesson 5 the types of data that Microsoft SQL Server
supported. Therefore, you must specify the data type that is necessary for a particular
column.
Practical Learning: Setting Data Types
1. Click the arrow of the combo box under the Data Type column
2. Scroll down and select nvarchar(50) from the list
3. Click the first empty field under FirstName and type MI
4. Press the down arrow key to position the cursor under MI
5. Type LastName and press the down arrow key
6. Type DateHired
7. Press Tab and select date.
8. Press Enter three times to position the mouse cursor under DateHired
9. Type EmployeeNumber and press the down arrow key

86
10.Complete the table as follows:
The Length of Data
A database deals with various types of data, appropriate or not for certain fields. This
means that you should take care of jobs behind the scenes as much as you can. One way
you can do this is by controlling the amount of information that can be stored in a
particular field. As various columns can hold different types of data, so can the same data
type control its own mechanism of internal data entry. The length of data means different
things to different fields. Columns that carry the same data type can have different
lengths.
Bit Fields: We saw already that a bit column type is meant for one of two answers. The
user is supposed to simply let the database know that the answer is yes or no, true or
false, on or off, 1 or 0. Therefore, the only length of this field is 1.
Integers: The length of an integer is the number of bytes its field can hold. For
an int type, that would be 4 bytes.
Decimal and Floating-Point Numbers: The Length specifies how many bytes the field
can store.
Strings: The Length of a character or string column specifies the maximum number of
characters that the field can hold.
In some circumstances, you will need to change or specify the length as it applies to a
particular field. For example, since you should use the varchar data type for a string field
whose content will change from one record to another, not all varchar columns need to
have the same length. Although a First Name and a Book Title columns should use
the varchar type, both columns would not have the same length of entries. As it
happens, people hardly have a first name that is beyond 20 characters and many book
titles go beyond 32 characters. In this case, both fields would use the same data type but
different lengths. On the other hand, for columns ofdatetime2 and money data types,
you should accept the default length suggested by the database.
There are two ways you can change the length of a string-based column:

87
In the top section of the windo, to change the length of the field, in the parentheses
of the data type, enter the desired value
In the top section of the window, click the name of the column. In the bottom
section, click the Length field and type the desired value
Practical Learning: Setting Data Types
1. In the top section, click MI to select it
2. In the bottom section, click Length and type 1
3. In the top section of the table, click State and press Tab
4. For the data type, type nchar(2)
5. In the same way, complete the table as follows:
6. To save your table, on the Standard toolbar, click the Save button
7. In the Choose Name dialog box, type Employees
8. Click OK
9. Close the table
Programmatic Creation of Columns
We saw that the primary formula to create a table was:
CREATE TABLE TableName

88
After specifying the name of the table, you must list the columns of the table. The list of
columns starts with an opening parenthesis "(". The list ends with a closing parenthesis
")". Each column must be separated from the next with a comma, except for the last
column. You can include all columns on the same line if possible as follows:
CREATE TABLE Country(Column1, Column2, Column3)
Alternatively, to make your statement easier to read, you should create each column on
its own line as follows:
CREATE TABLE Country(
Column1,
Column2,
Column3);
There are two primary pieces of information you must specify for each column: its name
and its type. Therefore, the syntax of creating a column is:
ColumnName DataType Options
The name of a column should follow the same rules and suggestions we reviewed for
the columns.
After typing the name of the column, type the desired or appropriate data type for the
column. For this example, use one of the (appropriate) data types we reviewed.
Remember that some of the data types need to have a length. In the case of text-based
columns, when using SQL to create your columns, because it is less visual than the table
design of the SQL Server Management Studio, you cannot rely on the default length of
strings suggested by SQL. As it happens, the SQL Server Management Studio specifies
different default values for text-based columns. Therefore, when using SQL to create your
columns, you should (strongly) specify your own default length for text-based columns.
We also saw that you could use sample code to create a table. This allows you to have
more control over the various columns you want the table to have. To do this, open an
empty query window and display the Templates Explorer. Expand the Table node. Under
Table, you can drag Create Table, Add Column, or Drop Column, and drop it in the query
window. If you use dropped Add Column or Drop Column, you can delete the undesired
sections of the code and isolate only the part that handles table creation. Here is an
example:
--==========================================================================
-- Add column template
--
-- This template creates a table, then it adds a new column to the table.
--==========================================================================
USE <database, sysname, AdventureWorks>
GO
CREATE TABLE <schema_name, sysname, dbo>.<table_name, sysname, sample_table>
(
column1 int,
column2 char(10)
)
GO
Practical Learning: Creating a Table
1. In the Object Explorer, right-click BCR1 and click New Query
2. In the code editor, type the following:

89
USE bcr1;
GO
BEGIN TRY
CREATE TABLE Customers (
DrvLicNbr nvarchar(32),
DateIssued DATE,
DateExpired date,
CustomerName nvarchar(50),
CustomerAddress NVARCHAR(120),
CustomerCity NvarChar(40),
CustomerState NVarChar(50),
CustomerPostalCode nvarchar(20),
HomePhone nvarchar(20),
OrganDonor BIT);
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
SELECT N'Report the following error: ' + ERROR_MESSAGE();
END CATCH
GO
3. To execute the statement, press F5
4. Close the Query window
5. When asked whether you want to save the text, click No
Using User-Defined Data-Types
In Lesson 5, we saw that, and how, you can create user-defined data types for existing
Transact-SQL data types. In Lesson 5, we stored our types in the master database. If you
are working on a database, you can create and store your new types in it. As mentioned
in Lesson 5, to visually create a UDT, in the Object Explorer, expand your database,
expand its Programmability node, and expand its Types node. Under Types, right-click
User-Defined Data Types and click New User-Defined Data Type...

90
In the New User-Defined Data Type dialog box, fill in the necessary information and click
OK
Remember that you can also programmatically create the data type(s). Here are
examples:
USE Exercise;
GO
CREATE TYPE NaturalNumber FROM int;
GO
CREATE TYPE ShortString FROM nvarchar(20);
GO
CREATE TYPE ItemCode FROM nchar(10);
GO
CREATE TYPE LongString FROM nvarchar(80);
GO
CREATE TYPE Salary FROM decimal(8, 2);
GO
CREATE TYPE Boolean FROM bit;
GO
After creating the UDT(s), you can use it(them) for your column(s). To do this visually,
after displaying the table in design view, click the column name, click the arrow of the
Data Type combo box to display a mix of Transact-SQL types and your own defined types:

91
Referring to a Column
Introduction
We will write many expressions that include the names of columns. In such expressions,
you will need to indicate the particular column you are referring to. There are various
ways you can do this. To refer to, or to indicate, a table:
You must type the name of the table to which the column belongs, followed by the
period operator, followed by the name of the column. An example would
beEmployee.LastName
You can type dbo, followed by the period operator, followed by the name of the table
to which the column belongs, followed by the period operator, followed by the name
of the column. An example would be dbo.Employee.LastName
You can type the name of the database that owns the table's column, followed by the
period operator, followed by dbo, followed by the period operator, followed by the
name of the table to which the column belongs, followed by the period operator,
followed by the name of the column. An example would
beRedOakHighSchool.dbo.Employee.LastName
Using the Alias Name of a Table
You can create an alias name of a table to use in an expression that involves a column. To
do this, type a letter or a word that will represent the table to which the column belongs.
The letter or the word is followed by a period operator, and followed by the name of the
column. An example would be empl.LastName. At the end of the statement, you must
type the name of the table, followed by space, and followed by the letter or the word. An
example would be Employee empl.
Columns Maintenance
Introduction
Column maintenance consists of reviewing or changing any of its aspects. This includes
reviewing the structure of columns of a table, renaming a column, deleting a column,
changing the data type or the nullity of a column, etc.
Column Review
To see the structure of a table in the SQL Server Management Studio, in the Object
Explorer, you can expand it:

92
To view the columns of a table using SQL code, in a query window,
executesp_columns followed by the name of the table the columns belong to. Here is an
example:
This action displays the list of columns in the COLUMN_NAME column and other
characteristics on the right columns.
The Properties of a Column
A column on a table controls what kind of data is appropriate for that particular column.
The characteristics that identify or describe such a table are defined as its properties. As
we have seen previously, three primary properties are particularly important and required
for each column: the name, the data type, and the length. Besides these, some other
properties can be used to further control the behavior of a particular field.
Besides the name, data type and length of a column, you can control the columns of a
table using the Columns property sheet in the lower section of the table in Design View.
These properties sometimes depend on the data type of the column. Therefore, to specify
the properties of a column, you must first select it in the upper section of the table. This
selection can be done by just clicking either the name, the data type, or the length of the
column. Then you can either press F6 or click the first field in the lower section, select the
desired property and type the necessary value:

93
Description
Description: Common and enabled for all fields, the description is used for a sentence
that describes the column. You can type anything on that field.
Collation
Because different languages use different mechanisms in their alphabetic characters, this
can affect the way some sort algorithms or queries are performed on data, you can ask
the database to apply a certain language mechanism to the field by changing
theCollation property. Otherwise, you should accept the default specified by the table.
To specify the collation of a column when creating in, type COLLATE, followed by the
desired collation code. Here is an example:
CREATE TABLE Customers(
FullName varchar(50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
);
Modifying a Column
When making a change on a column, you are also said to alter the table. To support this
operation, SQL starts with the following formula:
ALTER TABLE TableName

94
When using this statement, the ALTER TABLE expression is required and it is followed by
the name of the table.
Adding a New Column
After a table has already been created, you can still add a new column to it.
To add a new column in SQL Server Management Studio, first right-click the table and
click Design Table. To add a new column to the end of the table, click the first empty field
under Column Name, type a name, and specify the other options.
To insert a new column between two existing one, right-click the column that will succeed
it and click Insert Column:
This would create a new empty field. Type the desired name and specify the other
options.
In SQL, the basic formula to add a new column to an existing table is:
ADD ColumnName Properties
The ColumnName factor is required. In fact, on the right side of the ADD keyword, define
the column by its name and using all the options we reviewed for columns.
Here is an example:
ALTER TABLE StaffMembers
ADD Address nvarchar(100) NULL
GO
When this code is executed, a new column name Address, of type nvarchar, with a limit
of 100 characters, and that allow empty entry, will be added to a table named
StaffMembers in the current database.
You can also use sample code to add a new column to a table. First display an empty
query window and display the Templates Explorer. Expand the Table node. Under Table,
drag Add Column and drop it in the query window. Delete the undesired sections of code
and keep only the part that deals with adding a column. Here is an example:
--==========================================================================
-- Add column template
--

95
-- This template creates a table, then it adds a new column to the table.
--==========================================================================
GO
-- Add a new column to the table
ALTER TABLE <schema_name, sysname, dbo>.<table_name, sysname, sample_table>
ADD <new_column_name, sysname, column3>
<new_column_datatype,, datetime>
<new_column_nullability,, NULL>
GO
Renaming a Column
If you find out that the name of a column is not appropriate, you can change it. To
rename a column in the Object Explorer, right-click the table that the column belongs to
and click Modify. In the design view, highlight the name of the desired column to put it
into edit mode and edit it.
In SQL, to change the name of a column, first open an empty query window. In a query
window, execute sp_rename using the following formula:
sp_rename 'TableName.ColumnName', 'NewColumnName', N'COLUMN'
The sp_rename factor and the 'COLUMN' string are required. The TableName factor is
the name of the table that the column belongs to. The ColumnName is the current name
of the column. The NewColumnName is the desired name you want to give to the column.
Here is an example:
sp_rename N'StaffMembers.FullName', N'EmployeeName', N'COLUMN'
GO
When this code is executed, the interpreter will look for a column named FullName in the
StaffMembers table of the current or selected database. If it finds that column in the
table, then it renames it EmployeeName.
Deleting a Column
If you have an undesired column that you don't want anymore in a table, you can remove
it. To visually delete a column, in the Object Explorer, expand the database, the Tables,
and the Columns nodes. Right-click the undesired column and click Delete. The Delete
Object dialog box would display. If you still want to delete the column, click OK. To
change your mind, click Cancel.
To delete a column using code, first open or access an empty query window, and use the
following formula:
DROP COLUMN ColumnName
On the right side of the ALTER TABLE expression, type the name of the table. On the
right side of the DROP COLUMN expression, enter the name of the undesired column.
Here is an example:
ALTER TABLE StaffMembers
DROP COLUMN CurrentResidence;
GO

96
When this code is executed, the interpreter will look for a column named
CurrentResidence in a table StaffMembers of the current or selected database. If it finds
that column, it will remove it from the table.
Microsoft SQL Server can also generate sample code you can use to delete a column from
a table. Before doing this, first display an empty query window and display the Templates
Explorer. Expand the Table node. In the Table section, drag Drop Column and drop it in
the query window. Delete the undesired sections of code and keep only the part that deals
with adding a column. Here is an example:
--============================================
-- Drop column template
--
-- This template creates a table, then it
-- drops one of the columns of the table.
--============================================
GO
-- Drop a column from the table
ALTER TABLE <schema_name, sysname, dbo>.<table_name, sysname, sample_table>
DROP COLUMN <new_column_name, sysname, column3>
GO
Practical Learning: Ending the Lesson
1. Close the query window without saving the file
2. In the Object Explorer, under the Databases node, right-click bcr1 and click Delete
3. In the dialog box, click OK (if you are denied to delete the database, close Microsoft
SQL Server, reopen it, and try deleting the database again)
Lesson Summary
Topics Reviewed
Tables
Columns
Exercise: Utility Company
1. Access the UtilityCompany1 database
2. Visually create a table named Employees and that has the following
columns:EmployeeNumber, FirstName, LastName, and Title
3. Create a table named
Customers AccountNumber, DateAccountCreated,CustomerName, Address, Ci
ty, State, and EmailAddress
Exercise: US States
1. Get your research papers on US regions and New England
2. On the piece of paper, complete the list with regions
3. Complete the list with all states

97
4. Connect to the server from the Command Prompt and access the
UnitedStatesRegions1 database
5. Create a table named Regions with the columns Region and Description
6. Create a table named States with the columns Name, Code, Area, Population,
and Capital
7. Exit the Command Prompt

Lession 5 the columns of a table

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (11)

Similar to Lession 5 the columns of a table (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Lession 5 the columns of a table