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</para>
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<function>PQclear</function>

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@ -1,40 +1,40 @@
<Chapter ID="query">
<TITLE>The Query Language</TITLE>
<chapter id="query">
<title>The Query Language</title>
<Para>
The <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> query language is a variant of
the <Acronym>SQL3</Acronym> draft next-generation standard. It
<para>
The <productname>Postgres</productname> query language is a variant of
the <acronym>SQL3</acronym> draft next-generation standard. It
has many extensions such as an extensible type system,
inheritance, functions and production rules. These are
features carried over from the original <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> query
language, <ProductName>PostQuel</ProductName>. This section provides an overview
of how to use <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName>
<Acronym>SQL</Acronym> to perform simple operations.
features carried over from the original <productname>Postgres</productname> query
language, <productname>PostQuel</productname>. This section provides an overview
of how to use <productname>Postgres</productname>
<acronym>SQL</acronym> to perform simple operations.
This manual is only intended to give you an idea of our
flavor of <Acronym>SQL</Acronym> and is in no way a complete tutorial on
<Acronym>SQL</Acronym>. Numerous books have been written on
<Acronym>SQL</Acronym>, including
flavor of <acronym>SQL</acronym> and is in no way a complete tutorial on
<acronym>SQL</acronym>. Numerous books have been written on
<acronym>SQL</acronym>, including
<!--
<XRef LinkEnd="MELT93"> and <XRef LinkEnd="DATE97">.
-->
[MELT93] and [DATE97].
You should be aware that some language features
are extensions to the <Acronym>ANSI</Acronym> standard.
</Para>
are extensions to the <acronym>ANSI</acronym> standard.
</para>
<Sect1>
<Title>Interactive Monitor</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Interactive Monitor</title>
<Para>
<para>
In the examples that follow, we assume that you have
created the mydb database as described in the previous
subsection and have started <Application>psql</Application>.
subsection and have started <application>psql</application>.
Examples in this manual can also be found in
<FileName>/usr/local/pgsql/src/tutorial/</FileName>. Refer to the
<FileName>README</FileName> file in that directory for how to use them. To
<filename>/usr/local/pgsql/src/tutorial/</filename>. Refer to the
<filename>README</filename> file in that directory for how to use them. To
start the tutorial, do the following:
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
% cd /usr/local/pgsql/src/tutorial
% psql -s mydb
Welcome to the POSTGRESQL interactive sql monitor:
@ -46,55 +46,56 @@ Welcome to the POSTGRESQL interactive sql monitor:
You are currently connected to the database: postgres
mydb=> \i basics.sql
</ProgramListing>
</Para>
</programlisting>
</para>
<Para>
The <Literal>\i</Literal> command read in queries from the specified
files. The <Literal>-s</Literal> option puts you in single step mode which
<para>
The <literal>\i</literal> command read in queries from the specified
files. The <literal>-s</literal> option puts you in single step mode which
pauses before sending a query to the backend. Queries
in this section are in the file <FileName>basics.sql</FileName>.
</Para>
in this section are in the file <filename>basics.sql</filename>.
</para>
<Para>
<Application>psql</Application>
has a variety of <Literal>\d</Literal> commands for showing system information.
<para>
<application>psql</application>
has a variety of <literal>\d</literal> commands for showing system information.
Consult these commands for more details;
for a listing, type <Literal>\?</Literal> at the <Application>psql</Application> prompt.
</Para>
for a listing, type <literal>\?</literal> at the <application>psql</application> prompt.
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Concepts</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Concepts</title>
<Para>
The fundamental notion in <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> is that of a class,
<para>
The fundamental notion in <productname>Postgres</productname> is that of a class,
which is a named collection of object instances. Each
instance has the same collection of named attributes,
and each attribute is of a specific type. Furthermore,
each instance has a permanent <FirstTerm>object identifier</FirstTerm>
(<Acronym>OID</Acronym>)
each instance has a permanent <firstterm>object identifier</firstterm>
(<acronym>OID</acronym>)
that is unique throughout the installation. Because
<Acronym>SQL</Acronym> syntax refers to tables, we will use the terms
<FirstTerm>table</FirstTerm> and <FirstTerm>class</FirstTerm> interchangeably.
Likewise, an <Acronym>SQL</Acronym> <FirstTerm>row</FirstTerm> is an
<FirstTerm>instance</FirstTerm> and <Acronym>SQL</Acronym> <FirstTerm>columns</FirstTerm>
are <FirstTerm>attributes</FirstTerm>.
<acronym>SQL</acronym> syntax refers to tables, we will use the terms
<firstterm>table</firstterm> and <firstterm>class</firstterm> interchangeably.
Likewise, an <acronym>SQL</acronym> <firstterm>row</firstterm> is an
<firstterm>instance</firstterm> and <acronym>SQL</acronym>
<firstterm>columns</firstterm>
are <firstterm>attributes</firstterm>.
As previously discussed, classes are grouped into
databases, and a collection of databases managed by a
single <Application>postmaster</Application> process constitutes an installation
single <application>postmaster</application> process constitutes an installation
or site.
</Para>
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Creating a New Class</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Creating a New Class</title>
<Para>
<para>
You can create a new class by specifying the class
name, along with all attribute names and their types:
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
CREATE TABLE weather (
city varchar(80),
temp_lo int, -- low temperature
@ -102,79 +103,81 @@ CREATE TABLE weather (
prcp real, -- precipitation
date date
);
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
</para>
<Para>
<para>
Note that both keywords and identifiers are case-insensitive; identifiers can become
case-sensitive by surrounding them with double-quotes as allowed
by <Acronym>SQL92</Acronym>.
<ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> <Acronym>SQL</Acronym> supports the usual
<Acronym>SQL</Acronym> types <Type>int</Type>,
<Type>float</Type>, <Type>real</Type>, <Type>smallint</Type>, <Type>char(N)</Type>,
<Type>varchar(N)</Type>, <Type>date</Type>, <Type>time</Type>,
and <Type>timestamp</Type>, as well as other types of general utility and
by <acronym>SQL92</acronym>.
<productname>Postgres</productname> <acronym>SQL</acronym> supports the usual
<acronym>SQL</acronym> types <type>int</type>,
<type>float</type>, <type>real</type>, <type>smallint</type>,
<type>char(N)</type>,
<type>varchar(N)</type>, <type>date</type>, <type>time</type>,
and <type>timestamp</type>, as well as other types of general utility and
a rich set of geometric types. As we will
see later, <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> can be customized with an
see later, <productname>Postgres</productname> can be customized with an
arbitrary number of
user-defined data types. Consequently, type names are
not syntactical keywords, except where required to support special
cases in the <Acronym>SQL92</Acronym> standard.
So far, the <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> create command
cases in the <acronym>SQL92</acronym> standard.
So far, the <productname>Postgres</productname> <command>CREATE</command> command
looks exactly like
the command used to create a table in a traditional
relational system. However, we will presently see that
classes have properties that are extensions of the
relational model.
</Para>
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Populating a Class with Instances</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Populating a Class with Instances</title>
<Para>
The <Command>insert</Command> statement is used to populate a class with
<para>
The <command>insert</command> statement is used to populate a class with
instances:
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
INSERT INTO weather
VALUES ('San Francisco', 46, 50, 0.25, '11/27/1994');
</ProgramListing>
</Para>
</programlisting>
</para>
<Para>
You can also use the <Command>copy</Command> command to perform load large
amounts of data from flat (<Acronym>ASCII</Acronym>) files.
<para>
You can also use the <command>copy</command> command to perform load large
amounts of data from flat (<acronym>ASCII</acronym>) files.
This is usually faster because the data is read (or written) as a single atomic
transaction directly to or from the target table. An example would be:
<ProgramListing>
COPY INTO weather FROM '/home/user/weather.txt'
<programlisting>
COPY weather FROM '/home/user/weather.txt'
USING DELIMITERS '|';
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
where the path name for the source file must be available to the backend server
machine, not the client, since the backend server reads the file directly.
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Querying a Class</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Querying a Class</title>
<Para>
<para>
The weather class can be queried with normal relational
selection and projection queries. A <Acronym>SQL</Acronym> <Command>select</Command>
selection and projection queries. A <acronym>SQL</acronym>
<command>select</command>
statement is used to do this. The statement is divided into
a target list (the part that lists the attributes to be
returned) and a qualification (the part that specifies
any restrictions). For example, to retrieve all the
rows of weather, type:
<ProgramListing>
SELECT * FROM WEATHER;
</ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT * FROM weather;
</programlisting>
and the output should be:
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
+--------------+---------+---------+------+------------+
|city | temp_lo | temp_hi | prcp | date |
+--------------+---------+---------+------+------------+
@ -184,19 +187,19 @@ SELECT * FROM WEATHER;
+--------------+---------+---------+------+------------+
|Hayward | 37 | 54 | | 11-29-1994 |
+--------------+---------+---------+------+------------+
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
You may specify any arbitrary expressions in the target list. For example, you can do:
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT city, (temp_hi+temp_lo)/2 AS temp_avg, date FROM weather;
</ProgramListing>
</Para>
</programlisting>
</para>
<Para>
<para>
Arbitrary Boolean operators
(<Command>and</Command>, <Command>or</Command> and <Command>not</Command>) are
(<command>and</command>, <command>or</command> and <command>not</command>) are
allowed in the qualification of any query. For example,
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT * FROM weather
WHERE city = 'San Francisco'
AND prcp > 0.0;
@ -208,45 +211,45 @@ results in:
+--------------+---------+---------+------+------------+
|San Francisco | 46 | 50 | 0.25 | 11-27-1994 |
+--------------+---------+---------+------+------------+
</ProgramListing>
</Para>
</programlisting>
</para>
<Para>
<para>
As a final note, you can specify that the results of a
select can be returned in a <FirstTerm>sorted order</FirstTerm>
or with <FirstTerm>duplicate instances</FirstTerm> removed.
select can be returned in a <firstterm>sorted order</firstterm>
or with <firstterm>duplicate instances</firstterm> removed.
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT DISTINCT city
FROM weather
ORDER BY city;
</ProgramListing>
</Para>
</programlisting>
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Redirecting SELECT Queries</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Redirecting SELECT Queries</title>
<Para>
<para>
Any select query can be redirected to a new class
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT * INTO TABLE temp FROM weather;
</ProgramListing>
</Para>
</programlisting>
</para>
<Para>
This forms an implicit <Command>create</Command> command, creating a new
<para>
This forms an implicit <command>create</command> command, creating a new
class temp with the attribute names and types specified
in the target list of the <Command>select into</Command> command. We can
in the target list of the <command>select into</command> command. We can
then, of course, perform any operations on the resulting
class that we can perform on other classes.
</Para>
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Joins Between Classes</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Joins Between Classes</title>
<Para>
<para>
Thus far, our queries have only accessed one class at a
time. Queries can access multiple classes at once, or
access the same class in such a way that multiple
@ -259,16 +262,16 @@ SELECT * INTO TABLE temp FROM weather;
effect, we need to compare the temp_lo and temp_hi
attributes of each EMP instance to the temp_lo and
temp_hi attributes of all other EMP instances.
<Note>
<Para>
<note>
<para>
This is only a conceptual model. The actual join may
be performed in a more efficient manner, but this is invisible to the user.
</Para>
</Note>
</para>
</note>
We can do this with the following query:
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT W1.city, W1.temp_lo AS low, W1.temp_hi AS high,
W2.city, W2.temp_lo AS low, W2.temp_hi AS high
FROM weather W1, weather W2
@ -282,172 +285,172 @@ SELECT W1.city, W1.temp_lo AS low, W1.temp_hi AS high,
+--------------+-----+------+---------------+-----+------+
|San Francisco | 37 | 54 | San Francisco | 46 | 50 |
+--------------+-----+------+---------------+-----+------+
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
<Note>
<Para>
<note>
<para>
The semantics of such a join are
that the qualification
is a truth expression defined for the Cartesian product of
the classes indicated in the query. For those instances in
the Cartesian product for which the qualification is true,
<ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> computes and returns the
<productname>Postgres</productname> computes and returns the
values specified in the target list.
<ProductName>Postgres</ProductName> <Acronym>SQL</Acronym>
<productname>Postgres</productname> <acronym>SQL</acronym>
does not assign any meaning to
duplicate values in such expressions.
This means that <ProductName>Postgres</ProductName>
This means that <productname>Postgres</productname>
sometimes recomputes the same target list several times;
this frequently happens when Boolean expressions are connected
with an "or". To remove such duplicates, you must use
the <Command>select distinct</Command> statement.
</Para>
</Note>
the <command>select distinct</command> statement.
</para>
</note>
</para>
<Para>
<para>
In this case, both W1 and W2 are surrogates for an
instance of the class weather, and both range over all
instances of the class. (In the terminology of most
database systems, W1 and W2 are known as <FirstTerm>range variables</FirstTerm>.)
database systems, W1 and W2 are known as <firstterm>range variables</firstterm>.)
A query can contain an arbitrary number of
class names and surrogates.
</Para>
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Updates</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Updates</title>
<Para>
<para>
You can update existing instances using the update command.
Suppose you discover the temperature readings are
all off by 2 degrees as of Nov 28, you may update the
data as follow:
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
UPDATE weather
SET temp_hi = temp_hi - 2, temp_lo = temp_lo - 2
WHERE date > '11/28/1994';
</ProgramListing>
</Para>
</programlisting>
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Deletions</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Deletions</title>
<Para>
Deletions are performed using the <Command>delete</Command> command:
<ProgramListing>
<para>
Deletions are performed using the <command>delete</command> command:
<programlisting>
DELETE FROM weather WHERE city = 'Hayward';
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
All weather recording belongs to Hayward is removed.
One should be wary of queries of the form
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
DELETE FROM classname;
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
Without a qualification, <Command>delete</Command> will simply
Without a qualification, <command>delete</command> will simply
remove all instances of the given class, leaving it
empty. The system will not request confirmation before
doing this.
</Para>
</para>
</sect1>
<Sect1>
<Title>Using Aggregate Functions</Title>
<sect1>
<title>Using Aggregate Functions</title>
<Para>
<para>
Like most other query languages,
<ProductName>PostgreSQL</ProductName> supports
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> supports
aggregate functions.
An aggregate function computes a single result from multiple input rows.
For example, there are aggregates to compute the
<Function>count</Function>, <Function>sum</Function>,
<Function>avg</Function> (average), <Function>max</Function> (maximum) and
<Function>min</Function> (minimum) over a set of instances.
<function>count</function>, <function>sum</function>,
<function>avg</function> (average), <function>max</function> (maximum) and
<function>min</function> (minimum) over a set of instances.
</para>
<Para>
<para>
It is important to understand the interaction between aggregates and
SQL's <Command>where</Command> and <Command>having</Command> clauses.
The fundamental difference between <Command>where</Command> and
<Command>having</Command> is this: <Command>where</Command> selects
SQL's <command>where</command> and <command>having</command> clauses.
The fundamental difference between <command>where</command> and
<command>having</command> is this: <command>where</command> selects
input rows before groups and aggregates are computed (thus, it controls
which rows go into the aggregate computation), whereas
<Command>having</Command> selects group rows after groups and
<command>having</command> selects group rows after groups and
aggregates are computed. Thus, the
<Command>where</Command> clause may not contain aggregate functions;
<command>where</command> clause may not contain aggregate functions;
it makes no sense to try to use an aggregate to determine which rows
will be inputs to the aggregates. On the other hand,
<Command>having</Command> clauses always contain aggregate functions.
(Strictly speaking, you are allowed to write a <Command>having</Command>
<command>having</command> clauses always contain aggregate functions.
(Strictly speaking, you are allowed to write a <command>having</command>
clause that doesn't use aggregates, but it's wasteful; the same condition
could be used more efficiently at the <Command>where</Command> stage.)
could be used more efficiently at the <command>where</command> stage.)
</para>
<Para>
<para>
As an example, we can find the highest low-temperature reading anywhere
with
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT max(temp_lo) FROM weather;
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
If we want to know which city (or cities) that reading occurred in,
we might try
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT city FROM weather WHERE temp_lo = max(temp_lo);
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
but this will not work since the aggregate max() can't be used in
<Command>where</Command>. However, as is often the case the query can be
<command>where</command>. However, as is often the case the query can be
restated to accomplish the intended result; here by using a
<FirstTerm>subselect</FirstTerm>:
<ProgramListing>
<firstterm>subselect</firstterm>:
<programlisting>
SELECT city FROM weather WHERE temp_lo = (SELECT max(temp_lo) FROM weather);
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
This is OK because the sub-select is an independent computation that
computes its own aggregate separately from what's happening in the outer
select.
</Para>
</para>
<Para>
<para>
Aggregates are also very useful in combination with
<FirstTerm>group by</FirstTerm> clauses. For example, we can get the
<firstterm>group by</firstterm> clauses. For example, we can get the
maximum low temperature observed in each city with
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT city, max(temp_lo)
FROM weather
GROUP BY city;
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
which gives us one output row per city. We can filter these grouped
rows using <Command>having</Command>:
<ProgramListing>
rows using <command>having</command>:
<programlisting>
SELECT city, max(temp_lo)
FROM weather
GROUP BY city
HAVING min(temp_lo) < 0;
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
which gives us the same results for only the cities that have some
below-zero readings. Finally, if we only care about cities whose
names begin with 'P', we might do
<ProgramListing>
<programlisting>
SELECT city, max(temp_lo)
FROM weather
WHERE city like 'P%'
GROUP BY city
HAVING min(temp_lo) < 0;
</ProgramListing>
</programlisting>
Note that we can apply the city-name restriction in
<Command>where</Command>, since it needs no aggregate. This is
more efficient than adding the restriction to <Command>having</Command>,
<command>where</command>, since it needs no aggregate. This is
more efficient than adding the restriction to <command>having</command>,
because we avoid doing the grouping and aggregate calculations
for all rows that fail the <Command>where</Command> check.
</Para>
for all rows that fail the <command>where</command> check.
</para>
</sect1>
</Chapter>
</chapter>
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