I'm a newbie in databases, so I apologize in advance if this question is about something easy and obvious but I'm not able to figure alone.
Basically, I'm trying to do what follows (for educational purpose, nothing related to anything "serious"):
I have a table courses where each course has
an id
a name
the total number of people enrolled.
Then I have a table of people, each of them has
an id
a name
a course_id
(assuming each person can only enroll in one
course). The course_id is a foreign key related to the id of the course.
What I'd like to know is how to automatically update the number of people enrolled in a course whenever I insert a row in people (increment the number of people enrolled in the specific course the added person is enrolled to).
I read I can do that using triggers but I didn't actually understood how. Anyway I'm querying the db from javascript so basically I'd like to only pass the INSERT query.
You need an AFTER INSERT trigger:
CREATE TRIGGER trg_people_ins AFTER INSERT ON people
BEGIN
UPDATE courses
SET total = COALESCE(total, 0) + 1
WHERE id = NEW.course_id;
END;
Change total to the actual name of the column in courses.
If the default vale of total is 0 then you don't need COALESCE(), so change to:
SET total = total + 1
Related
Similar to this question and this solution for PostgreSQL (in particular "INSERT missing FK rows at the same time"):
Suppose I am making an address book with a "Groups" table and a "Contact" table. When I create a new Contact, I may want to place them into a Group at the same time. So I could do:
INSERT INTO Contact VALUES (
"Bob",
(SELECT group_id FROM Groups WHERE name = "Friends")
)
But what if the "Friends" Group doesn't exist yet? Can we insert this new Group efficiently?
The obvious thing is to do a SELECT to test if the Group exists already; if not do an INSERT. Then do an INSERT into Contacts with the sub-SELECT above.
Or I can constrain Group.name to be UNIQUE, do an INSERT OR IGNORE, then INSERT into Contacts with the sub-SELECT.
I can also keep my own cache of which Groups exist, but that seems like I'm duplicating functionality of the database in the first place.
My guess is that there is no way to do this in one query, since INSERT does not return anything and cannot be used in a subquery. Is that intuition correct? What is the best practice here?
My guess is that there is no way to do this in one query, since INSERT
does not return anything and cannot be used in a subquery. Is that
intuition correct?
You could use a Trigger and a little modification of the tables and then you could do it with a single query.
For example consider the folowing
Purely for convenience of producing the demo:-
DROP TRIGGER IF EXISTS add_group_if_not_exists;
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS contact;
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS groups;
One-time setup SQL :-
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS groups (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, group_name TEXT UNIQUE);
INSERT INTO groups VALUES(-1,'NOTASSIGNED');
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS contact (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, contact TEXT, group_to_use TEXT, group_reference TEXT DEFAULT -1 REFERENCES groups(id));
CREATE TRIGGER IF NOT EXISTS add_group_if_not_exists
AFTER INSERT ON contact
BEGIN
INSERT OR IGNORE INTO groups (group_name) VALUES(new.group_to_use);
UPDATE contact SET group_reference = (SELECT id FROM groups WHERE group_name = new.group_to_use), group_to_use = NULL WHERE id = new.id;
END;
SQL that would be used on an ongoing basis :-
INSERT INTO contact (contact,group_to_use) VALUES
('Fred','Friends'),
('Mary','Family'),
('Ivan','Enemies'),
('Sue','Work colleagues'),
('Arthur','Fellow Rulers'),
('Amy','Work colleagues'),
('Henry','Fellow Rulers'),
('Canute','Fellow Ruler')
;
The number of values and the actual values would vary.
SQL Just for demonstration of the result
SELECT * FROM groups;
SELECT contact,group_name FROM contact JOIN groups ON group_reference = groups.id;
Results
This results in :-
1) The groups (noting that the group "NOTASSIGNED", is intrinsic to the working of the above and hence added initially) :-
have to be careful regard mistakes like (Fellow Ruler instead of Fellow Rulers)
-1 used because it would not be a normal value automatically generated.
2) The contacts with the respective group :-
Efficient insertion
That could likely be debated from here to eternity so I leave it for the fence sitters/destroyers to decide :). However, some considerations:-
It works and appears to do what is wanted.
It's a little wasteful due to the additional wasted column.
It tries to minimise the waste by changing the column to an empty string (NULL may be even more efficient, but for some can be confusing)
There will obviously be an overhead BUT in comparison to the alternatives probably negligible (perhaps important if you were extracting every Facebook user) but if it's user input driven likely irrelevant.
What is the best practice here?
Fences again. :)
Note Hopefully obvious, but the DROP statements are purely for convenience and that all other SQL up until the INSERT is run once
to setup the tables and triggers in preparation for the single INSERT
that adds a group if necessary.
So I currently have a database that keeps tracks of projects, project updates, and the update dates. I have a form that with a subform that displays the project name and the most recent update made to said project. It was brought to my attention however, that the most recent update to a project does not display correctly. Ex: shows the update date of 4/6/2017 but the actual update text is from 3/16/2017.
Doing some spot research, I then learned that Access does not store records in any particular order, and that the Last function does not actually give you the last record.
I am currently scouring google to find a solution but to no avail as of yet and have turned here in hopes of a solution or idea. Thank you for any insight you can provide in advance!
Other details:
tblProjects has fields
ID
Owner
Category_ID
Project_Name
Description
Resolution_Date
Priority
Resolution_Category_ID
tblUpdates has these fields:
ID
Project_ID
Update_Date
Update
there is no built-in Last function that I am aware of in Access or VBA, where exactly are you seeing that used?
if your sub-form is bound directly to tblUpdates, then you ought to be able to just sort the sub-form in descending order based on either ID or Update_date.
if you have query joining the two tables, and are only trying to get a single row returned from tblUpdates, then this would do that, assuming the ID column in tblUpdates is an autonumber. if not, just replace ORDER BY ID with ORDER BY Update_Date Desc
SELECT a.*,
(SELECT TOP 1 Update FROM tblUpdates b WHERE a.ID = b.PROJECT_ID ORDER BY ID DESC ) AS last_update
FROM tblProjects AS a;
I am developing an application which tracks class attendance of students in a school, in Apex.
I want to create a page with three level cascading select lists, so the teacher can first select the Semester, then the Subject and then the specific Class of that Subject, so the application returns the Students who are enrolled in that Class.
My problem is that these three tables have a many-to-many relationship between them, so I use extra tables with their keys.
Every Semester has many Subjects and a Subject can be taught in many Semesters.
Every Subject has many classes in every Semester.
The students must enroll in a subject every semester and then the teacher can assign them to a class.
The tables look something like this:
create table semester(
id number not null,
name varchar2(20) not null,
primary key(id)
);
create table subject(
id number not null,
subject_name varchar2(50) not null,
primary key(id)
);
create table student(
id number not null,
name varchar2(20),
primary key(id)
);
create table semester_subject(
id number not null,
semester_id number not null,
subject_id number not null,
primary key(id),
foreign key(semester_id) references semester(id),
foreign key(subject_id) references subject(id),
constraint unique sem_sub_uq unique(semester_id, subject_id)
);
create table class(
id number not null,
name number not null,
semester_subject_id number not null,
primary key(id),
foreign key(semester_subject_id) references semester_subject(id)
);
create table class_enrollment(
id number not null,
student_id number not null,
semester_subject_id number not null,
class_id number,
primary_key(id),
foreign key(student_id) references student(id),
foreign key(semester_subject_id) references semester_subject(id),
foreign key(class_id) references class(id)
);
The list of value for the Semester select list looks like this:
select name, id
from semester
order by 1;
The the subject select list should include the names of all the Subjects available in the semester selected above, but I can't figure the query or even if it's possible. What I have right now:
select s.name, s.id
from subject s, semester_subject ss
where ss.semester_id = :PX_SEMESTER //value from above select list
and ss.subject_id = s.id;
But you can't have two tables in a LoV and the query is probably wrong anyway...
I didn't even begin to think about what the query for the class would look like.
I appreciate any help or if you can point me in the right direction so I can figure it out myself.
Developing an Apex Input Form Using Item-Parametrized Lists of Values (LOVs)
Your initial schema design looks good. One recommendation once you've developed and tested your solution on a smaller scale, append to the ID (primary key) columns a trigger that can auto-populate its values through a sequence. You could also skip the trigger and just reference the sequence in your sql insert DML commands. It just makes things simpler. Creating tables in the APEX environment with their built-in wizards offer the opportunity to make an "auto-incrementing" key column.
There is also an additional column added to the SEMESTER table called SORT_KEY. This helps when you are storing string typed values which have logical sorting sequences that aren't exactly alphanumeric in nature.
Setting Up The Test Data Values
Here is the test data I generated to demonstrate the cascading list of values design that will work with the example.
Making Dynamic List of Value Queries
The next step is to make the first three inter-dependent List of Values definitions. As you have discovered, you can reference page parameters in your LOVs which may come from a variety of sources. In this case, the choice selection from our LOVs will be assigned to Apex Page Items.
I also thought only one table could be referenced in a single LOV query. This is incorrect. The page documentation suggests that it is the SQL query syntax that is the limiting factor. The following LOV queries reference more than one table, and they work:
-- SEMESTER LOV Query
-- name: CHOOSE_SEMESTER
select a.name d, a.id r
from semester a
where a.id in (
select b.semester_id
from semester_subject b
where b.subject_id = nvl(:P5_SUBJECT, b.subject_id))
order by a.sort_id
-- SUBJECT LOV Query
-- name: CHOOSE_SUBJECT
select a.subject_name d, a.id r
from subject a
where a.id in (
select b.subject_id
from semester_subject b
where b.semester_id = nvl(:P5_SEMESTER, b.semester_id))
order by 1
-- CLASS LOV Query
-- name: CHOOSE_CLASS
select a.name d, a.id r
from class a, semester_subject b
where a.semester_subject_id = b.id
and b.subject_id = :P5_SUBJECT
and b.semester_id = :P5_SEMESTER
order by 1
Some design notes to consider:
Don't mind the P5_ITEM notation. The page in my sample app happened to be on "page 5" and so the convention goes.
I chose to assign a name for each LOV query as a hint. Don't just embed the query in an item. Add some breathing room for yourself as a developer by making the LOV a portable object that can be referenced elsewhere if needed.
MAKE a named LOV for each query through the SHARED OBJECTS menu option of your application designer.
The extra operator involving the NVL command, as in nvl(:P5_SUBJECT, b.subject_id) for the CHOOSE_SEMESTER LOV is an expression mirrored on the CHOOSE_SUBJECT query as well. If the default value of P5_SUBJECT and P5_SEMESTER are null when entering the page, how does that assist with the handling of the cascading relationships?
The table SEMESTER_SUBJECT represents a key relationship. Why is a LOV for this table not needed?
APEX Application Form Design Using Cascading LOVs
Setting up the a page for testing the schema design and LOV queries requires the creation of three page items:
Each page item should be defined as a SELECT LIST leave all the defaults initially until you understand how the basic design works. Each select list item should be associated with their corresponding LOV, such as:
The key design twist is the Select List made for the CHOOSE_CLASS LOV, which represents a cascading dependency on more than one data source.
We will use the "Cascading Parent" option so that this item will wait until both CHOOSE_SEMESTER and CHOOSE_SUBJECT are selected. It will also refresh if either of the two are changed.
YES! The cascading parent item can consist of multiple page items/elements. They just have to be declared in a comma separated list.
From the online help info, this is a general introduction to how cascading LOVs can be used in APEX designs:
From Oracle Apex Help Docs: A cascading LOV means that the current item's list of values should be refreshed if the value of another item on this page gets changed.
Specify a comma separated list of page items to be used to trigger the refresh. You can then use those page items in the where clause of your "List of Values" SQL statement.
Demonstration of APEX Application Items with Cascading LOVs
These examples are based on the sample data given at the beginning of this solution. The path of the chosen example case is:
SEMESTER: SPRING 2014 + SUBJECT: PHYS ED + Verify Valid Course Options:
Fitness for Life
General Flexibility
Presidential Fitness Challenge
Running for Fun
Volleyball Basics
The choice from above will be assigned to page item P5_CLASS.
Selection Choices for P5_SEMESTER:
Selection Choices for P5_SUBJECT:
Selection Choices for P5_CLASS:
Closing Remarks and Discussion
Some closing thoughts that occurred to me while working with this design project:
About the Primary Keys: The notion of a generic, ID named column for a primary key was a good design choice. While APEX can handle composite business keys, it gets clumsy and difficult to work around.
One thing that made the schema design challenging to work with was that the notion of "id" transformed in the other tables that referenced it. (Such as the ID column in the SEMESTER table became SEMESTER_ID in the SEMESTER_SUBJECT table. Just keep an eye on these name changes with larger queries. At times I actually lost track exactly what ID I was working with.
A Word for Sanity: In the likely event you decide to assign ID values through a database sequence object, the default is usually to begin at one. If you have several different tables in your schema with the same column name: ID and some associating tables such as CLASS_ENROLLMENT which connects the values of one primary key ID and three additional foreign key ID's, it may get difficult to discern where the data values are coming from.
Consider offsetting your sequences or arbitrarily choosing different increments and starting values. If you're mainly pushing ID's around in your queries, if two different ID sets are separated by two or three orders of magnitude, it will be easy to know if you've pulled the right data values.
Are There MORE Cascading Relationships? If a "parent" item relationship indicates a dependency that makes a page item LOV wait or change depending on the value of another, could there be another cascading relationship to define? In the case of CHOOSE_SEMESTER and CHOOSE_SUBJECT is it possible? Is it necessary?
I was able to figure out how to make these two items hold an optional cascading dependency, but it required setting up another outside page item reference. (If it isn't optional, you get stuck in a closed loop as soon as one of the two values changes.) Fancy, but not really necessary to solve the problem at hand.
What's Left to Do? I left out some additional tasks for you to continue with, such as managing the DML into the ENROLLMENT table after selecting a valid STUDENT.
Overall, you've got a workable schema design. There is a way to represent the data relationships through an APEX application design pattern. Happy coding, it looks like a challenging project!
I'm new to DynamoDB - I already have an application where the data gets inserted, but I'm getting stuck on extracting the data.
Requirement:
There must be a unique table per customer
Insert documents into the table (each doc has a unique ID and a timestamp)
Get X number of documents based on timestamp (ordered ascending)
Delete individual documents based on unique ID
So far I have created a table with composite key (S:id, N:timestamp). However when I come to query it, I realise that since my id is unique, because I can't do a wildcard search on ID I won't be able to extract a range of items...
So, how should I design my table to satisfy this scenario?
Edit: Here's what I'm thinking:
Primary index will be composite: (s:customer_id, n:timestamp) where customer ID will be the same within a table. This will enable me to extact data based on time range.
Secondary index will be hash (s: unique_doc_id) whereby I will be able to delete items using this index.
Does this sound like the correct solution? Thank you in advance.
You can satisfy the requirements like this:
Your primary key will be h:customer_id and r:unique_id. This makes sure all the elements in the table have different keys.
You will also have an attribute for timestamp and will have a Local Secondary Index on it.
You will use the LSI to do requirement 3 and batchWrite API call to do batch delete for requirement 4.
This solution doesn't require (1) - all the customers can stay in the same table (Heads up - There is a limit-before-contact-us of 256 tables per account)
Just some background, sorry so long winded.
I'm using the System.Data.SQLite ADO.net adapter to create a local sqlite database and this will be the only process hitting the database, so I don't need to worry about concurrency.
I'm building the database from various sources and don't want to build this all in memory using datasets or dataadapters or anything like that. I want to do this using SQL (DdCommands). I'm not very good with SQL and complete noob in sqlite. I'm basically using sqlite as a local database / save file structure.
The database has a lot of related tables and the data has nothing to do with People or Regions or Districts, but to use a simple analogy, imagine:
Region table with auto increment RegionID, RegionName column and various optional columns.
District table with auto increment DistrictID, DistrictName, RegionId, and various optional columns
Person table with auto increment PersonID, PersonName, DistrictID, and various optional columns
So I get some data representing RegionName, DistrictName,PersonName, and other Person related data. The Region, District and/or Person may or may not be created at this point.
Once again, not being the greatest with this, my thoughts would be something like:
Check to see if Region exists and if so get the RegionID
else create it and get RegionID
Check to see if District exists and if so get the DistrictID
else create it adding in RegionID from above and get DistrictID
Check to see if Person exists and if so get the PersonID
else create it adding in DistrictID from above and get PersonID
Update Person with rest of data.
In MS SQL Server I would create a stored procedure to handle all this.
Only way I can see to do this with sqlite is a lot of commands. So I'm sure I'm not getting this. I've spent hours looking around on various sites but just don't feel like I'm going down the right road. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Use last_insert_rowid() in conjunction with INSERT OR REPLACE. Something like:
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO Region (RegionName)
VALUES (:Region );
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO District(DistrictName, RegionID )
VALUES (:District , last_insert_rowid());
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO Person(PersonName, DistrictID )
VALUES (:Person , last_insert_rowid());