1. Oracle Database SQL Language Reference 11g Release 2 (11.2)
E10592-03 September 2009
2. Oracle Database SQL Language Reference, 11g Release 2 (11.2)
E10592-03 Copyright 1996, 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All
rights reserved. Primary Authors: Diana Lorentz, Mary Beth Roeser
Contributors: Sundeep Abraham, Angela Amor, Geeta Arora, Vikas
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Huagang Li, Yunrui Li, Vince Liang, Bryn Llewellyn, Rich Long,
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3. iii Contents
Preface...............................................................................................................................................................
xxi
Audience.....................................................................................................................................................
xxi Documentation
Accessibility...................................................................................................................
xxi Related Documents
..................................................................................................................................
xxii Conventions
..............................................................................................................................................
xxii What's New in the SQL Language
Reference?.......................................................................
xxiii Oracle Database 11g Release 2 New Features in the SQL
Language Reference............................. xxiii Oracle
Database 11g Release 1 New Features in the SQL Language
Reference............................. xxv 1 Introduction to Oracle
SQL History of SQL
.........................................................................................................................................
1-1 SQL Standards
.........................................................................................................................................
1-1 How SQL Works
...............................................................................................................................
1-2 Common Language for All Relational Databases
.........................................................................
1-2 Using Enterprise Manager
.....................................................................................................................
1-3 Lexical
Conventions.................................................................................................................................
1-3 Tools Support
...........................................................................................................................................
1-3 2 Pseudocolumns Hierarchical Query Pseudocolumns
....................................................................................................
2-1 CONNECT_BY_ISCYCLE Pseudocolumn
....................................................................................
2-1 CONNECT_BY_ISLEAF Pseudocolumn
.......................................................................................
2-2 LEVEL Pseudocolumn
......................................................................................................................
2-2 Sequence Pseudocolumns
.....................................................................................................................
2-3 Where to Use Sequence Values
.......................................................................................................
2-3 How to Use Sequence Values
..........................................................................................................
2-4 Version Query Pseudocolumns
............................................................................................................
2-6 COLUMN_VALUE Pseudocolumn
......................................................................................................
2-6 OBJECT_ID Pseudocolumn
..................................................................................................................
2-7 OBJECT_VALUE Pseudocolumn
..........................................................................................................
2-8
4. iv ORA_ROWSCN Pseudocolumn
...........................................................................................................
2-8 ROWID Pseudocolumn
..........................................................................................................................
2-9 ROWNUM Pseudocolumn
....................................................................................................................
2-9 XMLDATA Pseudocolumn
.................................................................................................................
2-10 3 Basic Elements of Oracle SQL Data Types
................................................................................................................................................
3-1 Oracle Built-in Data
Types................................................................................................................
3-6 CHAR Data Type
.......................................................................................................................
3-9 NCHAR Data Type
....................................................................................................................
3-9 NVARCHAR2 Data Type
.........................................................................................................
3-9 VARCHAR2 Data Type
.........................................................................................................
3-10 VARCHAR Data Type
...........................................................................................................
3-10 NUMBER Data Type
..............................................................................................................
3-10 FLOAT Data
Type....................................................................................................................
3-12 Floating-Point Numbers
........................................................................................................
3-12 BINARY_FLOAT
..............................................................................................................
3-13
BINARY_DOUBLE...........................................................................................................
3-13 Numeric Precedence
...............................................................................................................
3-14 DATE Data Type
.....................................................................................................................
3-17 Using Julian Days
.............................................................................................................
3-17 TIMESTAMP Data Type
........................................................................................................
3-18 TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE Data Type
....................................................................
3-18 TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE Data Type
..................................................... 3-19 INTERVAL
YEAR TO MONTH Data Type
........................................................................
3-19 INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND Data Type
.........................................................................
3-20 Datetime/Interval Arithmetic
...............................................................................................
3-20 Support for Daylight Saving Times
......................................................................................
3-22 Datetime and Interval Examples
...........................................................................................
3-23 RAW and LONG RAW Data Types
.....................................................................................
3-24 BFILE Data Type
.....................................................................................................................
3-26 BLOB Data Type
......................................................................................................................
3-26 CLOB Data Type
.....................................................................................................................
3-26 NCLOB Data Type
..................................................................................................................
3-27 Rowid Data Types
..........................................................................................................................
3-27 ROWID Data Type
..................................................................................................................
3-27 UROWID Data Type
...............................................................................................................
3-28 ANSI, DB2, and SQL/DS Data Types
.........................................................................................
3-28 User-Defined Types
.......................................................................................................................
3-30 Object Types
............................................................................................................................
3-30 REF Data Types
.......................................................................................................................
3-30 Varrays
......................................................................................................................................
3-31 Nested Tables
..........................................................................................................................
3-31 Oracle-Supplied Types
..................................................................................................................
3-31 Any Types
.......................................................................................................................................
3-32 ANYTYPE
.................................................................................................................................
3-32
ANYDATA................................................................................................................................
3-32
5. v
ANYDATASET.........................................................................................................................
3-32 XML Types
......................................................................................................................................
3-32 XMLType
..................................................................................................................................
3-32 URI Data Types
.......................................................................................................................
3-33 URIFactory Package
................................................................................................................
3-34 Spatial Types
...................................................................................................................................
3-34 SDO_GEOMETRY
...................................................................................................................
3-34 SDO_TOPO_GEOMETRY
.....................................................................................................
3-34
SDO_GEORASTER..................................................................................................................
3-35 Media Types
....................................................................................................................................
3-35 ORDAudio
...............................................................................................................................
3-35 ORDImage
................................................................................................................................
3-35 ORDVideo
................................................................................................................................
3-35 ORDDoc
...................................................................................................................................
3-35 ORDDicom
...............................................................................................................................
3-36 SI_StillImage
............................................................................................................................
3-36 SI_Color
....................................................................................................................................
3-36 SI_AverageColor
.....................................................................................................................
3-36 SI_ColorHistogram
.................................................................................................................
3-36 SI_PositionalColor
..................................................................................................................
3-36 SI_Texture
................................................................................................................................
3-36 SI_FeatureList
..........................................................................................................................
3-36 ORDImageSignature
...............................................................................................................
3-36 Expression Filter
Type....................................................................................................................
3-36
Expression.................................................................................................................................
3-37 Data Type Comparison Rules
............................................................................................................
3-37 Numeric Values
..............................................................................................................................
3-37 Date Values
.....................................................................................................................................
3-37 Character Values
............................................................................................................................
3-37 Object Values
..................................................................................................................................
3-40 Varrays and Nested Tables
...........................................................................................................
3-40 Data Type Precedence
....................................................................................................................
3-40 Data Conversion
.............................................................................................................................
3-40 Implicit and Explicit Data Conversion
................................................................................
3-40 Implicit Data Conversion
.......................................................................................................
3-40 Implicit Data Conversion
Examples......................................................................................
3-43 Explicit Data Conversion
.......................................................................................................
3-43 Security Considerations for Data Conversion
............................................................................
3-44 Literals
....................................................................................................................................................
3-45 Text Literals
.....................................................................................................................................
3-46 Numeric Literals
.............................................................................................................................
3-47 Integer Literals
.........................................................................................................................
3-47 NUMBER and Floating-Point Literals
..................................................................................
3-48 Datetime Literals
............................................................................................................................
3-50 Interval
Literals................................................................................................................................
3-52 INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH
............................................................................................
3-53 INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND
.............................................................................................
3-54
6. vi Format Models
......................................................................................................................................
3-55 Number Format Models
................................................................................................................
3-56 Number Format Elements
.....................................................................................................
3-57 Datetime Format Models
..............................................................................................................
3-59 Datetime Format Elements
....................................................................................................
3-60 Uppercase Letters in Date Format Elements
...............................................................
3-60 Punctuation and Character Literals in Datetime Format Models
............................. 3-60 Datetime Format Elements and
Globalization Support
.................................................... 3-64 ISO
Standard Date Format Elements
...................................................................................
3-64 The RR Datetime Format Element
........................................................................................
3-64 RR Datetime Format
Examples.......................................................................................
3-65 Datetime Format Element Suffixes
.......................................................................................
3-65 Format Model Modifiers
...............................................................................................................
3-66 Format Model
Examples.........................................................................................................
3-67 String-to-Date Conversion Rules
.................................................................................................
3-68 XML Format Model
.......................................................................................................................
3-69 Nulls
........................................................................................................................................................
3-70 Nulls in SQL Functions
..................................................................................................................
3-70 Nulls with Comparison Conditions
............................................................................................
3-71 Nulls in Conditions
........................................................................................................................
3-71 Comments
..............................................................................................................................................
3-71 Comments Within SQL Statements
.............................................................................................
3-72 Comments on Schema and Nonschema Objects
.......................................................................
3-72 Hints
.................................................................................................................................................
3-73 Alphabetical Listing of Hints
........................................................................................................
3-77 ALL_ROWS Hint
....................................................................................................................
3-77 APPEND Hint
..........................................................................................................................
3-78 APPEND_VALUES Hint
.......................................................................................................
3-78 CACHE Hint
............................................................................................................................
3-79 CHANGE_DUPKEY_ERROR_INDEX Hint
.......................................................................
3-79 CLUSTER Hint
........................................................................................................................
3-80 CURSOR_SHARING_EXACT Hint
.....................................................................................
3-80 DRIVING_SITE Hint
..............................................................................................................
3-80 DYNAMIC_SAMPLING Hint
...............................................................................................
3-81 FACT Hint
................................................................................................................................
3-81 FIRST_ROWS Hint
..................................................................................................................
3-81 FULL Hint
................................................................................................................................
3-82 HASH Hint
..............................................................................................................................
3-82 IGNORE_ROW_ON_DUPKEY_INDEX Hint
.....................................................................
3-83 INDEX Hint
.............................................................................................................................
3-83 INDEX_ASC Hint
...................................................................................................................
3-84 INDEX_COMBINE Hint
........................................................................................................
3-84 INDEX_DESC Hint
.................................................................................................................
3-85 INDEX_FFS Hint
.....................................................................................................................
3-85 INDEX_JOIN Hint
..................................................................................................................
3-85 INDEX_SS Hint
.......................................................................................................................
3-86 INDEX_SS_ASC Hint
.............................................................................................................
3-86
7. vii INDEX_SS_DESC Hint
...........................................................................................................
3-87 LEADING Hint
........................................................................................................................
3-87 MERGE Hint
............................................................................................................................
3-87 MODEL_MIN_ANALYSIS Hint
...........................................................................................
3-88 MONITOR Hint
......................................................................................................................
3-88 NATIVE_FULL_OUTER_JOIN Hint
....................................................................................
3-88 NOAPPEND Hint
...................................................................................................................
3-89 NOCACHE Hint
.....................................................................................................................
3-89 NO_EXPAND Hint
.................................................................................................................
3-89 NO_FACT Hint
.......................................................................................................................
3-89 NO_INDEX Hint
.....................................................................................................................
3-90 NO_INDEX_FFS Hint
............................................................................................................
3-90 NO_INDEX_SS Hint
...............................................................................................................
3-90 NO_MERGE Hint
...................................................................................................................
3-91 NO_MONITOR Hint
..............................................................................................................
3-91 NO_NATIVE_FULL_OUTER_JOIN Hint
............................................................................
3-91 NO_PARALLEL Hint
.............................................................................................................
3-91 NOPARALLEL
Hint................................................................................................................
3-92 NO_PARALLEL_INDEX Hint
..............................................................................................
3-92 NOPARALLEL_INDEX
Hint.................................................................................................
3-92 NO_PUSH_PRED Hint
..........................................................................................................
3-92 NO_PUSH_SUBQ Hint
..........................................................................................................
3-93 NO_PX_JOIN_FILTER Hint
..................................................................................................
3-93 NO_QUERY_TRANSFORMATION Hint
...........................................................................
3-93 NO_RESULT_CACHE Hint
..................................................................................................
3-93 NO_REWRITE Hint
................................................................................................................
3-93 NOREWRITE
Hint...................................................................................................................
3-94 NO_STAR_TRANSFORMATION Hint
...............................................................................
3-94 NO_UNNEST Hint
.................................................................................................................
3-94 NO_USE_HASH Hint
............................................................................................................
3-94 NO_USE_MERGE Hint
..........................................................................................................
3-94 NO_USE_NL Hint
..................................................................................................................
3-95 NO_XML_QUERY_REWRITE
Hint......................................................................................
3-95 NO_XMLINDEX_REWRITE Hint
........................................................................................
3-95 OPT_PARAM Hint
.................................................................................................................
3-95 ORDERED Hint
.......................................................................................................................
3-96 PARALLEL Hint
.....................................................................................................................
3-96 PARALLEL_INDEX Hint
......................................................................................................
3-98 PQ_DISTRIBUTE Hint
...........................................................................................................
3-98 PUSH_PRED Hint
.................................................................................................................
3-101 PUSH_SUBQ Hint
.................................................................................................................
3-101 PX_JOIN_FILTER Hint
.........................................................................................................
3-101 QB_NAME Hint
....................................................................................................................
3-101 RESULT_CACHE Hint
.........................................................................................................
3-102 RETRY_ON_ROW_CHANGE Hint
...................................................................................
3-102 REWRITE Hint
......................................................................................................................
3-103 STAR_TRANSFORMATION Hint
.....................................................................................
3-103
8. viii UNNEST Hint
........................................................................................................................
3-104 USE_CONCAT Hint
.............................................................................................................
3-104 USE_HASH Hint
...................................................................................................................
3-104 USE_MERGE Hint
................................................................................................................
3-105 USE_NL Hint
.........................................................................................................................
3-105 USE_NL_WITH_INDEX Hint
.............................................................................................
3-106 Database
Objects.................................................................................................................................
3-106 Schema Objects
.............................................................................................................................
3-106 Nonschema Objects
......................................................................................................................
3-107 Database Object Names and Qualifiers
.........................................................................................
3-107 Database Object Naming Rules
..................................................................................................
3-107 Schema Object Naming Examples
.............................................................................................
3-111 Schema Object Naming Guidelines
...........................................................................................
3-111 Syntax for Schema Objects and Parts in SQL
Statements...........................................................
3-111 How Oracle Database Resolves Schema Object References
................................................... 3-112
References to Objects in Other Schemas
...................................................................................
3-113 References to Objects in Remote Databases
.............................................................................
3-113 Creating Database Links
......................................................................................................
3-114 Database Link Names
....................................................................................................
3-114 Username and
Password...............................................................................................
3-114 Database Connect
String................................................................................................
3-114 References to Database Links
..............................................................................................
3-115 References to Partitioned Tables and Indexes
.........................................................................
3-115 References to Object Type Attributes and Methods
................................................................
3-117 4 Operators About SQL
Operators..............................................................................................................................
4-1 Unary and Binary Operators
...........................................................................................................
4-2 Operator Precedence
.........................................................................................................................
4-2 Arithmetic Operators
..............................................................................................................................
4-3 Concatenation
Operator..........................................................................................................................
4-4 Hierarchical Query
Operators................................................................................................................
4-5 PRIOR
.................................................................................................................................................
4-5 CONNECT_BY_ROOT
.....................................................................................................................
4-5 Set Operators
............................................................................................................................................
4-5 Multiset Operators
..................................................................................................................................
4-6 MULTISET EXCEPT
.........................................................................................................................
4-6 MULTISET INTERSECT
..................................................................................................................
4-7 MULTISET UNION
..........................................................................................................................
4-8 User-Defined Operators
.........................................................................................................................
4-9 5 Functions About SQL Functions
.............................................................................................................................
5-2 Single-Row Functions
............................................................................................................................
5-3 Numeric Functions
............................................................................................................................
5-3 Character Functions Returning Character Values
........................................................................
5-4 NLS Character Functions
.................................................................................................................
5-5