Function Based Index in SQL SERVER 2005 - sql

Please suppose you have a table called BEER_HERE, with two columns:
BEER_CODE VARCHAR(50)
BEER_DATE DATETIME
Please suppose also you have the availability of a function called dbo.TRUNCATE_DATE which works as follows:
dbo.TRUNCATE_DATE ('23/12/2012 23:59:57.395') ==> 23/12/2012 00:00:00.000
I would like to create a FUNCTION BASED INDEX on:
(BEER_CODE, dbo.TRUNCATE_DATE(BEER_DATE))
How could I achieve this?
Thank you in advance for your kind help.

You would need to add a computed column
Alter Table BEER_HERE Add Column XBEER_DATE As dbo.TRUNCATE_DATE(BEER_DATE)
You can then index it as you'd expect.
However, your function needs to be deterministic and precise as defined in http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189292(v=sql.90).aspx. Your function should meet these requirements, but you might need to add With SchemaBinding to the function definition.
You might also be able to use a view
Create View V_BEER_HERE As Select BEER_CODE, BEER_DATE, dbo.TRUNCATE_DATE(BEER_DATE) As XBEER_DATE From BEER_HERE
Create Unique Clustered Index PK_V_BEER_HERE On V_BEER_HERE (BEER_CODE)
Create Index I_XBEER_DATE On V_BEER_HERE (XBEER_DATE)
Stuff that inserts writes to the table, stuff that reads reads from the view. This depends on BEER_CODE being a primary key.
SQL Server doesn't have function based indexes the same way Oracle does.

Related

Create autoserial column in informix

is it possible to create a autoserial index in order 1,2,3,4... in Informix and what would be the syntax. I have a query and some of my timestamps are identical so I was unable to query using a timestamp variable. Thanks!
These are the commands that I ran to add an id field to an existing table. While logged in to the dbaccess console.
alter table my_table add id integer before some_field;
create sequence myseq;
update my_table set id = myseq.nextval;
drop sequence myseq;
alter table my_table modify (id serial not null);
Thanks to #ricardo-henriques for pointing me in the right direction. These commands will allow you to run the instructions explained in his answer on your database.
That would be the SERIAL data type.
You can use, as #RET mention the SERIAL data type.
Next you will struggle with the fact that you can't add a SERIAL column to an existing table. Ways to work around:
Add an INTEGER column, populate with sequential numbers and then alter the column to SERIAL.
Unload the data to a file, drop the table and recreate it with the new column.
Create a new table with the new column, populate the new table with the data from the old, drop the old and rename the new.
...
Bear in mind that they may not be unique. Hence you have to create an unique index or a primary key or an unique constraint in the column to prevent duplicates.
Another notes you should be aware:
- Primary key don't allow NULLS, unique index and unique constraints allow (as long there is only one record), so you should specify NOT NULL on the column definition.
- If you use a primary key or a unique constraint you can create a foreign key to it.
- In primary key and unique constraint the validation of the uniqueness of the record is done in the end of the DML, for the unique index it is done row a row.
Seems you're getting your first touch with informix, welcome. Yes it can be a little bit hard on the beginning just remember:
Always search before asking, really search.
When in doubt or reached a dead end then ask away.
Try to trim down your case scenario, built your own case the simple away you can, these will not only help us to help us but you will practice and in some cases find the solution by yourself.
When error is involve always give the error code, in informix it is given at least one error code and sometimes an ISAM error too.
Keen regards.

Primary Key and Unique Index -- sql scripts generated by SQL Developer

When export sql scripts by SQL Developer there are multiple options available, but either way there have to generate a UNIQUE INDEX on primary key like this
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX "SYS_C0018099" ON "TRANSACTION" ("ID")
and add PRIMARY KEY to the same table and same column
ALTER TABLE "TRANSACTION" ADD PRIMARY KEY ("ID")
So the question is: does it looks like kind of redundancy? I thought creating a primary key on a column should by default create an unique index on that column too? So why the first command is necessary?
And this may cause data redundancy?
I am on Oracle 11g so please share any ideas about why it should look like above.
Thanks in advance.
There is no redundancy - or only a little bit :)
The second command will use the index available if exists. Otherwise(if first DDL does not exists) will create an index.
The split into two commands is useful when you had given a proper name to the index and want to keep it.
UPDATE: The link indicated by Thomas Haratyk is a must read, I really like it: http://viralpatel.net/blogs/understanding-primary-keypk-constraint-in-oracle/
UPDATE2: a_horse_with_no_name is right, it can be done in a single statement like:
alter table TRANSACTION
add CONSTRAINT pk_test PRIMARY KEY (id);
So, it will keep the name(won't create a sysblalbla object name) and if you use the 'USING INDEX' keyword you can specify index atributes, for example storage atributes.
But again, you will not have any problems with those two statements, only an index is created.
Probably SQL Developer prefer to get a ddl per object and there might be cases when it's better its way.

how the db can auto generate uniqueindentifiers?

I have a sql table with id (guid) column.
how can I force the DB to auto generate a new guid for every new record?
Add DEFAULT(newid()).
Using the DEFAULT(newid()) approach, as #SLaks mentioned, you would allow anyone to alter the Guid value from the Guid column, and that could be bad.
One approach to avoid that would be setting the "Guid" Column as a Persisted Computed Column. That way you couldn't even "force" another value onto the Column. But, since the NEWID() function is Non Deterministic, you couldn't define the Computed Column as Persisted, and the whole approach goes down, since not setting is as Persisted would result as a new Guid everytime you Select that row.
That said, I believe you have 2 choices: Stick with the DEFAULT(newid()) approach or work with Triggers for that.
Please try using the following query:
CREATE TABLE TEST
(
ID UNIQUEIDENTIFIER DEFAULT NEWSEQUENTIALID() PRIMARY KEY,
TESTCOLUMN CHAR(2000) DEFAULT REPLICATE('X',2000)
)
GO

Is it possibly to specify Postgres column storage type at table creation?

Can one specify the EXTENDED storage type for a column as part of CREATE TABLE? If yes, would it also work under Postgres 8.1?
I don't see a way to do this except through ALTER TABLE, which seems weird for something that really belongs with the rest of the table definition.
I don' think you can.
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/static/storage-toast.html
"Each TOAST-able data type specifies a default strategy for columns of that data type, but the strategy for a given table column can be altered with ALTER TABLE SET STORAGE."

Create Index on partial CHAR Column

I have a CHAR(250) column being used as a foreign key to a varchar(24) column.
In MySQL I recall that I could create an index specifying column(24) in order to create an index on the leftmost 24 characters. This doesn't appear to be possible on MS SQL Server.
My question is this:
Is it possible to use an indexed view on SQL Server 2008 to index a substring of that column, and if so, would it have any side-effects on the table's performance?
You can create a persisted computed column, then index it, see Creating Indexes on Computed Columns
alter table add newcolumn as cast(oldcolumn as varchar(24)) persisted;
create index table_newcolumn on table (newcolumn);
I hope you have a good relational reason for doing this. I'm guessing the first 24 characters of the vendor-provided table actually constitute a discrete attribute and should have been in a separate column in the first place.
So...
Create a view of the vendor's table. Index it if you like. I doubt you can point a FK constraint at the view, but you certainly can write a trigger to the same effect. A trigger checking against an indexed view will be very fast, at the cost of a slight increase in update times on the view's base table.
HTH.