Crafting Views with SSMS

Most of the articles that I presented so far for database development have been centered around the exact Microsoft T-SQL syntax to perform a certain operation. At the University of Rhode Island, I learnt how to program in Pascal before typing in my first ANSI SQL statement. In short, I will always be some type of developer in my heart. However, many people do not come from a computer science and math background. The SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) has menus and dialog boxes to achieve many of the same…

Instead of Update

Today, I will be looking at how INSTEAD OF TRIGGERS can be used to make our VIEW correctly work with a UPDATE statement. I will be using the [AUTOS] sample database for this demonstration. The [VW_JOIN_MAKES_2_MODELS] view will be enhanced with a instead of trigger so that update action can be perform on two tables at the same time. The enclosed script has code to perform the following actions in the AUTOS database. 5A – Remove aggregate view 5B – Reload tables with good data 5C – Create a instead…

Instead of Delete

Today, I will be looking at how INSTEAD OF TRIGGERS can be used to make our VIEW correctly work with a DELETE statement. I will be using the [AUTOS] sample database for this demonstration. The [VW_JOIN_MAKES_2_MODELS] view will be enhanced with a instead of trigger so that delete action can be perform on two tables at the same time. The enclosed script has code to perform the following actions in the AUTOS database. 5A – Remove aggregate view 5B – Reload tables with good data 5C – Create a instead…

Instead of Insert

Most information technology professionals do not know that data can be modified via a VIEW. The INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements of the Data Manipulation Language (DML) can be executed on a view as long as the following set of rules are adhered to. Modifications must reference columns from only one base table. The columns must directly reference the underlying data table. I am going to continue my exploration of updatable views. Last time, we were using the [AUTOS] sample database and discovered that DELETE statements were not working the…

User Defined Views – Part 2

Today, I want to continue talking about database objects that are associated with stored (compiled) code. A view can be though as a virtual table whose contents are defined by a TSQL query based on one or more tables in the database.   Typical uses of a view are the following: To simplify or customize the perception each user has of the database. Security mechanism to grant users access to the view, not the underlying base tables. To provide a backward compatible interface to emulate a table whose schema has…

User Defined Views – Part 1

Today, I want to continue talking about database objects that are associated with stored (compiled) code. A view can be though as a virtual table whose contents are defined by a TSQL query based on one or more tables in the database.   Typical uses of a view are the following: To simplify or customize the perception each user has of the database. Security mechanism to grant users access to the view, not the underlying base tables. To provide a backward compatible interface to emulate a table whose schema has…

Database Files & Objects – Part 1

I am currently reading Kalen Delany and others book on SQL Server 2008 System internals. If you have not read this book from cover to cover, you should. It has a wealth of knowledge about database engine details. To demonstrate key ideas from the book, I am going to expand on the [MATH] database that contains PRIME numbers. The trial division algorithm inside this database uses a brute force method for calculating prime numbers. This article will focus on files and objects that can be viewed through the system views,…