Course Description
Course Details
Expand your knowledge of Structured Query Language (SQL), the industry standard database programming language. In this course, you'll learn techniques that will enable you to write powerful queries that perform complicated searches and sorts on your data. First, you'll explore how to write and implement complex queries on multiple tables simultaneously and how to apply advanced filtering techniques. You'll learn to create union queries that combine records from multiple queries, and you'll discover how to use union queries to exclude or include duplicate records. In addition, you'll find out how to use text strings within union queries. Next, you'll master advanced techniques for updating various types of data stored in your tables. You'll learn how to update a single field, multiple fields, multiple records, date fields, and calculated fields. And you'll see how to update and set NULL values using an update statement. In addition, you'll use advanced insertion techniques to add data to your tables and learn how to create, query, and modify temporary tables. You'll also see how to implement techniques to handle duplicate values stored in a table and how to limit the results of a result set. And finally, you'll discover how to use string functions to perform complicated searches on strings, how to implement date and time functions to insert and extract portions of a date, and how to create queries that accept input from users. By the end of this course, you'll be able to use a wide range of advanced SQL techniques with confidence. Your new skills with databases will enhance your competitiveness in the technical fields of software development and database administration.
How It Works
This course is fully online, you require internet access and an email account. The course duration is 6 weeks, followed by a 2-week period to complete the final exam (online, open book). Lessons are released on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week, for a total of 12. You are not required to be online at any specific time. In addition to the specific lesson content, there is a discussion board with each lesson and often there is an optional assignment to apply the learning. Following each lesson, there is a short multiple choice quiz. Your score on these quizzes does not count towards the final mark but completing these helps solidify your learning as well as prepare you for the final exam. The final exam is an open-book, multiple choice exam and you need to achieve a minimum of 65% on the final exam to pass the course. There is only one opportunity to pass the exam. A certificate of completion from WatSPEED is available within four weeks of successful completion of each course and can be accessed in your student portal. Many of the Ed2Go courses are eligible towards the various online certificates offered by WatSPEED.
Requirements
Microsoft Access 2003 or later (software must be installed and fully operational shortly before the course begins). Microsoft Access is bundled with Microsoft Office at the following web site: https://products.office.com/en/try. Depending on your operating system, you may be required to install additional service packs, which are available at the Microsoft Download Center: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download. NOTE: This course is not suitable for Macintosh users.
Syllabus
Lesson 1 - SQL Review. In our first lesson, we'll discuss the importance of Structured Query Language (SQL) and why it's used in conjunction with databases. We'll do a quick review of some of the basic concepts of the SQL language, including commonly used keywords, SQL data types, constraints, logical operators, and comparison operators. We'll also go over running queries in the SQL Design View and SQL View interfaces of Microsoft Access.
Lesson 2 - Creating Complex Subqueries. In this lesson, you’ll discover how to query multiple tables using subqueries. You’ll learn about the different types of subqueries and how subqueries are processed. You'll find out how to create nested subqueries, subqueries linked by comparison operators, and subqueries that are linked through the following powerful keywords IN, NOT IN, EXISTS, ANY, SOME, ALL.
Lesson 3 - Creating Unions. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use unions to create queries that combine records from multiple queries, enabling you to either exclude or include duplicate records. You also will learn how to order the results from a union query, how to create an alias within a union query, and how to use a text string to display a value in a union query.
Lesson 4 - Creating Complex Joins. In this lesson, you'll find out how to use advanced joins to query multiple tables simultaneously. You'll learn to create inner joins and outer joins. You will learn to create joins that contain aggregate functions and joins that are nested. You'll also find out how to create joins using SQL-92 and SQL-89 syntax.
Lesson 5 - Advanced Update Queries. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use advanced update techniques to update data stored in your tables. You'll see how to use the UPDATE and SET keywords in an update statement and how to incorporate a WHERE clause within an update statement. We'll go over how to update single fields and multiple fields and how to update multiple records simultaneously, as well as how to update date fields. I'll also show you how to update columns with calculated fields, and also how to use an update statement to update multiple columns to NULL and how to insert data into NULL columns.
Lesson 6 - Advanced Data Insertion. In today's lesson, you'll find out how to use advanced insertion techniques to add to your tables. You'll learn how to create conditional and nonconditional insert statements and how to insert records that contain NULL values. We'll also explore how to insert records without the specification of column names and how to insert calculated values into a table. Finally, you'll see how to insert values from functions, how to insert a single record using a conditional insert statement, and how to insert multiple records using a conditional insert statement.
Lesson 7 - Advanced LIKE Operator Queries. In this lesson, you'll learn advanced filtering techniques that implement the LIKE operator. We'll begin with a review of the LIKE operator and then we'll discuss more advanced LIKE operator queries. You'll learn how to use the percent (%) wildcard with the LIKE operator to compare a value to a string expression and to find a range of values. You'll learn how to use the exclamation mark (!) and the percent (%) sign wildcards with the LIKE operator to match character and digit patterns. You'll learn how to use the bracket ([]) wildcard with the LIKE operator to search for a range of characters and to search for a set of characters. You'll also learn how to use the LIKE operator to search for a combination of characters and digits.
Lesson 8 - Working With Temporary Tables. In this lesson, you'll see how to create, query, and modify temporary tables. We'll begin with a discussion on the importance of temporary tables and why we use them. Then we'll explore how to create and access temporary tables. You'll learn how to create a temporary table based on a standard table and how to create a temporary table based on a complex join. You'll see how to query a temporary table and how to find the second highest value in a column of a temporary table. You'll also see how to add a column and a datatype to a temporary table. Then we'll explore how to add a default value to a temporary table. Finally, we'll go over how to remove a column from a temporary table and how to delete a temporary table.
Lesson 9 - Handling Duplicate Values and Limiting Result Sets. In this lesson, you'll learn how to handle duplicate values stored in a table and how to limit the results of a result set. You’ll learn how to implement the DISTINCT keyword against a single field, how to implement the DISTINCT keyword against multiple fields, how to implement the DISTINCT keyword against a subquery, how to implement the DISTINCTROW keyword, how to implement the TOP keyword on a descending order field, how to implement the TOP keyword on an ascending order field, and how to implement the TOP PERCENT keywords.
Lesson 10 - String Functions. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use string functions to manipulate strings. You’ll learn how to use the LEFT () and RIGHT () functions to return characters of a string combined with concatenation, how to use the StrConv () function to convert values stored in columns, and how to convert string values typed directly into the StrConv () function. You’ll also learn how to use the LEN () function to count values stored in a column and how to count values typed directly into the LEN () function.
Lesson 11 - Date and Time Functions. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the NOW () function to insert the date and time and how to insert a calculated date and time. You'll find out how to use the YEAR () function in a join query to extract the year from a date. And you'll learn how to use the YEAR (), MONTH (), MONTHNAME (), WEEKDAY (), and WEEKDAYNAME () functions to extract the year, month, name of the month, week, and name of the week from a date. You'll also learn how to use the FORMAT () function in a subquery to format dates.
Lesson 12 - Parameter Queries. In this lesson, you'll learn how to create and implement parameter queries. You'll find out how to create a parameter query with one prompt and how to create a parameter query with two prompts. Then we'll go over how to create a parameter query that prompts the user for a date and how to create a parameter query that prompts the user for two dates. Finally, we'll discuss how to create a parameter query that queries two tables using a join and how to create a parameter query that implements the LIKE operator in a join query.
