SQL Interview Questions

1. The most important DDL statements in SQL are:
CREATE TABLE - creates a new database table
ALTER TABLE - alters (changes) a database table
DROP TABLE - deletes a database table
TRUNCATE - cleans all data
RENAME- renames a table name

2. Operators used in SELECT statements.
= Equal
<> or != Not equal
> Greater than
<>= Greater than or equal
<= Less than or equal BETWEEN Between an inclusive range LIKE Search for a pattern

3. SELECT statements:
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name
SELECT DISTINCT column_name(s) FROM table_name
SELECT column FROM table WHERE column operator value
SELECT column FROM table WHERE column LIKE pattern
SELECT column,SUM(column) FROM table GROUP BY column
SELECT column,SUM(column) FROM table GROUP BY column HAVING SUM(column) condition value
Note that single quotes around text values and numeric values should not be enclosed in quotes. Double quotes may be acceptable in some databases.

4. The SELECT INTO Statement is most often used to create backup copies of tables or for archiving records.
SELECT column_name(s) INTO newtable [IN externaldatabase] FROM source
SELECT column_name(s) INTO newtable [IN externaldatabase] FROM source WHERE column_name operator value

5. The INSERT INTO Statements:
INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (value1, value2,....)
INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2,...) VALUES (value1, value2,....)

6. The Update Statement:
UPDATE table_name SET column_name = new_value WHERE column_name = some_value

7. The Delete Statements:
DELETE FROM table_name WHERE column_name = some_value
Delete All Rows:
DELETE FROM table_name or DELETE * FROM table_name

8. Sort the Rows:
SELECT column1, column2, ... FROM table_name ORDER BY columnX, columnY, ..
SELECT column1, column2, ... FROM table_name ORDER BY columnX DESC
SELECT column1, column2, ... FROM table_name ORDER BY columnX DESC, columnY ASC

9. The IN operator may be used if you know the exact value you want to return for at least one of the columns.
SELECT column_name FROM table_name WHERE column_name IN (value1,value2,..)

10. BETWEEN ... AND
SELECT column_name FROM table_name WHERE column_name BETWEEN value1 AND value2 The values can be numbers, text, or dates.

11. What is the use of CASCADE CONSTRAINTS?
When this clause is used with the DROP command, a parent table can be dropped even when a child table exists.

12. Why does the following command give a compilation error?
DROP TABLE &TABLE NAME; Variable names should start with an alphabet. Here the table name starts with an '&' symbol.

13. Which system tables contain information on privileges granted and privileges obtained? USER_TAB_PRIVS_MADE, USER_TAB_PRIVS_RECD

14. Which system table contains information on constraints on all the tables created?obtained? USER_CONSTRAINTS.

15. State true or false. !=, <>, ^= all denote the same operation?
True.

16. State true or false. EXISTS, SOME, ANY are operators in SQL?
True.

17. What will be the output of the following query?
SELECT REPLACE(TRANSLATE(LTRIM(RTRIM('!! ATHEN !!','!'), '!'), 'AN', '**'),'*','TROUBLE') FROM DUAL;?

18. What does the following query do?
SELECT SAL + NVL(COMM,0) FROM EMP;?
This displays the total salary of all employees. The null values in the commission column will be replaced by 0 and added to salary.

19. What is the advantage of specifying WITH GRANT OPTION in the GRANT command?
The privilege receiver can further grant the privileges he/she has obtained from the owner to any other user.

20. Which command executes the contents of a specified file?
START or @.

21. What is the value of comm and sal after executing the following query if the initial value of ‘sal’ is 10000
UPDATE EMP SET SAL = SAL + 1000, COMM = SAL*0.1;?
sal = 11000, comm = 1000.

22. Which command displays the SQL command in the SQL buffer, and then executes it?
RUN.

23. What command is used to get back the privileges offered by the GRANT command?
REVOKE.

24. What will be the output of the following query? SELECT DECODE(TRANSLATE('A','1234567890','1111111111'), '1','YES', 'NO' );? NO.
Explanation : The query checks whether a given string is a numerical digit.

26. Which date function is used to find the difference between two dates?
MONTHS_BETWEEN.

27. What operator performs pattern matching?
LIKE operator.

28. What is the use of the DROP option in the ALTER TABLE command?
It is used to drop constraints specified on the table.

29. What operator tests column for the absence of data?
IS NULL operator.

30. What are the privileges that can be granted on a table by a user to others?
Insert, update, delete, select, references, index, execute, alter, all.

31. Which function is used to find the largest integer less than or equal to a specific value?
FLOOR.

32. Which is the subset of SQL commands used to manipulate Oracle Database structures, including tables?
Data Definition Language (DDL).

33. What is the use of DESC in SQL?
DESC has two purposes. It is used to describe a schema as well as to retrieve rows from table in descending order.
Explanation :
The query SELECT * FROM EMP ORDER BY ENAME DESC will display the output sorted on ENAME in descending order.

34. What command is used to create a table by copying the structure of another table?
CREATE TABLE .. AS SELECT command
Explanation:
To copy only the structure, the WHERE clause of the SELECT command should contain a FALSE statement as in the following.
CREATE TABLE NEWTABLE AS SELECT * FROM EXISTINGTABLE WHERE 1=2;
If the WHERE condition is true, then all the rows or rows satisfying the condition will be copied to the new table.

35. TRUNCATE TABLE EMP;DELETE FROM EMP;
Will the outputs of the above two commands differ?
Both will result in deleting all the rows in the table EMP..

36. What is the output of the following query SELECT TRUNC(1234.5678,-2) FROM DUAL;?
1200.

37. What are the wildcards used for pattern matching.?
_ for single character substitution and % for multi-character substitution.

38. What is the parameter substitution symbol used with INSERT INTO command?
&

39. What's an SQL injection?
SQL Injection is when form data contains an SQL escape sequence and injects a new SQL query to be run.

40. What is difference between TRUNCATE & DELETE
TRUNCATE commits after deleting entire table i.e., cannot be rolled back. Database triggers do not fire on TRUNCATE
DELETE allows the filtered deletion. Deleted records can be rolled back or committed. Database triggers fire on DELETE.

41. What is a join? Explain the different types of joins?
Join is a query, which retrieves related columns or rows from multiple tables.
Self Join - Joining the table with itself.
Equi Join - Joining two tables by equating two common columns.
Non-Equi Join - Joining two tables by equating two common columns.
Outer Join - Joining two tables in such a way that query can also retrieve rows that do not have corresponding join value in the other table.

42. What is the sub-query?
Sub-query is a query whose return values are used in filtering conditions of the main query.

43. What is correlated sub-query?
Correlated sub-query is a sub-query, which has reference to the main query.

44. Explain CONNECT BY PRIOR?
Retrieves rows in hierarchical order eg.
select empno, ename from emp where.

45. Difference between SUBSTR and INSTR?
INSTR (String1, String2 (n, (m)),
INSTR returns the position of the m-th occurrence of the string 2 in string1. The search begins from nth position of string1.
SUBSTR (String1 n, m)
SUBSTR returns a character string of size m in string1, starting from n-th position of string1.

46. Explain UNION, MINUS, UNION ALL and INTERSECT?
INTERSECT - returns all distinct rows selected by both queries.
MINUS - returns all distinct rows selected by the first query but not by the second.
UNION - returns all distinct rows selected by either query
UNION ALL - returns all rows selected by either query, including all duplicates.

47. What is ROWID?
ROWID is a pseudo column attached to each row of a table. It is 18 characters long, blockno, rownumber are the components of ROWID.

48. What is the fastest way of accessing a row in a table?
Using ROWID.
CONSTRAINTS

49. What is an integrity constraint?
Integrity constraint is a rule that restricts values to a column in a table.

50. What is referential integrity constraint?
Maintaining data integrity through a set of rules that restrict the values of one or more columns of the tables based on the values of primary key or unique key of the referenced table.

51. What is the usage of SAVEPOINTS?
SAVEPOINTS are used to subdivide a transaction into smaller parts. It enables rolling back part of a transaction. Maximum of five save points are allowed.

52. What is ON DELETE CASCADE?
When ON DELETE CASCADE is specified Oracle maintains referential integrity by automatically removing dependent foreign key values if a referenced primary or unique key value is removed.

53. What are the data types allowed in a table?
CHAR, VARCHAR2, NUMBER, DATE, RAW, LONG and LONG RAW.

54. What is difference between CHAR and VARCHAR2? What is the maximum SIZE allowed for each type?
CHAR pads blank spaces to the maximum length.
VARCHAR2 does not pad blank spaces.
For CHAR the maximum length is 255 and 2000 for VARCHAR2.

55. How many LONG columns are allowed in a table? Is it possible to use LONG columns in WHERE clause or ORDER BY?
Only one LONG column is allowed. It is not possible to use LONG column in WHERE or ORDER BY clause.

56. What are the pre-requisites to modify datatype of a column and to add a column with NOT NULL constraint?
- To modify the datatype of a column the column must be empty.
- To add a column with NOT NULL constrain, the table must be empty.

57. Where the integrity constraints are stored in data dictionary?
The integrity constraints are stored in USER_CONSTRAINTS.

58. How will you activate/deactivate integrity constraints?
The integrity constraints can be enabled or disabled by ALTER TABLE ENABLE CONSTRAINT / DISABLE CONSTRAINT.

59. If unique key constraint on DATE column is created, will it validate the rows that are inserted with SYSDATE?
It won't, Because SYSDATE format contains time attached with it.

60. What is a database link?
Database link is a named path through which a remote database can be accessed.

61. How to access the current value and next value from a sequence? Is it possible to access the current value in a session before accessing next value?
Sequence name CURRVAL, sequence name NEXTVAL. It is not possible. Only if you access next value in the session, current value can be accessed.

62.What is CYCLE/NO CYCLE in a Sequence?
CYCLE specifies that the sequence continue to generate values after reaching either maximum or minimum value. After pan-ascending sequence reaches its maximum value, it generates its minimum value. After a descending sequence reaches its minimum, it generates its maximum.
NO CYCLE specifies that the sequence cannot generate more values after reaching its maximum or minimum value.

63. What are the advantages of VIEW?
- To protect some of the columns of a table from other users.
- To hide complexity of a query.
- To hide complexity of calculations.

64. Can a view be updated/inserted/deleted? If Yes - under what conditions?
A View can be updated/deleted/inserted if it has only one base table if the view is based on columns from one or more tables then insert, update and delete is not possible.

65. If a view on a single base table is manipulated will the changes be reflected on the base table?
If changes are made to the tables and these tables are the base tables of a view, then the changes will be reference on the view.

66. Which of the following statements is true about implicit cursors?
1. Implicit cursors are used for SQL statements that are not named.
2. Developers should use implicit cursors with great care.
3. Implicit cursors are used in cursor for loops to handle data processing.
4. Implicit cursors are no longer a feature in Oracle.

67. Which of the following is not a feature of a cursor FOR loop?
1. Record type declaration.
2. Opening and parsing of SQL statements.
3. Fetches records from cursor.
4. Requires exit condition to be defined.

66. A developer would like to use referential datatype declaration on a variable. The variable name is EMPLOYEE_LASTNAME, and the corresponding table and column is EMPLOYEE, and LNAME, respectively. How would the developer define this variable using referential datatypes?
1. Use employee.lname%type.
2. Use employee.lname%rowtype.
3. Look up datatype for EMPLOYEE column on LASTNAME table and use that.
4. Declare it to be type LONG.

67. Which three of the following are implicit cursor attributes?
1. %found
2. %too_many_rows
3. %notfound
4. %rowcount
5. %rowtype

68. If left out, which of the following would cause an infinite loop to occur in a simple loop?
1. LOOP
2. END LOOP
3. IF-THEN
4. EXIT

69. Which line in the following statement will produce an error?
1. cursor action_cursor is
2. select name, rate, action
3. into action_record
4. from action_table;
5. There are no errors in this statement.

70. The command used to open a CURSOR FOR loop is
1. open
2. fetch
3. parse
4. None, cursor for loops handle cursor opening implicitly.

71. What happens when rows are found using a FETCH statement
1. It causes the cursor to close
2. It causes the cursor to open
3. It loads the current row values into variables
4. It creates the variables to hold the current row values

72. Read the following code:
10. CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE find_cpt
11. (v_movie_id {Argument Mode} NUMBER, v_cost_per_ticket {argument mode} NUMBER)
12. IS
13. BEGIN
14. IF v_cost_per_ticket > 8.5 THEN
15. SELECT cost_per_ticket
16. INTO v_cost_per_ticket
17. FROM gross_receipt
18. WHERE movie_id = v_movie_id;
19. END IF;
20. END;
Which mode should be used for V_COST_PER_TICKET?
1. IN
2. OUT
3. RETURN
4. IN OUT
73. Read the following code:
22. CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER update_show_gross
23. {trigger information}
24. BEGIN
25. {additional code}
26. END;
The trigger code should only execute when the column, COST_PER_TICKET, is greater than $3. Which trigger information will you add?
1. WHEN (new.cost_per_ticket > 3.75)
2. WHEN (:new.cost_per_ticket > 3.75
3. WHERE (new.cost_per_ticket > 3.75)
4. WHERE (:new.cost_per_ticket > 3.75)

74. What is the maximum number of handlers processed before the PL/SQL block is exited when an exception occurs?
1. Only one
2. All that apply
3. All referenced
4. None

77. For which trigger timing can you reference the NEW and OLD qualifiers?
1. Statement and Row 2. Statement only 3. Row only 4. Oracle Forms trigger

78. Read the following code:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION get_budget(v_studio_id IN NUMBER)
RETURN number IS
v_yearly_budget NUMBER;
BEGIN
SELECT yearly_budget
INTO v_yearly_budget
FROM studio
WHERE id = v_studio_id;
RETURN v_yearly_budget;
END;
Which set of statements will successfully invoke this function within SQL*Plus?
1. VARIABLE g_yearly_budget NUMBER
EXECUTE g_yearly_budget := GET_BUDGET(11);
2. VARIABLE g_yearly_budget NUMBER
EXECUTE :g_yearly_budget := GET_BUDGET(11);
3. VARIABLE :g_yearly_budget NUMBER
EXECUTE :g_yearly_budget := GET_BUDGET(11);
4. VARIABLE g_yearly_budget NUMBER
31. CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE update_theater
32. (v_name IN VARCHAR v_theater_id IN NUMBER) IS
33. BEGIN
34. UPDATE theater
35. SET name = v_name
36. WHERE id = v_theater_id;
37. END update_theater;

79. When invoking this procedure, you encounter the error:
ORA-000:Unique constraint(SCOTT.THEATER_NAME_UK) violated.
How should you modify the function to handle this error?
1. An user defined exception must be declared and associated
with the error code and handled in the EXCEPTION section.
2. Handle the error in EXCEPTION section by referencing the error
code directly.
3. Handle the error in the EXCEPTION section by referencing the UNIQUE_ERROR predefined exception.
4. Check for success by checking the value of SQL%FOUND immediately after the UPDATE statement.

80. Read the following code:
40. CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE calculate_budget IS
41. v_budget studio.yearly_budget%TYPE;
42. BEGIN
43. v_budget := get_budget(11);
44. IF v_budget < 30000
45. THEN
46. set_budget(11,30000000);
47. END IF;
48. END; You are about to add an argument to CALCULATE_BUDGET.
What effect will this have?
1. The GET_BUDGET function will be marked invalid and must be recompiled before the next execution.
2. The SET_BUDGET function will be marked invalid and must be recompiled before the next execution.
3. Only the CALCULATE_BUDGET procedure needs to be recompiled.
4. All three procedures are marked invalid and must be recompiled.

81. Which procedure can be used to create a customized error message?
1. RAISE_ERROR
2. SQLERRM
3. RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR
4. RAISE_SERVER_ERROR

82. The CHECK_THEATER trigger of the THEATER table has been disabled. Which command can you issue to enable this trigger?
1. ALTER TRIGGER check_theater ENABLE;
2. ENABLE TRIGGER check_theater;
3. ALTER TABLE check_theater ENABLE check_theater;
4. ENABLE check_theater;

83. Examine this database trigger
52. CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER prevent_gross_modification
53. {additional trigger information}
54. BEGIN
55. IF TO_CHAR(sysdate, DY) = MON
56. THEN
57. RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20000,Gross receipts cannot be deleted on Monday);
58. END IF;
59. END;
This trigger must fire before each DELETE of the GROSS_RECEIPT table. It should fire only once for the entire DELETE statement. What additional information must you add?
1. BEFORE DELETE ON gross_receipt
2. AFTER DELETE ON gross_receipt
3. BEFORE (gross_receipt DELETE)
4. FOR EACH ROW DELETED FROM gross_receipt

84. Examine this function:
61. CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION set_budget
62. (v_studio_id IN NUMBER, v_new_budget IN NUMBER) IS
63. BEGIN
64. UPDATE studio
65. SET yearly_budget = v_new_budget WHERE id = v_studio_id; IF SQL%FOUND THEN RETURN TRUEl; ELSE RETURN FALSE; END IF; COMMIT; END; Which code must be added to successfully compile this function?
1. Add RETURN right before the IS keyword.
2. Add RETURN number right before the IS keyword.
3. Add RETURN boolean right after the IS keyword.
4. Add RETURN boolean right before the IS keyword.

85. Under which circumstance must you recompile the package body after recompiling the package specification?
1. Altering the argument list of one of the package constructs
2. Any change made to one of the package constructs
3. Any SQL statement change made to one of the package constructs
4. Removing a local variable from the DECLARE section of one of the package constructs

86. Procedure and Functions are explicitly executed. This is different from a database trigger. When is a database trigger executed?
1. When the transaction is committed
2. During the data manipulation statement
3. When an Oracle supplied package references the trigger
4. During a data manipulation statement and when the transaction is committed

87. Which Oracle supplied package can you use to output values and messages from database triggers, stored procedures and functions within SQL*Plus?
1. DBMS_DISPLAY
2. DBMS_OUTPUT
3. DBMS_LIST
4. DBMS_DESCRIBE

88. What occurs if a procedure or function terminates with failure without being handled?
1. Any DML statements issued by the construct are still pending and can be committed or rolled back.
2. Any DML statements issued by the construct are committed
3. Unless a GOTO statement is used to continue processing within the BEGIN section,the construct terminates.
4. The construct rolls back any DML statements issued and returns the unhandled exception to the calling environment.

89. Examine this code
71. BEGIN
72. theater_pck.v_total_seats_sold_overall := theater_pck.get_total_for_year;
73. END; For this code to be successful, what must be true?
1. Both the V_TOTAL_SEATS_SOLD_OVERALL variable and the GET_TOTAL_FOR_YEAR function must exist only in the body of the THEATER_PCK package.
2. Only the GET_TOTAL_FOR_YEAR variable must exist in the specification of the THEATER_PCK package.
3. Only the V_TOTAL_SEATS_SOLD_OVERALL variable must exist in the specification of the THEATER_PCK package.
4. Both the V_TOTAL_SEATS_SOLD_OVERALL variable and the GET_TOTAL_FOR_YEAR function must exist in the specification of the THEATER_PCK package.

90. A stored function must return a value based on conditions that are determined at runtime. Therefore, the SELECT statement cannot be hard-coded and must be created dynamically when the function is executed. Which Oracle supplied package will enable this feature?
1. DBMS_DDL
2. DBMS_DML
3. DBMS_SYN
4. DBMS_SQL

91 How to implement ISNUMERIC function in SQL *Plus ? Method
1: Select length (translate(trim (column_name),'+-.0123456789',''))from dual; Will give you a zero if it is a number or greater than zero if not numeric (actually gives the count of non numeric characters) Method 2: select instr(translate('wwww','abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ','XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX'),'X') FROM dual; It returns 0 if it is a number, 1 if it is not.

92 How to Select last N records from a Table? select * from (select rownum a, CLASS_CODE,CLASS_DESC from clm) where a > ( select (max(rownum)-10) from clm) Here N = 10
The following query has a Problem of performance in the execution of the following
query where the table ter.ter_master have 22231 records. So the results are obtained
after hours.
Cursor rem_master(brepno VARCHAR2) IS
select a.* from ter.ter_master a
where NOT a.repno in (select repno from ermast) and
(brepno = 'ALL' or a.repno > brepno)
Order by a.repno
What are steps required tuning this query to improve its performance?
-Have an index on TER_MASTER.REPNO and one on ERMAST.REPNO
-Be sure to get familiar with EXPLAIN PLAN. This can help you determine the execution
path that Oracle takes. If you are using Cost Based Optimizer mode, then be sure that
your statistics on TER_MASTER are up-to-date. -Also, you can change your SQL to:
SELECT a.*
FROM ter.ter_master a
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT b.repno FROM ermast b
WHERE a.repno=b.repno) AND
(a.brepno = 'ALL' or a.repno > a.brepno)
ORDER BY a.repno;

93. What is the difference between Truncate and Delete interms of Referential Integrity?
DELETE removes one or more records in a table, checking referential Constraints (to see if there are dependent child records) and firing any DELETE triggers. In the order you are deleting (child first then parent) There will be no problems.
TRUNCATE removes ALL records in a table. It does not execute any triggers. Also, it
only checks for the existence (and status) of another foreign key Pointing to the
table. If one exists and is enabled, then you will get The following error. This
is true even if you do the child tables first.
ORA-02266: unique/primary keys in table referenced by enabled foreign keys
You should disable the foreign key constraints in the child tables before issuing
the TRUNCATE command, then re-enable them afterwards.