SQL Links

Links last updated: 2007-03-31

SQL

• SQL Performance Tuning: Simple Searches
  Chapter 2 of SQL Performance Tuning (ISBN 0201791692) by Peter Gulutzan and Trudy Pelzer
  An excellent, in-depth analysis of search SQL

• Date Handling: Hacks 19-23 (PDF)
  Chapter 4 of O'Reilly's SQL Hacks by Andrew Cumming and Gordon Russell.
  Hack 23, "Second Tuesday of the Month," by Rudy Limeback.

• A Gentle Introduction to SQL
  This is a fabulous site which allows you to test your SQL in various dialects. (Site was formerly http://www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/~andrew/sql/)

• DBMS Magazine Articles [ by Joe Celko ]
  Articles from the SQL for Smarties column 1996-1998

• Mimer SQL Developers - Mimer SQL Validator
  Mimer SQL - embedded, scalable, database solutions conforming to ISO standards and suited for open environments.
  Free service to let you validate your SQL against different SQL standards -- excellent online resource

• SQL Tutorial
  SQL Tutorial and SQL Reference. This SQL tutorial aims to teach beginners the building blocks of SQL. This is also a reference site for general SQL commands.
  Fairly comprehensive tutorial, but there are just way too many ads!!

• SQL Topics
  SQL Topics
  Examples of various SQL statements and constructs

• Views
  Chapter 12 of Sybex's Database Design for Mere Mortals, by Michael J. Hernandez, ISBN: 0201694719

• sqlblindman - SQL
  Code samples and articles on SQL Database methods and practices.

• Ask The Expert: SQL
  Links to my Ask The Expert answers (10 per page)

• SQL Reserved Words Checker
  Enter a word or keyword and the checker will check to see if it is in the SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, DB2, ANSI SQL, or ODBC reserved words list

• Macromedia: Reserved Words for Various Databases

• The art of SQL: Recognizing classic SQL patterns
  Excerpt from Chapter 6 of The Art of SQL by Stephane Faroult with Peter Robson, published by O'Reilly Media Inc. in 2006.

• Structured Query Language (SQL)
  Miscellaneous SQL links

• SQL: Nulls: Nothing to Worry About

• The Rozenshtein Method

• No Need to Get ANSI about SQL 99 Join Syntax
  from the oracle perspective

• Comparison of different SQL implementations

• Beware SQL Injection in Web Applications

• How to Misuse SQL's FROM Clause

• SELECT Statement: The GROUP BY Clause in SQL
  Chapter 10 of "Introduction to SQL: Mastering the Relational Database Language, 4th Edition" by Rick F. van der Lans (ISBN 0321305965)
  Very comprehensive GROUP BY tutorial.

• Why should I consider using an auxiliary calendar table?

• Mythbuster: Normalizing with Integers is Always Best: ASP Alliance

• Why should I consider using an auxiliary numbers table?

• SQLRef.Com
  Another very basic intro.

• Dave's guide to the EAV
  A comprehensive analysis of the difficulties involved in setting up an EAV design.

• O'Reilly Network: aboutSQL
  Dedicated to getting you into SQL and saving you development time and effort, John Paul Ashenfelter's aboutSQL provides information on SQL keywords, functions, tricks, and hacks.
  discontinued in 2001

• SQL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Includes history and standards information

• SQL Injection Attacks by Example
  There have been other papers on SQL injection, including some that are much more detailed, but this one shows the rationale of discovery as much as the process of exploitation.

• Open Directory - Computers: Programming: Languages: SQL: FAQs, Help, and Tutorials

• MySQL Manual | 3.6.4 The Rows Holding the Group-wise Maximum of a Certain Field

• SQL standards

• The Select Star Problem
  From the perspective of Java classes.

• Path Enumeration using Prime Number Products
  another model for storing a hierarchy in a relational database

• Removing Duplicate Records

• Stored procedures are bad, m'kay?
  Another "religious war" article, with a few hundred comments.

• Additional Criteria in the JOIN Clause - SQLTeam.com
  Have you ever seen a SELECT statement joining two tables that had something like "and Field = Value" in the JOIN clause? Why did they put that in the JOIN instead of in the WHERE clause? What difference does it make?

• Trees in SQL

• Blind SQL Injection

• Data Security: Stop SQL Injection Attacks Before They Stop You -- MSDN Magazine, September 2004

• Joe Celko The SQL Apprentice

• Relational Algebra
  Chapter 5 from "Designing Relational Database Systems" by Rebecca M. Riordan
  Topics include: Nulls and Three-Valued Logic (One More Time), Relational Operators, Set Operators, Special Relational Operators

• Generate Test Data Quickly With Cross Joins
  Need to rough up some bulk test data in a hurry? A carefully thought-out Cross Join could be the answer.

• Sql lernen - ein Tutorial zum Selbststudium mit einer Beispiel-Datenbank
  SQL tutorial in German, with example database

• Sql lernen - ein Tutorial zum Selbststudium mit einer Beispiel-Datenbank
  Sql = Structured Query Language, die Sprache zum Abfragen und Bearbeiten von Datenbanken: Lernen Sie diese im Selbststudium.

• SQL:ﾠﾠﾠFeatured Topics:ﾠﾠﾠExpertAnswerCenter.com
  This is my "SQL blog" which ran for two weeks on the Expert Answer Center at TechTarget.com.

• Trees and Hierachies in SQL: Adjacency List Model
  by Joe Celko
  excerpt from Chapter 2

• SQL Tutorial
  SQL is a standard computer language for accessing and manipulating databases.
  Very basic intro. Includes a test.

• Online SQL Formatter

• SQL Recipes | Home of SQL cookbook and recipes. Practical SQL examples, how to (or how tos) for all dialects.

• it-torino-java-jug : Message: Why "select star" is bad?
  In Italian.

• Ten Things I Hate About You by Joe Celko

• SQL Queries and the Single Quotation Symbol Problem
  When two single quotes appear together, they are interpreted by SQL as one literal single quote.

• SQL Tutorial
  If you are looking for a SQL tutorial, this is the site. Our SQL tutorial provides the help you need to get started using SQL. It covers the create, import, retrieve, order, update, delete, insert, and join commands.

• SQL at Xaprb
  Excellent technical blog, fabulous SQL category.

• SQL:1999, formerly known as SQL3
  Google cache HTML version of the file http://www.cs.sfu.ca/ CC/354/oschulte/ standards.doc by Andrew Eisenberg and Jim Melton.

• SQL to Select a random row from a database table

• O'Reilly Network: An Interview with Chris Date

• Storing Hierarchical Data in a Database

• SQL Reference and Example Site
  SQL Reference and Example Site * featuring * Cinema SQL

• Database Portability: Date and Timestamp Columns
  This page provides a quick index of which data types are used for storing date/timestamp/datetime information and how to get each DBMS to accept ISO formatted input and produce ISO formatted output.

• 4 Simple Rules for Handling SQL NULLs

• Tips on Writing Portable SQL for Multiple Databases for PHP
  Includes the example of 5 different ways to retrieve 10 rows for paging purposes in 7 different databases.

• SQL Forum
  low volume

• Hierarchical SQL
  Excerpt from chapter 3 of Celko's new book, "Trees & Hierarchies in SQL for Smarties"

• SQLCourse2 - Advanced Online SQL Training
  Advanced Online SQL Training
  This is the "sequel" to the SQLCourse.com tutorial.

• SQLWiki

• Tek-Tips - ANSI_SQL Forum

• O'Reilly Network: Derek Sivers [May. 13, 2004]

• Getting ANSI About Joins
  This article discusses the new ANSI join formats including NATIVE, CROSS, and OUTER and includes examples for review and comparison to the "traditional" join mechanisms.

• The Formula Used to Calculate Ratings
  true Bayesian estimate formula

• SQL Articles (informIT)
  Links to all SQL articles on the InformIT site. Lots of good reading.

• SQL Injection Attacks
  8MB mp3

• Getting Your Quotes Right In SQL For ASP - The Web Developer's Journal
  Getting Your Quotes Right In SQL For ASP - The Web Developer's Journal

• SQLCourse - Interactive Online SQL Training for Beginners
  SQLCourse.com: an interactive online training course for SQL beginners.

• GalaXQL - Interactive SQL tutorial
  Download executable hands-on tutorial (with built-in sql engine)

• Intelligent Enterprise Magazine - Celko

• Get Preferred Address Problem - ExtremeExperts

• SQL Injection Attacks: Are You Safe?

• SQL In Simple English - Part I
  This article explains the basics of SQL as a Q&A session. Most of the questions are the ones that most novices would like to ask. This approach is excellent and readers who are not familiar with the technology. Since this article is totally language n

• Kihlman's SQL (Graphic SQL tutorial)
  The program is designed to help you master SQL statements. It can be used as an interface against a database. You can also do the test taking you through different levels of difficulty.
  The program is shareware and free for private use at home.

• Database eLearning
  topics include SQL, Database Analysis and ER Modelling, Normalisation, Relational Algebra, and more

• How to handle a Many-to-Many relationship with PHP and MySQL

• Temporal Support in Standard SQL
  cattle in pens and star catalogues

• SQL Reserved Words Overview
  Reserved words in SQL-92, SQL-99, and SQL-2003.

• DBAzine.com: Molecular, Atomic and Sub-atomic Data Elements: Part I
  By Joe Celko. Includes code for Parsing a List in a String, using a numbers table.

• Joe Celko

• DBAzine.com: One True Lookup Table

• S-Q-L or SeQueL? The Old Joel on Software Forum

• Using opaque primary keys in data model
  "opaque" == surrogate

• Introduction to Structured Query Language Version 4.67
  by James Hoffman

• Set Operations
  By Joe Celko
  Explores the UNION operator.

• Standard SQL
  Do IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle support the SQL:1999 standard? And will they support the SQL:2003 standard as well?

• Criticism (JL Comp)

• SQL Naming Conventions
  Covers IBM, Microsoft, Oracle. Includes links to other articles about naming conventions.

• Filling in the Gaps
  Detecting gaps in ranges of numbers

• Trees in SQL: Nested Sets and Materialized Path
  Extremely complex and detailed analysis of several encoding mechanisms for hierarchical data. Definitely worth reading if you want to use anything other than the plain old adjacency model.

• SQL Tutorial [Introduction]

• Tree Denormalization (PDF)
  Avoids iterations when querying tree related data.

• Getting the Right Data with SQL Joins
  Associating tables in SQL is usually a breeze. But what happens when you find yourself looking at the completely wrong set of records and you don't know why?
  Discusses inner, left outer, right outer, full outer, cross, and self-joins.

• Why Select * is bad - adOpenStatic.com
  Includes reasons specific to ASP/Access but the advice is still good for other platforms

• Introduction to Structured Query Language Version 4.71

• Representing Trees in a relational DB

• Blind SQL Injection (PDF)

• Standard SQL
  Do IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle support the SQL:1999 standard? And will they support the SQL:2003 standard as well?

• SQL Tutorial
  This is a hands-on tutorial. You download a small SQL DBMS from the web (for free), then follow the illustrated exercises.
  Peter Gulutzan is the well-respected author of the book "SQL-99 Complete, Really."

• Nulls - A Socratic Enquiry

• Transact-SQL Cookbook: Chapter 8: Statistics in SQL
  Means, modes, and medians, Standard deviations, Variances, Standard errors, Confidence intervals, Correlations, Moving averages, Weighted moving averages.

• Should Nulls be considered harmful? (1)

• Is SQL a real standard any more?
  History of standard SQL and analysis of vendor conformance

• SQL in a Nutshell: Chapter 4: SQL Functions

• SQL 92 Standard
  Curious what an SQL standard might look like? Have a look at this draft document.

MySQL

• Importing Data into MySQL
  Techniques and strategies, including what to watch out for (duplicates, etc.)

• Bob's World: A Million Tables
  Maximum number of tables in a MySQL database?

• 3.6.4 The Rows Holding the Group-wise Maximum of a Certain Field

• Summaries and NULL Values
  Excerpt from Chapter 7, Generating Summaries, of O'Reilly's MySQL Cookbook by Paul DuBois

• Computing Team Standings
  excerp from Chapter 12, "Using Multiple Tables," of O'Reilly's "MySQL Cookbook" by Paul DuBois

• Understanding SQL Joins
  Written for MySQL but applicable to any database. Inner, cross, left and right outer joins. Doesn't actually use INNER syntax. Nice examples.

• Optimizing MySQL Queries
  Very good, in-depth articles.

• The Data Charmer: Seeking alternatives to cursors
  example of a BLACKHOLE table

• Using AUTO_INCREMENT Values to Relate Tables
  excerpt from Chapter 11, "Generating and Using Sequences," of O'Reilly's "MySQL Cookbook" by Paul DuBois

• Optimizing your MySQL Application
  Is databasing your site slowing it down? Get it zipping along again with Mike's tutorial on MySQL's internal turbo-charger, indexes.

• MySQL Gotchas

• MySQL Subqueries

• Using PHP/MySQL from Dreamweaver MX

• Managing Hierarchical Data in MySQL
  by Mike Hillyer
  Discusses both adjacency and nested set models

• Biggest Country of each Continent (groupwise maximum)

• Getting a random row

• FAQTs - Knowledge Base - faqts : Computers : Databases : MySQL

• The MySQL SET Datatype
  By Mike Hillyer
  SET is like ENUM -- evil, but occasionally useful.

• Squeek Machine. (Mike Dobson)

• Counting and Identifying Duplicates
  excerpt from Chapter 7, "Generating Summaries," of O'Reilly's "MySQL Cookbook" by Paul DuBois

• MySQL Basics -- A Tutorial

• A Diagram of the MySQL information schema
  Includes client-side image map with links to the various INFORMATION_SCHEMA pages in the MySQL docs.

• The Full-Text Stuff That We Didn't Put In The Manual

• MySQL Stored Procedure Development
  This site gives tutorials, advice and support for Stored procedures and functions within MySQL. There is a forum where you can exchange tips and tricks or get help with your stored procedures.

• How to handle a Many-to-Many relationship with PHP and MySQL

• phlab >> MyMan
  MyMan is a shortcut for MySQL(TM) manual and it is conversion of this manual into Microsoft HTML Help.

• WDVL: Optimizing MySQL Queries and Indexes

• Migrating from Microsoft Access to MySQL
  by Paul DuBois

SQL Server

• CAST and CONVERT
  I *always* have to look up the style codes for the various date formats. Talk about counter-intutive.

• ASPFAQ 3.0 -- database category
  Many common SQL questions amongst the numerous ASP and SQL Server ones

• Working with hierarchical data in SQL Server databases
  Uses a recursive stored proc.

• TSQL Solutions - Concatenating row values in T-SQL
  Comprehensive analysis of various methods to do what MySQL's GROUP_CONCAT does so simply.

• SQL Server Database Index Performance
  Excellent article that covers all the different types of indexes (clustered, composite, covering, etc.) with good links to other excellent articles.

• Microsoft SQL Server: Advanced Query Techniques

• Select Birthdays in a Date Range

• Random Sampling in T-SQL

• SQL Server 2000 Transact-SQL References

• SQL Server's DaVinci code for data modeling

• Reserved Keywords (SQL Server 2000)

• Medians, ROW_NUMBERs, and performance
  By Adam Machanic.

• Ordering guarantees in SQL Server...
  The optimizer reserves the right to ignore the ORDER BY clause in a view definition if doing so will create a more efficient plan.

• Adam Machanic
  New blog replacing his earlier blog on SQLJunkies.

• Removing Mobile Edition BOL - MSDN Forums

• Query Express
  Query Express is a simple Query Analyzer look-alike, but being small and free it can be run where the SQL Server client tools are not installed or licensed. This makes it especially useful as a query tool for MSDE and SQL Express. It also connects to Orac
  More than 300 times smaller than SQL Server Management Studio!

• SQL Server 2005 Books Online (February 2007)

• SQL Server Stored Procedure Basics
  This sample chapter is excerpted from The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML by Ken Henderson.

• Identity Crisis
  The difference between @@IDENTITY and SCOPE_IDENTITY

• Dr. Tom's Workshop: Multiple-Child Aggregation

• Expanding Hierarchies

• #2120 : How do I page through a recordset?
  Ten different approaches to the paging problem
  Excellent. Simply excellent.

• Detecting "Runs" or "Streaks" in your data
  It can be difficult in a set-based language such as SQL to determine when a number of records in a row (when ordered by a unique key) have the same values in a particular field.

• Differences between COALESCE and ISNULL

• Arrays and Lists in SQL Server

• New Ranking Functions within SQL Server 2005

• FREETEXT Searches with SQL Server and ADO.NET
  MSDE doesn't support FREETEXT searching

• #2427 : How do I return row numbers with my query?

• MS SQL City
  Very DBA-oriented.

• What are the main differences between Access and SQL Server?

• The Beatles versus the Stones
  Clustering index does not guarantee result set order.

• Proper Case User Defined Function T-SQL

• Common Table Expressions (CTE) in SQL Server 2005

• To SP or not to SP in SQL Server: an argument for stored procedures
  by Adam Machanic

• SQL Server Bible: Covering Indexes ScreenCast
  "Screencast" with powerpoint slides and audio track. Really very well done.

• adam machanic :: data manipulation for fun and profit : Running sums, redux

• T-SQL Enhancements in SQL Server 2005

• Examples of how to Calculate Different SQL Server Dates

• Download details: SQL Server 2000 Books Online (Updated)

• SQL Server Code,Tips and Tricks, Performance Tuning: 6 Different Ways To Get The Current Identity Value From A Table

• How to remove duplicate rows from a table in SQL Server

• A way to load a calendar table

• Dynamic Search Conditions in T-SQL
  Very detailed analysis of the best ways to write dynamic Transact SQL to enable optimum performance. Quite well written.

• SQL Server Developer Center: Moving Your Access 2002 Database to SQL Server 2000

• SQL -- The Code Project - Free Source Code and Tutorials
  Code snippets contributed by community members.

• Understanding Identity Columns - SQLTeam.com

• Deleting Duplicate Records

• Stored procedures are bad, m'kay?
  Another "religious war" article, with a few hundred comments.

• Data Security: Stop SQL Injection Attacks Before They Stop You -- MSDN Magazine, September 2004

• SQL Server Examples

• The curse and blessings of dynamic SQL

• Query Analyzer: 10 tricks for simple querying

• TOP 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT SQL SERVER

• Demystifying the SQL Server DATETIME Datatype -- Page One
  DATEADD(d,DATEDIFF(d,0,GETDATE()),0)

• SQL Server Transact-SQL Query Performance Tuning and Optimization Tips

• The ultimate guide to the datetime datatypes

• DevGuru Transact-SQL Syntax Charts
  Uses DHTML popups to explain syntax elements.

• SQL Server Database Coding Conventions, Best Practices and Programming Guidelines

• Returning Ranked Results with Microsoft SQL Server 2005

• Server-side Paging with SQL Server

• MDX at First Glance: Introduction to SQL Server MDX Essentials

• Working with Dates
  SQL Server has respectable facilities for storing, calculating, and reporting time and date information.

• 123 TSQL functions
  This is a collection of 123 TSQL functions.
  Includes number to words

• Speed Up SQL Server Apps
  Learn 10 useful tips and tricks that help boost SQL Server application performance -- and streamline development and deployment as well.

• Pass Arrays To SQL Server
  Have you ever needed to pass a multi-dimensional array as an input parameter to a SQL Server stored procedure?

• Using SQL Server's CHARINDEX and PATINDEX

• SQL Server Database Performance Tuning Tips
  Performance tune and optimize your Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, 7.0 and 2000 databases. Articles and hundreds of tips to make your databases faster.

• Calculating Running Totals
  Is there a way to retrieve a field value from the previously read row in order to use it to calculate a field in the current row?

• More Trees & Hierarchies in SQL - SQLTeam.com
  Hierarchies (things like trees, threaded forums, org charts and the like) are sometimes difficult to store in SQL tables. Here's a method that's easy to understand and maintain, and gives you the full hierarchy (or any piece of it) easily.

• Deleting Duplicates And Resolving Foreign Key References

• What are the main differences between Access and SQL Server?

• How to Perform a SQL Server Database Application & Transact-SQL Performance Audit

• Achieving better performance with MS SQL Server
  Clustered indexes, non-clustered indexes, covering indexes, indexed views...

• Summarizing Data with ROLLUP

• 196652 - HOWTO: Implement Custom Rounding Procedures

• 142480 - INF: Cascading Deletes and Updates of Primary Keys

• Stump the SQL Guru!
  Seems that they stopped answering questions in early 2002, but a couple dozen old answers are available.

• Advanced SQL Techniques - Part 1: Analyzing Duplicate Records
  In the first of this four-part series, David Penton describes a quick and efficient way to delete duplicate records from a table.

• The Power of SQL CASE Statements

• Speed Tips For SQL Server SELECT Statements
  Learn how to speed up your SQL Server SELECT statements.

• The SQL Server High Performance Series

• SQL: Limit Rows Returned
  describes a method to enable limiting rows returned in stored procedures without impacting live queries

• SQL Server FAQ

• SQL Server (MSDE) on Win 98
  Includes instructions for how to install MSDE

• osql Utility

• Passing a list/array to SQL Server stored procedure

• @@IDENTITY crisis

• Steve's SQL Page

• sql server function for money in words

• SQL Server 2005 Books Online Scoped Search

Data Modelling

• Database Design - Many-to-many
  Uses "junction table" terminology. Excellent diagrams.

• Introduction to Entity-relationship modelling
  Cardinality, existence, subtypes, ...

• Relational Data Architecture
  Chapter 2 of O'Reilly's Java Databases Best Practices by George Reece
  Covers ER modelling, normalization, and denormalization, using better than average examples

• Data Modeling 101
  Includes overview of data modelling notations: IE, Barker, IDEF1X, UML.

• Introduction to Relational Database Design

• Business Rules Community, the world's most trusted resource for business rule professionals
  Vertical community for business rule practitioners. Hosted by Business Rule Solutions, home of some of the world's leading experts and practitioners in the field of business rules.
  Ronald G. Ross et al. Requires free registration.

• Rules of Data Normalization
  Graphics are poor or missing

• 13 reasons why normalized tables help your business
  News and advice for IT professionals working with database software and tools.

• Ten Common Database Design Mistakes

• SQL Server's DaVinci code for data modeling

• Database Normalization Basics
  Windows Streaming Media, 22 minutes

• Introduction to Relational Databases - Part 1: Theoretical Foundation
  The first article in this two-part series provides a basic understanding of the theoretical principles of database design and describes some key elements and rules of creating relational databases.
  Includes Codd's 12 rules and normal forms up to 5NF and DKNF.

• Lookup Table Madness
  MUCK = massively unified code-key (i.e. similar to OTLT = one true lookup table)

• Dave's guide to the EAV
  A comprehensive analysis of the difficulties involved in setting up an EAV design.

• Tags: Database schemas

• Tony Andrews on Oracle and Databases: OTLT and EAV: the two big design mistakes all beginners make

• Data Modelling Tools

• CELKO on identity columns
  Splendid long article on the dangers of using an IDENTITY column as a surrogate key.

• Domain Logic and SQL

• Understanding Identity Columns - SQLTeam.com

• Trees in SQL

• Pros and Cons of Surrogate Keys
  Excellent examples using actual SQL to show differences between surrogate and natural key designs.

• Trees and Hierachies in SQL: Adjacency List Model
  by Joe Celko
  excerpt from Chapter 2

• A categorization of data models
  Blog by Certus.

• Glossary for Information Architecture Data Modeling

• Developing Entity Relationship Diagrams

• The Database Design Process A Case Study

• About Surrogate and Natural Keys

• Five Ms of Meta Data
  very comprehensive and clear article about meta data solving real issues in data warehousing and business intelligence

• O'Reilly Network: An Interview with Chris Date

• Managing Hierarchical Data in MySQL
  by Mike Hillyer
  Discusses both adjacency and nested set models

• Normalized data is for sissies (kottke.org)

• Data Model Cardinality

• An Introduction to Database Normalization (MySQL AB)
  By Mike Hillyer.

• Database Portability: Date and Timestamp Columns
  This page provides a quick index of which data types are used for storing date/timestamp/datetime information and how to get each DBMS to accept ISO formatted input and produce ISO formatted output.

• Database Normalization
  As your database projects grow, you may start finding that the original design of your tables is proving problematic. The SQL you write starts to become unwieldy, and data anomalies start to creep in.

• Concepts of Database Design and Management
  Spending time designing the initial structure of a Database will ensure that future problems will be kept to a minimum. Jason explains how to quickly and easily ensure you have the necessary fields in your Database.

• ColdFusion MX Coding Guidelines - Release 3.0.2 (10/17/2003) - Database Conventions
  Table and column naming conventions.

• SQL by Design: Supertypes and Subtypes
  Persons, employees, supervisors, customers

• Identity and Primary Keys
  You may think that a primary key and an Identity/Autonumber column are the same thing. Well, they're not, and there are some very good reasons NOT to use an Identity column for the primary key on your tables.

• An Argument Against IDENTITY
  Nice long discussion thread about candidate keys, etc.

• The Case for the Surrogate Key
  SQLTeam.com discussion thread

• One to many and many to many relationships
  By Joe Celko

• Topic: Database Design - SQLTeam.com
  Index page for various SQLTeam articles dealing with database design.

• Codd's 12 Rules

• Are Tables General Purpose Structures

• Introduction to Data Modeling
  Information Technology Services at The University of Texas at Austin.
  Excellent tutorial.

• Using MySQL, Part 7 - Normalisation

• The Importance of Data Modeling
  What is Data Modeling? Why is it important? This series of articles explains what data modeling is, why you should use it, and how to do it! A must read for anyone who needs to design a relation data model!

• Keys and History
  Let's ditch the punch cards once and for all (by Joe Celko)
  Defines natural key, artificial key, "uniqueifier", surrogate key.

• Database Analysis

• Entity Relationship Modelling - 2
  Includes "fan" and "chasm" traps.

• An Introduction to Database Normalization

• Database Systems and Structures
  Notes/slides from a college course

• The Puppy Poster
  PDF of a poster from 1989, DB Programming and Design magazine.

• A Simple Guide to Five Normal Forms in Relational Database Theory
  1NF through 5NF

• Designing the Star Schema Database

• Data Modeling (part of SQL for Web Nerds)
  Somewhat dated, introductory level, but quite entertaining.

• The Case for the Surrogate Key

• Core Database Concepts
  Sample chapter from the glasshaus book "Practical Web Database Design" by Chris Auld, Allan Kent, Rudy Limeback, Nigel Stanger, Thearon Willis.
  Data models, primary and foreign keys, normalization, etc.

• Key Issues - Surviving SQL
  primary keys, surrogate keys

• Using opaque primary keys in data model
  "opaque" == surrogate

• A Data Modeler's Bag of Tricks

• Information Resource Management Association of Canada (IRMAC)
  Toronto-based user group for exchanging information and experiences involving all aspects of data administration, data warehouse and information resource management.

• Modeling Hierachies

• Litt's Tips : Normalization

• Normalization Is a Nice Theory

• A Dimensional Modeling Manifesto
  By Ralph Kimball

• Data Modelling Tools
  Lists a couple dozen tools, with recommendations.

• Database Normalization And Design Techniques
  Covers 1NF through 4NF with examples.

• In Defense of Nulls

• Database Normalization

• Normalization Examples

• The Party/Party-Relationship Pattern

• Data Schema Normalization
  1NF through 5NF including BCNF, EKNF, PJNF

• Defining and Visualizing NULLs

• Enhanced Entity-Relationship (PPT)

• Database Design Principles
  Chapter 4 of O'Reilly's Access Database Design & Programming, 3rd Edition, by Steven Roman
  Covers 1NF, 2NF, 3NF, BCNF

• Data Modeling Overview (pdf)

• Enhanced E-R Model
  Subtypes and supertypes, business rule onstraints.

• Chapter 3 : Entity - Relationship Modelling

• The logical data architecture

• Intelligent Versus Surrogate Keys

• Entity Relationship Modeling
  By Alf Pedersen

• Chapter 4: Database Design Principles
  excerpt from O'Reilly's Access Database Design and Programming, by Steven Roman, ISBN 1-56592-626-9, 1999
  Covers 1NF through BCNF

• Key Points About Surrogate Keys

Data Management

• Business Intelligence Network: BI & Data Warehousing Resources
  Business Intelligence Network delivers business intelligence, data warehousing and analytics resources provided by Claudia Imhoff, Bill Inmon and other experts.

• Data Warehousing Concepts

• Chapter 17: Data Warehouse Design Considerations
  Sample Chapter from Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Resource Kit
  Data Warehouses, OLTP, OLAP, Data Mining, Dimensional Models, Dimension Tables, Fact Tables, OLAP Cubes, Operational Data Stores

• Brint.com
  The Premier Business Technology Knowledge Portal and Global Community Network for E-Business, Information, Technology, and Knowledge Management
  was http://www.pitt.edu/~malhotra/interest.html, "a business researcher's interests"

• Data Warehousing and OLAP Bibliography

• The Data Warehousing Institute
  Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing Education, Research, and Community

• Inmon Associates, Inc.

• InfoWorld: Data management TechIndex
  Heavily oriented towards technology.

• Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing - TDWI
  TDWI is the premier provider of in-depth, high quality education and training in the Business Intelligence and data warehousing industry.

• dataWarehouse.com
  Topics like CRM, ERP, databases, data quality, data visualization and e-commerce/e-business

• The Data Warehousing Information Center
  This site is a collection of one practitioner's essays on data warehousing, decision support, business intelligence, or whatever you want to call it.
  was http://pwp.starnetinc.com/larryg/index.html

• Organic Data Administration

• Kimball Group: Data Warehouse Training: Articles
  Ralph Kimball and other Kimball Group members have written over 120 columns for Intelligent Enterprise Magazine and its predecessor, DBMS Magazine.

• Related Sites [ for Decision Support Systems, Data Warehousing, etc. ]
  Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Management

Database

• Troels' links: Relational database systems
  With a focus on SQL-standards and open source software

• DatabaseCorner.Com - Database Software Directory
  Knowledge Base and Software Directory about Database Management Systems

• Firebird - The RDBMS that's going where you're going
  Firebird is a relational database offering many ANSI SQL-92 features that runs on Linux, Windows, and a variety of Unix platforms.

• Comparison of different SQL implementations

• The 1995 SQL Reunion: People, Projects, and Politics

• Database-Related Web Sites and Links
  Links to DBMS vendors, related tool vendors, database magazines, consultants, organizations, groups

• On becoming a DBA

• Chapter 6: The Rise of Relational Databases | Funding a Revolution: Government Support for Computing Research

• SQL Function Reference: SQL Server vs. Oracle

• Sybase Transact-SQL User's Guide

• Of Interest
  index of recent articles, starting with Joe Celko's

• Databases and Trust
  "This database sucks. I'm going to keep my own [data] in Excel."

• comp.databases.theory
  Google groups archive of comp.databases.theory.

• The comparison of SQL Server 2000 with MySQL v4.1
  from the conclusion: "It is not true that SQL Server 2000 is better than MySQL version 4.1 or vice versa. Both products can be used to build stable and efficient systems."

• A new approach to querying databases?
  Tutorial D, a language designed by Darwen and Date as the interface to their new database architecture

• Database Programming & Design Magazine

• Database Journal: Daily Database News, Information and Tutorials for the Database Professional
  Database Journal offers daily database news, articles, and tutorials for the database professional. All major DBs are covered, including Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, and Access.

• Database Server Feature Comparison (by MySQL AB)
  Database comparison of MySQL, DB2, MSSQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL, generated with crash-me, a program that automatically detects the limits and capabilities of an SQL DBMS.

• Comparing Autonumbering Methods in Different Relational Database Management Systems

• Database Performance Philosophy
  Longtime 15Seconds discussion list member Tore Bostrup offers valuable advice on designing databases and applications for efficient querying.

• Practical PostgreSQL
  This is an online book, "Practical PostgreSQL" by O'Reilly

• Chapter 12: Database Management Systems
  Somewhat dated, introductory level, but quite entertaining.

• LIST function [Aggregate]

• Bristle Software SQL Tips

• The Third Manifesto
  By Hugh Darwen and C.J. Date

• Collations

• Timestamps
  By Trudy Pelzer
  compares DATETIME data type in IBM DB2 v8.1, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, and Oracle9i.

• Sequences and Identify Columns
  Compares SQL:2003, DB2, and Oracle SEQUENCE syntax

• System Tables
  Explains metadata stored in system/dictionary tables (information schema).

• Cetus Links: 16604 Links on Objects and Components / Object-Oriented Databases: General Information

• Database terminology, what is...
  What is a key, foreign key, compound key, etc. An explanation and many other database terms...

• Introduction to Databases for the Web
  Excellent overview of database capabilities (the sections on implementation use Perl and Java as examples).

• IBM Informix Guide to SQL (PDF)
  1232 pages

• Linux SQL Databases and Tools
  A survey of free and commercial Linux SQL databases. Many of these are full-fledged DBMS with features like record locking, BLOB support, hot backups, transaction support, rollback, replication, and include ODBC and JDBC bindings.

• Mimer SQL Reference

Access

• Access query language elements
  This is a great reference.

• The Access Web - Welcome

• Access Data Manipulation Language
  Access 2003

• ACC: Reserved Words in Microsoft Access (Q109312)

• Your First Database
  Oriented towards building a Web-based relational database application

• What are the main differences between Access and SQL Server?

• Querying system objects

• UBIS - Access query language elements

• Grouped Transactional Report Part I
  In the first segment of this two-part article, author Bill Pearson begins the step-by-step design of a report that presents transactional customer information, then groups that information at multiple levels with corresponding totals.

• SQL Server Developer Center: Moving Your Access 2002 Database to SQL Server 2000

• Tony's Main Microsoft Access Page
  Access tips, hints and links

• Use System Tables to Manage Objects
  MSysObjects

• Leszynski Naming Convention - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Doug's pathetic Microsoft Access page
  Microsoft Access Links

• Q180841 - HOWTO Common DDL SQL for the Microsoft Access Database Engine

• Q209037 - ACC2000 Create and Drop Tables and Relationships Using SQL DDL

• DevGuru Jet SQL introduction

• Update one table based on another table (MDB)

• The Ten Commandments of Access

• Access wildcard character reference

• dBforums - Access query, comparing times and dates??
  This forum thread starts out with the rant "OH MY GOD I SOOOOOOOOOOOO HATE SQL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and features several people struggling to come to terms with Access date formats. There are some good links in the last post.

• What are the main differences between Access and SQL Server?

• The Truth About Access
  When should it be used and when should it not? Members of the 15 Seconds discussion list provide some insight into using Microsoft Access for Web applications.

• Roger's Access Library
  A compendium of useful Microsoft Access samples, knowledge, and links.
  Includes sample databases.

• About using wildcard characters to search for partial or matching values (access replace)
  Special characters for searching in Microsoft Access

• Fundamental Microsoft Jet SQL for Access 2000

• Tutorial: Microsoft Access - Datatypes, Table Processing & Design Layouts
  Excellent beginner-level tutorial.

• Resources For MS Access
  Links to Microsoft Access Knowledge Base Articles.

• DateDiff Function
  Visual Basic Scripting Edition
  i.e. applies to Microsoft Access

• Chapter 15: Application Optimization -- Access 2002 Desktop Developer's Handbook
  Excerpt from Sybex's Access 2002 Desktop Developer's Handbook by Paul Litwin, Ken Getz, and Mike Gunderloy
  Includes "Understanding How the Jet Query Engine Works," an excellent description explaining how joins are handled.

DB2

• Expanding Recursive Opportunities with SQL UDFs in DB2 v7.2
  Recursion is an extremely efficient technique to resolve tree-like relationships.
  Trees and hierarchies, nice diagrams too.

• DB2 SQL Cookbook
  Download an entire book in PDF format.

• Migrating Recursive SQL from Oracle to DB2 UDB

• dBforums - Useful DB2 Stuff
  Many useful links.

• Q&As on Dates and DB2

• SQL Reference for Cross-Platform Development

Oracle

• Ask Tom
  Very frequently updated site

• Oracle WTF
  Inspired by the marvellous www.thedailywtf.com, whose only fault is a shortage of Oracle examples. Well, yes, we could provide some, but we thought we'd do this instead.

• Querying Hierarchical Data with CONNECT BY

• The story behind the Oracle DATE datatype
  Dizwell Informatics - Insight for Oracle
  Nice description involving solar cycles, moon phases, golden numbers, julian dates, oh, and some Oracle internals too.

• Displaying multiple records in one row

• SQL tips
  orafusion.com: ColdFusion and Oracle Tips

• Oracle FAQ: SQL
  Questions and answers about Oracle's implementation of SQL (Structured Query Language).

• Getting the difference between dates (oracle)

• Performing Top-N Queries in Oracle
  Use a single SQL statement to perform a top-N query.

• Oracle Database SQL Reference 10g Release 1 (10.1)

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