2.2. Query Languages and Data Functions
Database
operations can be split into those manipulating the database itself
(that is, the logical and physical structure of the files comprising
the database) and those manipulating the data stored within these
files. The former topic is generally database-specific and can be
implemented in various ways, but the latter is typically carried out
by using a query language.[4]
[4]We
use the term "query language" very loosely. We stretch it
from verb-based command languages, like SQL, all the way down to
hard-coded logic written in a programming language like Perl.
All query languages, from the lowest level of using Perl's
string and numerical handling functions to a high-level query
language such as SQL, implement four main operations with which you
can manipulate the data. These operations are:
- Fetching
The most
commonly
used database operation is that of retrieving data stored within a
database. This operation is known as fetching,
and returns the appropriate data in a form understood by the API host
language being used to query the database. For example, if you were
to use Perl to query an Oracle database for data, the data would be
requested by using the SQL query language, and the rows returned
would be in the form of Perl strings and numerics. This operation is
also known as selecting data, from the SQL
SELECT keyword used to fetch data from a database.
- Storing
The corollary
operation to fetching data is storing data
for later retrieval. The storage manager layers translate values from
the programming language into values understood by the database. The
storage managers then store that value within the data files. This
operation is also known as inserting data.
- Updating
Once data is
stored
within a database, it is not necessarily immutable. It can be changed
if required. For example, in a database storing information on
products that can be purchased, the pricing information for each
product may change over time. The operation of changing a value of
existing data within the database is known as
updating. It is important to note that this
operation doesn't add items to or remove items from the
database; rather, it just changes existing items.[5]
[5]Logically, that is. Physically, the updates may be implemented
as deletes and inserts.
- Deleting
The final core
operation
that you generally want to perform on data is to
delete any old or redundant data from your
database. This operation will completely remove the items from the
database, again using the storage managers to excise the data from
the data files. Once data has been deleted, it cannot be recovered or
replaced except by reinserting the data into the database.[6]
[6]Unless you are using transactions to control your data. More
about that in Chapter 6, "Advanced DBI ".
These operations are quite often referred to by the acronym
C.R.U.D. (Create, Read, Update, Delete). This
book discusses these topics in a slightly different order primarily
because we feel that most readers, at least initially, will be
extracting data from existing databases rather than creating new
databases in which to store data.
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