Writing Queries Using MS SQL Server 2008 & 2005 Transact-SQL

Prerequisites:

Before attending this course, students must have:

* Knowledge of data integrity concepts.
* Core Windows Server skills.
* Relational database design skills.
* Programming skills.

Course Description:

This 3-day instructor led course provides students with the technical skills required to write basic Transact-SQL queries for Microsoft SQL Server 2008.

This course primarily covers SQL 2008, however it also applies to SQL 2005. Our instructors will highlight the differences and explain how things apply to SQL 2005.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

* Describe the uses of and ways to execute the Transact-SQL language.
* Use querying tool.
* Write SELECT queries to retrieve data.
* Group and summarize data by using Transact-SQL.
* Join data from multiple tables.
* Write queries that retrieve and modify data by using subqueries.
* Modify data in tables.
* Query text fields with full-text search.
* Describe how to create programming objects.
* Use various techniques when working with complex queries.

This course includes the following modules:

Getting Started with Databases and Transact-SQL in SQL Server 2008

• Overview of SQL Server 2008
• Overview of SQL Server Databases
• Overview and Syntax Elements of T-SQL
• Working with T-SQL Scripts
• Using T-SQL Querying Tools

Querying and Filtering Data

• Using the SELECT Statement
• Filtering Data
• Working with NULL Values
• Formatting Result Sets
• Performance Considerations for Writing Queries

Grouping and Summarizing Data

• Summarizing Data by Using Aggregate Functions
• Summarizing Grouped Data
• Ranking Grouped Data
• Creating Crosstab Queries

Joining Data from Multiple Tables

• Querying Multiple Tables by Using Joins
• Applying Joins for Typical Reporting Needs
• Combining and Limiting Result Set

Working with Subqueries

• Writing Basic Subqueries
• Writing Correlated Subqueries
• Comparing Subqueries with Joins and Temporary Tables
• Using Common Table Expressions

Modifying Data in Tables

• Inserting Data into Tables
• Deleting Data from Tables
• Updating Data in Tables
• Overview of Transactions

Querying Metadata, XML, and Full-Text Indexes

• Querying Metadata
• Overview of XML
• Querying XML Data
• Overview of Full-Text Indexes
• Querying Full-Text Indexes

Using Programming Objects for Data Retrieval

• Overview of Views
• Overview of User-Defined Functions
• Overview of Stored Procedures
• Overview of Triggers
• Writing Distributed Queries

Using Advanced Querying Techniques

• Considerations for Querying Data
• Working with Data Types
• Cursors and Set-Based Queries
• Dynamic SQL
• Maintaining Query Files