By Scott Falla and Jamie Batiste 08/03/2010

Transcription

1 ACUSOFT Query Builder Query Builder Help and SQL Syntax By Scott Falla and Jamie Batiste 08/03/2010 Query Builder help and syntax.

2 Contents What Is Query Builder... 4 Introduction... 4 New Queries, Saving and Deleting A Query... 5 New Queries... 5 Save a Query... 5 Open a Query... 5 Delete a Query... 5 The Query Builder Interface... 7 The Data Browser... 7 Defining Relations and Joins... 7 Selecting Fields and Defining Criteria Using SQL functions Defining SQL Manually Defining SQL Manually Running the Query and the Result tab Exporting and Printing SQL Syntax Summary & Examples Logical Operators And, Or, Not Syntax IN and Between Syntax Using the Like Syntax Handling Text and Dates SQL Examples Active Entities with Partner, Manager, Administrator Database Fields Used P a g e

3 Entities without Database Code 1 Applied P a g e

4 What Is Query Builder Query Builder is a tool to build graphical queries against a database in manner similar to Microsoft Access and SQL Server tools. Introduction The Acumen Query Builder is a visual interface used for the creation of complex queries, it may be utilized in much the same manner as MS-Access query design interface. The interface essentially consists of the following four panes: DB Browser pane, which displays the database objects for the currently active database connection. This connection is automatically generated for the user. Relations pane, in which relations and joins are defined for selected database objects, Columns pane, in which the user selects fields and defines criteria, as well as grouping and sorting, SQL pane, in which the finalized SQL command is displayed or directly entered. Using the DB Browser pane one may display the database objects, such as tables and views. The user may drag-drop objects from the DB Browser pane into the Relations pane, in which relations or joins between objects may be defined. In the Columns pane the user may define fields or expressions using the Columns functions toolbar. In addition, criteria, grouping and sorting may be defined via this Columns pane. All these operations together construct the SQL statement displayed in the SQL pane. 4 P a g e

5 New Queries, Saving and Deleting A Query New Queries Query Builder opens a new query initially; however you can open a new query by clicking on New (File New or CTRL + N). Save a Query To save a query, click on Save (File Save or CTRL + S). You will then be prompted to enter a file name. The Query will default to New Query. If you wish to save an original query by a different author, click on Save As and provide a different name. Open a Query To open an existing query, select Open (File Open or using the short cut Ctrl + O). Select the query name from the list available Open or Double Click opens the selected query. The colours indicate public or personal queries: Pale Blue Public queries. You can open this query but cannot save over the original unless you wrote the query initially. White Personal query. No other user can see this query. You can save/amend at will. You can display just the personal queries by selecting the Only Show My Queries check box. Delete a Query If a query is no longer used you can delete it if you originally wrote the query. Click on Delete (File Delete) then select the query you wish to remove and click on Delete. 5 P a g e

6 Answer Yes to delete the query or No to keep it. 6 P a g e

7 The Query Builder Interface The Data Browser The DB Browser pane is used for displaying the database table, view of the currently active connection. Essentially, there are Tables and View under the database name in the DB Browser pane. The Tables folder contains a list of all tables you are allowed to see, expanding each tabled displays the fields associated with it. Similarly, the Views folder will contains the views, with each view object. Expanding the view displays fields. These objects may be drag-dropped into the Relations pane, where you can select which fields you wish to see and link tables/views together. Defining Relations and Joins For more information on SQL syntax see SQL Syntax Summary & Examples The Relations pane is used to link similar fields between table or view objects (see below). Essentially, objects are drag-dropped from the DB Browser pane into the Relations pane, where they are displayed as lists of fields with check-boxes. Fields between a pair from these objects in the Relations pane may be related via drag-drop, in this way, defining a relation or a join between them. When a join is defined via drag-drop between two objects in the Relations pane, a join line is drawn with a diamond at the middle. The actual SQL is inserted into the SQL pane in the FROM-clause of the SQL command. In the case, when the related fields have an enforced constraint relation between foreign key and primary key, this line will have respectively the 7 P a g e

8 infinity and key icons at the endpoints. Otherwise there will be no icons at the endpoints of the join line. The Join Line Properties dialog may be used for further specifics about the join relation. For example, defining the operator between the related fields, as well as the join type (i.e. INNER, OUTER, LEFT, RIGHT or FULL). The following are all possible operators between related fields: { =, <>, <, <=, >, >= }. As we see above, the user may use the right-mouse click on the diamond icon of the join to popup the menu, from which selecting the Properties menu item, the Join Line Properties dialog may be displayed. Observe that if in this dialog the join operator is selected to be other than the equality symbol, then this operator will be shown in the diamond icon. Moreover, the join type is defined via the Include rows section of the dialog, as a result of which the diamond shape is complemented with brackets on the left or the right side. For example, see Figure 1.15, which shows the join lines for INNER, LEFT OUTER, and RIGHT OUTER join types. The join type may be also selected via the Select All Rows from menu items of the popup menu (triggered over the diamond). Sometimes when the user enters join conditions via the SQL pane directly, there may be situations when this join condition will have an expression instead of a field on one side of the equation (or inequality). In these cases the join line is drawn from a field of one object to the title bar of the other object in the Relations pane (corresponding to the expression), with the diamond icon having the f* label. Similarly, if both sides of the join condition equation contain expressions rather than simple fields, then the join line is drawn between the title bars of the objects. In addition to tables and views that are drag-dropped into the Relations pane from the DB Browser pane, the Relations pane may also contain nested SELECT-statements, which are entered directly as segments of the FROM-clause of the SQL command in the SQL pane. For 8 P a g e

9 example the following SQL command entered directly into the SQL pane will result into two objects: SELECT * FROM Entities INNER JOIN (SELECT * FROM Accounts) AS Acct ON Entities.Entity_Number = Acct.Entity_Number Namely, Entities and Accounts objects, where the field listing of Acct objects will be the field structure of the Accounts table. Note that all nested SELECT-statements must have object aliases. Moreover, if object alias is furnished then the corresponding object name in the Relations pane will be this alias; otherwise the actual object s name is used. Finally, the Relations pane may be used to select fields from the objects by simply checking the check-boxes corresponding to these field items. 9 P a g e

10 Selecting Fields and Defining Criteria For more information on SQL syntax see SQL Syntax Summary & Examples The Columns pane consists of the field columns grid and the SQL function toolbar sections The field columns grid consists of the following columns: Column Alias Object Object Alias Output Sort Type Sort Order Group By Criteria Or... This column is a combo-box control (with edit-box style), which initially contains a combined list of all field names derived from all the objects in the Relations pane. This column is an edit-box control, and is used for optional alias name entry for the content of the Column (by default it is empty). This column is a combo-box control (with edit-box style), which initially contains a list of the names of all objects in the Relations pane. This column is an edit-box control, and is used for optional object alias name entry for the content of the Object grid-column (by default it is empty). This column is a check-box control, and is used to indicate whether the field is to be outputted or not. This column is a combo-box control containing the choices Ascending, Descending and No-Sort. This column is a combo-box control containing the possible order choices depending on the currently selected sort fields. For example, if we have 3 sort fields selected, then the choices will be 1, 2, 3, and No-Sort. This column is a check-box control, and is used to indicate whether the field is used as aggregate. This column is an edit-box control, and is used to enter criteria for the query. This column is an edit-box control, and is used to enter criteria for the query. Note that for a new field-row in the Columns pane, initially the Column combo-box lists a combined list of all field names derived from all the objects in the Relations pane, but if the 10 P a g e

11 Object grid-column is specified this list will be restricted to only the field names of the selected object. Similarly, the Object combo-box initially lists the object names of all objects in the Relations pane, but when the Column grid-column is not empty, only object names that have this Column value as a field name will be listed. The Columns pane is mainly used to define criteria for the currently open query. In the most standard situation the user may define query criteria by selecting a field from the Column gridcolumn, and then entering some value under the Criteria grid-column. This value may be preceded with one of the following operators =, <, >, <=, >=,!<,!>,!=, <>, IS, IS NOT, NOT, IN, LIKE, and BETWEEN. Note that the default operator is =, so that if the user does not specify an operator the equality is assumed. Observe that when the user specifies criteria via direct entry into the WHERE-clause of the SQL statement in the SQL pane, some of the conditions may be considered expressions and may entirely be put under the Column grid-column. This is specially the case when a criteria condition cannot be represented in the following standard form: <field_name> <operator> <value> Also, note that anything following the LIKE operator will be automatically put inside quotes (if it is not already inside quotes). The syntax of the LIKE-expression, which may be any regular expression, depends on the back-end database engine. For example, in the case of the MS-SQL Server the syntax is outlined below: Wildcard character Description Example % Any string of zero or more characters. WHERE Surname LIKE Har% will include all Surnames which start with Har, for example Harry, Harold, etc. _ (underscore) Any single character. WHERE Surname LIKE H_r_ld will include all Surnames which start with H and end with ld, with three middle characters separated with an r, for example Herald, Harold, etc. [] Any single character within the specified range ([a-f]) or set ([abcdef]). WHERE Surname LIKE H[ae]rald will include all Surnames which start with H and end with rald, with one character in the set {a, e}, for example Herald, Harald, etc. 11 P a g e

12 [^] Any single character not within the specified range ([^a-f]) or set ([^abcdef]). WHERE Surname LIKE H[^a]rald will include all Surnames which start with H and end with rald, with one character between them that is not an a, for example Herald, Hyrald, but not Harald. We illustrate next the usage of the grid in the Columns pane. Essentially, the vertical direction represents conjunction (i.e. AND), while the horizontal direction represents disjunction (i.e. OR). For example, if we want to query all the contact names of the customers whose last names start with John and first name is Ben, or whose last name is Benjamin and the first name starts with Frank, then we may enter the following entries in the cells of the Columns grid: Column Criteria Or Or Surname LIKE John% = Benjamin Forename = Ben LIKE Frank% This generates the following WHERE-clause in the SQL pane: WHERE (Surname LIKE John% AND Forename = Ben ) OR (Surname = Benjamin AND Forename LIKE Frank% ) Observe that we may include several disjunctions under one Criteria/Or grid-cell. For example, the following WHERE-clause WHERE ((Surname LIKE John% OR Surname LIKE Jon% ) AND Forename = Ben ) OR (Surname = Benjamin AND Forename LIKE Frank% ) may be represented in the following way: Column Criteria Or Or Surname LIKE ( John% OR Jon% ) = Benjamin Forename = Ben LIKE Frank% Note that more Or columns may be added as needed and that any criteria condition for a query may be represented into this grid of the Columns pane, given that complex expressions involving SQL functions may be entirely included in the Column grid-column not using the Criteria/Or grid-columns. 12 P a g e

13 Using SQL functions The SQL functions toolbar features include all the SQL functions that are needed for the creation of complex queries. It is destined to help novice SQL users to get started without referencing various reference books for the syntax of the SQL functions supported in the particular backend database engine in use. These functions are categorized into 10 dropdown combo-box buttons plus two buttons as is shown below. In this section we will outline their general usage. We illustrate now the general usage of the SQL functions toolbar. Essentially, there are two ways to use these SQL functions: Select fields in the Columns pane and then apply the SQL function, Apply the SQL function without any selection in the Columns pane, The first method will substitute some arguments of the selected function by the selected field names and then insert the syntax string into the SQL pane at the current mouse-cursor location. While the other method will insert the syntax string into the SQL pane, with all arguments of the SQL function being dummy variables. Note that these dummy variables must be replaced with proper values after the insertion. In general, all the dummy arguments of an inserted function must be replaced by either a field name or some constant value. 13 P a g e

14 For example to apply the Left SQL function to the ContactName field, we first position the mouse-cursor in a desired location in the SQL pane, then select the ContactName field-row in the Columns pane. Then we drop-down the String functions toolbar button and select the Left function option from the drop-down list. As a result of these operations the following string will be inserted into the current mouse-cursor location in the SQL pane: LEFT(Customers.ContactName, nlen) Where nlen is a dummy variable and therefore must be replaced by some number. Note that when the focus of the active pane becomes the Relations pane, the Columns pane is updated so that a new field-row is appended as a result of these operations. 14 P a g e

15 Defining SQL Manually For more information on SQL syntax see SQL Syntax Summary & Examples The user may define a query directly via the SQL pane, using this pane as an SQL editor. To check the validity of the SQL text that is entered manually into the SQL pane, the user may habitually use the CTRL+F5 short-key to trigger the Check SQL Syntax button (or alternatively click this button). This will check the SQL text against the backend database defined by the current data access connection. One may also copy / paste text from external programs into the SQL pane, for example the user may use the Get Details command over the DB Browser pane, from which text may be copied to be pasted directly into the SQL pane. Direct entry into the SQL pane is indispensable when the query is one of the following types: INSERT SQL statement, UPDATE SQL statement, DELETE SQL statement, We should emphasize that for such SQL statements the Relations and Columns panes may be useless and therefore the Query Builder interface may be used only as an SQL editor. Record retrieval can be limited by using the WHERE statement. The WHERE clause is used to specify that only certain rows of the table are displayed, based on the criteria described in that WHERE clause For more information on using the WHERE clause see SQL Syntax Summary & Examples 15 P a g e

16 Running the Query and the Result tab After creating a query via the visual interface, the user may execute the query by clicking the blue arrow button in the toolbar on the right of the tabs, or use the Execute menu item under the Command menu or alternatively push the F5 short-key on the keyboard. When executing a query, the resulting records will be displayed in the Result tab-view. Note that in the case when a query needs a long time to execute, the arrow button becomes disabled and the red stop button becomes enabled, so that the user may interrupt the execution process. Exporting and Printing The export and print features apply to both the content of the SQL pane and the content of the Result tab-view. In particular, using copy/paste operations the user may copy the content of the SQL pane to the clipboard, and then paste this content into another text editor application or Excel. The user may also print the content of the SQL pane to get a hardcopy of the query text derived in the Results Tab. In addition to the export and print operations there are Find and Replace operations that may be applied on the content of the SQL pane. In the case of the Result tab-view, the copy/paste operation is more useful, since any segment of the result grid may be copy/paste into other MS-Office applications (e.g. Excel, Word, etc.). The user may also print the result of a query via the Print menu item. In addition, the user may use the Find operation to search for a particular text in the result grid. 16 P a g e

17 SQL Syntax Summary & Examples Below are several sections covering the basics of SQL syntax. Logical Operators Actual SQL Syntax Description <> Not Equal to = Equal to > Greater than < Less than <= Less Than or Equal To >= Greater Than or Equal To The WHERE clause is used to specify that only certain rows of the table are returned, based on the criteria described in that WHERE clause. It is more easily understood by looking at a couple of examples. If you wanted to see the Accounts with account number greater or equal to then: Select * From Accounts Where Account_Number >= Notice that the >= (greater than or equal to) sign is used, as we wanted to see if there is an account The WHERE statement, Account_Number >= 10000, is known as a condition. The same can be done for text columns: Select * From Accounts Where Account_Name = Creditors This will display all accounts whose Name equals Creditors. Make sure all Text statements are enclosed in single quotes * +. And, Or, Not Syntax The AND operator joins two or more conditions, and displays a row only if that row's data satisfies ALL conditions listed (i.e. all conditions hold true). For example, to display all Bank Accounts that has an Account Number > 100: 17 P a g e

18 Select * From Accounts Where Acount_Number > 100 And Asset_Type = Bank The OR operator can also join two or more conditions, but returns a row if ANY of the conditions listed hold true. For example Select * From Accounts Where Acount_Number > 100 Or Asset_Type = Bank This would bring back ALL accounts whose account numbers are greater then 100 and ALL Accounts which have an Asset Type of Bank AND & OR can be combined, for example: Select * From Accounts Where Acount_Number > 100 And Asset_Type = Bank Or Account_Name = 30-Day Deposit Account 18 P a g e

19 IN and Between Syntax Actual SQL Syntax Description In(x,x,x,x,x) Everything that matches the criteria entered Would be the same as doing X=1 and x=2 and x=3 etc Between X and X Select records from and to values inclusively, would be the same as doing "x=> and <=x" If you wanted to see the Accounts with account numbers 100, 101, 104 and 121 then: Select * From Accounts Where Account_Number in (100, 101, 104, 121) Where as: Select * From Accounts Where Account_Number Between 100 and 130 Would give all accounts from 100 to 130 inclusive Using the Like Syntax Actual SQL Syntax Description Like% Provides a wildcard text search e.g. If you wanted to see the Accounts but were unsure of the spelling of the account name then you can use the Like clause. Like can be used as follows Select * From Accounts Where Account_Name Like Acumen% Will return all records where the account name starts with Acumen Select * From Accounts Where Account_Name Like &Acumen% Will return all records where the account name contains Acumen Select * From Accounts Where Account_Name Like %Acumen Will return all records where the account name ends with Acumen 19 P a g e

20 Handling Text and Dates Depending on the criteria you are using there are several rules that must be adhered to in order to create SQL that will run correctly. Dates Dates should be entered in single quotes in the format of YYY-MM-DD For example: Select * From GL_Transactions Where Value_Date = This would return all transactions where the value date was equal to the 31 st December 2005 Text Text should be entered in single quotes For example: Select * From Employees Where Surname = Smith This would return all employees where the surname was equal to Smith When using strings in the IN clause, simply enclose each piece of criteria in single quotes For example: Where Account_Name in ( Creditors, Debtors ) 20 P a g e

21 Appendix SQL Examples Here are a set of queries that will help answer frequently asked questions. Simply paste the enclosed text into the SQL pane of Query Builder. These are a good foundation for more advanced queries. Active Entities with Partner, Manager, Administrator This query lists all active entities and displays the partner, manager or administrator if available. To display all entities, remove the criteria in the Status column. Tables used: Note: 1. Entities Definition of an entity, entity number, name etc. 2. vwemployees (View) Employee details information which also includes some extra columns such as Actual_Name a combination of Surname, Forename. Use of a left join so that the entity is displayed regardless of whether or not there is a partner, manager or administrator. Use of the view vwemployees to display employee details. Assigning tables an alias to differentiate between 3 different versions of the same table or view (vwemployees). 21 P a g e

22 SELECT Entities.Entity_Number, Entities.Entity_Name, Partners.Actual_Name AS Partner_Name, Managers.Actual_Name AS Manager_Name, Administrators.Actual_Name AS Admin_Name, Entities.Status FROM Entities LEFT JOIN vmemployees Managers ON Entities.Manager = Managers.Employee_Number LEFT JOIN vmemployees Partners ON Entities.Partner = Partners.Employee_Number LEFT JOIN vmemployees Administrators ON Entities.Admin = Administrators.Employee_Number WHERE (Entities.Status = 1) Database Fields Used This query displays a list of all entities with the database fields assigned to each entity. Tables used: Note: 1. Entities Definition of an entity, entity number, name etc. 2. Entities_User_Defined_Data Link between an entity, database code and data. 3. User_Defined_Table_Codes List of database fields used. These are created in System Control File (Special System Control File) 4. User_Defined_Database_Codes Data or values for each table code. These are maintained under Table Codes Database. Look for the appropriate name as per the Table Codes above. Not all tables need to return information. Entities_User_Defined_Data below is only used to find linked information if available. This finds all entities and only displays database fields where they are available. 22 P a g e SELECT Entities.Entity_Number,

23 Entities.Entity_Name, Entities.Status, User_Defined_Table_Codes.Database_Name, User_Defined_Database_Codes.Description AS Value FROM Entities LEFT OUTER JOIN Entities_User_Defined_Data INNER JOIN User_Defined_Database_Codes INNER JOIN User_Defined_Table_Codes ON User_Defined_Table_Codes.Code = User_Defined_Database_Codes.Database_Code ON User_Defined_Database_Codes.Database_Code = Entities_User_Defined_Data.Database_Code AND User_Defined_Database_Codes.Code = Entities_User_Defined_Data.Code ON Entities_User_Defined_Data.Entity_Number = Entities.Entity_Number Entities without Database Code 1 Applied This query lists all entities without the first database code set. To change the database code you are looking for change the number in the sub query (1 below) valid values are from 1 to 12 and you can look this up in the System Control File (Special System Control File). Note: This uses a sub query to determine all the entities that do have the first database field set then lists all those entities that aren t set via the NOT x IN (statement) formula. This is easier to see in QueryBuilder in the Criteria column of Entity_Number. SELECT Entity_Number, Entity_Name, Status FROM Entities WHERE NOT Entity_number in ( SELECT Entity_Number FROM Entities_User_Defined_Data WHERE (Database_Code = 1)) 23 P a g e

24 Tables There are a large number of tables that relate to items used in Acumen. Here are a series of screenshots and the associated tables. Database Main Details 1. Entities_User_Defined_Data 2. User_Defined_Table_Codes 3. User_Defined_Database_Codes 4. Entity_Trading_Names 5,6. Database_Details 24 P a g e

25 Client Management 1. Entities 2, 3. Database_Details 4. Entities_Tax_Information Other Parties 1. Entities_Other_Parties Beneficial Owners 1. Beneficial_Owners 25 P a g e

26 Group Entities 1 and 2 Group_Entities_Relationships Documents and Events 1. Trust_Details 2. Entity_Changes 26 P a g e

27 Key Dates 1, 2 Database_Details 3. GL_Transactions 4. Entity_Account_Status_New 5. Database_Details 6. Financial_Year_Ends 27 P a g e