Introduction to Oracle- Pass Christian University

Learn how to use the Oracle database management system to plan, organize, and manage your data. Introduction to Oracle will provide you with a practical hands-on approach to relational databases concepts and Oracle's database management system. This course will introduce you to the Structured Query Language (SQL), Oracle's SQL*Plus, and other valuable tools used to develop, manage, and reference an Oracle database.

In this six-week online course, you will learn how to create an Oracle database, build various database objects for the database, and write simple SQL statements that access the data from the database. This course will teach you how to write Data Definition Language statements to create, update, and delete database objects. You will learn how to execute Data Control Language statements to give or delete access rights to database objects. You will write Data Manipulation Language statements to insert, update, and delete records from a database. Finally, you will learn how to query the data and create finished reports.

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

In this lesson, you'll gain a solid understanding of terms and concepts surrounding a relational database. You'll learn what's involved in the planning of a database and the steps involved in designing a database. Then we'll talk specifically about the Structured Query Language (SQL) and the database tools you'll use throughout the course.

Friday - Lesson 02

Today you'll jump right into the course by creating the actual database you'll use in all the lessons that follow. You'll learn about the most common object in Oracle: the table. Then, I'll explain addresses the common datatypes that describe the kind of information a column in a table will store.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

In this lesson, you'll learn about database users and you'll even have an opportunity to create a user of your very own. This lesson will not only provide you with a crash course in SQL*Plus, but it will also help you create all the tables you'll need for your database. We'll also discuss managing tables and how to modify their structure by altering and deleting information.

Friday - Lesson 04

Today, we'll put together all the pieces of the database puzzle. We'll discuss defining and managing table constraints, then you'll learn about the five integrity constraints that Oracle supports, as well as what their purposes are. I'll show you how to define integrity constraints during table creation with the CREATE TABLE statement and after a table have been created with the ALTER TABLE statement. With this information, you'll create the primary and foreign keys for your database's tables.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

You'll gain considerably more knowledge about the Structured Query Language in this lesson, where you'll be introduced to two new commands—the INSERT and SELECT commands. Then, you'll execute the commands to insert rows of data into the tables and query the data you inserted.

Friday - Lesson 06

Today you'll gain experience with additional SQL*Plus know-how. You'll learn how to correct errors and manipulate lines in the SQL buffer. Then you'll understand additional syntax of the SELECT statement.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

In this lesson, you're going to learn more about the SELECT command, the most commonly used SQL statement. The SELECT command allows you to query the data in a database. You'll find that you need to be familiar with the data in your database, and that queries provide you with means to view what's stored in your tables.

Friday - Lesson 08

Today, you'll go beyond the INSERT command's basics. I'll introduce you to more advanced features of the INSERT command, then you'll learn the different methods of inserting rows of data and apply those skills to load data into your tables. You'll also learn some troubleshooting techniques to perform when Oracle returns an error message during an INSERT command.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

In today's lesson, you're going to learn how to modify data in the database's tables using the UPDATE command. You'll learn how to manipulate the data in your tables by updating the values in the columns and by deleting rows of data. You'll learn how to make those changes permanent with the COMMIT command, as well as how to undo a change with the ROLLBACK command.

Friday - Lesson 10

Up to this point in the course, you've been creating queries based on a single table. Today, you're going to learn how to display data from multiple tables. You'll learn how to utilize your working knowledge of the SELECT statement and explore the world of joins.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Today, you're going to learn more about common database objects and their uses. At this point, you'll have gained considerable knowledge of the most common database object—the table. In this lesson, you'll learn about other database objects and learn how to put them to use, too. Then you'll make use of the data dictionary and query some useful views.

Friday - Lesson 12

In our final lesson, you're going to learn how to format query results to generate a finished report. You'll use SQL*Plus to create reports by using SELECT statements. Then you'll modify the display of the query results to create a polished report.

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Cindy Delia.

Cindy Delia is a Systems Analyst and a certified instructor. She has been working in information technology for more than 18 years and has been a technical trainer for over 6 years. As a Systems Analyst, she specializes in database management systems and develops PC applications. She has taught computer courses at the community college level and also performs corporate training. Cindy has also written technical manuals for WordPerfect.

Requirements:

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader). and any type of computer with an installed copy of Oracle's Database Software (versions 8, 9, 10 or 11 are acceptable). The Database software is available for downloading from Oracle's website (www.oracle.com). Download the Oracle Database 10g Release 2 Standard Edition, Standard Edition One, and Enterprise Edition that supports your operating system. This course provides post-installation instruction on Oracle. Installation support will not be provided in the course. Installation support is provided from Oracle's website.

Student Reviews:

"Great course."

"Great introduction course. And C. Delia's method and style was great as well. It was just what I was looking for."

"I enjoyed the course although I was not able to dedicate as much time to the lessons as I would have liked to. I downloaded/printed the lessons and will use them in the future to continue to enhance my Oracle skills. We are using PL/SQL at work to write reports and create portals for our customers."

"I feel that I really learned a lot from this class. I would really like to see the next level offered. Thank you!"

"I found this course to provide just the right increments of learning a totally new (to me) subject. The examples, writing style and exercises were just plain perfect! Thank YOU!"

"I liked that way certain topics in the lessons interrelated. This helped with reinforcing the material. This was a good basic course; I had studied some SQL previously. More than 10 years ago. This course refreshed information about SQL for me, and definitely provided useful additional information about Oracle."

"I would feel comfortable administering Oracle databases."

"Thank you Ms Delia, I have firm grasp of what once was a confusing subject."

"The instructor was very knowledgeable & responsive to all questions. I thoroughly enjoyed the class."

"This course seems to have been tailored for me: I am busy with work, a new house, pregnant, yet needing to feel that I am still making progress learning something new. Early in the course I got stuck and had problems with a few of the exercises. So, I posted questions, read other people's questions, read the answers to mine and was able to fix my problem and move on. I was consoled during the slowdown by the promise Cindy made that I would have two weeks after the posting of the last lesson to catch up--and I did! That took the stress and meaness out of the course and let the learning happen. Thanks Cindy and assistant!"

"This is my first attempt at an online course, and I found it and the subject matter to be most rewarding. I look forward to the next session."

"This is my first on-line course and was impressed at how beneficial it has been. Having been in the programming arena for 20 years, the concept of databases is nothing new. What was unknown was the type of database. I worked solely with hierachial so I knew nothing about relational datbases. Thanks for giving me the opportunity for learning something different, without spending a lot of money and a lot of time trying to find a parking space! I was also very impressed at how quickly you responded to questions as it help to keep me going! I shall be back for other courses!"

"This was an excellent course for an introduction to SQL. I would be very interested if more advanced course/courses in this area could be offered"

"This was an excellent introductory course for SQL. I taught myself how to code SQL and SQL+ is one of the many tools I utilize for my projects. This course gave me a strong foundation to expand my current use of our Oracle database."

"this was my first experience with an on-line course. The format, documentation and interaction made it interesting, informative and I'm sure I'll be referring back to my notes often."

"This was my first on-line class and it was GREAT!. I enjoyed the class, and the length of the class was just right too. The materials provided by the teacher were very hepful/useful. I definitely will recommend this class to my peers."