In PostgreSQL, a generated column is a special column that is always computed from other columns. A generated column doesn’t have a fixed value like in a base column. Rather, its value is determined by an expression that references other columns in the table.
Generated columns are included in the SQL standard (ISO/IEC 9075), and are supported by most major RDBMSs. Generated columns were first introduced in PostgreSQL 12.
Here are examples of converting a Unix timestamp to a date/time value in some of the major RDBMSs.
The Unix timestamp (also known as Unix Epoch time, Unix time, or POSIX time) is the number of seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 Thursday, 1 January 1970, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
In Oracle Database, the CASE expression compares a list of conditions and returns one of multiple possible expressions. It allows us to use IF … THEN … ELSE logic in SQL statements without having to invoke procedures.
The CASE expression is included in the SQL standard (ISO/IEC 9075), and most major RDBMSs support it.
Oracle also has a CASE statement that’s very similar to the CASE expression, but with some minor differences.
Some RDBMSs provide an ISNULL() function that can be used when dealing with potentially null values.
MySQL, MariaDB, and Oracle Database each have an ISNULL() function that returns 1 if its argument is null, and 0 if it’s not.
SQL Server also has an ISNULL() function, but it works differently. It works more like how the IFNULL() function works in some other RDBMSs.
Other RDBMSs, such as PostgreSQL and SQLite don’t include an ISNULL() function, but they do support the IS NULL predicate (as do the other RDBMSs).
In PostgreSQL, the COALESCE() operator returns the first non-null value from its list of arguments. If all arguments are null, it returns null.
Below are two options for removing duplicate rows from a table in PostgreSQL when those rows have a primary key or unique identifier column. The primary key is used in the query, but it’s ignored when comparing duplicates (due to the fact that primary keys prevent duplicate rows by definition).
The following examples delete duplicate rows but keep one. So in the case of say, three identical rows, it deletes two and keeps one.
In PostgreSQL, we can use the - operator to subtract one or more hours from a time value.
By “time” value, this could be an actual time value, a timestamp, or an interval. We can also subtract hours from a date value or a date and time combination.
Below are two Oracle Database functions that convert uppercase characters to their lowercase equivalent.