As per my knowledge, when a primary key is defined in a table an index is created for that column. So I don't have to create an index explicitly.
Are there any other way an implicit indexes added by oracle?
Only for primary key constraints and unique key constraints.
Note that this is an implementation detail only so that those constraints can be enforced efficiently.
Related
I have read some articles and oracle documentation on unique and nonunique indexes. What I understood is Index is Index and constraint is constraint.
Constraint uses the index to ensure data integrity.
The primary key uses the unique or nonunique index to ensure that column is unique and not null.
The same goes for unique constrain.
But constraints can use a non-unique index if we want them deferrable.
The question comes for a unique index, it is just an index and I can not see any constraint associated with it so what is going on internally so the unique index won't allow for duplicate values, it is some internal semantics working as a constraint to ensure index uniqueness?
And let's say a unique index has the ability to be unique without any constraint then I want to understand the relation of constraints with indexes in every sense.
"There really is no such thing as a nonunique entry in a B*Tree index. In a nonunique index, Oracle simply stores the rowid by appending it to the key as an extra column with a length byte to make the key unique. For example, an index such as CREATE INDEX I ON T(X,Y) is conceptually CREATE UNIQUE INDEX I ON T(X,Y,ROWID). In a unique index, as defined by you, Oracle does not add the rowid to the index key. In a nonunique index, you will find that the data is sorted first by index key values (in the order of the index key) and then by rowid ascending. In a unique index, the data is sorted only by the index key values".
Though unique, primary key constraints and unique indexes both help with uniqueness, their objectives differ.
A unique or primary key constraints are meant to enforce data integrity. They might create a unique index implicitly and then it uses unique index to maintain integrity or it can use nonunique index as the key enforcement. Anyway index (unique or nonunique) always used to support primary key.
A unique index serves to make data access efficient. Its primary purpose is to help performance, but it does maintain uniqueness as a corollary and primary key may use this.
I want to create a table bar with a named foreign key constraint backed by a named index. I would like to do that with an inline definition in the create table DDL statement. When looking at the Oracle 19 SQL Language Reference it looks like Oracle should support doing this inline.
When executing the following statements...
create table foo (
id number not null primary key
);
create table bar (
id number not null primary key,
nick varchar2(16) not null constraint foo_nick_ck unique using index,
foo_id number not null constraint foo_fk references foo using index
);
Oracle will respond with [42000][907] ORA-00907: missing right parenthesis and point at the position just before the using index on the last line. If I remove using index it works (but without index being created of course). I've kept the column nick as an example of where it works to create the backing index inline, but for a unique constraint instead of a foreign key constraint.
I am aware that a workaround is to create the backing index in a separate DDL statement, but I would very much like to have it neat and tidy inline.
I am aware that a workaround is to create the backing index in a separate DDL statement, but I would very much like to have it neat and tidy inline.
Unfortunately the syntax does not exist to create indexes inline.
The USING INDEX clause is syntactic sugar: Oracle creates indexes to enforce Primary Key and Unique constraints regardless of whether we include that clause (*). This is because an index is necessary to Oracle's implementation of unique constraints. But there is no such need for an index to enforce a foreign key, it's just desirable.
(*) Unless there's an existing index on the constrained column(s) which Oracle can use.
As per Oracle documentation:
You can specify the using_index_clause only when enabling unique or
primary key constraints
You cannot specify this clause for a NOT NULL, foreign key, or
check constraint.
I have a table with a long value as primary key.
Now i think that oracle by default will create a index on it.And i dont need to
create a index explicityly.
The question is :Is primary key by default indexed by oracle in this case?
Yes, a primary key (or any unique column constraint) will create an index, if there is not already one present.
This is the case for almost all databases. Otherwise the uniqueness constraint cannot be efficiently enforced.
When i create a primary key in oracle table, why does it create a 'clustered' index by default. What is the reason for this automatic creation of a clustered index on creation of a primary key? is it just the Oracle designer's preference that he designed oracle in this way?
Oracle will create an index to police an unique constraint where no pre-existing index is suitable. Without the index, Oracle would need to serialize operations (such as a table lock) whenever someone tries to insert or delete a row (or update the PK).
Contrarily to MS-SQL Server, this index is not clustered on heap tables (default table organization), i.e. this index won't change the underlying table structure and natural order. The rows won't be reordered when Oracle creates the index. The index will be a B-tree index and will exist as a separate entity where each entry points to a row in the main table.
Oracle doesn't have clustered index as MS SQL, however indexed-organized tables share some properties with cluster-indexed tables. The PK is an integral part of such tables and has to be specified during creation.
(Oracle also has table clusters, but they are a completely different concept).
Creating Index is basic functionality of Primary key, it is also in SQL Server and MySQL, Clustered Index makes your searches faster.
The Database Engine automatically creates a unique index to enforce the uniqueness of the PRIMARY KEY constraint. If a clustered index does not already exist on the table or a nonclustered index is not explicitly specified, a unique, clustered index is created to enforce the PRIMARY KEY constraint.
Read this:
http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/kimberly/the-clustered-index-debate-continues/
I've recently stopped to think that Primary Keys are not indexes, they're a combination of Unique and Null constraints. And till now, I've never created index for PK columns. My question is if I should create index for PK columns if this column is going to be used in the WHERE part of many queries.
Oracle will create an index for you, or can use an existing one. Whether a unique or non-unique index is used is up to you.
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b28310/indexes003.htm#i1006566
A primary key itself is not an index, and nor is a unique constraint -- they are both constraints. However an index is used to support them.
A unique index is rather different as it can exist in the absence of a unique or primary key constraint, and neither constraint type require that the index supporting it be unique.