DML Commands in SQL
DML is an abbreviation of Data Manipulation Language.
The DML commands in Structured Query Language change the data present in the SQL database. We
can easily access, store, modify, update and delete the existing records from the database using DML
commands.
Following are the four main DML commands in SQL:
1. SELECT Command
2. INSERT Command
3. UPDATE Command
4. DELETE Command
SELECT DML Command
SELECT is the most important data manipulation command in Structured Query Language. The SELECT
command shows the records of the specified table. It also shows the particular record of a particular
column by using the WHERE clause. Syntax of SELECT DML command
1. SELECT column_Name_1, column_Name_2, ….., column_Name_N FROM Name_of_table;
Here, column_Name_1, column_Name_2, ….., column_Name_N are the names of those columns
whose data we want to retrieve from the table.
If we want to retrieve the data from all the columns of the table, we have to use the following SELECT
command:
1. SELECT * FROM table_name;
Example 1: This example shows all the values of every column from the table.
1. SELECT * FROM Student;
This SQL statement displays the following values of the student table:
Student_ID Student_Name Student_Marks
BCA1001 Abhay 85
BCA1002 Anuj 75
BCA1003 Bheem 60
BCA1004 Ram 79
BCA1005 Sumit 80
Example 2: This example shows all the values of a specific column from the table.
1. SELECT Emp_Id, Emp_Salary FROM Employee;
This SELECT statement displays all the values of Emp_Salary and Emp_Id column of Employee table:
Emp_I Emp_Salary
d
201 25000
202 45000
203 30000
204 29000
205 40000
Example 3: This example describes how to use the WHERE clause with the SELECT DML
command.
Let's take the following Student table:
Student_ID Student_Name Student_Marks
BCA1001 Abhay 80
BCA1002 Ankit 75
BCA1003 Bheem 80
BCA1004 Ram 79
BCA1005 Sumit 80
If you want to access all the records of those students whose marks is 80 from the above table, then you
have to write the following DML command in SQL:
1. SELECT * FROM Student WHERE Stu_Marks = 80;
The above SQL query shows the following table in result:
Student_ID Student_Name Student_Marks
BCA1001 Abhay 80
BCA1003 Bheem 80
BCA1005 Sumit 80
INSERT DML Command
INSERT is another most important data manipulation command in Structured Query Language, which
allows users to insert data in database tables.
Syntax of INSERT Command
1. INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME ( column_Name1 , column_Name2 , column_Name3 , .... column_Nam
eN ) VALUES (value_1, value_2, value_3, .... value_N ) ;
Example 1: This example describes how to insert the record in the database table.
Let's take the following student table, which consists of only 2 records of the student.
Stu_Id Stu_Name Stu_Marks Stu_Age
101 Ramesh 92 20
201 Jatin 83 19
Suppose, you want to insert a new record into the student table. For this, you have to write the following
DML INSERT command:
1. INSERT INTO Student (Stu_id, Stu_Name, Stu_Marks, Stu_Age) VALUES (104, Anmol, 89, 19);
UPDATE DML Command
UPDATE is another most important data manipulation command in Structured Query Language, which
allows users to update or modify the existing data in database tables. Syntax of UPDATE Command
1. UPDATE Table_name SET [column_name1= value_1, ….., column_nameN = value_N] WHERE CO
NDITION;
Here, 'UPDATE', 'SET', and 'WHERE' are the SQL keywords, and 'Table_name' is the name of the table
whose values you want to update.
Example 1: This example describes how to update the value of a single field.
Let's take a Product table consisting of the following records:
Product_Id Product_Name Product_Price Product_Quantity
P101 Chips 20 20
P102 Chocolates 60 40
P103 Maggi 75 5
P201 Biscuits 80 20
P203 Namkeen 40 50
Suppose, you want to update the Product_Price of the product whose Product_Id is P102. To do this, you
have to write the following DML UPDATE command:
1. UPDATE Product SET Product_Price = 80 WHERE Product_Id = 'P102' ;
Example 2: This example describes how to update the value of multiple fields of the database
table.
Let's take a Student table consisting of the following records:
Stu_Id Stu_Name Stu_Marks Stu_Age
101 Ramesh 92 20
201 Jatin 83 19
202 Anuj 85 19
203 Monty 95 21
102 Saket 65 21
103 Sumit 78 19
104 Ashish 98 20
Suppose, you want to update Stu_Marks and Stu_Age of that student whose Stu_Id is 103 and 202. To do
this, you have to write the following DML Update command:
1. UPDATE Student SET Stu_Marks = 80, Stu_Age = 21 WHERE Stu_Id = 103 AND Stu_Id = 202;
DELETE DML Command
DELETE is a DML command which allows SQL users to remove single or multiple existing records from
the database tables.
This command of Data Manipulation Language does not delete the stored data permanently from the
database. We use the WHERE clause with the DELETE command to select specific rows from the table.
Syntax of DELETE Command
1. DELETE FROM Table_Name WHERE condition;
Example 1: This example describes how to delete a single record from the table.
Let's take a Product table consisting of the following records:
Product_Id Product_Name Product_Price Product_Quantity
P101 Chips 20 20
P102 Chocolates 60 40
P103 Maggi 75 5
P201 Biscuits 80 20
P203 Namkeen 40 50
Suppose, you want to delete that product from the Product table whose Product_Id is P203. To do this,
you have to write the following DML DELETE command:
1. DELETE FROM Product WHERE Product_Id = 'P202' ;
Example 2: This example describes how to delete the multiple records or rows from the database
table.
Let's take a Student table consisting of the following records:
Stu_Id Stu_Name Stu_Marks Stu_Age
101 Ramesh 92 20
201 Jatin 83 19
202 Anuj 85 19
203 Monty 95 21
102 Saket 65 21
103 Sumit 78 19
104 Ashish 98 20
Suppose, you want to delete the record of those students whose Marks is greater than 70. To do this, you
have to write the following DML Update command:
1. DELETE FROM Student WHERE Stu_Marks > 70 ;
