Chris Saxon
@chrisrsaxon.bsky.social
Oracle Developer Advocate for SQL. Lover of quizzes and games of all kinds. Any views expressed belong to me.
chrissaxon.co.uk
chrissaxon.co.uk
Expressing rules as nested NOT EXISTS is tricky to do and understand
There’s new
ALL ( <query> )
SATIFY ( <query> )
To simplify this
There’s new
ALL ( <query> )
SATIFY ( <query> )
To simplify this
November 19, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Expressing rules as nested NOT EXISTS is tricky to do and understand
There’s new
ALL ( <query> )
SATIFY ( <query> )
To simplify this
There’s new
ALL ( <query> )
SATIFY ( <query> )
To simplify this
There’s a new enqueue to manage concurrency
November 19, 2025 at 8:35 AM
There’s a new enqueue to manage concurrency
This does incremental validation of DML that could violate the assertion
November 19, 2025 at 8:31 AM
This does incremental validation of DML that could violate the assertion
Coming in Oracle AI Database
#SQL assertions
These enable you to create cross row, cross table constraints with SQL standard syntax
CREATE ASSERTION … CHECK (
[ NOT ] EXISTS ( )
)
@toonkoppelaars.bsky.social explains at #DOAG2025
#SQL assertions
These enable you to create cross row, cross table constraints with SQL standard syntax
CREATE ASSERTION … CHECK (
[ NOT ] EXISTS (
)
@toonkoppelaars.bsky.social explains at #DOAG2025
November 19, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Coming in Oracle AI Database
#SQL assertions
These enable you to create cross row, cross table constraints with SQL standard syntax
CREATE ASSERTION … CHECK (
[ NOT ] EXISTS ( )
)
@toonkoppelaars.bsky.social explains at #DOAG2025
#SQL assertions
These enable you to create cross row, cross table constraints with SQL standard syntax
CREATE ASSERTION … CHECK (
[ NOT ] EXISTS (
)
@toonkoppelaars.bsky.social explains at #DOAG2025
freesql.com gives free access to an Oracle AI Database schema
You can connect to it from VS Code or any other client with SQL*Net
#DOAG2025
You can connect to it from VS Code or any other client with SQL*Net
#DOAG2025
November 18, 2025 at 10:38 AM
freesql.com gives free access to an Oracle AI Database schema
You can connect to it from VS Code or any other client with SQL*Net
#DOAG2025
You can connect to it from VS Code or any other client with SQL*Net
#DOAG2025
Yesterday's #SQuizL was tricky for many, the solution was
SELECT emperor FROM japan AS OF PERIOD FOR meiji_era DATE '1868-10-23'
This uses the temporal period meiji_era to find rows active on the date passed
Today's seems challenging too - can you guess it?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
SELECT emperor FROM japan AS OF PERIOD FOR meiji_era DATE '1868-10-23'
This uses the temporal period meiji_era to find rows active on the date passed
Today's seems challenging too - can you guess it?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
October 24, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Yesterday's #SQuizL was tricky for many, the solution was
SELECT emperor FROM japan AS OF PERIOD FOR meiji_era DATE '1868-10-23'
This uses the temporal period meiji_era to find rows active on the date passed
Today's seems challenging too - can you guess it?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
SELECT emperor FROM japan AS OF PERIOD FOR meiji_era DATE '1868-10-23'
This uses the temporal period meiji_era to find rows active on the date passed
Today's seems challenging too - can you guess it?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
The #SQL analysis report in Oracle AI Database 26ai shows potential problems in a query
Cartesian products
UNION
Non sargable filters (can’t use indexes)
You can use this to find queries in the cursor cache which you may be able to improve
Cartesian products
UNION
Non sargable filters (can’t use indexes)
You can use this to find queries in the cursor cache which you may be able to improve
October 16, 2025 at 5:31 PM
The #SQL analysis report in Oracle AI Database 26ai shows potential problems in a query
Cartesian products
UNION
Non sargable filters (can’t use indexes)
You can use this to find queries in the cursor cache which you may be able to improve
Cartesian products
UNION
Non sargable filters (can’t use indexes)
You can use this to find queries in the cursor cache which you may be able to improve
Run natural language queries against Oracle AI Database with
SELECT AI
e.g.
SELECT AI what are the top 10 movies
Michelle Malcher demos and gives example use cases for it #AIWorld
SELECT AI
e.g.
SELECT AI what are the top 10 movies
Michelle Malcher demos and gives example use cases for it #AIWorld
October 16, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Run natural language queries against Oracle AI Database with
SELECT AI
e.g.
SELECT AI what are the top 10 movies
Michelle Malcher demos and gives example use cases for it #AIWorld
SELECT AI
e.g.
SELECT AI what are the top 10 movies
Michelle Malcher demos and gives example use cases for it #AIWorld
October 14, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Lots struggled with yesterday's #SQuizL!
Recognizing the first transaction on the Helsinki stock exchange, the solution was
SET TRANSACTION READ WRITE NAME q'[Helsinki Stock Exchange]'
This names the db transaction
Can you guess today's statement from the clue?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
Recognizing the first transaction on the Helsinki stock exchange, the solution was
SET TRANSACTION READ WRITE NAME q'[Helsinki Stock Exchange]'
This names the db transaction
Can you guess today's statement from the clue?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
October 8, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Lots struggled with yesterday's #SQuizL!
Recognizing the first transaction on the Helsinki stock exchange, the solution was
SET TRANSACTION READ WRITE NAME q'[Helsinki Stock Exchange]'
This names the db transaction
Can you guess today's statement from the clue?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
Recognizing the first transaction on the Helsinki stock exchange, the solution was
SET TRANSACTION READ WRITE NAME q'[Helsinki Stock Exchange]'
This names the db transaction
Can you guess today's statement from the clue?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
In this month's SQL Ask TOM Live session, Ric Van Dyke is joining me to discuss how to
Use the WITH clause
Optimize #SQL queries using WITH
Join us at Tues 21ct Oct, 2pm UK time asktom.oracle.com/ords/r/tech/...
Use the WITH clause
Optimize #SQL queries using WITH
Join us at Tues 21ct Oct, 2pm UK time asktom.oracle.com/ords/r/tech/...
October 7, 2025 at 2:29 PM
In this month's SQL Ask TOM Live session, Ric Van Dyke is joining me to discuss how to
Use the WITH clause
Optimize #SQL queries using WITH
Join us at Tues 21ct Oct, 2pm UK time asktom.oracle.com/ords/r/tech/...
Use the WITH clause
Optimize #SQL queries using WITH
Join us at Tues 21ct Oct, 2pm UK time asktom.oracle.com/ords/r/tech/...
#SQL is second in the IEEE Top Programming Languages for jobs in 2025
Good going for a language that's over 50 years old!
spectrum.ieee.org/top-programm...
Good going for a language that's over 50 years old!
spectrum.ieee.org/top-programm...
September 24, 2025 at 2:42 PM
#SQL is second in the IEEE Top Programming Languages for jobs in 2025
Good going for a language that's over 50 years old!
spectrum.ieee.org/top-programm...
Good going for a language that's over 50 years old!
spectrum.ieee.org/top-programm...
Oracle Database 23ai added direct join syntax for updates
UPDATE t1
SET t1.col = t2.col
FROM t2
WHERE
My latest post looks at this and other methods for updating one table from another
Update only merge
Updating a query
Correlated subquery update
blogs.oracle.com/sql/post/how...
UPDATE t1
SET t1.col = t2.col
FROM t2
WHERE
My latest post looks at this and other methods for updating one table from another
Update only merge
Updating a query
Correlated subquery update
blogs.oracle.com/sql/post/how...
September 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Oracle Database 23ai added direct join syntax for updates
UPDATE t1
SET t1.col = t2.col
FROM t2
WHERE
My latest post looks at this and other methods for updating one table from another
Update only merge
Updating a query
Correlated subquery update
blogs.oracle.com/sql/post/how...
UPDATE t1
SET t1.col = t2.col
FROM t2
WHERE
My latest post looks at this and other methods for updating one table from another
Update only merge
Updating a query
Correlated subquery update
blogs.oracle.com/sql/post/how...
Happy Birthday #SQuizL!
The daily Wordle-style guess the SQL statement quiz turns 2 today
We hope it makes for a fun way to learn Oracle #SQL syntax
Big thanks to Eli Feuerstein for building it
Play today at devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
The daily Wordle-style guess the SQL statement quiz turns 2 today
We hope it makes for a fun way to learn Oracle #SQL syntax
Big thanks to Eli Feuerstein for building it
Play today at devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
September 11, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Happy Birthday #SQuizL!
The daily Wordle-style guess the SQL statement quiz turns 2 today
We hope it makes for a fun way to learn Oracle #SQL syntax
Big thanks to Eli Feuerstein for building it
Play today at devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
The daily Wordle-style guess the SQL statement quiz turns 2 today
We hope it makes for a fun way to learn Oracle #SQL syntax
Big thanks to Eli Feuerstein for building it
Play today at devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
Oracle SQLcl project is a tool for managing deployments of database objects and APEX apps
Rafal Grzegorczyk showing us how to use it to move changes from dev->test->prod
#poug2025
Rafal Grzegorczyk showing us how to use it to move changes from dev->test->prod
#poug2025
September 6, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Oracle SQLcl project is a tool for managing deployments of database objects and APEX apps
Rafal Grzegorczyk showing us how to use it to move changes from dev->test->prod
#poug2025
Rafal Grzegorczyk showing us how to use it to move changes from dev->test->prod
#poug2025
![Example using IF [NOT] EXISTS syntax in 19.28](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xh6h36ybpgxcl47nmewyotj7/bafkreihravex65gqcsuwz3laddorxpmkbwwmu664txaa3x2drovd7dt6hi@jpeg)
August 1, 2025 at 10:20 AM
With all the new stuff in the 23ai RUs, it can be easy to overlook some cool changes in 19c such as
Schema annotations have been backported to 19.28
These enable you to add key-value metadata to describe tables, columns, and other database objects
Schema annotations have been backported to 19.28
These enable you to add key-value metadata to describe tables, columns, and other database objects
August 1, 2025 at 9:01 AM
With all the new stuff in the 23ai RUs, it can be easy to overlook some cool changes in 19c such as
Schema annotations have been backported to 19.28
These enable you to add key-value metadata to describe tables, columns, and other database objects
Schema annotations have been backported to 19.28
These enable you to add key-value metadata to describe tables, columns, and other database objects
It can? Have you got a demo?
Disabling the transpiler reverts the behaviour from what I can see without changing the statement
Disabling the transpiler reverts the behaviour from what I can see without changing the statement
July 31, 2025 at 11:29 AM
It can? Have you got a demo?
Disabling the transpiler reverts the behaviour from what I can see without changing the statement
Disabling the transpiler reverts the behaviour from what I can see without changing the statement
UUID functions
Generate version 4 UUIDs with the UUID function
Check whether a value is a valid UUID
SELECT UUID(), IS_UUID (...)
Generate version 4 UUIDs with the UUID function
Check whether a value is a valid UUID
SELECT UUID(), IS_UUID (...)
July 16, 2025 at 7:20 AM
UUID functions
Generate version 4 UUIDs with the UUID function
Check whether a value is a valid UUID
SELECT UUID(), IS_UUID (...)
Generate version 4 UUIDs with the UUID function
Check whether a value is a valid UUID
SELECT UUID(), IS_UUID (...)
Group by enhancements
Automatically place any unaggregated columns in the select into the group by clause
SELECT col1, col2, ...
FROM ..
GROUP BY ALL -- generates col1, col2
Automatically place any unaggregated columns in the select into the group by clause
SELECT col1, col2, ...
FROM ..
GROUP BY ALL -- generates col1, col2
July 16, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Group by enhancements
Automatically place any unaggregated columns in the select into the group by clause
SELECT col1, col2, ...
FROM ..
GROUP BY ALL -- generates col1, col2
Automatically place any unaggregated columns in the select into the group by clause
SELECT col1, col2, ...
FROM ..
GROUP BY ALL -- generates col1, col2
Non-positional inserts
Assign column values in the SET clause for row-based inserts:
INSERT INTO … SET col1 = val1, col2 = val2, ...
Match columns from the source table to the target table in INSERT-SELECT by name rather than position with
INSERT INTO … BY NAME SELECT …
Assign column values in the SET clause for row-based inserts:
INSERT INTO … SET col1 = val1, col2 = val2, ...
Match columns from the source table to the target table in INSERT-SELECT by name rather than position with
INSERT INTO … BY NAME SELECT …
July 16, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Non-positional inserts
Assign column values in the SET clause for row-based inserts:
INSERT INTO … SET col1 = val1, col2 = val2, ...
Match columns from the source table to the target table in INSERT-SELECT by name rather than position with
INSERT INTO … BY NAME SELECT …
Assign column values in the SET clause for row-based inserts:
INSERT INTO … SET col1 = val1, col2 = val2, ...
Match columns from the source table to the target table in INSERT-SELECT by name rather than position with
INSERT INTO … BY NAME SELECT …
To celebrate Spam's birthday, there is a lot of spam in today's #SQuizL
Can you find the #SQL statement hidden amongst all the spam?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
Can you find the #SQL statement hidden amongst all the spam?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
July 5, 2025 at 7:48 AM
To celebrate Spam's birthday, there is a lot of spam in today's #SQuizL
Can you find the #SQL statement hidden amongst all the spam?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...
Can you find the #SQL statement hidden amongst all the spam?
devgym.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p...