Although not as proficient at string manipulation as procedural programming languages such as Java, C++, and PHP, SQL does provide many functions for working with string data. These may be employed to trim off extra spaces or characters, determine how long a string is, and concatenate several field values together. String functions are well worth becoming acquainted with as they can help make your code more effective and readable. In today's blog, we'll learn how to count the number of string occurrences within a char, varchar or text field using a couple of native SQL string functions.

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Part 2: When To Use Them

You probably already know that setting a default value on non-null columns helps get rid of those pesky "Field 'xyz' doesn't have a default value" errors. Hopefully you're also aware that keeping error messages at bay is not in-itself a valid reason for supplying default values. There are many reasons for providing default column values - some good, and some, less so. Part 1 explored the ramifications of MySQL's Strict SQL Mode, as well as how to view and set it using Navicat for MySQL 15. In today's follow-up blog, we'll tackle when to use default values, and how to come up with good ones.

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Part 1: Strict SQL Mode

Getting errors when you don't supply a value for a non-null column can be an immense source of frustration. There's a way to minimize the occurrence of such errors by setting a default value for those columns. Seems like an easy fix, but, as in all things, the devil's in the details. You have to be careful that you don't add a bunch of generic - and useless - data to your tables just for the sake of making INSERTs easier. In today's blog, we'll learn about the ramifications of MySQL's Strict SQL Mode, as well as how to view and set it using Navicat for MySQL 15. In part 2 we'll cover when it makes sense to employ default values (and when it doesn't).

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A Top N query is one that fetches the top records, ordered by some value, in descending order. Typically, these are accomplished using the TOP or LIMIT clause. Problem is, Top N result sets are limited to the highest values in the table, without any grouping. The GROUP BY clause can help with that, but it is limited to the single top result for each group. If you want the top 5 per category, GROUP BY won't help by itself. That doesn't mean it can't be done. In fact, in today's blog, we'll learn exactly how to construct a Top N query by group.

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