Discussion 11: More SQL

• disc11.pdf

After you finish your Thanksgiving dinner, you realize that you still need to buy gifts for all your loved ones over the holidays. However, you also want to spend as little money as possible (you're not cheap, just looking for a great sale).

This question utilizes the following tables:

products

CREATE TABLE products AS
  SELECT 'phone' AS category, 'uPhone' AS name, 99.99 AS MSRP, 4.5 AS rating UNION
  SELECT 'phone'            , 'rPhone'        , 79.99        , 3             UNION
  SELECT 'phone'            , 'qPhone'        , 89.99        , 4             UNION
  SELECT 'games'            , 'GameStation'   , 299.99       , 3             UNION
  SELECT 'games'            , 'QBox'          , 399.99       , 3.5           UNION
  SELECT 'computer'         , 'iBook'         , 112.99       , 4             UNION
  SELECT 'computer'         , 'wBook'         , 114.29       , 4.4           UNION
  SELECT 'computer'         , 'kBook'         , 99.99        , 3.8                ;

inventory

CREATE TABLE inventory AS
  SELECT 'Hallmart' AS store, 'uPhone' AS item, 99.99 AS price UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , 'uPhone'        , 100.99         UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , 'uPhone'        , 89.99          UNION

  SELECT 'Hallmart'         , 'rPhone'        , 69.99          UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , 'rPhone'        , 79.99          UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , 'rPhone'        , 75.99          UNION

  SELECT 'Hallmart'         , 'qPhone'        , 85.99          UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , 'qPhone'        , 88.98          UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , 'qPhone'        , 87.98          UNION

  SELECT 'Hallmart'         , 'GameStation'   , 298.98         UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , 'GameStation'   , 300.98         UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , 'GameStation'   , 310.99         UNION

  SELECT 'Hallmart'         , 'QBox'          , 399.99         UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , 'QBox'          , 390.98         UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , 'QBox'          , 410.98         UNION

  SELECT 'Hallmart'         , 'iBook'         , 111.99         UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , 'iBook'         , 110.99         UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , 'iBook'         , 112.99         UNION

  SELECT 'Hallmart'         , 'wBook'         , 117.29         UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , 'wBook'         , 119.29         UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , 'wBook'         , 114.29         UNION

  SELECT 'Hallmart'         , 'kBook'         , 95.99          UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , 'kBook'         , 96.99          UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , 'kBook'         , 94.99               ;

stores

CREATE TABLE stores AS
  SELECT 'Hallmart' AS store, '50 Lawton Way' AS address, 25 AS Mbs UNION
  SELECT 'Targive'          , '2 Red Circle Way'        , 40        UNION
  SELECT 'RestBuy'          , '1 Kiosk Ave'             , 30             ;

Q1: Price Check

Let's start off by surveying our options. Using the products table, write a query that creates a table average_prices that lists categories and the average price of items in the category (using MSRP as the price). Finally, sort the resulting rows by highest to lowest average price.

You should get the following output:

Due to floating point errors, you may get average price values that are slightly off, such as 349.99 instead of 350.

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Q2: Lowest Prices

Now, you want to figure out which stores sell each item in products for the lowest price. Write a SQL query that uses the inventory table to create a table lowest_prices that lists items, the stores that sells that item for the lowest price, and the price that the store sells that item for. Finally, sort the resulting rows alphabetically by item name.

You should expect the following output:

In other variants of SQL such as PostgreSQL, you are not allowed to include columns in the SELECT clause if they are not included in the GROUP BY clause or an aggregation function in the SELECT clause. However, SQLite allows this and this variant is what we use in this class.

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Q3: Shopping List

You want to make a shopping list by choosing the item that is the best deal possible for every category. For example, for the "phone" category, the uPhone is the best deal because the MSRP price of a uPhone divided by its ratings yields the lowest cost. That means that uPhones cost the lowest money per rating point out of all of the phones. Note that the item with the lowest MSRP price may not necessarily be the best deal.

Write a query to create a table shopping_list that lists the items that you want to buy from each category.

After you've figured out which item you want to buy for each category, add another column that lists the store that sells that item for the lowest price.

Finally, sort the resulting table alphabetically by item name.

Hint: What table have you already defined that gives you the store that sells a given item for the lowest price? How can you use that to determine which item in each category is the best deal?

You should expect the following output:

Note 1: In other variants of SQL such as PostgreSQL, you are not allowed to include columns in the SELECT clause if they are not included in the GROUP BY clause or an aggregation function in the SELECT clause. However, SQLite allows this and this variant is what we use in this class.

Note 2: In other variants of SQL such as PostgreSQL, you cannot provide a numeric type as the predicate of the HAVING clause (the staff solution uses HAVING MIN(...) which isn't allowed since MIN returns a number but HAVING expects a boolean). However, SQLite allows this and this variant is what we use in this class.

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Q4: Bandwidth

Using the Mbs (megabits) column from the stores table, write a query to calculate the total amount of bandwidth needed to get everything in your shopping list (assume the shopping_list table from the previous question is already defined).

You should expect the following output:

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Document the Occasion

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