Head First SQL
by Lynn Beighley

The unconfirmed error reports are from readers.  They have not yet been 
approved or disproved by the author or editor and represent solely the
opinion of the reader.

Here's a key to the markup:
        [page-number]: serious technical mistake
        {page-number}: minor technical mistake
        <page-number>: important language/formatting problem
        (page-number): language change or minor formatting problem
        ?page-number?: reader question or request for clarification

This page was updated July 7, 2008.


UNCONFIRMED  errors and comments from readers: 


{26}tax_rate row, Best Choice of Data Type column;
In http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596526849/errata/9780596526849.1113 you state this needs to be DEC(5,3) for tax rates of 0.000 to 100.000. If you were to tax at 100.000, you'd need DEC(6,3).


(113,115)third example;
The example

SELECT drink_name FROM drink_info WHERE NOT carbs BETWEEN 3 AND 5;

is the simplest rendition of that WHERE clause, so this is a trick question. Your answer on page 115 is more complicated than the version on page 113. My answer is "trick question".


{113,115}last example;
SELECT date_name FROM black_book WHERE date_name NOT BETWEEN 'A' AND 'B';

would NOT match Boris.

you need either

SELECT date_name FROM black_book WHERE date_name NOT BETWEEN 'A' AND 'Bz';

or

SELECT date_name FROM black_book WHERE date_name NOT BETWEEN 'A' AND 'C';

and in the latter case hope that Amanda doesn't put 'C' in.


[201-202]header of 201, magnets at bottom of 201, magnets on 202;
In MySQL 5.0.51b on my Mac, ordinals beyond FIRST fail, as does BEFORE.

So,
ALTER TABLE my_contacts
ADD COLUMN phone VARCHAR(10) FOURTH;

fails altogether, as would
ALTER TABLE my_contacts
ADD COLUMN phone VARCHAR(10) BEFORE email;


{210} 3rd paragraph;
alter table project_list
change column number proj_id int not null auto_increment,
add primary key ('proj_id');

should be

alter table project_list
change column number proj_id int not null auto_increment,
add primary key (proj_id);

the '' is not necessary here.

run under mysql 5.0.51a


{307} CREATE TABLE;
mysql> CREATE TABLE interests (

-> int_id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,

-> interest VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,

-> contact_id INT NOT NULL,

-> CONSTRAINT my_contacts_contact_id_fk

-> FOREIGN KEY (contact_id)

-> REFERENCES my_contacts (contact_id); ß This line shouldn’t have the semi-colon


{384}Comment to the right of the page;
The comment on this page says: "These are just a few of the titles in Greg's job_current table.". But the Select statement selects from the job_listings.


{458} query halfway down the page;
SELECT status_id FROM profession WHERE status = ‘ single ’;

Is incorrect – we’re looking for the status_id of a married person.