- Working with Query Expressions
- Placing Conditions on Queries
- Learning How to Use Operators
- Summary
- Q&A
- Workshop
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Learning How to Use Operators
Operators are the elements you use inside an expression to articulate how you want specified conditions to retrieve data. Operators fall into six groups: arithmetic, comparison, character, logical, set, and miscellaneous. SQL utilizes three types of operators: arithmetic, comparison, and logical.
Arithmetic Operators
The arithmetic operators are plus (+), minus (−), divide (/), multiply (*), and modulo (%). The first four are self-explanatory. Modulo returns the integer remainder of a division. Here are two examples:
5 % 2 = 1 6 % 2 = 0
The modulo operator does not work with data types that have decimals, such as Real or Number.
If you place several of these arithmetic operators in an expression without any parentheses, the operators are resolved in this order: multiplication, division, modulo, addition, and subtraction. For example, the expression
2*6+9/3
equals
12 + 3 = 15
However, the expression
2 * (6 + 9) / 3
equals
2 * 15 / 3 = 10
Watch where you put those parentheses! Sometimes the expression does exactly what you tell it to do, rather than what you want it to do. The same holds true for SQL.
The following sections examine the arithmetic operators in some detail and give you a chance to write some queries.
Plus (+)
You can use the plus sign in several ways. Type the following statement to display the PRICE table:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM PRICE; ITEM WHOLESALE --------------- --------- TOMATOES .34 POTATOES .51 BANANAS .67 TURNIPS .45 CHEESE .89 APPLES .23 6 rows selected.
Now type
Input
SQL> SELECT ITEM, WHOLESALE, WHOLESALE + 0.15 2 FROM PRICE;
Here the + adds 15 cents to each price to produce the following:
Output
ITEM WHOLESALE WHOLESALE+0.15 --------------- --------- --------------- TOMATOES .34 .49 POTATOES .51 .66 BANANAS .67 .82 TURNIPS .45 .60 CHEESE .89 1.04 APPLES .23 .38 6 rows selected.
Analysis
What is this last column with the unattractive column heading WHOLESALE+0.15? It’s not in the original table. SQL allows you to create a virtual or derived column by combining or modifying existing columns.
Retype the original entry:
Input
SQL> SELECT * FROM PRICE;
The following table results:
Output
ITEM WHOLESALE --------------- --------- TOMATOES .34 POTATOES .51 BANANAS .67 TURNIPS .45 CHEESE .89 APPLES .23 6 rows selected.
Analysis
The output confirms that the original data has not been changed and that the column heading WHOLESALE+0.15 is not a permanent part of it. In fact, the column heading is so unattractive that you should do something about it.
Type the following:
Input
SQL> SELECT ITEM, WHOLESALE, (WHOLESALE + 0.15) RETAIL 2 FROM PRICE;
Here’s the result:
Output
ITEM WHOLESALE RETAIL --------------- --------- ------ TOMATOES .34 .49 POTATOES .51 .66 BANANAS .67 .82 TURNIPS .45 .60 CHEESE .89 1.04 APPLES .23 .38 6 rows selected.
Analysis
This is wonderful! Not only can you create new output columns, but you can also rename them on the fly. You can rename any of the columns using the syntax <column_name> <alias>. (Note the space between the column_name and alias.)
For example, the query
Input
SQL> SELECT ITEM PRODUCE, WHOLESALE, WHOLESALE + 0.25 RETAIL 2 FROM PRICE;
renames the columns as follows:
Output
PRODUCE WHOLESALE RETAIL --------------- --------- ------- TOMATOES .34 .59 POTATOES .51 .76 BANANAS .67 .92 TURNIPS .45 .70 CHEESE .89 1.14 APPLES .23 .48 6 rows in set (0.00 sec)
You might be wondering what use aliasing is if you are not using command-line SQL. Fair enough. Have you ever wondered how report builders work? Some day, when you are asked to write a report generator, you’ll remember this and not spend weeks reinventing what Dr. Codd and IBM have wrought.
In some implementations of SQL, the plus sign does double duty as a character operator. You’ll see that side of the plus sign a little later in this lesson.
Minus (−)
Minus also has two uses. First, it can change the sign of a number. You can use the table HILOW to demonstrate this function.
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM HILOW; STATE LOWS HIGHS ----- ---- ----- CA -50 120 FL 20 110 LA 15 99 ND -70 101 NE -60 100
For example, here’s a way to manipulate the data:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT STATE, - LOWS, - HIGHS 2 FROM HILOW; STATE LOWS HIGHS ----- ---- ----- CA 50 -120 FL -20 -110 LA -15 -99 ND 70 -101 NE 60 -100
The second (and obvious) use of the minus sign is to subtract one column from another—for example,
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT STATE, 2 LOWS, 3 HIGHS, 4 (–HIGHS - LOWS) DIFFERENCE 5 FROM HILOW; STATE LOWS HIGHS DIFFERENCE ----- ---- ----- ---------- CA -50 120 170 FL 20 110 90 LA 15 99 84 ND -70 101 171 NE -60 100 160
If you accidentally use the minus sign on a character field, you get something like this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT -STATE FROM HILOW; ERROR: ORA-01722: invalid number no rows selected
The exact error message varies with implementation. Here is an example using MySQL:
Input/Output
mysql> select -state
-> from hilow;
+--------+
| -state |
+--------+
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
+--------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)
MySQL evaluated the SELECT statement, but as you can see, the results are rather meaningless.
Divide (/)
The division operator has only the one obvious meaning. Using the table PRICE, type the following:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM PRICE; ITEM WHOLESALE -------- --------- TOMATOES .34 POTATOES .51 BANANAS .67 TURNIPS .45 CHEESE .89 APPLES .23 6 rows selected. mysql> select * from price; +----------+-----------+ | item | wholesale | +----------+-----------+ | TOMATOES | 0.34 | | POTATOES | 0.51 | | BANANAS | 0.67 | | TURNIPS | 0.45 | | CHEESE | 0.89 | | APPLES | 0.23 | +----------+-----------+ 6 rows in set (0.26 sec)
You can show the effects of a two-for-one sale by typing the next statement:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT ITEM, WHOLESALE, (WHOLESALE/2) SALEPRICE 2 FROM PRICE; ITEM WHOLESALE SALEPRICE --------------- --------- --------- TOMATOES .34 .17 POTATOES .51 .255 BANANAS .67 .335 TURNIPS .45 .225 CHEESE .89 .445 APPLES .23 .115 6 rows selected.
The same example in MySQL would be:
Input/Output
mysql> select ITEM, WHOLESALE, (WHOLESALE/2) Saleprice
-> from price;
+----------+-----------+-----------+
| ITEM | WHOLESALE | Saleprice |
+----------+-----------+-----------+
| TOMATOES | 0.34 | 0.1700 |
| POTATOES | 0.51 | 0.2550 |
| BANANAS | 0.67 | 0.3350 |
| TURNIPS | 0.45 | 0.2250 |
| CHEESE | 0.89 | 0.4450 |
| APPLES | 0.23 | 0.1150 |
+----------+-----------+-----------+
6 rows in set (0.26 sec)
The use of division in the preceding SELECT statement is straightforward (except that coming up with half pennies can be tough).
Multiply (*)
The multiplication operator is also straightforward. Again, using the PRICE table, type the following:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM PRICE; ITEM WHOLESALE --------------- --------- TOMATOES .34 POTATOES .51 BANANAS .67 TURNIPS .45 CHEESE .89 APPLES .23 6 rows selected.
The output from this query reflects an across-the-board 10% discount. The actual data in the table has not changed.
Input/Output
SQL> SQL> SELECT ITEM, WHOLESALE, WHOLESALE * 0.9 NEWPRICE 2 FROM PRICE; ITEM WHOLESALE NEWPRICE --------------- --------- -------- TOMATOES .34 .306 POTATOES .51 .459 BANANAS .67 .603 TURNIPS .45 .405 CHEESE .89 .801 APPLES .23 .207 6 rows selected.
The same example in MySQL would be:
Input/Output
mysql> select Item,
-> Wholesale, Wholesale * 0.9 "New Price"
-> from price;
+----------+-----------+-----------+
| Item | Wholesale | New Price |
+----------+-----------+-----------+
| TOMATOES | 0.34 | 0.31 |
| POTATOES | 0.51 | 0.46 |
| BANANAS | 0.67 | 0.60 |
| TURNIPS | 0.45 | 0.41 |
| CHEESE | 0.89 | 0.80 |
| APPLES | 0.23 | 0.21 |
+----------+-----------+-----------+
6 rows in set (0.00 sec)
These operators enable you to perform powerful calculations in a SELECT statement.
Modulo (%)
The modulo operator returns the integer remainder of the division operation. Using the table REMAINS, type the following:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM REMAINS;
NUMERATOR DENOMINATOR
--------- -----------
10 5
8 3
23 9
40 17
1024 16
85 34
6 rows selected.
The same example in MySQL would be:
Input/Output
mysql> select * from remains; +-----------+-------------+ | numerator | denominator | +-----------+-------------+ | 10 | 5 | | 8 | 3 | | 23 | 9 | | 40 | 17 | | 1024 | 16 | | 85 | 34 | +-----------+-------------+ 6 rows in set (0.43 sec)
You can also create a new output column, REMAINDER, to hold the values of NUMERATOR % DENOMINATOR:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT NUMERATOR,
2 DENOMINATOR,
3 NUMERATOR%DENOMINATOR REMAINDER
4 FROM REMAINS;
NUMERATOR DENOMINATOR REMAINDER
--------- ----------- ---------
10 5 0
8 3 2
23 9 5
40 17 6
1024 16 0
85 34 17
6 rows selected.
The same example in MySQL would be:
Input/Output
mysql> select numerator, denominator, numerator%denominator remainder
-> from remains;
+-----------+-------------+-----------------------+
| numerator | denominator | remainder |
+-----------+-------------+-----------------------+
| 10 | 5 | 0 |
| 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 23 | 9 | 5 |
| 40 | 17 | 6 |
| 1024 | 16 | 0 |
| 85 | 34 | 17 |
+-----------+-------------+-----------------------+
6 rows in set (0.01 sec)
Analysis
Some implementations of SQL implement modulo as a function called MOD (see Lesson 7, “Molding Data with Built-in Functions”). The following statement produces results that are identical to the results in the preceding statement:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT NUMERATOR,
2 DENOMINATOR,
3 MOD(NUMERATOR,DENOMINATOR) REMAINDER
4 FROM REMAINS;
NUMERATOR DENOMINATOR REMAINDER
--------- ----------- ---------
10 5 0
8 3 2
23 9 5
40 17 6
1024 16 0
85 34 17
6 rows selected.
The same example in MySQL would be:
Input/Output
mysql> select numerator, denominator,
-> mod(numerator,denominator) remainder
-> from remains;
+-----------+-------------+----------------------------+
| numerator | denominator | remainder |
+-----------+-------------+----------------------------+
| 10 | 5 | 0 |
| 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 23 | 9 | 5 |
| 40 | 17 | 6 |
| 1024 | 16 | 0 |
| 85 | 34 | 17 |
+-----------+-------------+----------------------------+
6 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Precedence
Precedence is the order in which an implementation will evaluate different operators in the same expression. This section examines the use of precedence in a SELECT statement. Using the table PRECEDENCE, type the following:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM PRECEDENCE;
N1 N2 N3 N4
------- -------- -------- --------
1 2 3 4
13 24 35 46
9 3 23 5
63 2 45 3
7 2 1 4
5 rows selected.
mysql> select * from precedence;
+----+----+----+----+
| n1 | n2 | n3 | n4 |
+----+----+----+----+
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 13 | 24 | 35 | 46 |
| 9 | 3 | 23 | 5 |
| 63 | 2 | 45 | 3 |
| 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
+----+----+----+----+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Use the following code segment to test precedence:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT
2 N1+N2*N3/N4,
3 (N1+N2)*N3/N4,
4 N1+(N2*N3)/N4
5 FROM PRECEDENCE;
N1+N2*N3/N4 (N1+N2)*N3/N4 N1+(N2*N3)/N4
----------- ------------- -------------
2.5 2.25 2.5
31.26087 28.152174 31.26087
22.8 55.2 22.8
93 975 93
7.5 2.25 7.5
5 rows selected.
mysql> select n1+n2*n3/n4,
-> (n1+n2)*n3/n4,
-> n1+(n2*n3)/n4
-> from precedence;
+-------------+-------------+---------------+
| n1+n2*n3/n4 |(n1+n2)*n3/n4| n1+(n2*n3)/n4 |
+-------------+-------------+---------------+
| 2.50 | 9 | 2.50 |
| 31.26 | 1295 | 31.26 |
| 22.80 | 276 | 22.80 |
| 93.00 | 2925 | 93.00 |
| 7.50 | 9 | 7.50 |
+-------------+-------------+---------------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Notice that the first and last columns are identical. If you added a fourth column N1+N2*(N3/N4), its values would also be identical to those of the current first and last columns. The rules for precedence follow the usual algebraic set in that values are normally executed in the following order moving left to right.
- Parentheses
- Multiplication/division
- Addition/subtraction
Analysis
Quite simply, values inside parentheses are computed first, then multiplication or division operations are performed, and lastly addition and subtraction operations are performed. These rules are important to remember as you start to write more complicated calculations to analyze data.
Comparison Operators
True to their name, comparison operators compare expressions and return one of three values: TRUE, FALSE, or UNKNOWN. Wait a minute! Unknown? TRUE and FALSE are self-explanatory, but what is UNKNOWN?
To understand how you could get an UNKNOWN, you need to know a little about the concept of NULL. In database terms, NULL is the absence of data in a field. It does not mean that a column has a zero or a blank in it. A zero or a blank is a value. NULL means nothing is in that field.
If you make a comparison such as Field = 9 and the only acceptable value for Field is NULL, the comparison will come back UNKNOWN. Because UNKNOWN is an uncomfortable condition, most flavors of SQL change UNKNOWN to FALSE and provide a special operator, IS NULL, to test for a NULL condition.
Here’s an example of NULL: Suppose an entry in the PRICE table does not contain a value for WHOLESALE. The results of a query might look like this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM PRICE; ITEM WHOLESALE --------- --------- TOMATOES .34 POTATOES .51 BANANAS .67 TURNIPS .45 CHEESE .89 APPLES .23 ORANGES 7 rows selected.
Analysis
Notice that no value appears in the WHOLESALE field position for ORANGES. The value of the field WHOLESALE for ORANGES is NULL. The NULL is noticeable in this case because it is in a numeric column. However, if the NULL appeared in the ITEM column, it would be impossible to tell the difference between NULL and a blank.
Try to find the NULL:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM PRICE 3 WHERE WHOLESALE IS NULL; ITEM WHOLESALE -------- --------- ORANGES 1 rows selected.
As you can see by the output, ORANGES is the only item whose value for WHOLESALE is NULL, or does not contain a value. What if you use the equal sign (=) instead?
Input/Output
SQL>SELECT * 2 FROM PRICE 3 WHERE WHOLESALE = NULL; no rows selected
Analysis
You wouldn’t find anything because the comparison WHOLESALE = NULL returned a FALSE—the result was unknown. It would be more appropriate to use an IS NULL instead of =, changing the WHERE statement to WHERE WHOLESALE IS NULL. In this case, you would get all the rows where a NULL existed.
This example also illustrates both the use of the most common comparison operator (=) and the playground of all comparison operators, the WHERE clause. You already know about the WHERE clause, so here’s a brief look at the equal sign.
Equal Sign (=)
Earlier today you saw how some implementations of SQL use the equal sign in the SELECT clause to assign an alias. In the WHERE clause, the equal sign is the most commonly used comparison operator. Used alone, the equal sign is a very convenient way of selecting one value out of many. Try this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM FRIENDS; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -------- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332 5 rows selected.
Let’s find JD’s row. (On a short list this task appears trivial, but you might have more friends than we do—or you might have a list with thousands of records.)
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE FIRSTNAME = 'JD';
LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP
-------- --------- ------ -------- ---- ----
MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
1 rows selected.
mysql> select * from friends
-> where firstname = 'JD';
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
| lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip |
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
| MAST | JD | 381 | 555-6767 | LA | 23456 |
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
1 row in set (0.37 sec)
We got the result that we expected. Try this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE FIRSTNAME = 'AL'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK 2 rows selected.
Here’s another very important lesson concerning case sensitivity:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT FIRSTNAME FROM FRIENDS 2 WHERE FIRSTNAME = 'BUD'; FIRSTNAME --------------- BUD 1 row selected. mysql> select firstname from friends where firstname = 'BUD'; +-----------+ | firstname | +-----------+ | BUD | +-----------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
Now try this:
Input/Output
SQL> select FIRSTNAME from friends
2 where firstname = 'Bud';
no rows selected.
mysql> select firstname
-> from friends
-> where firstname = 'bud';
+-----------+
| firstname |
+-----------+
| BUD |
+-----------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)
Analysis
Even though SQL syntax is not case sensitive, data within it is, at least in some implementations. As you can see in the preceding examples, data stored in an Oracle database (SQL*Plus) is case sensitive, whereas the MySQL example demonstrates the opposite.
Most companies prefer to store data in uppercase to provide data consistency. I recommend that you always store data either in all uppercase or in all lowercase, regardless of what type of database you are working in. Mixing case might create difficulties when you try to retrieve accurate data through comparisons in the WHERE clause.
Greater Than (>) and Greater Than or Equal To (>=)
The greater than operator (>) works like this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE AREACODE > 300; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ------ MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332 2 rows selected.
This example found all the area codes greater than (but not including) 300. To include 300, type this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE AREACODE >= 300;
LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP
-------- --------- -------- -------- -- -----
MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212
MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332
3 rows selected.
mysql> select * from friends
-> where areacode >= 300;
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
| lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip |
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
| MERRICK | BUD | 300 | 555-6666 | CO | 80212 |
| MAST | JD | 381 | 555-6767 | LA | 23456 |
| BULHER | FERRIS | 345 | 555-3223 | IL | 23332 |
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
3 rows in set (0.34 sec)
With this change you get area codes starting at 300 and going up. You could achieve the same results with the statement AREACODE > 299.
Less Than (<) and Less Than or Equal To (<=)
As you might expect, these comparison operators work the same way as > and >= work, only in reverse:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE ST < 'LA'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332 3 rows selected. mysql> select * from friends where st < 'LA'; +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | BUNDY | AL | 100 | 555-1111 | IL | 22333 | | MERRICK | BUD | 300 | 555-6666 | CO | 80212 | | BULHER | FERRIS | 345 | 555-3223 | IL | 23332 | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ 3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Analysis
Wait a minute. Did you just use < on a character field? Of course you did. You can use any of these operators on any data type. The result varies by data type. For example, use lowercase in the following state search:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE STATE < 'la'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332 5 rows selected. mysql> select * from friends where st < 'la'; +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | BUNDY | AL | 100 | 555-1111 | IL | 22333 | | MERRICK | BUD | 300 | 555-6666 | CO | 80212 | | BULHER | FERRIS | 345 | 555-3223 | IL | 23332 | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ 3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Uppercase is usually sorted before lowercase; therefore, the uppercase codes returned are less than la. Again, to be safe, check your implementation.
To include the state of Louisiana in the original search, type
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE STATE <= 'LA'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332 4 rows selected. mysql> select * from friends where st <= 'LA'; +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | BUNDY | AL | 100 | 555-1111 | IL | 22333 | | MERRICK | BUD | 300 | 555-6666 | CO | 80212 | | MAST | JD | 381 | 555-6767 | LA | 23456 | | BULHER | FERRIS | 345 | 555-3223 | IL | 23332 | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ 4 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Inequalities (< > or !=)
When you need to find everything except for certain data, use the inequality symbol, which can be either < > or !=, depending on your SQL implementation. For example, to find everyone who is not AL, type this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE FIRSTNAME <> 'AL'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332 3 rows selected. mysql> select * from friends where firstname <> 'AL'; +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | MERRICK | BUD | 300 | 555-6666 | CO | 80212 | | MAST | JD | 381 | 555-6767 | LA | 23456 | | BULHER | FERRIS | 345 | 555-3223 | IL | 23332 | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ 4 rows in set (0.00 sec)
To find everyone not living in California, type this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE STATE != 'CA'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332 5 rows selected. mysql> select * from friends where st != 'CA'; +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | BUNDY | AL | 100 | 555-1111 | IL | 22333 | | MEZA | AL | 200 | 555-2222 | UK| | | MERRICK | BUD | 300 | 555-6666 | CO | 80212 | | MAST | JD | 381 | 555-6767 | LA | 23456 | | BULHER | FERRIS | 345 | 555-3223 | IL | 23332 | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ 5 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Character Operators
You can use character operators to manipulate the way character strings are represented, both in the output of data and in the process of placing conditions on data to be retrieved. This section describes two character operators: the LIKE operator and the || operator, the latter of which conveys the concept of character concatenation.
LIKE
What if you wanted to select parts of a database that fit a pattern but weren’t quite exact matches? You could use the equal sign and run through all the possible cases, but that process would be boring and time-consuming. Instead, you can use LIKE. Consider the following:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM PARTS; NAME LOCATION PARTNUMBER ----------- ----------- ---------- APPENDIX MID-STOMACH 1 ADAMS APPLE THROAT 2 HEART CHEST 3 SPINE BACK 4 ANVIL EAR 5 KIDNEY MID-BACK 6 6 rows selected.
How can you find all the parts located in the back? A quick visual inspection of this simple table shows that it has two parts, but unfortunately the locations have slightly different names. Try this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM PARTS 3 WHERE LOCATION LIKE '%BACK%'; NAME LOCATION PARTNUMBER ------- -------- ---------- SPINE BACK 4 KIDNEY MID-BACK 6 2 rows selected.
Analysis
You can see the use of the percent sign (%) in the statement after LIKE. When used inside a LIKE expression, % is a wildcard. What you asked for was any occurrence of BACK in the column location. If you queried
Input
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM PARTS 3 WHERE LOCATION LIKE 'BACK%';
you would get any occurrence that started with BACK:
Input/Output
NAME LOCATION PARTNUMBER ----- -------- ---------- SPINE BACK 4 1 rows selected. mysql> select * from parts where location like 'BACK%'; +-------+----------+------------+ | name | location | partnumber | +-------+----------+------------+ | SPINE | BACK | 4 | +-------+----------+------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
If you queried
Input
SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM PARTS
3 WHERE NAME LIKE 'A%';
you would get any name that starts with A:
Output
NAME LOCATION PARTNUMBER ----------- ----------- ---------- APPENDIX MID-STOMACH 1 ADAMS APPLE THROAT 2 ANVIL EAR 5 3 rows selected.
Is LIKE case sensitive in both Oracle and MySQL? Try the next query to find out.
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM PARTS 3 WHERE NAME LIKE 'a%'; no rows selected mysql> select * from parts where name like 'a%'; +-------------+-------------+------------+ | name | location | partnumber | +-------------+-------------+------------+ | APPENDIX | MID-STOMACH | 1 | | ADAMS APPLE | THROAT | 2 | | ANVIL | EAR | 5 | +-------------+-------------+------------+ 3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
The answer is yes in Oracle and no in MySQL. References to data are dependent upon the implementation you are working with.
What if you want to find data that matches all but one character in a certain pattern? In this case you could use a different type of wildcard: the underscore.
Underscore (_)
The underscore is the single-character wildcard. Using a modified version of the table FRIENDS, type this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM FRIENDS; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332 PERKINS ALTON 911 555-3116 CA 95633 BOSS SIR 204 555-2345 CT 95633 7 rows selected.
To find all the records where ST starts with C, type the following:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE ST LIKE 'C_'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 PERKINS ALTON 911 555-3116 CA 95633 BOSS SIR 204 555-2345 CT 95633 3 rows selected. mysql> select * from friends where st like 'C_'; +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ | MERRICK | BUD | 300 | 555-6666 | CO | 80212 | | PERKINS | ALTON | 911 | 555-3116 | CA | 95633 | | BOSS | SIR | 204 | 555-2345 | CT | 95633 | +----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+ 3 row in set (0.00 sec)
You can use several underscores in a statement:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE PHONE LIKE'555-6_6_'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 2 rows selected.
The previous statement could also be written as follows:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE PHONE LIKE '555-6%'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 2 rows selected.
Notice that the results are identical. These two wildcards can be combined. The next example finds all records with L as the second character:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE FIRSTNAME LIKE '_L%'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK PERKINS ALTON 911 555-3116 CA 95633 3 rows selected.
Concatenation (||)
The || (double pipe) symbol concatenates two strings. Try this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT FIRSTNAME || LASTNAME ENTIRENAME 2 FROM FRIENDS; ENTIRENAME ---------------------- AL BUNDY AL MEZA BUD MERRICK JD MAST FERRIS BULHER ALTON PERKINS SIR BOSS 7 rows selected.
Analysis
Notice that || is used instead of +. If you use + to try to concatenate the strings, the SQL interpreter used for this example (Oracle) returns the following error:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT FIRSTNAME + LASTNAME ENTIRENAME 2 FROM FRIENDS; ERROR: ORA-01722: invalid number
It is looking for two numbers to add and throws the error invalid number when it doesn’t find any.
Input/Output
mysql> select concat(firstname," ",lastname)Entirename from friends; +---------------+ | Entirename | +---------------+ | AL BUNDY | | BUD MERRICK | | JD MAST | | FERRIS BULHER | | AL MEZA | | ALTON PERKINS | | SIR BOSS | +---------------+ 7 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Here’s a more practical example using concatenation:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT LASTNAME || ',' || FIRSTNAME NAME 2 FROM FRIENDS; NAME ---------------------------------------------- BUNDY , AL MEZA , AL MERRICK , BUD MAST , JD BULHER , FERRIS PERKINS , ALTON BOSS , SIR 7 rows selected. mysql> select concat(lastname,","," ",firstname)Name from friends; +----------------+ | Name | +----------------+ | BUNDY, AL | | MEZA, AL | | MERRICK, BUD | | MAST, JD | | BULHER, FERRIS | | PERKINS, ALTON | | BOSS, SIR | +----------------+ 7 rows in set (0.00 sec)
The Oracle statement inserted a comma between the last name and the first name. This was done because Oracle (and other implementations) accounts for the entire length that a column may be when it concatenates to the other string. This creates a natural spacing between the values of the columns/strings. The MySQL statement inserted a comma and a space between the two columns. MySQL automatically runs the values of the columns/strings into one; thus, any “natural” spacing between the values is lost.
So far you have performed the comparisons one at a time. This method is fine for some problems, but what if you need to find all the people at work with last names starting with P who have less than three days of vacation time? Logical operators can help in this case.
Logical Operators
Logical operators separate two or more conditions in the WHERE clause of a SQL statement.
Vacation time is always a hot topic around the workplace. Say you designed a table called VACATION for the accounting department:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM VACATION; LASTNAME EMPLOYEENUM YEARS LEAVETAKEN --------------- ----------- ----- ---------- ABLE 101 2 4 BAKER 104 5 23 BLEDSOE 107 8 45 BOLIVAR 233 4 80 BOLD 210 15 100 COSTALES 211 10 78 6 rows selected.
Suppose your company gives each employee 12 days of leave each year. Using what you have learned and a logical operator, find all the employees whose name starts with B and who have more than 50 days of leave coming.
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT LASTNAME,
2 YEARS * 12 - LEAVETAKEN REMAINING
3 FROM VACATION
4 WHERE LASTNAME LIKE 'B%'
5 AND
6 YEARS * 12 - LEAVETAKEN > 50;
LASTNAME REMAINING
-------- ---------
BLEDSOE 51
BOLD 80
2 rows selected.
mysql> select lastname,
-> years*12 - leavetaken remaining
-> from vacation
-> where lastname like 'B%'
-> and years*12 - leavetaken > 50;
+----------+-----------+
| lastname | remaining |
+----------+-----------+
| BLEDSOE | 51 |
| BOLD | 80 |
+----------+-----------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Analysis
This query is the most complicated you have done to date. The SELECT clause (lines 1 and 2) uses arithmetic operators to determine how many days of leave each employee has remaining. The normal precedence computes YEARS * 12 - LEAVETAKEN. (A clearer approach would be to write (YEARS * 12) - LEAVETAKEN.)
LIKE is used in line 4 with the wildcard % to find all the B names. Line 5 uses the > to find all occurrences greater than 50.
The new element is on line 5. You used the logical operator AND to ensure that you found records that met the criteria in lines 4 and 5.
AND
AND requires that both expressions on either side be true to return TRUE. If either expression is false, AND returns FALSE. For example, to find out which employees have been with the company for 5 or fewer years and have taken more than 20 days leave, try this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT LASTNAME
2 FROM VACATION
3 WHERE YEARS <= 5
4 AND
5 LEAVETAKEN > 20 ;
LASTNAME
--------
BAKER
BOLIVAR
2 rows selected.
mysql> select lastname from vacation
-> where years <= 5
-> and leavetaken > 20;
+----------+
| lastname |
+----------+
| BAKER |
| BOLIVAR |
+----------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
If you want to know which employees have been with the company for 5 years or more and have taken less than 50 percent of their leave, you could write:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT LASTNAME WORKAHOLICS
2 FROM VACATION
3 WHERE YEARS >= 5
4 AND
5 ((YEARS *12)-LEAVETAKEN)/(YEARS * 12) < 0.50;
WORKAHOLICS
-----------
BOLD
COSTALES
2 rows selected.
mysql> select lastname Workaholics
-> from vacation
-> where years >= 5
-> and ((years * 12) - leavetaken) / (years * 12) < 0.50;
+-------------+
| Workaholics |
+-------------+
| BOLD |
| COSTALES |
+-------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Check these people for burnout. Also check out how we used the AND to combine these two conditions.
OR
You can also use OR to sum up a series of conditions. If any of the comparisons are true, OR returns TRUE. To illustrate the difference, run the last query with OR instead of with AND:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT LASTNAME WORKAHOLICS
2 FROM VACATION
3 WHERE YEARS >= 5
4 OR
5 ((YEARS *12)-LEAVETAKEN)/(YEARS * 12) < 0.50;
WORKAHOLICS
-----------
BAKER
BLEDSOE
BOLD
COSTALES
4 rows selected.
mysql> select lastname
-> from vacation
-> where years >= 5
-> OR ((years*12)-leavetaken)/(years*12) < 0.50;
+----------+
| lastname |
+----------+
| BAKER |
| BLEDSOE |
| BOLD |
| COSTALES |
+----------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)
The original names are still in the list, but you have three new entries (who would probably resent being called workaholics). These three new names made the list because they satisfied one of the conditions. OR requires only that one of the conditions be true for data to be returned.
NOT
NOT means just that. If the condition it applies to evaluates to TRUE, NOT makes it FALSE. If the condition after the NOT is FALSE, it becomes TRUE. For example, the following SELECT returns the only two names not beginning with B in the table:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM VACATION
3 WHERE LASTNAME NOT LIKE 'B%';
LASTNAME EMPLOYEENUM YEARS LEAVETAKEN
-------- ----------- ----- ----------
ABLE 101 2 4
COSTALES 211 10 78
2 rows selected.
mysql> select * from vacation
-> where lastname not like 'B%';
+----------+-------------+-------+------------+
| lastname | employeenum | years | leavetaken |
+----------+-------------+-------+------------+
| ABLE | 101 | 2 | 4 |
| COSTALES | 211 | 10 | 78 |
+----------+-------------+-------+------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
NOT can also be used with the operator IS when applied to NULL. Recall the PRICE table where we put a NULL value in the WHOLESALE column opposite the item ORANGES.
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM PRICE; ITEM WHOLESALE --------------- --------- TOMATOES .34 POTATOES .51 BANANAS .67 TURNIPS .45 CHEESE .89 APPLES .23 ORANGES 7 rows selected.
To find the non-NULL items, type this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM PRICE 3 WHERE WHOLESALE IS NOT NULL; ITEM WHOLESALE --------------- --------- TOMATOES .34 POTATOES .51 BANANAS .67 TURNIPS .45 CHEESE .89 APPLES .23 6 rows selected.
Set Operators
In Lesson 1, “Getting Started with SQL,” you learned that SQL is based on the theory of sets. The following sections examine set operators. Set operators are used to combine different sets of data returned by different queries into one query, and ultimately, one data set. There are various set operators available in SQL that allow you to combine different data sets to meet your data processing needs.
UNION and UNION ALL
UNION returns the results of two queries minus the duplicate rows. The following two tables represent the rosters of teams:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM FOOTBALL; NAME ---------------- ABLE BRAVO CHARLIE DECON EXITOR FUBAR GOOBER 7 rows selected. SQL> SELECT * FROM SOFTBALL; NAME ----------------- ABLE BAKER CHARLIE DEAN EXITOR FALCONER GOOBER 7 rows selected.
How many different people play on one team or another?
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT NAME FROM SOFTBALL 2 UNION 3 SELECT NAME FROM FOOTBALL; NAME ---------------- ABLE BAKER BRAVO CHARLIE DEAN DECON EXITOR FALCONER FUBAR GOOBER 10 rows selected.
UNION returns 10 distinct names from the two lists. How many names are on both lists (including duplicates)?
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT NAME FROM SOFTBALL 2 UNION ALL 3 SELECT NAME FROM FOOTBALL; NAME ---------------- ABLE BAKER CHARLIE DEAN EXITOR FALCONER GOOBER ABLE BRAVO CHARLIE DECON EXITOR FUBAR GOOBER 14 rows selected.
Analysis
The combined list—courtesy of the UNION ALL statement—has 14 names. UNION ALL works just like UNION except that it does not eliminate duplicates. You need to remember that the UNION and UNION ALL statements will only work if all SELECT statements have the same columns. Otherwise, an error message will be returned. Now show me a list of players who are on both teams. You can’t do that with UNION—you need to learn INTERSECT.
INTERSECT
INTERSECT returns only the rows found by both queries. The next SELECT statement shows the list of players who play on both teams:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM FOOTBALL 2 INTERSECT 3 SELECT * FROM SOFTBALL; NAME ---------------- ABLE CHARLIE EXITOR GOOBER 4 rows selected.
In this example, INTERSECT finds the short list of players who are on both teams by combining the results of the two SELECT statements. INTERSECT has the same limitations as the UNION and UNION ALL statement, in as much as the SELECT statements that it is binding must contain the same columns.
MINUS (Difference)
MINUS returns the rows from the first query that were not present in the second. For example:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM FOOTBALL 2 MINUS 3 SELECT * FROM SOFTBALL; NAME ----------------- BRAVO DECON FUBAR 3 rows selected.
The preceding query shows the three football players who are not on the softball team. If you reverse the order, you get the three softball players who aren’t on the football team:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * FROM SOFTBALL 2 MINUS 3 SELECT * FROM FOOTBALL; NAME ------------------ BAKER DEAN FALCONER 3 rows selected.
Miscellaneous Operators: IN and BETWEEN
The two operators IN and BETWEEN provide a shorthand for functions you already know how to do. If you wanted to find friends in Colorado, California, and Louisiana, you could type the following:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE ST= 'CA' 4 OR 5 ST ='CO' 6 OR 7 ST = 'LA'; LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 PERKINS ALTON 911 555-3116 CA 95633 3 rows selected.
Or you could type this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE ST IN('CA','CO','LA');
LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP
-------- --------- -------- -------- -- -----
MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212
MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
PERKINS ALTON 911 555-3116 CA 95633
3 rows selected.
mysql> select * from friends
-> where st in ('CA','CO','LA');
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
| lastname | firstname | areacode | phone | st | zip |
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
| MERRICK | BUD | 300 | 555-6666 | CO | 80212 |
| MAST | JD | 381 | 555-6767 | LA | 23456 |
| PERKINS | ALTON | 911 | 555-3116 | CA | 95633 |
+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----+-------+
2 rows in set (0.20 sec)
The second example is shorter and more readable than the first. You never know when you might have to go back and work on something you wrote months ago. IN also works with numbers. Consider the following, where the column AREACODE is a number:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM FRIENDS 3 WHERE AREACODE IN(100,381,204); LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP -------- --------- -------- -------- -- ----- BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333 MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456 BOSS SIR 204 555-2345 CT 95633 3 rows selected.
If you needed a range of data from the PRICE table, you could write the following:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT * 2 FROM PRICE 3 WHERE WHOLESALE > 0.25 4 AND 5 WHOLESALE < 0.75; ITEM WHOLESALE -------- --------- TOMATOES .34 POTATOES .51 BANANAS .67 TURNIPS .45 4 rows selected.
Or using BETWEEN, you would write this:
Input/Output
SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM PRICE
3 WHERE WHOLESALE BETWEEN 0.25 AND 0.75;
ITEM WHOLESALE
-------- ---------
TOMATOES .34
POTATOES .51
BANANAS .67
TURNIPS .45
4 rows selected.
mysql> select * from price
-> where wholesale between .25 and .75;
+----------+-----------+
| item | wholesale |
+----------+-----------+
| TOMATOES | 0.34 |
| POTATOES | 0.51 |
| BANANAS | 0.67 |
| TURNIPS | 0.45 |
+----------+-----------+
4 rows in set (0.08 sec)
Again, the second example is a cleaner, more readable solution than the first.