Select (SQL) - Examples

Examples

Table "T" Query Result
C1 C2
1 a
2 b
SELECT * FROM T;
C1 C2
1 a
2 b
C1 C2
1 a
2 b
SELECT C1 FROM T;
C1
1
2
C1 C2
1 a
2 b
SELECT * FROM T WHERE C1 = 1;
C1 C2
1 a
C1 C2
1 a
2 b
SELECT * FROM T ORDER BY C1 DESC;
C1 C2
2 b
1 a

Given a table T, the query SELECT * FROM T will result in all the elements of all the rows of the table being shown.

With the same table, the query SELECT C1 FROM T will result in the elements from the column C1 of all the rows of the table being shown. This is similar to a projection in Relational algebra, except that in the general case, the result may contain duplicate rows. This is also known as a Vertical Partition in some database terms, restricting query output to view only specified fields or columns.

With the same table, the query SELECT * FROM T WHERE C1 = 1 will result in all the elements of all the rows where the value of column C1 is '1' being shown — in Relational algebra terms, a selection will be performed, because of the WHERE clause. This is also known as a Horizontal Partition, restricting rows output by a query according to specified conditions.

With more than one table, the result set will be every combination of rows. So if two tables are T1 and T2, SELECT * FROM T1, T2 will result in every combination of T1 rows with every T2 rows. E.g., if T1 has 3 rows and T2 has 5 rows, then 15 rows will result.

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