Set Operations (SQL) - EXCEPT Operator

EXCEPT Operator

The SQL EXCEPT operator takes the distinct rows of one query and returns the rows that do not appear in a second result set. The EXCEPT ALL operator (not supported in MSSQL) does not remove duplicates. For purposes of row elimination and duplicate removal, the EXCEPT operator does not distinguish between NULLs.

Notably, the Oracle platform provides a MINUS operator which is functionally equivalent to the SQL standard EXCEPT DISTINCT operator .