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$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/select.sgml,v 1.68 2003/08/17 22:09:00 tgl Exp $
PostgreSQL documentation
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<refentry id="SQL-SELECT">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle id="sql-select-title">SELECT</refentrytitle>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>SELECT</refname>
  <refpurpose>retrieve rows from a table or view</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
SELECT [ ALL | DISTINCT [ ON ( <replaceable class="parameter">expression</replaceable> [, ...] ) ] ]
    * | <replaceable class="parameter">expression</replaceable> [ AS <replaceable class="parameter">output_name</replaceable> ] [, ...]
    [ FROM <replaceable class="parameter">from_item</replaceable> [, ...] ]
    [ WHERE <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable> ]
    [ GROUP BY <replaceable class="parameter">expression</replaceable> [, ...] ]
    [ HAVING <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable> [, ...] ]
    [ { UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT } [ ALL ] <replaceable class="parameter">select</replaceable> ]
    [ ORDER BY <replaceable class="parameter">expression</replaceable> [ ASC | DESC | USING <replaceable class="parameter">operator</replaceable> ] [, ...] ]
    [ LIMIT { <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable> | ALL } ]
    [ OFFSET <replaceable class="parameter">start</replaceable> ]
    [ FOR UPDATE [ OF <replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable> [, ...] ] ]

where <replaceable class="parameter">from_item</replaceable> can be one of:

    [ ONLY ] <replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable> [ * ] [ [ AS ] <replaceable class="parameter">alias</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable class="parameter">column_alias</replaceable> [, ...] ) ] ]
    ( <replaceable class="parameter">select</replaceable> ) [ AS ] <replaceable class="parameter">alias</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable class="parameter">column_alias</replaceable> [, ...] ) ]
    <replaceable class="parameter">function_name</replaceable> ( [ <replaceable class="parameter">argument</replaceable> [, ...] ] ) [ AS ] <replaceable class="parameter">alias</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable class="parameter">column_alias</replaceable> [, ...] | <replaceable class="parameter">column_definition</replaceable> [, ...] ) ]
    <replaceable class="parameter">function_name</replaceable> ( [ <replaceable class="parameter">argument</replaceable> [, ...] ] ) AS ( <replaceable class="parameter">column_definition</replaceable> [, ...] )
    <replaceable class="parameter">from_item</replaceable> [ NATURAL ] <replaceable class="parameter">join_type</replaceable> <replaceable class="parameter">from_item</replaceable> [ ON <replaceable class="parameter">join_condition</replaceable> | USING ( <replaceable class="parameter">join_column</replaceable> [, ...] ) ]
</synopsis>

<comment>FIXME: This last syntax is incorrect if the join type is an
INNER or OUTER join (in which case one of NATURAL, ON ..., or USING
... is mandatory, not optional). What's the best way to fix
this?</comment>

 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <command>SELECT</command> retrieves rows from one or more tables.
   The general processing of <command>SELECT</command> is as follows:

   <orderedlist>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      All elements in the <literal>FROM</literal> list are computed.
      (Each element in the <literal>FROM</literal> list is a real or
      virtual table.)  If more than one element is specified in the
      <literal>FROM</literal> list, they are cross-joined together.
      (See <xref linkend="sql-from" endterm="sql-from-title"> below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      If the <literal>WHERE</literal> clause is specified, all rows
      that do not satisfy the condition are eliminated from the
      output.  (See <xref linkend="sql-where"
      endterm="sql-where-title"> below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      If the <literal>GROUP BY</literal> clause is specified, the
      output is divided into groups of rows that match on one or more
      values.  If the <literal>HAVING</literal> clause is present, it
      eliminates groups that do not satisfy the given condition.  (See
      <xref linkend="sql-groupby" endterm="sql-groupby-title"> and
      <xref linkend="sql-having" endterm="sql-having-title"> below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Using the operators <literal>UNION</literal>,
      <literal>INTERSECT</literal>, and <literal>EXCEPT</literal>, the
      output of more than one <command>SELECT</command> statement can
      be combined to form a single result set.  The
      <literal>UNION</literal> operator returns all rows that are in
      one or both of the result sets.  The
      <literal>INTERSECT</literal> operator returns all rows that are
      strictly in both result sets.  The <literal>EXCEPT</literal>
      operator returns the rows that are in the first result set but
      not in the second.  In all three cases, duplicate rows are
      eliminated unless <literal>ALL</literal> is specified. (See
      <xref linkend="sql-union" endterm="sql-union-title">, <xref
      linkend="sql-intersect" endterm="sql-intersect-title">, and
      <xref linkend="sql-except" endterm="sql-except-title"> below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      The actual output rows are computed the
      <command>SELECT</command> output expressions for each selected
      row.  (See
      <xref linkend="sql-select-list" endterm="sql-select-list-title">
      below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      If the <literal>ORDER BY</literal> clause is specified, the
      returned rows are sorted in the specified order.  If
      <literal>ORDER BY</literal> is not given, the rows are returned
      in whatever order the system finds fastest to produce.  (See
      <xref linkend="sql-orderby" endterm="sql-orderby-title"> below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      If the <literal>LIMIT</literal> or <literal>OFFSET</literal>
      clause is specified, the <command>SELECT</command> statement
      only returns a subset of the result rows. (See <xref
      linkend="sql-limit" endterm="sql-limit-title"> below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      <literal>DISTINCT</literal> eliminates duplicate rows from the
      result.  <literal>DISTINCT ON</literal> eliminates rows that
      match on all the specified expressions.  <literal>ALL</literal>
      (the default) will return all candidate rows, including
      duplicates.  (See <xref linkend="sql-distinct"
      endterm="sql-distinct-title"> below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      The <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> clause causes the
      <command>SELECT</command> statement to lock the selected rows
      against concurrent updates.  (See <xref linkend="sql-for-update"
      endterm="sql-for-update-title"> below.)
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </orderedlist>
  </para>
   
  <para>
   You must have <literal>SELECT</literal> privilege on a table to
   read its values.  The use of <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> requires
   <literal>UPDATE</literal> privilege as well.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Parameters</title>

  <refsect2 id="SQL-FROM">
   <title id="sql-from-title"><literal>FROM</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The <literal>FROM</literal> clause specifies one or more source
    tables for the <command>SELECT</command>.  If multiple sources are
    specified, the result is the Cartesian product (cross join) of all
    the sources.  But usually qualification conditions
    are added to restrict the returned rows to a small subset of the
    Cartesian product.
   </para>

   <para>
    <literal>FROM</literal>-clause elements can contain:

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing table or
        view.  If <literal>ONLY</> is specified, only that table is
        scanned.  If <literal>ONLY</> is not specified, the table and
        all its descendant tables (if any) are scanned.  <literal>*</>
        can be appended to the table name to indicate that descendant
        tables are to be scanned, but in the current version, this is
        the default behavior.  (In releases before 7.1,
        <literal>ONLY</> was the default behavior.)  The default
        behavior can be modified by changing the
        <varname>sql_interitance</varname> configuration option.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">alias</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        A substitute name for the <literal>FROM</> item containing the
        alias.  An alias is used for brevity or to eliminate ambiguity
        for self-joins (where the same table is scanned multiple
        times).  When an alias is provided, it completely hides the
        actual name of the table or function; for example given
        <literal>FROM foo AS f</>, the remainder of the
        <command>SELECT</command> must refer to this <literal>FROM</>
        item as <literal>f</> not <literal>foo</>.  If an alias is
        written, a column alias list can also be written to provide
        substitute names for one or more columns of the table.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">select</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        A sub-<command>SELECT</command> can appear in the
        <literal>FROM</literal> clause.  This acts as though its
        output were created as a temporary table for the duration of
        this single <command>SELECT</command> command.  Note that the
        sub-<command>SELECT</command> must be surrounded by
        parentheses, and an alias <emphasis>must</emphasis> be
        provided for it.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">function_name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Function calls can appear in the <literal>FROM</literal>
        clause.  (This is especially useful for functions that return
        result sets, but any function can be used.)  This acts as
        though its output were created as a temporary table for the
        duration of this single <command>SELECT</command> command. An
        alias may also be used. If an alias is written, a column alias
        list can also be written to provide substitute names for one
        or more attributes of the function's composite return type. If
        the function has been defined as returning the <type>record</>
        data type, then an alias or the key word <literal>AS</> must
        be present, followed by a column definition list in the form
        <literal>( <replaceable
        class="parameter">column_name</replaceable> <replaceable
        class="parameter">data_type</replaceable> <optional>, ... </>
        )</literal>.  The column definition list must match the actual
        number and types of columns returned by the function.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">join_type</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        One of
        <itemizedlist>
         <listitem>
          <para><literal>[ INNER ] JOIN</literal></para>
         </listitem>
         <listitem>
          <para><literal>LEFT [ OUTER ] JOIN</literal></para>
         </listitem>
         <listitem>
          <para><literal>RIGHT [ OUTER ] JOIN</literal></para>
         </listitem>
         <listitem>
          <para><literal>FULL [ OUTER ] JOIN</literal></para>
         </listitem>
         <listitem>
          <para><literal>CROSS JOIN</literal></para>
         </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>

        For the <literal>INNER</> and <literal>OUTER</> join types, a
        join condition must be specified, namely exactly one of
        <literal>NATURAL</>, <literal>ON <replaceable
        class="parameter">join_condition</replaceable></literal>, or
        <literal>USING (<replaceable
        class="parameter">join_column</replaceable> [, ...])</literal>.
        See below for the meaning.  For <literal>CROSS JOIN</literal>,
        none of these clauses may appear.
       </para>

       <para>
        A <literal>JOIN</literal> clause, combines two
        <literal>FROM</> items.  (Use parentheses if necessary to
        determine the order of nesting.)
       </para>

       <para>
        <literal>CROSS JOIN</> and <literal>INNER JOIN</literal>
        produce a simple Cartesian product, the same as you get from
        listing the two items at the top level of <literal>FROM</>.
        <literal>CROSS JOIN</> is equivalent to <literal>INNER JOIN ON
        (true)</>, that is, no rows are removed by qualification.
        These join types are just a notational convenience, since they
        do nothing you couldn't do with plain <literal>FROM</> and
        <literal>WHERE</>.
       </para>

       <para>
        <literal>LEFT OUTER JOIN</> returns all rows in the qualified
        Cartesian product (i.e., all combined rows that pass its join
        condition), plus one copy of each row in the left-hand table
        for which there was no right-hand row that passed the join
        condition.  This left-hand row is extended to the full width
        of the joined table by inserting null values for the
        right-hand columns.  Note that only the <literal>JOIN</>
        clauses own condition is considered while deciding which rows
        have matches.  Outer conditions are applied afterwards.
       </para>

       <para>
        Conversely, <literal>RIGHT OUTER JOIN</> returns all the
        joined rows, plus one row for each unmatched right-hand row
        (extended with nulls on the left).  This is just a notational
        convenience, since you could convert it to a <literal>LEFT
        OUTER JOIN</> by switching the left and right inputs.
       </para>

       <para>
        <literal>FULL OUTER JOIN</> returns all the joined rows, plus
        one row for each unmatched left-hand row (extended with nulls
        on the right), plus one row for each unmatched right-hand row
        (extended with nulls on the left).
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     
     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>ON <replaceable class="parameter">join_condition</replaceable></literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        <replaceable class="parameter">join_condition</replaceable> is
        an expression resulting in a value of type
        <type>boolean</type> (similar to a <literal>WHERE</literal>
        clause) that specifies which rows in a join are considered to
        match.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     
     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>USING (<replaceable class="parameter">join_column</replaceable> [, ...])</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        A clause of the form <literal>USING ( a, b, ... )</literal> is
        shorthand for <literal>ON left_table.a = right_table.a AND
        left_table.b = right_table.b ...</literal>.  Also,
        <literal>USING</> implies that only one of each pair of
        equivalent columns will be included in the join output, not
        both.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>NATURAL</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        <literal>NATURAL</literal> is shorthand for a
        <literal>USING</> list that mentions all columns in the two
        tables that have the same names.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>
  </refsect2>
   
  <refsect2 id="SQL-WHERE">
   <title id="sql-where-title"><literal>WHERE</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The optional <literal>WHERE</literal> clause has the general form
<synopsis>
WHERE <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable>
</synopsis>
    where <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable> is
    any expression that evaluates to a result of type
    <type>boolean</type>.  Any row that does not satisfy this
    condition will be eliminated from the output.  A row satisfies the
    condition if it returns true when the actual row values are
    substituted for any variable references.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
  
  <refsect2 id="SQL-GROUPBY">
   <title id="sql-groupby-title"><literal>GROUP BY</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The optional <literal>GROUP BY</literal> clause has the general form
<synopsis>
GROUP BY <replaceable class="parameter">expression</replaceable> [, ...]
</synopsis>
   </para>

   <para>
    <literal>GROUP BY</literal> will condense into a single row all
    selected rows that share the same values for the grouped
    expressions.  <replaceable
    class="parameter">expression</replaceable> can be an input column
    name, or the name or ordinal number of an output column
    (<command>SELECT</command> list), or it can be an arbitrary
    expression formed from input-column values.  In case of ambiguity,
    a <literal>GROUP BY</literal> name will be interpreted as an
    input-column name rather than an output column name.
   </para>

   <para>
    Aggregate functions, if any are used, are computed across all rows
    making up each group, producing a separate value for each group
    (whereas without <literal>GROUP BY</literal>, an aggregate
    produces a single value computed across all the selected rows).
    When <literal>GROUP BY</literal> is present, it is not valid for
    the <command>SELECT</command> list expressions to refer to
    ungrouped columns except within aggregate functions, since there
    would be more than one possible value to return for an ungrouped
    column.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="SQL-HAVING">
   <title id="sql-having-title"><literal>HAVING</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The optional <literal>HAVING</literal> clause has the general form
<synopsis>
HAVING <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable>
</synopsis>
    where <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable> is
    the same as specified for the <literal>WHERE</literal> clause.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    <literal>HAVING</literal> eliminates group rows that do not
    satisfy the condition.  <literal>HAVING</literal> is different
    from <literal>WHERE</literal>: <literal>WHERE</literal> filters
    individual rows before the application of <literal>GROUP
    BY</literal>, while <literal>HAVING</literal> filters group rows
    created by <literal>GROUP BY</literal>.  Each column referenced in
    <replaceable class="parameter">condition</replaceable> must
    unambiguously reference a grouping column, unless the reference
    appears within an aggregate function.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
  
  <refsect2 id="SQL-UNION">
   <title id="sql-union-title"><literal>UNION</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The <literal>UNION</literal> clause has this general form:
<synopsis>
<replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable> UNION [ ALL ] <replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable>
</synopsis>
    <replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable> is
    any <command>SELECT</command> statement without an <literal>ORDER
    BY</>, <literal>LIMIT</>, or <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> clause.
    (<literal>ORDER BY</> and <literal>LIMIT</> can be attached to a
    subexpression if it is enclosed in parentheses.  Without
    parentheses, these clauses will be taken to apply to the result of
    the <literal>UNION</literal>, not to its right-hand input
    expression.)
   </para>
    
   <para>
    The <literal>UNION</literal> operator computes the set union of
    the rows returned by the involved <command>SELECT</command>
    statements.  A row is in the set union of two result sets if it
    appears in at least one of the result sets.  The two
    <command>SELECT</command> statements that represent the direct
    operands of the <literal>UNION</literal> must produce the same
    number of columns, and corresponding columns must be of compatible
    data types.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    The result of <literal>UNION</> does not contain any duplicate
    rows unless the <literal>ALL</> option is specified.
    <literal>ALL</> prevents elimination of duplicates.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    Multiple <literal>UNION</> operators in the same
    <command>SELECT</command> statement are evaluated left to right,
    unless otherwise indicated by parentheses.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    Currently, <literal>FOR UPDATE</> may not be specified either for
    a <literal>UNION</> result or for the inputs of <literal>UNION</>.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="SQL-INTERSECT">
   <title id="sql-intersect-title"><literal>INTERSECT</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The <literal>INTERSECT</literal> clause has this general form:
<synopsis>
<replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable> INTERSECT [ ALL ] <replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable>
</synopsis>
    <replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable> is
    any <command>SELECT</command> statement without an <literal>ORDER
    BY</>, <literal>LIMIT</>, or <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> clause.
   </para>

   <para>
    The <literal>INTERSECT</literal> operator computes the set
    intersection of the rows returned by the involved
    <command>SELECT</command> statements.  A row is in the
    intersection of two result sets if it appears in both result sets.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    The result of <literal>INTERSECT</literal> does not contain any
    duplicate rows unless the <literal>ALL</> option is specified.
    With <literal>ALL</>, a row that has m duplicates in the left
    table and n duplicates in the right table will appear min(m,n)
    times in the result set.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    Multiple <literal>INTERSECT</literal> operators in the same
    <command>SELECT</command> statement are evaluated left to right,
    unless parentheses dictate otherwise.
    <literal>INTERSECT</literal> binds more tightly than
    <literal>UNION</literal>.  That is, <literal>A UNION B INTERSECT
    C</literal> will be read as <literal>A UNION (B INTERSECT
    C)</literal>.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="SQL-EXCEPT">
   <title id="sql-except-title"><literal>EXCEPT</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The <literal>EXCEPT</literal> clause has this general form:
<synopsis>
<replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable> EXCEPT [ ALL ] <replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable>
</synopsis>
    <replaceable class="parameter">select_statement</replaceable> is
    any <command>SELECT</command> statement without an <literal>ORDER
    BY</>, <literal>LIMIT</>, or <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> clause.
   </para>

   <para>
    The <literal>EXCEPT</literal> operator computes the set of rows
    that are in the result of the left <command>SELECT</command>
    statement but not in the result of the right one.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    The result of <literal>EXCEPT</literal> does not contain any
    duplicate rows unless the <literal>ALL</> option is specified.
    With <literal>ALL</>, a row that has m duplicates in the left
    table and n duplicates in the right table will appear max(m-n,0)
    times in the result set.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    Multiple <literal>EXCEPT</literal> operators in the same
    <command>SELECT</command> statement are evaluated left to right,
    unless parentheses dictate otherwise.  <literal>EXCEPT</> binds at
    the same level as <literal>UNION</>.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="sql-select-list">
   <title id="sql-select-list-title"><command>SELECT</command> List</title>

   <para>
    The <command>SELECT</command> list (between the key words
    <literal>SELECT</> and <literal>FROM</>) specifies expressions
    that form the output rows of the <command>SELECT</command>
    statement.  The expressions can (and usually do) refer to columns
    computed in the <literal>FROM</> clause.  Using the clause
    <literal>AS <replaceable
    class="parameter">output_name</replaceable></literal>, another
    name can be specified for an output column.  This name is
    primarily used to label the column for display.  It can also be
    used to refer to the column's value in <literal>ORDER BY</> and
    <literal>GROUP BY</> clauses, but not in the <literal>WHERE</> or
    <literal>HAVING</> clauses; there you must write out the
    expression instead.
   </para>

   <para>
    Instead of an expression, <literal>*</literal> can be written in
    the output list as a shorthand for all the columns of the selected
    rows.  Also, one can write <literal><replaceable
    class="parameter">table_name</replaceable>.*</literal> as a
    shorthand for the columns coming from just that table.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="SQL-ORDERBY">
   <title id="sql-orderby-title"><literal>ORDER BY</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The optional <literal>ORDER BY</literal> clause has this general form:
<synopsis>
ORDER BY <replaceable class="parameter">expression</replaceable> [ ASC | DESC | USING <replaceable class="parameter">operator</replaceable> ] [, ...]
</synopsis>
    <replaceable class="parameter">expression</replaceable> can be the
    name or ordinal number of an output column
    (<command>SELECT</command> list), or it can be an arbitrary
    expression formed from input-column values.
   </para>

   <para>
    The <literal>ORDER BY</literal> clause causes the result rows to
    be sorted according to the specified expressions.  If two rows are
    equal according to the leftmost expression, the are compared
    according to the next expression and so on.  If they are equal
    according to all specified expressions, they are returned in
    random order.
   </para>

   <para>
    The ordinal number refers to the ordinal (left-to-right) position
    of the result column. This feature makes it possible to define an
    ordering on the basis of a column that does not have a unique
    name.  This is never absolutely necessary because it is always
    possible to assign a name to a result column using the
    <literal>AS</> clause.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    It is also possible to use arbitrary expressions in the
    <literal>ORDER BY</literal> clause, including columns that do not
    appear in the <command>SELECT</command> result list.  Thus the
    following statement is valid:
<programlisting>
SELECT name FROM distributors ORDER BY code;
</programlisting>
    A limitation of this feature is that an <literal>ORDER BY</>
    clause applying to the result of a <literal>UNION</>,
    <literal>INTERSECT</>, or <literal>EXCEPT</> clause may only
    specify an output column name or number, not an expression.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    If an <literal>ORDER BY</> expression is a simple name that
    matches both a result column name and an input column name,
    <literal>ORDER BY</> will interpret it as the result column name.
    This is the opposite of the choice that <literal>GROUP BY</> will
    make in the same situation.  This inconsistency is made to be
    compatible with the SQL standard.
   </para>
    
   <para>
    Optionally one may add the key word <literal>ASC</> (ascending) or
    <literal>DESC</> (descending) after each expression in the
    <literal>ORDER BY</> clause.  If not specified, <literal>ASC</> is
    assumed by default.  Alternatively, a specific ordering operator
    name may be specified in the <literal>USING</> clause.
    <literal>ASC</> is usually equivalent to <literal>USING &lt;</> and
    <literal>DESC</> is usually equivalent to <literal>USING &gt;</>.
    (But the creator of a user-defined datatype can define exactly what the
    default sort ordering is, and it might correspond to operators with other
    names.)
   </para>

   <para>
    The null value sorts higher than any other value. In other words,
    with ascending sort order, null values sort at the end, and with
    descending sort order, null values sort at the beginning.
   </para>

   <para>
    Character-string data is sorted according to the locale-specific
    collation order that was established when the database cluster
    was initialized.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
  
  <refsect2 id="SQL-LIMIT">
   <title id="sql-limit-title"><literal>LIMIT</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The <literal>LIMIT</literal> clause consists of two independent
    clauses:
<synopsis>
LIMIT { <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable> | ALL }
OFFSET <replaceable class="parameter">start</replaceable>
</synopsis>
    <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable> specifies the
    maximum number of rows to return, and <replaceable
    class="parameter">start</replaceable> specifies the number of rows
    to skip before starting to return rows.
   </para>

   <para>
    When using <literal>LIMIT</>, it is a good idea to use an
    <literal>ORDER BY</> clause that constrains the result rows into a
    unique order.  Otherwise you will get an unpredictable subset of
    the query's rows---you may be asking for the tenth through
    twentieth rows, but tenth through twentieth in what ordering?  You
    don't know what ordering unless you specify <literal>ORDER BY</>.
   </para>

   <para>
    The query planner takes <literal>LIMIT</> into account when
    generating a query plan, so you are very likely to get different
    plans (yielding different row orders) depending on what you use
    for <literal>LIMIT</> and <literal>OFFSET</>.  Thus, using
    different <literal>LIMIT</>/<literal>OFFSET</> values to select
    different subsets of a query result <emphasis>will give
    inconsistent results</emphasis> unless you enforce a predictable
    result ordering with <literal>ORDER BY</>.  This is not a bug; it
    is an inherent consequence of the fact that SQL does not promise
    to deliver the results of a query in any particular order unless
    <literal>ORDER BY</> is used to constrain the order.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="sql-distinct">
   <title id="sql-distinct-title"><literal>DISTINCT</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    If <literal>DISTINCT</> is specified, all duplicate rows are
    removed from the result set (one row is kept from each group of
    duplicates).  <literal>ALL</> specifies the opposite: all rows are
    kept; that is the default.
   </para>

   <para>
    <literal>DISTINCT ON ( <replaceable
    class="parameter">expression</replaceable> [, ...] )</literal>
    keeps only the first row of each set of rows where the given
    expressions evaluate to equal.  The <literal>DISTINCT ON</literal>
    expressions are interpreted using the same rules as for
    <literal>ORDER BY</> (see above).  Note that the <quote>first
    row</quote> of each set is unpredictable unless <literal>ORDER
    BY</> is used to ensure that the desired row appears first.  For
    example,
<programlisting>
SELECT DISTINCT ON (location) location, time, report
    FROM weather_reports
    ORDER BY location, time DESC;
</programlisting>
    retrieves the most recent weather report for each location.  But
    if we had not used <literal>ORDER BY</> to force descending order
    of time values for each location, we'd have gotten a report from
    an unpredictable time for each location.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="SQL-FOR-UPDATE">
   <title id="sql-for-update-title"><literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> Clause</title>

   <para>
    The <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> clause has this form:
<synopsis>
FOR UPDATE [ OF <replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable> [, ...] ]
</synopsis>
   </para>

   <para>
    <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> causes the rows retrieved by the
    <command>SELECT</command> statement to be locked as though for
    update.  This prevents them from being modified or deleted by
    other transactions until the current transaction ends.  That is,
    other transactions that attempt <command>UPDATE</command>,
    <command>DELETE</command>, or <command>SELECT FOR UPDATE</command>
    of these rows will be blocked until the current transaction ends.
    Also, if an <command>UPDATE</command>, <command>DELETE</command>,
    or <command>SELECT FOR UPDATE</command> from another transaction
    has already locked a selected row or rows, <command>SELECT FOR
    UPDATE</command> will wait for the other transaction to complete,
    and will then lock and return the updated row (or no row, if the
    row was deleted).  For further discussion see <xref
    linkend="mvcc">.
   </para>

   <para>
    If specific tables are named in <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal>,
    then only rows coming from those tables are locked; any other
    tables used in the <command>SELECT</command> are simply read as
    usual.
   </para>

   <para>
    <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> cannot be used in contexts where
    returned rows can't be clearly identified with individual table
    rows; for example it can't be used with aggregation.
   </para>

   <para>
    <literal>FOR UPDATE</literal> may appear before
    <literal>LIMIT</literal> for compatibility with PostgreSQL
    versions before 7.3.  It effectively executes after
    <literal>LIMIT</literal>, however, and so that is the recommended
    place to write it.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Examples</title>

  <para>
   To join the table <literal>films</literal> with the table
   <literal>distributors</literal>:

<programlisting>
SELECT f.title, f.did, d.name, f.date_prod, f.kind
    FROM distributors d, films f
    WHERE f.did = d.did

       title       | did |     name     | date_prod  |   kind
-------------------+-----+--------------+------------+----------
 The Third Man     | 101 | British Lion | 1949-12-23 | Drama
 The African Queen | 101 | British Lion | 1951-08-11 | Romantic
 ...
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   To sum the column <literal>len</literal> of all films and group
   the results by <literal>kind</literal>:

<programlisting>
SELECT kind, sum(len) AS total FROM films GROUP BY kind;

   kind   | total
----------+-------
 Action   | 07:34
 Comedy   | 02:58
 Drama    | 14:28
 Musical  | 06:42
 Romantic | 04:38
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   To sum the column <literal>len</literal> of all films, group
   the results by <literal>kind</literal> and show those group totals
   that are less than 5 hours:

<programlisting>
SELECT kind, sum(len) AS total
    FROM films
    GROUP BY kind
    HAVING sum(len) < interval '5 hours';

   kind   | total
----------+-------
 Comedy   | 02:58
 Romantic | 04:38
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   The following two examples are identical ways of sorting the individual
   results according to the contents of the second column
   (<literal>name</literal>):

<programlisting>
SELECT * FROM distributors ORDER BY name;
SELECT * FROM distributors ORDER BY 2;

 did |       name
-----+------------------
 109 | 20th Century Fox
 110 | Bavaria Atelier
 101 | British Lion
 107 | Columbia
 102 | Jean Luc Godard
 113 | Luso films
 104 | Mosfilm
 103 | Paramount
 106 | Toho
 105 | United Artists
 111 | Walt Disney
 112 | Warner Bros.
 108 | Westward
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   This example shows how to obtain the union of the tables
   <literal>distributors</literal> and
   <literal>actors</literal>, restricting the results to those that begin
   with letter W in each table.  Only distinct rows are wanted, so the
   key word <literal>ALL</literal> is omitted.

<programlisting>
distributors:               actors:
 did |     name              id |     name
-----+--------------        ----+----------------
 108 | Westward               1 | Woody Allen
 111 | Walt Disney            2 | Warren Beatty
 112 | Warner Bros.           3 | Walter Matthau
 ...                         ...

SELECT distributors.name
    FROM distributors
    WHERE distributors.name LIKE 'W%'
UNION
SELECT actors.name
    FROM actors
    WHERE actors.name LIKE 'W%';

      name
----------------
 Walt Disney
 Walter Matthau
 Warner Bros.
 Warren Beatty
 Westward
 Woody Allen
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   This example shows how to use a function in the <literal>FROM</>
   clause, both with and without a column definition list.

<programlisting>
CREATE FUNCTION distributors(int) RETURNS SETOF distributors AS '
    SELECT * FROM distributors WHERE did = $1;
' LANGUAGE SQL;

SELECT * FROM distributors(111);
 did |    name
-----+-------------
 111 | Walt Disney

CREATE FUNCTION distributors_2(int) RETURNS SETOF record AS '
    SELECT * FROM distributors WHERE did = $1;
' LANGUAGE SQL;

SELECT * FROM distributors_2(111) AS (f1 int, f2 text);
 f1  |     f2
-----+-------------
 111 | Walt Disney
</programlisting>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 
 <refsect1>
  <title>Compatibility</title>

  <para>
   Of course, the <command>SELECT</command> statement is compatible
   with the SQL standard.  But there are some extensions and some
   missing features.
  </para>
  
  <refsect2>
   <title>Omitted <literal>FROM</literal> Clauses</title>

   <para>
    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> allows one to omit the
    <literal>FROM</literal> clause.  It has a straightforward use to
    compute the results of simple expressions:
<programlisting>
SELECT 2+2;

 ?column?
----------
        4
</programlisting>
    Some other <acronym>SQL</acronym> databases cannot do this except
    by introducing a dummy one-row table from which to do the
    <command>SELECT</command>.
   </para>

   <para>
    A less obvious use is to abbreviate a normal
    <command>SELECT</command> from tables:
<programlisting>
SELECT distributors.* WHERE distributors.name = 'Westward';

 did |   name
-----+----------
 108 | Westward
</programlisting>
    This works because an implicit <literal>FROM</literal> item is
    added for each table that is referenced in other parts of the
    <command>SELECT</command> statement but not mentioned in
    <literal>FROM</literal>.
   </para>

   <para>
    While this is a convenient shorthand, it's easy to misuse.  For
    example, the command
<programlisting>
SELECT distributors.* FROM distributors d;
</programlisting>
    is probably a mistake; most likely the user meant
<programlisting>
SELECT d.* FROM distributors d;
</programlisting>
    rather than the unconstrained join
<programlisting>
SELECT distributors.* FROM distributors d, distributors distributors;
</programlisting>
    that he will actually get.  To help detect this sort of mistake,
    PostgreSQL will warn if the implicit-<literal>FROM</literal>
    feature is used in a <command>SELECT</command> statement that also
    contains an explicit <literal>FROM</literal> clause.  Also, it is
    possible to disable the implicit-<literal>FROM</literal> feature
    by setting the <varname>ADD_MISSING_FROM</> parameter to false.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2>
   <title>The <literal>AS</literal> Key Word</title>

   <para>
    In the SQL standard, the optional key word <literal>AS</> is just
    noise and can be omitted without affecting the meaning.  The
    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> parser requires this key
    word when renaming output columns because the type extensibility
    features lead to parsing ambiguities without it.
    <literal>AS</literal> is optional in <literal>FROM</literal>
    items, however.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2>
   <title>Namespace Available to <literal>GROUP BY</literal> and <literal>ORDER BY</literal></title>

   <para>
    In the SQL92 standard, an <literal>ORDER BY</literal> clause may
    only use result column names or numbers, while a <literal>GROUP
    BY</literal> clause may only use expressions based on input column
    names.  <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extends each of
    these clauses to allow the other choice as well (but it uses the
    standard's interpretation if there is ambiguity).
    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> also allows both clauses to
    specify arbitrary expressions.  Note that names appearing in an
    expression will always be taken as input-column names, not as
    result-column names.
   </para>

   <para>
    SQL99 uses a slightly different definition which is not upward compatible
    with SQL92.  In most cases, however, <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
    will interpret an <literal>ORDER BY</literal> or <literal>GROUP
    BY</literal> expression the same way SQL99 does.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2>
   <title>Nonstandard Clauses</title>

   <para>
    The clauses <literal>DISTINCT ON</literal>,
    <literal>LIMIT</literal>, and <literal>OFFSET</literal> are not
    defined in the SQL standard.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

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