SELECT Statement

The SELECT statement can be executed to retrieve data from a table or view. The result is stored in a result table, which is called a result set.

Serving as an overlaid filter for a database table, the SELECT statement filters required data from the table using SQL keywords.

Syntax

SELECT 
{ * | [column, ...] }
[ FROM from_item [, ...] ];

Parameter Description

• SELECT list

  Specifies the name of a column in the table to be queried. The value can be a part of the column name or all of the column names. The wildcard (*) is used to represent all column names.

  Column names can be expressed in the following formats:

  • Manually input column names which are separated by commas (,)
  • Columns computed in the FROM clause

• FROM clause

  Specifies one or more source tables for the SELECT statement. The FROM clause involves multiple elements. The common elements are as follows:

  • table_name

    Specifies the name of a table or view. The schema name can be added before the table name or view name, for example, schema_name.table_name. The table name is the most common element.

  • subquery

    Performs a subquery in the FROM clause. A temporary table is created to save subquery results. For details, see Subqueries.

  • alias

    Gives a temporary alias to a table to facilitate the reference by other queries. For details, see Aliases.

  • join_type

    There are five types. For details, see JOIN.

Examples

• Read all data from the customer_t1 table.

  openGauss=# SELECT * FROM customer_t1;
  c_customer_sk | c_customer_id | c_first_name | c_last_name | amount
  ---------------+---------------+--------------+-------------+--------
            3869 | hello         | Grace        |             |   1000
            3869 | hello         | Grace        |             |   1000
            3869 |               | Grace        |             |
            3869 | hello         |              |             |
            3869 | hello         |              |             |
                 |               |              |             |
            6985 | maps          | Joes         |             |   2200
            9976 | world         | James        |             |   5000
            4421 | Admin         | Local        |             |   3000
  (9 rows)
  

• Read the c_customer_sk and c_customer_id columns from the customer_t1 table.

  openGauss=# SELECT c_customer_sk,c_customer_id FROM customer_t1;
  c_customer_sk | c_customer_id
  ---------------+---------------
            3869 | hello
            3869 | hello
            3869 |
            3869 | hello
            3869 | hello
                 |
            6985 | maps
            9976 | world
            4421 | Admin
  (9 rows)