MySQL WHERE Clause: AND, OR, IN, NOT IN Query Example

Details

What is WHERE Clause in MySQL?

WHERE Clause in MySQL is a keyword used to specify the exact criteria of data or rows that will be affected by the specified SQL statement. The WHERE clause can be used with SQL statements like INSERT, UPDATE, SELECT, and DELETE to filter records and perform various operations on the data.

We looked at how to query data from a database using the SELECT statement in the previous tutorial. The SELECT statement returned all the results from the queried database table.

They are however, times when we want to restrict the query results to a specified condition. The WHERE clause in SQL comes handy in such situations. 

 

WHERE clause in MySQL
WHERE clause in MySQL

WHERE clause Syntax

The basic syntax for the WHERE clause when used in a MySQL SELECT WHERE statement is as follows.

SELECT * FROM tableName WHERE condition;

HERE

  • "SELECT * FROM tableName" is the standard SELECT statement
  • "WHERE" is the keyword that restricts our select query result set and "condition" is the filter to be applied on the results. The filter could be a range, single value or sub query.

Let's now look at a practical example.

Suppose we want to get a member's personal details from members table given the membership number 1, we would use the following script to achieve that. 

SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `membership_number` = 1;

Executing the above script in MySQL workbench on the "myflixdb" would produce the following results. 




		
membership_numberfull_namesgenderdate_of_birthphysical_addresspostal_addresscontct_numberemail

		
1Janet JonesFemale21-07-1980First Street Plot No 4Private Bag0759 253 542This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

WHERE clause combined with - AND LOGICAL Operator

The WHERE condition in MySQL when used together with the AND logical operator, is only executed if ALL filter criteria specified are met. 

Let's now look at a practical example - Suppose we want to get a list of all the movies in category 2 that were released in 2008, we would use the script shown below is achieve that.
 
SELECT * FROM `movies` WHERE `category_id` = 2 AND `year_released` = 2008;
 

Executing the above script in MySQL workbench against the "myflixdb" produces the following results. 


		
movie_idtitledirectoryear_releasedcategory_id

		
2Forgetting Sarah MarshalNicholas Stoller20082

WHERE clause combined with - OR LOGICAL Operator

The WHERE clause when used together with the OR operator, is only executed if any or the entire specified filter criteria is met. 
The following script gets all the movies in either category 1 or category 2
 
SELECT * FROM `movies` WHERE `category_id` = 1 OR `category_id` = 2;

Executing the above script in MySQL workbench against the "myflixdb" produces the following results.

 



		
movie_idtitledirectoryear_releasedcategory_id

		
1Pirates of the Caribean 4Rob Marshall20111

		
2Forgetting Sarah MarshalNicholas Stoller20082
 

WHERE clause combined with - IN Keyword

 
The WHERE in MySQL clause, when used together with the IN keyword only affects the rows whose values matches the list of values provided in the IN keyword. The MySQL IN statement helps to reduce number of OR clauses you may have to use. 
The following MySQL WHERE IN query gives rows where membership_number is either 1 , 2 or 3
 
SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `membership_number` IN (1,2,3);

Executing the above script in MySQL workbench against the "myflixdb" produces the following results. 




		
membership_numberfull_namesgenderdate_of_birthphysical_addresspostal_addresscontct_numberemail

		
1Janet JonesFemale21-07-1980First Street Plot No 4Private Bag0759 253 542This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

		
2Janet Smith JonesFemale23-06-1980Melrose 123NULLNULLThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

		
3Robert PhilMale12-07-19893rd Street 34NULL12345This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

WHERE clause combined with - NOT IN Keyword

The  WHERE clause when used together with the NOT IN keyword  DOES NOT affects the rows whose values matches the list of values provided in the NOT IN keyword.
The following query gives rows where membership_number is NOT  1 , 2 or 3
 
SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `membership_number` NOT IN (1,2,3);

Executing the above script in MySQL workbench against the "myflixdb" produces the following results. 




		
membership_numberfull_namesgenderdate_of_birthphysical_addresspostal_addresscontct_numberemail

		
4Gloria WilliamsFemale14-02-19842nd Street 23NULLNULLNULL

 

WHERE clause combined with - COMPARISON Operators

The less than (), equal to (=), not equal to () comparison operators can be  used with the WHERE Clause
 

= Equal To

 
The following script gets all the female members from the members table using the equal to comparison operator.
 
SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `gender` = 'Female';

Executing the above script in MySQL workbench against the "myflixdb" produces the following results. 




		
membership_numberfull_namesgenderdate_of_birthphysical_addresspostal_addresscontct_numberemail

		
1Janet JonesFemale21-07-1980First Street Plot No 4Private Bag0759 253 542This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

		
2Janet Smith JonesFemale23-06-1980Melrose 123NULLNULLThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

		
4Gloria WilliamsFemale14-02-19842nd Street 23NULLNULLNULL

 

> Greater than

The following script gets all the payments that are greater than 2,000 from the payments table.
SELECT * FROM `payments` WHERE `amount_paid` > 2000;
Executing the above script in MySQL workbench against the "myflixdb" produces the following results.
 




payment_idmembership_numberpayment_datedescriptionamount_paidexternal_reference_number
 

1123-07-2012Movie rental payment250011


3330-07-2012Movie rental payment6000NULL
 

< > Not Equal To 

The following script gets all the movies whose category id is not 1.
SELECT * FROM `movies` WHERE `category_id`<> 1;
Executing the above script in MySQL workbench against the "myflixdb" produces the following results.
 



		
movie_idtitledirectoryear_releasedcategory_id

		
2Forgetting Sarah MarshalNicholas Stoller20082

		
5Daddy's Little GirlsNULL20078

		
6Angels and DemonsNULL20076

		
7Davinci CodeNULL20076

		
9Honey moonersJohn Schultz20058
 

Summary

  • The SQL WHERE clause is used to restrict the number of rows affected by a SELECT, UPDATE or DELETE query.
  • The WHERE condition in SQL can be used in conjunction with logical operators such as AND and OR, comparison operators such as ,= etc.
  • When used with the AND logical operator, all the criteria must be met.
  • When used with the OR logical operator, any of the criteria must be met.
  • The key word IN is used to select rows matching a list of values.

Brain Teaser

 
Let's suppose that we want to get a list of rented movies that have not been returned on time 25/06/2012. We can use the SQL WHERE statement clause together with the less than comparison operator and AND logical operator to achieve that.
 
SELECT * FROM `movierentals` WHERE `return_date` < '2012-06-25' AND movie_returned = 0;
Executing the above script in MySQL workbench gives the following results.
 




reference_numbertransaction_datereturn_datemembership_numbermovie_idmovie_returned


1421-06-201224-06-2012220

 

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