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A query includes a list of columns to include in the final result, normally immediately following the SELECT keyword. An asterisk ("*") can be used to specify that the query should return all columns of the queried tables. SELECT is the most complex statement in SQL, with optional keywords and clauses that include:
The SELECT statement has many optional clauses: SELECT list is the list of columns or SQL expressions to be returned by the query. This is approximately the relational algebra projection operation. AS optionally provides an alias for each column or expression in the SELECT list. This is the relational algebra rename operation.
Behind the scenes, it is this statement that is actually executed. A suitably comprehensive front-end can minimize the burden on the user to remember the finer details of SQL, and it is easier and more productive for end-users (and even programmers) to select tables and columns by selecting them rather than typing in their names.
In relational databases, the information schema (information_schema) is an ANSI-standard set of read-only views that provide information about all of the tables, views, columns, and procedures in a database. [1] It can be used as a source of the information that some databases make available through non-standard commands, such as:
The sort criteria can be expressions, including column names, user-defined functions, arithmetic operations, or CASE expressions. The expressions are evaluated and the results are used for the sorting, i.e., the values stored in the column or the results of the function call. ORDER BY is the only way to sort the rows in the result set.
In relational databases a virtual column is a table column whose value(s) is automatically computed using other columns values, or another deterministic expression. Virtual columns are defined of SQL:2003 as Generated Column, [1] and are only implemented by some DBMSs, like MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQLite and Firebird (database server) (COMPUTED BY syntax).
A common table expression, or CTE, (in SQL) is a temporary named result set, derived from a simple query and defined within the execution scope of a SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement. CTEs can be thought of as alternatives to derived tables ( subquery ), views , and inline user-defined functions.
In SQL, you can alias tables and columns. A table alias is called a correlation name, according to the SQL standard. [1] A programmer can use an alias to temporarily assign another name to a table or column for the duration of the current SELECT query. Assigning an alias does not actually rename the column or table.