A SELECT statement can consist of the following basic clauses.

• SELECT
• INTO
• FROM
• JOIN
• WHERE
• GROUP BY
• HAVING
• UNION
• ORDER BY
• LIMIT

SELECT Syntax

The following syntax diagram outlines the syntax supported by the SQL engine of the driver:

SELECT {
  [ TOP <numeric_literal> | DISTINCT ]
  { 
    * 
    | { 
        <expression> [ [ AS ] <column_reference> ] 
        | { <table_name> | <correlation_name> } .* 
      } [ , ... ] 
  }
  [ INTO csv:// [ filename= ] <file_path> [ ;delimiter=tab ] ]
  { 
    FROM <table_reference> [ [ AS ] <identifier> ] 
  } [ , ... ]
  [ [  
      INNER | { { LEFT | RIGHT | FULL } [ OUTER ] } 
    ] JOIN <table_reference> [ ON <search_condition> ] [ [ AS ] <identifier> ] 
  ] [ ... ] 
  [ WHERE <search_condition> ]
  [ GROUP BY <column_reference> [ , ... ]
  [ HAVING <search_condition> ]
  [ UNION [ ALL ] <select_statement> ]
  [ 
    ORDER BY 
    <column_reference> [ ASC | DESC ] [ NULLS FIRST | NULLS LAST ]
  ]
  [ 
    LIMIT <expression>
    [ 
      { OFFSET | , }
      <expression> 
    ]
  ] 
} | SCOPE_IDENTITY() 

<expression> ::=
  | <column_reference>
  | @ <parameter> 
  | ?
  | COUNT( * | { [ DISTINCT ] <expression> } )
  | { AVG | MAX | MIN | SUM | COUNT } ( <expression> ) 
  | NULLIF ( <expression> , <expression> ) 
  | COALESCE ( <expression> , ... ) 
  | CASE <expression>
      WHEN { <expression> | <search_condition> } THEN { <expression> | NULL } [ ... ]
    [ ELSE { <expression> | NULL } ]
    END 
  | <literal>
  | <sql_function> 

<search_condition> ::= 
  {
    <expression> { = | > | < | >= | <= | <> | != | LIKE | NOT LIKE | IN | NOT IN | IS NULL | IS NOT NULL | AND | OR | CONTAINS | BETWEEN } [ <expression> ]
  } [ { AND | OR } ... ] 

Examples

1. Return all columns:
   

   SELECT * FROM Movies

2. Rename a column:
   

   SELECT [MovieRating] AS MY_MovieRating FROM Movies

3. Cast a column's data as a different data type:
   

   SELECT CAST(MovieRuntime AS VARCHAR) AS Str_MovieRuntime FROM Movies

4. Search data:
   

   SELECT * FROM Movies WHERE MovieRating = 'R'

5. Return the number of items matching the query criteria:
   

   SELECT COUNT(*) AS MyCount FROM Movies 

6. Return the number of unique items matching the query criteria:
   

   SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT MovieRating) FROM Movies 

7. Return the unique items matching the query criteria:
   

   SELECT DISTINCT MovieRating FROM Movies 

8. Summarize data:
   

   SELECT MovieRating, MAX(MovieRuntime) FROM Movies GROUP BY MovieRating

   See Aggregate Functions for details.
9. Retrieve data from multiple tables.
   
   See JOIN Queries for details.
10. Sort a result set in ascending order:
    

    SELECT MovieRuntime, MovieRating FROM Movies  ORDER BY MovieRating ASC

11. Restrict a result set to the specified number of rows:
    

    SELECT MovieRuntime, MovieRating FROM Movies LIMIT 10 

12. Parameterize a query to pass in inputs at execution time. This enables you to create prepared statements and mitigate SQL injection attacks.
    

    SELECT * FROM Movies WHERE MovieRating = @param

See Explicitly Caching Data for information on using the SELECT statement in offline mode.

Pseudo Columns

Some input-only fields are available in SELECT statements. These fields, called pseudo columns, do not appear as regular columns in the results, yet may be specified as part of the WHERE clause. You can use pseudo columns to access additional features from Cloudant.

    SELECT * FROM Movies WHERE Pseudo = '@Pseudo'