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> 
    ]
  ] 
}

<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 Resources

2. Rename a column:
   

   SELECT [Permission] AS MY_Permission FROM Resources

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

   SELECT CAST(AnnualRevenue AS VARCHAR) AS Str_AnnualRevenue FROM Resources

4. Search data:
   

   SELECT * FROM Resources WHERE Type = 'FILE'

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

   SELECT COUNT(*) AS MyCount FROM Resources 

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

   SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Permission) FROM Resources 

7. Return the unique items matching the query criteria:
   

   SELECT DISTINCT Permission FROM Resources 

8. Summarize data:
   

   SELECT Permission, MAX(AnnualRevenue) FROM Resources GROUP BY Permission

   See Aggregate Functions for details.
9. Retrieve data from multiple tables.
   

   SELECT Customers.ContactName, Orders.OrderDate FROM Customers, Orders WHERE Customers.CustomerId=Orders.CustomerId

   See JOIN Queries for details.
10. Sort a result set in ascending order:
    

    SELECT FullPath, Permission FROM Resources  ORDER BY Permission ASC

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

    SELECT FullPath, Permission FROM Resources 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 Resources WHERE Type = @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 Azure Data Lake Storage.

    SELECT * FROM Resources WHERE Pseudo = '@Pseudo'