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 Employee

2. Rename a column:
   

   SELECT [LastName] AS MY_LastName FROM Employee

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

   SELECT CAST(AnnualRevenue AS VARCHAR) AS Str_AnnualRevenue FROM Employee

4. Search data:
   

   SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE EmployeeId = '1234'

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

   SELECT COUNT(*) AS MyCount FROM Employee 

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

   SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT LastName) FROM Employee 

7. Return the unique items matching the query criteria:
   

   SELECT DISTINCT LastName FROM Employee 

8. Summarize data:
   

   SELECT LastName, MAX(AnnualRevenue) FROM Employee GROUP BY LastName

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

   SELECT c.EmployeeId, c.FirstName, o.FirstName, o.MobilePhone, o.Relationship FROM EmployeeDetails c INNER JOIN EmergencyContacts o ON c.EmployeeId = o.EmployeeId

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

    SELECT FirstName, LastName FROM Employee  ORDER BY LastName ASC

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

    SELECT FirstName, LastName FROM Employee 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 Employee WHERE EmployeeId = @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 Paylocity.

    SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE Query = 'Column > 100'