SELECT Statements

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> } .* 
      } [ , ... ] 
  }
  { 
    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 
  | {RANK() | DENSE_RANK()} OVER ([PARTITION BY <column_reference>] {ORDER BY <column_reference>})
  | <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

Return all columns:

SELECT Country, Education FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer

Rename a column:

SELECT [Education] AS MY_Education FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer

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

SELECT CAST(AnnualRevenue AS VARCHAR) AS Str_AnnualRevenue FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer

Search data:

SELECT Country, Education FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer WHERE Country = 'Australia'

Return the number of items matching the query criteria:

SELECT COUNT(*) AS MyCount FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer

Return the number of unique items matching the query criteria:

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Education) FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer

Return the unique items matching the query criteria:

SELECT DISTINCT Education FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer

Sort a result set in ascending order:

SELECT Country, Education FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer  ORDER BY Education ASC

Restrict a result set to the specified number of rows:

SELECT Country, Education FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer LIMIT 10

Parameterize a query to pass in inputs at execution time. This enables you to create prepared statements and mitigate SQL injection attacks.
```
SELECT Country, Education FROM [adventureworks].[Model].Customer WHERE Country = @param
```

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

Aggregate Functions

For SELECT examples using aggregate functions, see Aggregate Functions.

JOIN Queries

See JOIN Queries for SELECT query examples using JOINs.

Window Functions

See Window Functions for SELECT examples containing window functions.

Table-Valued Functions

See Table-Valued Functions for SELECT examples with table-valued functions.