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 provider:

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> 
    ]
  ] 
} | 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 
  | {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 * FROM Lead
```

Rename a column:

SELECT [FirstName] AS MY_FirstName FROM Lead

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

SELECT CAST(Revenue AS VARCHAR) AS Str_Revenue FROM Lead

Search data:

SELECT * FROM Lead WHERE FirstName <> 'Bob'

Return the number of items matching the query criteria:
```
SELECT COUNT(*) AS MyCount FROM Lead 
```
Return the number of unique items matching the query criteria:
```
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT FirstName) FROM Lead 
```
Return the unique items matching the query criteria:
```
SELECT DISTINCT FirstName FROM Lead 
```

Sort a result set in ascending order:

SELECT Id, FirstName FROM Lead  ORDER BY FirstName ASC

Restrict a result set to the specified number of rows:
```
SELECT Id, FirstName FROM Lead 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 * FROM Lead WHERE FirstName = @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 Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

    SELECT * FROM Lead WHERE FetchXML = '@FetchXML'

Aggregate Functions

For SELECT examples using aggregate functions, see Aggregate Functions.

JOIN Queries

See JOIN Queries for SELECT query examples using JOINs.

Date Literal Functions

Date Literal Functions contains SELECT examples with date literal functions.