Displaying Data
from Multiple Tables
Objectives
• After completing this lesson, you should be able to do
the following:
• Write SELECT statements to access data from
more than one table using equijoins and
nonequijoins
• Join a table to itself by using a self-join
• View data that generally does not meet a join
condition by using outer joins
• Generate a Cartesian product of all rows from two
or more tables
Lesson Agenda
• Types of JOINS and its syntax
• Natural join:
• USING clause
• ON clause
• Self-join
• Nonequijoins
• OUTER join:
• LEFT OUTER join
• RIGHT OUTER join
• FULL OUTER join
• Cartesian product
• Cross join
Obtaining Data from Multiple
Tables
EMPLOYEES DEPARTMENTS
…
Types of Joins
• Joins that are compliant with the SQL:1999 standard
include the following:
• Natural joins:
• NATURAL JOIN clause
• USING clause
• ON clause
• Outer joins:
• LEFT OUTER JOIN
• RIGHT OUTER JOIN
• FULL OUTER JOIN
• Cross joins
Joining Tables Using SQL:1999
Syntax
• Use a join to query data from more than one table:
SELECT table1.column, table2.column
FROM table1
[NATURAL JOIN table2] |
[JOIN table2 USING (column_name)] |
[JOIN table2
ON (table1.column_name = table2.column_name)]|
[LEFT|RIGHT|FULL OUTER JOIN table2
ON (table1.column_name = table2.column_name)]|
[CROSS JOIN table2];
Qualifying Ambiguous
Column Names
• Use table prefixes to qualify column names that are
in multiple tables.
• Use table prefixes to improve performance.
• Instead of full table name prefixes, use table
aliases.
• Table alias gives a table a shorter name:
• Keeps SQL code smaller, uses less memory
• Use column aliases to distinguish columns that
have identical names, but reside in different tables.
Lesson Agenda
• Types of JOINS and its syntax
• Natural join:
• USING clause
• ON clause
• Self-join
• Nonequijoins
• OUTER join:
• LEFT OUTER join
• RIGHT OUTER join
• FULL OUTER join
• Cartesian product
• Cross join
Creating Natural Joins
• The NATURAL JOIN clause is based on all
columns in the two tables that have the same
name.
• It selects rows from the two tables that have equal
values in all matched columns.
• If the columns having the same names have
different data types, an error is returned.
Retrieving Records with
Natural Joins
SELECT department_id, department_name,
location_id, city
FROM departments
NATURAL JOIN locations ;
Creating Joins with the USING
Clause
• If several columns have the same names but the
data types do not match, natural join can be applied
using the USING clause to specify the columns that
should be used for an equijoin.
• Use the USING clause to match only one column
when more than one column matches.
• The NATURAL JOIN and USING clauses are
mutually exclusive.
Joining Column Names
DEPARTMENTS
EMPLOYEES
Primary key
Foreign key
Retrieving Records with the
USING Clause
SELECT employee_id, last_name,
location_id, department_id
FROM employees JOIN departments
USING (department_id) ;
…
Using Table Aliases with the
USING Clause
• Do not qualify a column that is used in the USING clause.
• If the same column is used elsewhere in the SQL
statement, do not alias it.
SELECT l.city, d.department_name
FROM locations l JOIN departments d
USING (location_id)
WHERE d.location_id = 1400;
Creating Joins with the ON
Clause
• The join condition for the natural join is basically an
equijoin of all columns with the same name.
• Use the ON clause to specify arbitrary conditions or
specify columns to join.
• The join condition is separated from other search
conditions.
• The ON clause makes code easy to understand.
Retrieving Records with the
ON Clause
SELECT e.employee_id, e.last_name, e.department_id,
d.department_id, d.location_id
FROM employees e JOIN departments d
ON (e.department_id = d.department_id);
…
Creating Three-Way Joins with
the ON Clause
SELECT employee_id, city, department_name
FROM employees e
JOIN departments d
ON d.department_id = e.department_id
JOIN locations l
ON d.location_id = l.location_id;
…
Applying Additional Conditions
to a Join
• Use the AND clause or the WHERE clause to apply
additional conditions:
SELECT e.employee_id, e.last_name, e.department_id,
d.department_id, d.location_id
FROM employees e JOIN departments d
ON (e.department_id = d.department_id)
AND e.manager_id = 149 ;
Or
SELECT e.employee_id, e.last_name, e.department_id,
d.department_id, d.location_id
FROM employees e JOIN departments d
ON (e.department_id = d.department_id)
WHERE e.manager_id = 149 ;
Lesson Agenda
• Types of JOINS and its syntax
• Natural join:
• USING clause
• ON clause
• Self-join
• Nonequijoins
• OUTER join:
• LEFT OUTER join
• RIGHT OUTER join
• FULL OUTER join
• Cartesian product
• Cross join
Joining a Table to Itself
EMPLOYEES (WORKER) EMPLOYEES (MANAGER)
… …
MANAGER_ID in the WORKER table is equal to
EMPLOYEE_ID in the MANAGER table.
Self-Joins Using the ON
Clause
SELECT worker.last_name emp, manager.last_name mgr
FROM employees worker JOIN employees manager
ON (worker.manager_id = manager.employee_id);
…
Lesson Agenda
• Types of JOINS and its syntax
• Natural join:
• USING clause
• ON clause
• Self-join
• Nonequijoins
• OUTER join:
• LEFT OUTER join
• RIGHT OUTER join
• FULL OUTER join
• Cartesian product
• Cross join
Nonequijoins
EMPLOYEES JOB_GRADES
JOB_GRADES table defines the
… LOWEST_SAL and HIGHEST_SAL range
of values for each GRADE_LEVEL.
Hence, the GRADE_LEVEL column can
be used to assign grades to each
employee.
Retrieving Records with
Nonequijoins
SELECT e.last_name, e.salary, j.grade_level
FROM employees e JOIN job_grades j
ON e.salary
BETWEEN j.lowest_sal AND j.highest_sal;
…
Returning Records with No
Direct Match with Outer Joins
DEPARTMENTS EMPLOYEES
There are no employees in
department 190.
LEFT OUTER JOIN
SELECT e.last_name, e.department_id, d.department_name
FROM employees e LEFT OUTER JOIN departments d
ON (e.department_id = d.department_id) ;
…
RIGHT OUTER JOIN
SELECT e.last_name, e.department_id, d.department_name
FROM employees e RIGHT OUTER JOIN departments d
ON (e.department_id = d.department_id) ;
…
FULL OUTER JOIN
SELECT e.last_name, d.department_id, d.department_name
FROM employees e FULL OUTER JOIN departments d
ON (e.department_id = d.department_id) ;
…
Cartesian Products
• A Cartesian product is formed when:
• A join condition is omitted
• A join condition is invalid
• All rows in the first table are joined to all rows in
the second table
• To avoid a Cartesian product, always include a
valid join condition.
Generating a Cartesian Product
EMPLOYEES (20 rows) DEPARTMENTS (8 rows)
Cartesian product:
20 x 8 = 160 rows
…
Creating Cross Joins
• The CROSS JOIN clause produces the cross-product of
two tables.
• This is also called a Cartesian product between the two
tables.
SELECT last_name, department_name
FROM employees
CROSS JOIN departments ;
…
Summary
• In this lesson, you should have learned how to use
joins to display data from multiple tables by using:
• Equijoins
• Nonequijoins
• Outer joins
• Self-joins
• Cross joins
• Natural joins
• Full (or two-sided) outer joins
