Comparison Operators

True to their name, comparison operators compare expressions and return one of three
values: TRUE , FALSE , or Unknown . Wait a minute! Unknown ? TRUE and
FALSE are self-explanatory, but what is Unknown ?

To understand how you could get an Unknown , you need to know a little about the
concept of NULL . In database terms NULL is the absence of data in a field. It does
not mean a column has a zero or a blank in it. A zero or a blank is a value. NULL
means nothing is in that field. If you make a comparison like Field = 9 and the only
value for Field is NULL , the comparison will come back Unknown . Because
Unknown is an uncomfortable condition, most flavors of SQL change Unknown to
FALSE and provide a special operator, IS NULL , to test for a NULL condition.

Here's an example of NULL : Suppose an entry in the PRICE table does not contain
a value for WHOLESALE . The results of a query might look like this:

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT * FROM PRICE;

OUTPUT:

ITEM WHOLESALE

TOMATOES .34
POTATOES .51
BANANAS .67
TURNIPS .45
CHEESE .89
APPLES .23
ORANGES

Notice that nothing is printed out in the WHOLESALE field position for oranges.
The value for the field WHOLESALE for oranges is NULL . The NULL is
noticeable in this case because it is in a numeric column. However, if the NULL
appeared in the ITEM column, it would be impossible to tell the difference between
NULL and a blank.
Try to find the NULL :

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM PRICE
3 WHERE WHOLESALE IS NULL;

ITEM WHOLESALE

ORANGES

ANALYSIS:

As you can see by the output, ORANGES is the only item whose value for
WHOLESALE is NULL or does not contain a value. What if you use the equal sign (
= ) instead?

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
FROM PRICE
WHERE WHOLESALE = NULL;

no rows selected

ANALYSIS:

You didn't find anything because the comparison WHOLESALE = NULL returned a
FALSE - the result was unknown. It would be more appropriate to use an IS NULL
instead of = , changing the WHERE statement to WHERE WHOLESALE IS
NULL . In this case you would get all the rows where a NULL existed.

This example also illustrates both the use of the most common comparison operator, the
equal sign ( = ), and the playground of all comparison operators, the WHERE clause.
You already know about the WHERE clause, so here's a brief look at the equal sign.
Equal (=)

Earlier today you saw how some implementations of SQL use the equal sign in the
SELECT clause to assign an alias. In the WHERE clause, the equal sign is the most
commonly used comparison operator. Used alone, the equal sign is a very convenient
way of selecting one value out of many. Try this:

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT * FROM FRIENDS;

OUTPUT:

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333

MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK
MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212
MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332

Let's find JD's row. (On a short list this task appears trivial, but you may have more
friends than we do--or you may have a list with thousands of records.)

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT * FROM FRIENDS

WHERE FIRSTNAME = 'JD';

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456

We got the result that we expected. Try this:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT * FROM FRIENDS

WHERE FIRSTNAME = 'AL';
LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333

MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK

NOTE: Here you see that = can pull in multiple records. Notice that ZIP is
blank on the second record. ZIP is a character field, and in this
particular record the NULL demonstrates that a NULL in a character field
is impossible to differentiate from a blank field.

Here's another very important lesson concerning case sensitivity:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT * FROM FRIENDS

WHERE FIRSTNAME = 'BUD';

FIRSTNAME

BUD

1 row selected.

Now try this:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> select * from friends

where firstname = 'Bud';

no rows selected.

ANALYSIS:

Even though SQL syntax is not case sensitive, data is. Most companies prefer to store
data in uppercase to provide data consistency. You should always store data either in
all uppercase or in all lowercase. Mixing case creates difficulties when you try to
retrieve accurate data.
Greater Than (>) and Greater Than or Equal To (>=)

The greater than operator ( > ) works like this:

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
FROM FRIENDS
WHERE AREACODE > 300;

OUTPUT:

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456

BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332

ANALYSIS:

This example found all the area codes greater than (but not including) 300 . To include
300 , type this:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE AREACODE >= 300;

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212

MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332

ANALYSIS:

With this change you get area codes starting at 300 and going up. You could achieve
the same results with the statement AREACODE > 299 .
 NOTE: Notice that no quotes surround 300 in this SQL statement. Number-
defined fieldsnumber-defined fields do not require quotes.

Less Than (<) and Less Than or Equal To (<=)

As you might expect, these comparison operators work the same way as > and >=
work,
only in reverse:

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE STATE < 'LA';

OUTPUT:

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333

MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332

NOTE: How did STATE get changed to ST ? Because the column has only
two characters, the column name is shortened to two characters in the
returned rows. If the column name had been COWS , it would come out CO .
The widths of AREACODE and PHONE are wider than their column
names, so they are not truncated.

ANALYSIS:

Wait a minute. Did you just use < on a character field? Of course you did. You can use
any of these operators on any data type. The result varies by data type. For example, use
lowercase in the following state search:
INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE STATE < 'la';

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333

MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK
MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212
MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332

ANALYSIS:

Uppercase is usually sorted before lowercase; therefore, the uppercase codes returned
are less than 'la' . Again, to be safe, check your implementation.

TIP: To be sure of how these operators will behave, check your language
tables. Most PC implementations use the ASCII tables. Some other platforms
use EBCDIC.

To include the state of Louisiana in the original search, type

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE STATE <= 'LA';

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333

MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212
MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332
Inequalities (< > or !=)

When you need to find everything except for certain data, use the inequality symbol,

which can be either < > or != , depending on your SQL implementation. For example,
to find everyone who is not AL , type this:

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE FIRSTNAME <> 'AL';

OUTPUT:

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212

MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332

To find everyone not living in California, type this:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE STATE != 'CA';

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

BUNDY AL 100 55-1111 IL 22333

MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK
MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212
MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332

NOTE: Notice that both symbols, <> and != , can express "not equals."
Character Operators
You can use character operators to manipulate the way character strings are
represented, both in the output of data and in the process of placing conditions on data
to be retrieved. This section describes two character operators: the LIKE operator and
the || operator, which conveys the concept of character concatenation.

LIKE
I Want to Be Like

What if you wanted to select parts of a database that fit a pattern but weren't quite exact
matches? You could use the equal sign and run through all the possible cases, but
that process would be boring and time-consuming. Instead, you could use LIKE .
Consider the following:

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT * FROM PARTS;

OUTPUT:

NAME LOCATION PARTNUMBER

APPENDIX MID-STOMACH 1
ADAMS APPLE THROAT 2
HEART CHEST 3
SPINE BACK 4
ANVIL EAR 5
KIDNEY MID-BACK 6

How can you find all the parts located in the back? A quick visual inspection of this
simple table shows that it has two parts, but unfortunately the locations have slightly
different names. Try this:
INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM PARTS
3 WHERE LOCATION LIKE '%BACK%';

NAME LOCATION PARTNUMBER

SPINE BACK 4
KIDNEY MID-BACK 6

ANALYSIS:

You can see the use of the percent sign ( % ) in the statement after LIKE . When used
inside a LIKE expression, % is a wildcard. What you asked for was any occurrence of
BACK in the column location. If you queried

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
FROM PARTS
WHERE LOCATION LIKE 'BACK%';

you would get any occurrence that started with BACK :

OUTPUT:

NAME LOCATION PARTNUMBER

SPINE BACK 4

If you queried

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
FROM PARTS
WHERE NAME LIKE 'A%';

you would get any name that starts with A :

OUTPUT:

NAME LOCATION PARTNUMBER

APPENDIX MID-STOMACH 1
ADAMS APPLE THROAT 2
ANVIL EAR 5

Is LIKE case sensitive? Try the next query to find out.

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
FROM PARTS
WHERE NAME LIKE 'a%';

no rows selected

ANALYSIS:

The answer is yes. References to data are always case sensitive.

What if you want to find data that matches all but one character in a certain pattern?
In this case you could use a different type of wildcard: the underscore.

Underscore (_)
The underscore is the single-character wildcard. Using a modified version of the table
FRIENDS , type this:

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT * FROM FRIENDS;

OUTPUT:

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333

MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK
MERRICK UD 300 555-6666 CO 80212
MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456
BULHER FERRIS 345 555-3223 IL 23332
PERKINS ALTON 911 555-3116 CA 95633
BOSS SIR 204 555-2345 CT 95633

To find all the records where STATE starts with C , type the following:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE STATE LIKE 'C_';

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212

PERKINS ALTON 911 555-3116 CA 95633
BOSS SIR 204 555-2345 CT 95633

You can use several underscores in a statement:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE PHONE LIKE'555-6_6_';

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212

MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456

The previous statement could also be written as follows:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE PHONE LIKE '555-6%';

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

MERRICK BUD 300 555-6666 CO 80212

MAST JD 381 555-6767 LA 23456

Notice that the results are identical. These two wildcards can be combined. The next
example finds all records with L as the second character:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT *
2 FROM FRIENDS
3 WHERE FIRSTNAME LIKE '_L%';

LASTNAME FIRSTNAME AREACODE PHONE ST ZIP

BUNDY AL 100 555-1111 IL 22333

MEZA AL 200 555-2222 UK
PERKINS ALTON 911 555-3116 CA 95633

Concatenation (||)
The || (double pipe) symbol concatenates two strings. Try this:

INPUT:

SQL> SELECT FIRSTNAME || LASTNAME ENTIRENAME

2 FROM FRIENDS;
OUTPUT:

ENTIRENAME

AL BUNDY
AL MEZA
BUD MERRICK
JD MAST
FERRIS BULHER
ALTON PERKINS
SIR BOSS

7 rows selected.

ANALYSIS:

Notice that || is used instead of + . If you use + to try to concatenate the strings, the
SQL interpreter used for this example (Personal Oracle7) returns the following error:
INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT FIRSTNAME + LASTNAME ENTIRENAME FROM FRIENDS;

ERROR:
ORA-01722: invalid number

It is looking for two numbers to add and throws the error invalid number when it
doesn't find any.

NOTE: Some implementations of SQL use the plus sign to concatenate

strings. Check your implementation.

Here's a more practical example using concatenation:

INPUT/OUTPUT:

SQL> SELECT LASTNAME || ',' || FIRSTNAME NAME

FROM FRIENDS;
 NAME

BUNDY, AL
MEZA, AL
MERRICK, BUD
MAST, JD
BULHER, FERRIS
PERKINS , ALTON
BOSS, SIR

7 rows selected.

ANALYSIS:

This statement inserted a comma between the last name and the first name.

NOTE: Notice the extra spaces between the first name and the last name in
these examples. These spaces are actually part of the data. With certain
data types, spaces are right-padded to values less than the total length
allocated for a field.

So far you have performed the comparisons one at a time. That method is fine for some
problems, but what if you need to find all the people at work with last names starting
with P who have less than three days of vacation time?