Table 11.3. Comparison Operators
Name | Description |
---|---|
BETWEEN ... AND ... | Check whether a value is within a range of values |
COALESCE() | Return the first non-NULL argument |
<=> | NULL-safe equal to operator |
= | Equal operator |
>= | Greater than or equal operator |
> | Greater than operator |
GREATEST() | Return the largest argument |
IN() | Check whether a value is within a set of values |
INTERVAL() | Return the index of the argument that is less than the first argument |
IS NOT NULL | NOT NULL value test |
IS NOT | Test a value against a boolean |
IS NULL | NULL value test |
IS | Test a value against a boolean |
ISNULL() | Test whether the argument is NULL |
LEAST() | Return the smallest argument |
<= | Less than or equal operator |
< | Less than operator |
LIKE | Simple pattern matching |
NOT BETWEEN ... AND ... | Check whether a value is not within a range of values |
!= , <> | Not equal operator |
NOT IN() | Check whether a value is not within a set of values |
NOT LIKE | Negation of simple pattern matching |
STRCMP() | Compare two strings |
Comparison operations result in a value of 1
(TRUE
), 0
(FALSE
), or NULL
. These
operations work for both numbers and strings. Strings are
automatically converted to numbers and numbers to strings as
necessary.
The following relational comparison operators can be used to compare not only scalar operands, but row operands:
= > < >= <= <> !=
For examples of row comparisons, see Section 12.2.10.5, “Row Subqueries”.
Some of the functions in this section return values other than
1
(TRUE
),
0
(FALSE
), or
NULL
. For example,
LEAST()
and
GREATEST()
. However, the value
they return is based on comparison operations performed
according to the rules described in
Section 11.2, “Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation”.
To convert a value to a specific type for comparison purposes,
you can use the CAST()
function.
String values can be converted to a different character set
using CONVERT()
. See
Section 11.10, “Cast Functions and Operators”.
By default, string comparisons are not case sensitive and use
the current character set. The default is
latin1
(cp1252 West European), which also
works well for English.
Equal:
mysql>
SELECT 1 = 0;
-> 0 mysql>SELECT '0' = 0;
-> 1 mysql>SELECT '0.0' = 0;
-> 1 mysql>SELECT '0.01' = 0;
-> 0 mysql>SELECT '.01' = 0.01;
-> 1NULL
-safe equal. This operator performs an equality comparison like the=
operator, but returns1
rather thanNULL
if both operands areNULL
, and0
rather thanNULL
if one operand isNULL
.mysql>
SELECT 1 <=> 1, NULL <=> NULL, 1 <=> NULL;
-> 1, 1, 0 mysql>SELECT 1 = 1, NULL = NULL, 1 = NULL;
-> 1, NULL, NULLNot equal:
mysql>
SELECT '.01' <> '0.01';
-> 1 mysql>SELECT .01 <> '0.01';
-> 0 mysql>SELECT 'zapp' <> 'zappp';
-> 1Less than or equal:
mysql>
SELECT 0.1 <= 2;
-> 1Less than:
mysql>
SELECT 2 < 2;
-> 0Greater than or equal:
mysql>
SELECT 2 >= 2;
-> 1Greater than:
mysql>
SELECT 2 > 2;
-> 0Tests a value against a boolean value, where
boolean_value
can beTRUE
,FALSE
, orUNKNOWN
.mysql>
SELECT 1 IS TRUE, 0 IS FALSE, NULL IS UNKNOWN;
-> 1, 1, 1Tests a value against a boolean value, where
boolean_value
can beTRUE
,FALSE
, orUNKNOWN
.mysql>
SELECT 1 IS NOT UNKNOWN, 0 IS NOT UNKNOWN, NULL IS NOT UNKNOWN;
-> 1, 1, 0Tests whether a value is
NULL
.mysql>
SELECT 1 IS NULL, 0 IS NULL, NULL IS NULL;
-> 0, 0, 1To work well with ODBC programs, MySQL supports the following extra features when using
IS NULL
:If
sql_auto_is_null
variable is set to 1, then after a statement that successfully inserts an automatically generatedAUTO_INCREMENT
value, you can find that value by issuing a statement of the following form:SELECT * FROM
tbl_name
WHEREauto_col
IS NULLIf the statement returns a row, the value returned is the same as if you invoked the
LAST_INSERT_ID()
function. For details, including the return value after a multiple-row insert, see Section 11.14, “Information Functions”. If noAUTO_INCREMENT
value was successfully inserted, theSELECT
statement returns no row.The behavior of retrieving an
AUTO_INCREMENT
value by using anIS NULL
comparison can be disabled by settingsql_auto_is_null = 0
. See Section 5.1.4, “Server System Variables”.The default value of
sql_auto_is_null
is 0 as of MySQL 5.5.3, and 1 for earlier versions.For
DATE
andDATETIME
columns that are declared asNOT NULL
, you can find the special date'0000-00-00'
by using a statement like this:SELECT * FROM
tbl_name
WHEREdate_column
IS NULLThis is needed to get some ODBC applications to work because ODBC does not support a
'0000-00-00'
date value.See Section 22.1.7.1.1, “Obtaining Auto-Increment Values”, and the description for the
FLAG_AUTO_IS_NULL
option at Section 22.1.4.2, “Connector/ODBC Connection Parameters”.
Tests whether a value is not
NULL
.mysql>
SELECT 1 IS NOT NULL, 0 IS NOT NULL, NULL IS NOT NULL;
-> 1, 1, 0If
expr
is greater than or equal tomin
andexpr
is less than or equal tomax
,BETWEEN
returns1
, otherwise it returns0
. This is equivalent to the expression(
if all the arguments are of the same type. Otherwise type conversion takes place according to the rules described in Section 11.2, “Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation”, but applied to all the three arguments.min
<=expr
ANDexpr
<=max
)mysql>
SELECT 2 BETWEEN 1 AND 3, 2 BETWEEN 3 and 1;
-> 1, 0 mysql>SELECT 1 BETWEEN 2 AND 3;
-> 0 mysql>SELECT 'b' BETWEEN 'a' AND 'c';
-> 1 mysql>SELECT 2 BETWEEN 2 AND '3';
-> 1 mysql>SELECT 2 BETWEEN 2 AND 'x-3';
-> 0For best results when using
BETWEEN
with date or time values, useCAST()
to explicitly convert the values to the desired data type. Examples: If you compare aDATETIME
to twoDATE
values, convert theDATE
values toDATETIME
values. If you use a string constant such as'2001-1-1'
in a comparison to aDATE
, cast the string to aDATE
.This is the same as
NOT (
.expr
BETWEENmin
ANDmax
)Returns the first non-
NULL
value in the list, orNULL
if there are no non-NULL
values.mysql>
SELECT COALESCE(NULL,1);
-> 1 mysql>SELECT COALESCE(NULL,NULL,NULL);
-> NULLWith two or more arguments, returns the largest (maximum-valued) argument. The arguments are compared using the same rules as for
LEAST()
.mysql>
SELECT GREATEST(2,0);
-> 2 mysql>SELECT GREATEST(34.0,3.0,5.0,767.0);
-> 767.0 mysql>SELECT GREATEST('B','A','C');
-> 'C'GREATEST()
returnsNULL
if any argument isNULL
.Returns
1
ifexpr
is equal to any of the values in theIN
list, else returns0
. If all values are constants, they are evaluated according to the type ofexpr
and sorted. The search for the item then is done using a binary search. This meansIN
is very quick if theIN
value list consists entirely of constants. Otherwise, type conversion takes place according to the rules described in Section 11.2, “Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation”, but applied to all the arguments.mysql>
SELECT 2 IN (0,3,5,7);
-> 0 mysql>SELECT 'wefwf' IN ('wee','wefwf','weg');
-> 1You should never mix quoted and unquoted values in an
IN
list because the comparison rules for quoted values (such as strings) and unquoted values (such as numbers) differ. Mixing types may therefore lead to inconsistent results. For example, do not write anIN
expression like this:SELECT val1 FROM tbl1 WHERE val1 IN (1,2,'a');
Instead, write it like this:
SELECT val1 FROM tbl1 WHERE val1 IN ('1','2','a');
The number of values in the
IN
list is only limited by themax_allowed_packet
value.To comply with the SQL standard,
IN
returnsNULL
not only if the expression on the left hand side isNULL
, but also if no match is found in the list and one of the expressions in the list isNULL
.IN()
syntax can also be used to write certain types of subqueries. See Section 12.2.10.3, “Subqueries withANY
,IN
, orSOME
”.This is the same as
NOT (
.expr
IN (value
,...))If
expr
isNULL
,ISNULL()
returns1
, otherwise it returns0
.mysql>
SELECT ISNULL(1+1);
-> 0 mysql>SELECT ISNULL(1/0);
-> 1ISNULL()
can be used instead of=
to test whether a value isNULL
. (Comparing a value toNULL
using=
always yields false.)The
ISNULL()
function shares some special behaviors with theIS NULL
comparison operator. See the description ofIS NULL
.Returns
0
ifN
<N1
,1
ifN
<N2
and so on or-1
ifN
isNULL
. All arguments are treated as integers. It is required thatN1
<N2
<N3
<...
<Nn
for this function to work correctly. This is because a binary search is used (very fast).mysql>
SELECT INTERVAL(23, 1, 15, 17, 30, 44, 200);
-> 3 mysql>SELECT INTERVAL(10, 1, 10, 100, 1000);
-> 2 mysql>SELECT INTERVAL(22, 23, 30, 44, 200);
-> 0With two or more arguments, returns the smallest (minimum-valued) argument. The arguments are compared using the following rules:
If any argument is
NULL
, the result isNULL
. No comparison is needed.If the return value is used in an
INTEGER
context or all arguments are integer-valued, they are compared as integers.If the return value is used in a
REAL
context or all arguments are real-valued, they are compared as reals.If the arguments comprise a mix of numbers and strings, they are compared as numbers.
If any argument is a nonbinary (character) string, the arguments are compared as nonbinary strings.
In all other cases, the arguments are compared as binary strings.
mysql>
SELECT LEAST(2,0);
-> 0 mysql>SELECT LEAST(34.0,3.0,5.0,767.0);
-> 3.0 mysql>SELECT LEAST('B','A','C');
-> 'A'Note that the preceding conversion rules can produce strange results in some borderline cases:
mysql>
SELECT CAST(LEAST(3600, 9223372036854775808.0) as SIGNED);
-> -9223372036854775808This happens because MySQL reads
9223372036854775808.0
in an integer context. The integer representation is not good enough to hold the value, so it wraps to a signed integer.