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13.2.7.1. JOIN Syntax

MySQL supports the following JOIN syntaxes for the table_references part of SELECT statements and multiple-table DELETE and UPDATE statements:

table_references:
    table_reference [, table_reference] ...

table_reference:
    table_factor
  | join_table

table_factor:
    tbl_name [[AS] alias]
        [{USE|IGNORE|FORCE} INDEX (key_list)]
  | ( table_references )
  | { OJ table_reference LEFT OUTER JOIN table_reference
        ON conditional_expr }

join_table:
    table_reference [INNER | CROSS] JOIN table_factor [join_condition]
  | table_reference STRAIGHT_JOIN table_factor
  | table_reference STRAIGHT_JOIN table_factor ON condition
  | table_reference LEFT [OUTER] JOIN table_reference join_condition
  | table_reference NATURAL [LEFT [OUTER]] JOIN table_factor
  | table_reference RIGHT [OUTER] JOIN table_reference join_condition
  | table_reference NATURAL [RIGHT [OUTER]] JOIN table_factor

join_condition:
    ON conditional_expr
  | USING (column_list)

A table reference is also known as a join expression.

The syntax of table_factor is extended in comparison with the SQL Standard. The latter accepts only table_reference, not a list of them inside a pair of parentheses.

This is a conservative extension if we consider each comma in a list of table_reference items as equivalent to an inner join. For example:

SELECT * FROM t1 LEFT JOIN (t2, t3, t4)
                 ON (t2.a=t1.a AND t3.b=t1.b AND t4.c=t1.c)

is equivalent to:

SELECT * FROM t1 LEFT JOIN (t2 CROSS JOIN t3 CROSS JOIN t4)
                 ON (t2.a=t1.a AND t3.b=t1.b AND t4.c=t1.c)

In MySQL, CROSS JOIN is a syntactic equivalent to INNER JOIN (they can replace each other. In standard SQL, they are not equivalent. INNER JOIN is used with an ON clause, CROSS JOIN is used otherwise.

In general, parentheses can be ignored in join expressions containing only inner join operations. MySQL also supports nested joins (see Section 7.2.10, “Nested Join Optimization”).

You should generally not have any conditions in the ON part that are used to restrict which rows you want in the result set, but rather specify these conditions in the WHERE clause. There are exceptions to this rule.

The { OJ ... LEFT OUTER JOIN ...} syntax shown in the preceding list exists only for compatibility with ODBC. The curly braces in the syntax should be written literally; they are not metasyntax as used elsewhere in syntax descriptions.

  • A table reference can be aliased using tbl_name AS alias_name or tbl_name alias_name:

    SELECT t1.name, t2.salary FROM employee AS t1, info AS t2
      WHERE t1.name = t2.name;
    
    SELECT t1.name, t2.salary FROM employee t1, info t2
      WHERE t1.name = t2.name;
    
  • The ON conditional is any conditional expression of the form that can be used in a WHERE clause.

  • If there is no matching row for the right table in the ON or USING part in a LEFT JOIN, a row with all columns set to NULL is used for the right table. You can use this fact to find rows in a table that have no counterpart in another table:

    SELECT table1.* FROM table1
      LEFT JOIN table2 ON table1.id=table2.id
      WHERE table2.id IS NULL;
    

    This example finds all rows in table1 with an id value that is not present in table2 (that is, all rows in table1 with no corresponding row in table2). This assumes that table2.id is declared NOT NULL. See Section 7.2.9, “LEFT JOIN and RIGHT JOIN Optimization”.

  • The USING(column_list) clause names a list of columns that must exist in both tables. If tables a and b both contain columns c1, c2, and c3, the following join compares corresponding columns from the two tables:

    a LEFT JOIN b USING (c1,c2,c3)
    
  • The NATURAL [LEFT] JOIN of two tables is defined to be semantically equivalent to an INNER JOIN or a LEFT JOIN with a USING clause that names all columns that exist in both tables.

  • INNER JOIN and , (comma) are semantically equivalent in the absence of a join condition: both produce a Cartesian product between the specified tables (that is, each and every row in the first table is joined to each and every row in the second table).

  • RIGHT JOIN works analogously to LEFT JOIN. To keep code portable across databases, it is recommended that you use LEFT JOIN instead of RIGHT JOIN.

  • STRAIGHT_JOIN is identical to JOIN, except that the left table is always read before the right table. This can be used for those (few) cases for which the join optimizer puts the tables in the wrong order.

You can provide hints as to which index MySQL should use when retrieving information from a table. By specifying USE INDEX (key_list), you can tell MySQL to use only one of the possible indexes to find rows in the table. The alternative syntax IGNORE INDEX (key_list) can be used to tell MySQL to not use some particular index. These hints are useful if EXPLAIN shows that MySQL is using the wrong index from the list of possible indexes.

You can also use FORCE INDEX, which acts like USE INDEX (key_list) but with the addition that a table scan is assumed to be very expensive. In other words, a table scan is used only if there is no way to use one of the given indexes to find rows in the table.

USE INDEX, IGNORE INDEX, and FORCE INDEX affect only which indexes are used when MySQL decides how to find rows in the table and how to do the join. They do not affect whether an index is used when resolving an ORDER BY or GROUP BY.

USE KEY, IGNORE KEY, and FORCE KEY are synonyms for USE INDEX, IGNORE INDEX, and FORCE INDEX.

Some join examples:

SELECT * FROM table1,table2 WHERE table1.id=table2.id;

SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON table1.id=table2.id;

SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 USING (id);

SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON table1.id=table2.id
  LEFT JOIN table3 ON table2.id=table3.id;

SELECT * FROM table1 USE INDEX (key1,key2)
  WHERE key1=1 AND key2=2 AND key3=3;

SELECT * FROM table1 IGNORE INDEX (key3)
  WHERE key1=1 AND key2=2 AND key3=3;

Note: Natural joins and joins with USING, including outer join variants, are processed according to the SQL:2003 standard. These changes make MySQL more compliant with standard SQL. However, they can result in different output columns for some joins. Also, some queries that appeared to work correctly in older versions (prior to 5.0.12) must be rewritten to comply with the standard. The following list provides more detail about several effects of current join processing versus join processing in older versions. The term “previously” means “prior to MySQL 5.0.12.

  • The columns of a NATURAL join or a USING join may be different from previously. Specifically, redundant output columns no longer appear, and the order of columns for SELECT * expansion may be different from before.

    Consider this set of statements:

    CREATE TABLE t1 (i INT, j INT);
    CREATE TABLE t2 (k INT, j INT);
    INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(1,1);
    INSERT INTO t2 VALUES(1,1);
    SELECT * FROM t1 NATURAL JOIN t2;
    SELECT * FROM t1 JOIN t2 USING (j);
    

    Previously, the statements produced this output:

    +------+------+------+------+
    | i    | j    | k    | j    |
    +------+------+------+------+
    |    1 |    1 |    1 |    1 |
    +------+------+------+------+
    +------+------+------+------+
    | i    | j    | k    | j    |
    +------+------+------+------+
    |    1 |    1 |    1 |    1 |
    +------+------+------+------+
    

    In the first SELECT statement, column i appears in both tables and thus becomes a join column, so, according to standard SQL, it should appear only once in the output, not twice. Similarly, in the second SELECT statement, column j is named in the USING clause and should appear only once in the output, not twice. But in both cases, the redundant column is not eliminated. Also, the order of the columns is not correct according to standard SQL.

    Now the statements produce this output:

    +------+------+------+
    | j    | i    | k    |
    +------+------+------+
    |    1 |    1 |    1 |
    +------+------+------+
    +------+------+------+
    | j    | i    | k    |
    +------+------+------+
    |    1 |    1 |    1 |
    +------+------+------+
    

    The redundant column is eliminated. Also, the column order is correct according to standard SQL:

    • First, columns common to both tables, in the order in which they occur in the first table

    • Second, columns unique to the first table, in order in which they occur in that table

    • Third, columns unique to the second table, in order in which they occur in that table

  • The evaluation of multi-way natural joins differs in a way that can require query rewriting. Suppose that you have three tables t1(a,b), t2(c,b), and t3(a,c) that each have one row: t1(1,2), t2(10,2), and t3(7,10). Suppose also that you have this NATURAL JOIN on the three tables:

    SELECT ... FROM t1 NATURAL JOIN t2 NATURAL JOIN t3;
    

    Previously, the left operand of the second join was considered to be t2, whereas it should be the nested join (t1 NATURAL JOIN t2). As a result, the columns of t3 are checked for common columns only in t2, and, if t3 has common columns with t1, these columns are not used as equi-join columns. Thus, previously, the preceding query was transformed to the following equi-join:

    SELECT ... FROM t1, t2, t3
      WHERE t1.b = t2.b AND t2.c = t3.c;
    

    That join is missing one more equi-join predicate (t1.a = t3.a). As a result, it produces one row, not the empty result that it should. The correct equivalent query is this:

    SELECT ... FROM t1, t2, t3
      WHERE t1.b = t2.b AND t2.c = t3.c AND t1.a = t3.a;
    

    If you require the same query result in current versions of MySQL as in older versions, rewrite the natural join as the first equi-join.

  • Previously, the comma operator (,) and JOIN both had the same precedence, so the join expression t1, t2 JOIN t3 was interpreted as ((t1, t2) JOIN t3). Now JOIN has higher precedence, so the expression is interpreted as (t1, (t2 JOIN t3)). This change affects statements that use an ON clause, because that clause can refer only to columns in the operands of the join, and the change in precedence changes interpretation of what those operands are.

    Example:

    CREATE TABLE t1 (i1 INT, j1 INT);
    CREATE TABLE t2 (i2 INT, j2 INT);
    CREATE TABLE t3 (i3 INT, j3 INT);
    INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(1,1);
    INSERT INTO t2 VALUES(1,1);
    INSERT INTO t3 VALUES(1,1);
    SELECT * FROM t1, t2 JOIN t3 ON (t1.i1 = t3.i3);
    

    Previously, the SELECT was legal due to the implicit grouping of t1,t2 as (t1,t2). Now the JOIN takes precedence, so the operands for the ON clause are t2 and t3. Because t1.i1 is not a column in either of the operands, the result is an Unknown column 't1.i1' in 'on clause' error. To allow the join to be processed, group the first two tables explicitly with parentheses so that the operands for the ON clause are (t1,t2) and t3:

    SELECT * FROM (t1, t2) JOIN t3 ON (t1.i1 = t3.i3);
    

    Alternatively, avoid the use of the comma operator and use JOIN instead:

    SELECT * FROM t1 JOIN t2 JOIN t3 ON (t1.i1 = t3.i3);
    

    This change also applies to INNER JOIN, CROSS JOIN, LEFT JOIN, and RIGHT JOIN, all of which now have higher precedence than the comma operator.

  • Previously, the ON clause could refer to columns in tables named to its right. Now an ON clause can refer only to its operands.

    Example:

    CREATE TABLE t1 (i1 INT);
    CREATE TABLE t2 (i2 INT);
    CREATE TABLE t3 (i3 INT);
    SELECT * FROM t1 JOIN t2 ON (i1 = i3) JOIN t3;
    

    Previously, the SELECT statement was legal. Now the statement fails with an Unknown column 'i3' in 'on clause' error because i3 is a column in t3, which is not an operand of the ON clause. The statement should be rewritten as follows:

    SELECT * FROM t1 JOIN t2 JOIN t3 ON (i1 = i3);
    
  • Previously, a USING clause could be rewritten as an ON clause that compares corresponding columns. For example, the following two clauses are semantically identical:

    a LEFT JOIN b USING (c1,c2,c3)
    a LEFT JOIN b ON a.c1=b.c1 AND a.c2=b.c2 AND a.c3=b.c3
    

    Now the two clauses no longer are quite the same:

    • With respect to determining which rows satisfy the join condition, both joins remain semantically identical.

    • With respect to determining which columns to display for SELECT * expansion, the two joins are not semantically identical. The USING join selects the coalesced value of corresponding columns, whereas the ON join selects all columns from all tables. For the preceding USING join, SELECT * selects these values:

      COALESCE(a.c1,b.c1), COALESCE(a.c2,b.c2), COALESCE(a.c3,b.c3)
      

      For the ON join, SELECT * selects these values:

      a.c1, a.c2, a.c3, b.c1, b.c2, b.c3
      

      With an inner join, COALESCE(a.c1,b.c1) is the same as either a.c1 or b.c1 because both columns will have the same value. With an outer join (such as LEFT JOIN), one of the two columns can be NULL. That column will be omitted from the result.


 
 
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