MYSQL Multiple tables left joins with conditions and duplicate tables - mysql

Question

I can't seem to produce a valid MySQL (version MySQL 5.6).
I have the bellow SQL that works well but it returns records only when all conditions are satisfied. I need it to return records for all users having the missing data as NULL.
So LEFT JOINS would be the way (unless there is a better way).
Please note about the usage of one of the tables twice.
SELECT
users.email,
ufs.first_name,
ufs.last_name,
country_label.label as country,
interest_label.label as interest,
points.actions,
points.badges,
points.points
FROM
site_users users,
site_user_fields_values interest,
site_user_fields_options interest_label,
site_user_fields_values country,
site_user_fields_options country_label,
points_users points,
site_user_fields_search ufs
WHERE
interest.field_id = 15 AND
country.field_id = 16 AND
users.user_id = interest.item_id AND
interest.value = interest_label.option_id AND
users.user_id = country.item_id AND
country.value = country_label.option_id AND
users.user_id = points.ref_id AND
users.user_id = ufs.item_id;
That produces:
array(size = 2)
0 =>
array(size = 8)
'email' => string 'info#mygreatsite.com'
'first_name' => string 'Filip'
'last_name' => string 'Moore'
'country' => string 'United Kingdom'
'interest' => string 'Fishing'
'actions' => string '53'
'badges' => string '4'
'points' => string '21.00'
1 =>
array(size = 8)
'email' => string 'user#mygreatsite.com'
'first_name' => string 'Peter'
'last_name' => string 'Smith'
'country' => string 'Spain'
'interest' => string 'Swimming'
'actions' => string '44'
'badges' => string '5'
'points' => string '212.00'
And here are the CREATE TABLE statements of all tables involved:
CREATE TABLE `site_users` (
`user_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`email` varchar(128) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
`username` varchar(128) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL,
`displayname` varchar(128) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
`photo_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`password` char(32) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
`salt` char(64) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
`locale` varchar(16) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_general_ci NOT NULL DEFAULT 'auto',
`language` varchar(8) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_general_ci NOT NULL DEFAULT 'en_US',
`enabled` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT '1',
`creation_date` datetime NOT NULL,
`modified_date` datetime NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`user_id`),
UNIQUE KEY `EMAIL` (`email`),
UNIQUE KEY `USERNAME` (`username`),
KEY `CREATION_DATE` (`creation_date`),
KEY `enabled` (`enabled`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=10 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
CREATE TABLE `site_user_fields_options` (
`option_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`field_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
`label` varchar(255) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
`order` smallint(6) NOT NULL DEFAULT '999',
PRIMARY KEY (`option_id`),
KEY `field_id` (`field_id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=14 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
CREATE TABLE `site_user_fields_values` (
`item_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
`field_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
`index` smallint(3) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`value` text COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
`privacy` varchar(64) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`item_id`,`field_id`,`index`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
CREATE TABLE `site_user_fields_search` (
`item_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
`profile_type` smallint(11) unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
`first_name` varchar(255) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL,
`last_name` varchar(255) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL,
`gender` smallint(6) unsigned DEFAULT NULL,
`birthdate` date DEFAULT NULL,
`field_15` enum('4','5','6','7','8','9','10') COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL,
`field_16` enum('11','12','13') COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`item_id`),
KEY `profile_type` (`profile_type`),
KEY `first_name` (`first_name`),
KEY `last_name` (`last_name`),
KEY `gender` (`gender`),
KEY `birthdate` (`birthdate`),
KEY `field_15` (`field_15`),
KEY `field_16` (`field_16`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `points_users` (
`user_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment,
`ref_id` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
`actions` int(11) unsigned DEFAULT 0,
`badges` int(11) unsigned DEFAULT 0,
`points` FLOAT(12) unsigned DEFAULT 0,
`creation_date` DATETIME DEFAULT '00-00-00 00:00:00',
`modified_date` DATETIME DEFAULT '00-00-00 00:00:00',
PRIMARY KEY (`user_id`),
KEY `ref_id` (`ref_id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
I would be very thankful for your help.

Answer 1

You already gave the right hint with LEFT JOIN yourself. So, it could be as easy as
SELECT
users.email,
ufs.first_name,
ufs.last_name,
country_label.label as country,
interest_label.label as interest,
points.actions,
points.badges,
points.points
FROM site_users users
LEFT JOIN site_user_fields_values interest ON users.user_id = interest.item_id
LEFT JOIN site_user_fields_options interest_label ON interest.value = interest_label.option_id
LEFT JOIN site_user_fields_values country ON users.user_id = country.item_id
LEFT JOIN site_user_fields_options country_label ON country.value = country_label.option_id
LEFT JOIN points_users points ON users.user_id = points.ref_id
LEFT JOIN site_user_fields_search ufs ON users.user_id = ufs.item_id
WHERE
interest.field_id = 15 AND
country.field_id = 16
;
Please note, however, it is currently unclear, whether this statement is really what you want (to LEFT JOIN in all cases). There might be cases, where an INNER JOIN is more appropriate. To check, we would need to discuss about foreign key relationship and/or have the CREATE TABLE statements of all the tables involved.