MYSQL 4 Table Query - mysql

Question

I could use some expert advice with a MYSQL query I'm trying to put together.
What i would like to do:
I'm trying to create a page that will allow users to perform an advanced search across multiple tables.
The 4 tables are:
members, profiles, skills, genre
Members:
*********************************
id | member_id | login | zipcode
*********************************
Profiles:
*********************************************************************
id | member_id | exp | commitment | practice | gigs | availability
*********************************************************************
Skills:
************************************************************************
id | member_id | lead_vocals | background_vocals | guitar | bass| drums
************************************************************************
Genre:
********************************************************************************
id | member_id | alternative | classic_rock | modern_rock | blues | heavy_metal
********************************************************************************
Skills and Genre represent check box values checked or not (1 or 0)
The search form would be a series of checkboxes and dropdowns that would allow a user to specify the specific items they want to search for.
What I need help with:
I need help coming up with the best way to put this query together. I've been reading up on Joins, Unions, Sub Queries and Derived tables. I can do some basic queries and get part of the data for example:
SELECT members.member_id FROM members LEFT JOIN skills ON members.member_id = skills.member_id WHERE skills.leadvocals = 1
However I just cant seem to wrap my head around putting it all together.
An example of the search criteria would look something like this:
A user fills out the form and wants to search for all members with (members table) zipcode = 11111 OR zipcode = 22222 (profiles table) commitment = ANY, practice = ANY, gigs = 1, availability = ANY (skills table) lead_vocals = 1 and lead_guitar = 1 (genre table) alternative = 1, modern_rock = 1, heavy_metal = 1
Note I already have the logic to calculate the zipcode distance and return a list of zip codes in the range.
At the end of the day the query just needs to return a list of results with member_id and login from the members table that match the criteria.
I'm not looking for somebody to just provide that answer (although I wouldn't mind the answer :)) I learn better by trying to figure it out on my own but I need some help getting started.
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The SQL query in the question seems valid, you just need to add the rest of the tables and conditions to get the data you want.
A user fills out the form and wants to search for all members with
(members table) zipcode = 11111 OR zipcode = 22222 (profiles table)
commitment = ANY, practice = ANY, gigs = 1, availability = ANY
(skills table) lead_vocals = 1 and lead_guitar = 1 (genre table)
alternative = 1, modern_rock = 1, heavy_metal = 1
You already put half of the query in your request, except it is written in English and it happens that SQL is just a small subset of English.
The tables you mentioned appear in the FROM clause:
FROM members m
INNER JOIN profiles p USING (member_id)
INNER JOIN skills s USING (member_id)
INNER JOIN genre g USING (member_id)
The conditions appear in the WHERE clause:
WHERE p.gigs = 1
AND s.lead_vocals = 1 AND s.guitar = 1
AND g.alternative = 1 AND g.modern_rock = 1 AND g.heavy_metal = 1
The fields that allow ANY value do not appear in the query, they do not filter the results.
Searching more than one value for zipcode can be done using the IN operator:
AND m.zipcode IN ('11111', '22222')
At the end of the day the query just needs to return a list of results with member_id and login from the members table that match the criteria.
The fields to be returned goes to the SELECT clause:
SELECT m.member_id, m.login
Maybe you want to get the list of members in a specific order, for example sorted by their login names:
ORDER BY m.login
... or by some of their skills; put lead vocals in front of the list:
ORDER BY s.lead_vocals DESC
(order DESCending to get those having 1 in front of those having 0 in column lead_vocals
Now, if we put all together we get the complete query:
SELECT m.member_id, m.login
FROM members m
INNER JOIN profiles p USING (member_id)
INNER JOIN skills s USING (member_id)
INNER JOIN genre g USING (member_id)
WHERE p.gigs = 1
AND s.lead_vocals = 1 AND s.lead_guitar = 1
AND g.alternative = 1 AND g.modern_rock = 1 AND g.heavy_metal = 1
AND m.zipcode IN ('11111', '22222')
ORDER BY s.lead_vocals DESC, m.login
Because you get the information from user input you don't know in advance that practice, for example, is allowed to have ANY value. You need to compose the query from pieces, using the data received from the form.

Answer 2

try this query.
select
m.*
from
members m
left join Profiles p on p.member_id = m.id
left join Skills s on s.member_id = m.id
left join Genre g on g.member_id = m.id
where (m.zipcode = 11111 OR m.zipcode = 22222) and p.gigs = 1 and s.lead_vocals = 1 and s.lead_guitar = 1 and g.alternative = 1, g.modern_rock = 1, g.heavy_metal = 1