SQL Left Inner Join (mysql) - mysql

Question

I have been using the following query:
I am using two tables: (there are some others mentioned but not needed for this question)
assessment_criteria
+-------------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra |
+-------------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| id | mediumint(9) | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment |
| scheme_of_work_id | mediumint(9) | NO | | NULL | |
| level | char(255) | YES | | NULL | |
| criteria | char(255) | NO | | NULL | |
+-------------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
criteria_completed
+------------------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra |
+------------------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| id | mediumint(9) | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment |
| student_ID | mediumint(9) | NO | | NULL | |
| assessment_criteria_id | mediumint(9) | NO | | NULL | |
| date_marked | date | NO | | NULL | |
| notes | varchar(255) | YES | | NULL | |
| attainment | varchar(15) | YES | | NULL | |
| effort | varchar(15) | YES | | NULL | |
| marked_by | varchar(20) | NO | | NULL | |
+------------------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
I was using a query like this to display a list of assessment criteria that a student HAS NOT completed:
SELECT DISTINCT assessment_criteria.id, assessment_criteria.level, assessment_criteria.criteria FROM assessment_criteria, criteria_completed
WHERE (assessment_criteria.scheme_of_work_id = '17')
AND (assessment_criteria.id NOT IN (SELECT criteria_completed.assessment_criteria_id FROM criteria_completed WHERE (student_ID = '403')))
ORDER BY level;
This query has become incredibly slow to run, I have been trying to make it faster using LEFT JOIN.
SELECT DISTINCT a.id, a.level, a.criteria
FROM assessment_criteria a
LEFT JOIN criteria_completed b
ON a.id = b.assessment_criteria_id
WHERE b.assessment_criteria_id IS NULL
But I am having no success when I try to add in clauses for project and student; ie.
SELECT DISTINCT a.id, a.level, a.criteria
FROM assessment_criteria a
LEFT JOIN criteria_completed b
ON a.id = b.assessment_criteria_id
WHERE b.assessment_criteria_id IS NULL
AND (b.student_ID = '403')
AND (a.scheme_of_work_id = '17');
mysql reports "empty set". I suspect I am referencing these foreign keys incorrectly?

Answer 1

(Just to confirm, you are using b.assessment_criteria_id IS NULL to detect failed joins)
Applying the filters on table b to the WHERE clause will filter out any records where the join has failed, which I believe is the cause of the problem.
You can try moving the b filters into the JOIN condition:
SELECT DISTINCT a.id, a.level, a.criteria
FROM assessment_criteria a
LEFT JOIN criteria_completed b
ON a.id = b.assessment_criteria_id
AND (b.student_ID = 403)
WHERE b.assessment_criteria_id IS NULL
AND (a.scheme_of_work_id = 17);
Although personally, I dislike filtering like this in a JOIN. The alternative would be:
SELECT DISTINCT a.id, a.level, a.criteria
FROM assessment_criteria a
LEFT JOIN criteria_completed b
ON a.id = b.assessment_criteria_id
WHERE (a.scheme_of_work_id = 17)
AND (b.assessment_criteria_id IS NULL OR b.student_ID = 403);