How would I execute this complex conditional multi-table MySQL join (queries provided)? - mysql

Question

Ok I have a few tables tables. I am only showing relevant fields:
items:
----------------------------------------------------------------
name | owner_id | location_id | cab_id | description |
----------------------------------------------------------------
itm_A | 11 | 23 | 100 | Blah |
----------------------------------------------------------------
.
.
.
users:
-------------------------
id | name |
-------------------------
11 | John |
-------------------------
.
.
.
locations
-------------------------
id | name |
-------------------------
23 | Seattle |
-------------------------
.
.
.
cabs
id | location_id | name
-----------------------------------
100 | 23 | Cool |
-----------------------------------
101 | 24 | Cool |
-----------------------------------
102 | 24 |thecab |
-----------------------------------
I am trying to SELECT all items (and their owner info) that are from Seattle OR Denver, but if they are in Seattle they can only be in the cab NAMED Cool and if they are in Denver they can only be in the cab named 'thecab' (not Denver AND cool).
This query doesn't work but I hope it explains what I am trying to accomplish:
SELECT DISTINCT
`item`.`name`,
`item`.`owner_id`,
`item`.`description`,
`user`.`name`,
IF(`loc`.`name` = 'Seattle' AND `cab`.`name` = 'Cool',1,0) AS `cab_test_1`,
IF(`loc`.`name` = 'Denver' AND `cab`.`name` = 'thecab',1,0) AS `cab_test_2`,
FROM `items` AS `item`
LEFT JOIN `users` AS `user` ON `item`.`owner_id` = `user`.`id`
LEFT JOIN `locations` AS `loc` ON `item`.`location_id` = `loc`.`location_id`
LEFT JOIN `cabs` AS `cab` ON `item`.`cab_id` = `cabs`.`id`
WHERE (`loc`.`name` IN ("Seattle","Denver")) AND `cab_test_1` = 1 AND `cab_test_2` = 1
I'd rather get rid of the IFs is possible. It seems inefficent, looks clunky, and is not scalable if I have a lot of location\name pairs

Answer 1

Try this:
SELECT DISTINCT
item.name,
item.owner_id,
item.description,
user.name
FROM items AS item
LEFT JOIN users AS user ON item.owner_id = user.id
LEFT JOIN locations AS loc ON item.location_id = loc.id
LEFT JOIN cabs AS cab ON item.cab_id = cabs.id
WHERE ((loc.name = 'Seattle' AND cab.name = 'Cool')
OR (loc.name = 'Denver' AND cab.name = 'thecab'))

Answer 2

My first thought is to store the pairs of locations and cab names in a separate table. Well not quite a table, but a derived table generated by a subquery.
You still have the problem of pivoting the test results into separate columns. The code can be simplified by making use of mysql boolean expressions, which get rid of the need for a case or if.
So, the approach is to use the same joins you have (although left join is not needed because the comparison on cab.name turns them in to inner joins). Then add a table of the pairs you are looking for, along with the "test name" for the pair. The final step is an explicit group by and a check whether conditions are met for each test:
SELECT i.`name`, i.`owner_id`, i.`description`, u.`name`,
max(pairs.test_name = 'test_1') as cab_test_1,
max(pairs.test_name = 'test_2') as cab_test_2
FROM `items` i LEFT JOIN
`users` u
ON i.`owner_id` = u.`id` LEFT JOIN
`locations` l`
ON i.`location_id` = l.`location_id` left join
`cabs` c
ON i.`cab_id` = c.`id` join
(select 'test_1' as testname, 'Seattle' as loc, 'cool' as cabname union all
select 'test_2', 'Denver', 'thecab'
) pairs
on l.name = pairs.name and
l.cabname = c.name
group by i.`name`, i.`owner_id`, i.`description`, u.`name`;
To add in additional pairs, add them into the pairs table along, and add an appropriate line in the select for the test flag.