What does "USING table1, table1 as vtable" mean in MySQL? - mysql

Question

I'm new to MySQL and I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out what this means:
DELETE from keywords USING keywords, keywords as vtable
WHERE (keywords.id > vtable.id) && (keywords.keyword=vtable.keyword)
Specifically, what does this part USING keywords, keywords as vtable mean?
Is there a better way to write this query that would be equivalent? I've read that creating virtual tables isn't efficient.
Also, is the . separating the table and the column?

Answer 1

vtable is an alias for the keywords table so that it can be self-joined. No different from any alias, but selection of the specific alias vtable may have led you to believe that there is some special virtual table mechanism involved. There isn't.
From an efficiency standpoint, this looks like a normal use of a self-join. It should be reasonably efficient, if there are indexes on the id and perhaps keywords field.
Also the dot ., does indeed separate table and column name (or table alias and column name).
Here's the same query with a different alias name:
DELETE from keywords
USING keywords, keywords as k2
WHERE (keywords.id > k2.id) && (keywords.keyword=k2.keyword)
And here's the whole query done a little differently, but maybe less confusingly, with a JOIN:
DELETE keywords
FROM keywords
INNER JOIN keywords as k2 ON keywords.keyword = k2.keyword
WHERE keywords.id > k2.id

Answer 2

This is a very fabulous method of query as whenever you got stuck in a condition such that you want to manipulate in a table by comparing itself from a record of same table.
The USING keyword can use a list of columns that appear in both tables and is equivalent to saying C.ID = O.ID AND S.ID = O.ID.
mysql>
mysql> CREATE TABLE Employee(
-> id int,
-> first_name VARCHAR(15),
-> last_name VARCHAR(15),
-> start_date DATE,
-> end_date DATE,
-> salary FLOAT(8,2),
-> city VARCHAR(10),
-> description VARCHAR(15)
-> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)
mysql>
mysql> create table job (
-> id int,
-> title VARCHAR(20)
-> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into Employee(id,first_name, last_name, start_date, end_Date, salary, City, Description)
-> values (1,'Jason', 'Martin', '19960725', '20060725', 1234.56, 'Toronto', 'Programmer');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.02 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into Employee(id,first_name, last_name, start_date, end_Date, salary, City, Description)
-> values(2,'Alison', 'Mathews', '19760321', '19860221', 6661.78, 'Vancouver','Tester');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into Employee(id,first_name, last_name, start_date, end_Date, salary, City, Description)
-> values(3,'James', 'Smith', '19781212', '19900315', 6544.78, 'Vancouver','Tester');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into Employee(id,first_name, last_name, start_date, end_Date, salary, City, Description)
-> values(4,'Celia', 'Rice', '19821024', '19990421', 2344.78, 'Vancouver','Manager');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into Employee(id,first_name, last_name, start_date, end_Date, salary, City, Description)
-> values(5,'Robert', 'Black', '19840115', '19980808', 2334.78, 'Vancouver','Tester');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into Employee(id,first_name, last_name, start_date, end_Date, salary, City, Description)
-> values(6,'Linda', 'Green', '19870730', '19960104', 4322.78,'New York', 'Tester');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into Employee(id,first_name, last_name, start_date, end_Date, salary, City, Description)
-> values(7,'David', 'Larry', '19901231', '19980212', 7897.78,'New York', 'Manager');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.02 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into Employee(id,first_name, last_name, start_date, end_Date, salary, City, Description)
-> values(8,'James', 'Cat', '19960917', '20020415', 1232.78,'Vancouver', 'Tester');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (1,'Tester');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (2,'Accountant');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (3,'Developer');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (4,'Coder');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (5,'Director');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (6,'Mediator');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (7,'Proffessor');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (8,'Programmer');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)
mysql> insert into job (id, title) values (9,'Developer');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql> select * from job;
+------+------------+
| id | title |
+------+------------+
| 1 | Tester |
| 2 | Accountant |
| 3 | Developer |
| 4 | Coder |
| 5 | Director |
| 6 | Mediator |
| 7 | Proffessor |
| 8 | Programmer |
| 9 | Developer |
+------+------------+
9 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> select * from Employee;
+------+------------+-----------+------------+------------+---------+-----------+-------------+
| id | first_name | last_name | start_date | end_date | salary | city | description |
+------+------------+-----------+------------+------------+---------+-----------+-------------+
| 1 | Jason | Martin | 1996-07-25 | 2006-07-25 | 1234.56 | Toronto | Programmer |
| 2 | Alison | Mathews | 1976-03-21 | 1986-02-21 | 6661.78 | Vancouver | Tester |
| 3 | James | Smith | 1978-12-12 | 1990-03-15 | 6544.78 | Vancouver | Tester |
| 4 | Celia | Rice | 1982-10-24 | 1999-04-21 | 2344.78 | Vancouver | Manager |
| 5 | Robert | Black | 1984-01-15 | 1998-08-08 | 2334.78 | Vancouver | Tester |
| 6 | Linda | Green | 1987-07-30 | 1996-01-04 | 4322.78 | New York | Tester |
| 7 | David | Larry | 1990-12-31 | 1998-02-12 | 7897.78 | New York | Manager |
| 8 | James | Cat | 1996-09-17 | 2002-04-15 | 1232.78 | Vancouver | Tester |
+------+------------+-----------+------------+------------+---------+-----------+-------------+
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql>
mysql>
The syntax looks like the following:
mysql>
mysql> SELECT C.First_Name, C.Last_Name, O.title
-> FROM Employee AS C
-> LEFT JOIN job as O USING (ID);
+------------+-----------+------------+
| First_Name | Last_Name | title |
+------------+-----------+------------+
| Jason | Martin | Tester |
| Alison | Mathews | Accountant |
| James | Smith | Developer |
| Celia | Rice | Coder |
| Robert | Black | Director |
| Linda | Green | Mediator |
| David | Larry | Proffessor |
| James | Cat | Programmer |
+------------+-----------+------------+
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>
mysql>
mysql>
mysql> drop table job;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> drop table Employee;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)
mysql>
mysql>
In this example, the USING keyword would be like using the ON keyword with C.ID = O.ID following it.
This is another shortcut to save time.
mysql>