Alias a column name on a left join - mysql

Let's say I have two tables, and both their primary identifiers use the name 'id'. If I want to perform a join with these two tables, how would I alias the id of the table that I want to join with the former table?
For example:
SELECT * FROM `sites_indexed` LEFT JOIN `individual_data` ON `sites_indexed`.`id` = `individual_data`.`site_id` WHERE `url` LIKE :url
Now, site_id is supposed to link up with sites_indexed.id. The actual id which represents the row for individual_data however has the same title as sites_indexed.
Personally, I like to just use the name id for everything, as it keeps things consistent. When scripting server-side however, it can make things confusing.
e.g.
$var = $result['id'];
Given the aforementioned query, wouldn't this confuse the interpreter?
Anyway, how is this accomplished?

Instead of selecting all fields with "SELECT *" you should explicitly name each field you need, aliasing them with AS as required. For example:
SELECT si.field1 as si_field1,
si.field2 as si_field2,
ind_data.field1 as ind_data_field1
FROM sites_indexed as si
LEFT JOIN individual_data as ind_data
ON si.id = ind_data.site_id
WHERE `url` LIKE :url
And then you can reference the aliased names in your result set.

This thread is old and i found because i had the same problem. Now i have a better solution.
The answer given by Paul McNett and antun forces you to list all fields but in some cases this is impossible (too much fields to list), so you can keep the * and alias only the fields you want (typically the fields that have the same name and will override each other).
Here's how :
SELECT *, t.myfield as myNewName
FROM table t ... continue your query
you can add as much aliases as you want by adding comas.

Using this expression you will get results with columns id (from table sites_indexed) and id2 (alias for column id from table individual_data)
SELECT t1 . *, t2 . * FROM sites_indexed t1
LEFT JOIN (select id as id2, other_field1, other_field2 FROM individual_data) t2 ON t1.id = t2.site_id WHERE your_statement

The problem is that you're using the * wildcard. If you explicitly list the column names in your query, you can give them aliases:
SELECT `sites_indexed`.`id` AS `sites_indexed_id`,
`individual_data`.`id` AS `individual_data_id`
FROM `sites_indexed`
LEFT JOIN `individual_data` ON `sites_indexed`.`id` = `individual_data`.`site_id`
WHERE `url` LIKE :url
Then you can reference them via the alias:
$var = $result['sites_indexed_id'];
$var_b = $result['individual_data_id'];

Related

Why is this MySQL statement pulling data from both tables on this JOIN?

select * from user_levels
join collectors_users on user_levels.id = collectors_users.user_level
where collectors_users.username = 'testuser'
I want it to pull everything from user_levels and nothing from collectors_users. But it's pulling from both. How do I correct the statement?
Instead of select * specify what you actually want and use select user_levels.* or even better skip the * and write out the columns you want (and consider using aliases to keep it short and tidy): select ul.col1, ul.col2 ... from userlevels ul join ...
It is getting all the data as the '*' means 'all' columns. You can limit the columns for just one table by specifying the table:
select user_levels.*
from user_levels
join collectors_users on user_levels.id = collectors_users.user_level
where collectors_users.username = 'testuser'
Pro tip: Don't use SELECT * in running software. Instead, be as specific as you can be about the columns you want in your result set.
SELECT user_levels.*
should help a bit.
I might suggest that you use in or exists, because this is more consistent with the intention of the query:
select ul.*
from user_levels ul
where ul.id in (select cu.user_level
from collectors_users cu
where cu.username = 'testuser'
);
In addition, this version will not produce duplicate rows if collectors_users has multiple matching rows for a singel row in user_levels.
Also note the use of table aliases: these make the query easier to write and to read.

Joining and filtering one-to-many relationship

I need some help about optimal structuring of SQL query. I have model like this:
I'm trying some kind of join between tables NON_NATURAL_PERSON and NNP_NAME. Because I have many names in table NNP_NAME for one person I can't do one-to-one SELECT * from NON_NATURAL_PERSON inner join NNP_NAME etc. That way I'll get extra rows for every name one person has.
Data in tables:
How to extend this query to get rows marked red on picture shown below? My wannabe query criteria is: Always join name of typeA only if exists. If not, join name of typeB. If neither exists join name of typeC.
SELECT nnp.ID, name.NAME, name.TYPE
FROM NON_NATURAL_PERSON nnp
INNER JOIN NNP_NAME name ON (name.NON_NATURAL_PERSON = nnp.ID)
If type is spelled exactly as it's written (typeA, typeB, typeC) then you can use MIN() function:
SELECT NON_NATURAL_PERSON, MIN(type) AS min_type
FROM NNP_NAME
GROUP BY NON_NATURAL_PERSON
if you also want the username you can use this query:
SELECT
n1.NON_NATURAL_PERSON AS ID,
n1.Name,
n1.Type
FROM
NNP_NAME n1 LEFT JOIN NNP_NAME n2
ON n1.NON_NATURAL_PERSON = n2.NON_NATURAL_PERSON
AND n1.Type > n2.type
WHERE
n2.type IS NULL
Please see this fiddle. If Types are not literally sorted, change this line:
AND n1.Type > n2.type
with this:
AND FIELD(n1.Type, 'TypeA', 'TypeB', 'TypeC') >
FIELD(n2.type, 'TypeA', 'TypeB', 'TypeC')
MySQL FIELD(str, str1, str2, ...) function returns the index (position) of str in the str1, str2, ... list, and 0 if str is not found. You want to get the "first" record, ordered by type, for every NON_NATURAL_PERSON. There are multiple ways to get this info, I chose a self join:
ON n1.NON_NATURAL_PERSON = n2.NON_NATURAL_PERSON
AND n1.Type > n2.type -- or filed function
with the WHERE condition:
WHERE n2.type IS NULL
this will return all rows where the join didn't succeed - the join won't succeed when there is not n2.type that is less than n1.type - it will return the first record.
Edit
If you want a platform independent solution, avoiding the creation of new tables, you could use CASE WHEN, just change
AND n1.Type > n2.Type
with
AND
CASE
WHEN n1.Type='TypeA' THEN 1
WHEN n1.Type='TypeB' THEN 2
WHEN n1.Type='TypeC' THEN 3
END
>
CASE
WHEN n2.Type='TypeA' THEN 1
WHEN n2.Type='TypeB' THEN 2
WHEN n2.Type='TypeC' THEN 3
END
There is a piece of information missing. You say:
Always join name of typeA only if exists. If not, join name of typeB. If neither exists join name of typeC.
But you do not indicate why you prefer typeA over typeB. This information is not included in your data.
In the answer of #fthiella, either lexicographical is assumed, or an arbitrary order is given using FIELD. This is also the reason why two joins with the table nnp_name is necessary.
You can solve this problem by adding a table name_type (id, name, order) and changing the type column to contain the id. This will allow you to add the missing information in a clean way.
With an additional join with this new table, you will be able get the preferred nnp_name for each row.

mysql JOIN Inside a JOIN and search a group_concatenated values

I cant seem to find a solution for Searching a group_concatenated value,
I have 3 table that are connected with id's
1st table have the same value with 2nd table, but no same value with 3rd,
2nd table have the same value with 1st and 3rd table,
I want to get the value inside 3rd table,
concat the values in accordance to Distinct ID's of 2nd table, display them, and be able to search
this are my tables look like
how do i search for the concatenated values
please if there's a better way, your help is much appreciated?
the query below is what i have so far
$query = $db->prepare("
SELECT
a.problem_encountered,
GROUP_CONCAT(
DISTINCT
c.full_name)
AS
fnames
FROM
maintenance_sheet_table a
LEFT JOIN
mis_incharge_table b
ON
b.mis_incharge_id = a.mis_incharge_id
INNER JOIN
users_table c
ON
c.mis_id=b.mis_id
WHERE
a.problem_encountered
LIKE
:findMe
HAVING
fnames
LIKE
:findMe
GROUP BY a.id ORDER BY a.id
");
$query->bindValue(':findMe', '%' . $keywordSearch. '%');
A potential answer is to filter the Users_table in a subquery. There are a number of different forms of this option, and hard to tell from your data which is required. The one I have below simply returns the users that match the search criteria.
SELECT a.problem_encountered, GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT innerc.full_name) AS fnames
FROM maintenance_sheet_table a
LEFT JOIN mis_incharge_table b ON b.mis_incharge_id = a.mis_incharge_id
LEFT JOIN (SELECT c.mis_id, c.full_name
FROM users_table c
WHERE c.full_name LIKE :findMe) innerc ON innerc.mis_id=b.mis_id
WHERE a.problem_encountered LIKE :findMe
GROUP BY a.id
ORDER BY a.id
However, you could also do the concatenation within the subquery if required.
SELECT a.problem_encountered, innerc.fnames
FROM maintenance_sheet_table a
INNER JOIN (SELECT mit.mis_incharge_id, GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT ut.full_name) AS fnames
FROM users_table ut
INNER JOIN mis_incharge_table mit ON ut.user_id = mit.user_id
GROUP BY mit.mis_incharge_id
HAVING fnames LIKE :findMe) innerc ON innerc.mis_incharge_id = a.mis_incharge_id
WHERE a.problem_encountered LIKE :findMe
GROUP BY a.id
ORDER BY a.id
Note: I agree with spencer7593, that you shouldn't use the same :findMe variable against 2 separate fields. Even if it works, to a maintenance programmer or even yourself in a few years time, will probably look at this and think that the wrong fields are being interrogated.
You can "search" the return from the GROUP_CONCAT() expression in the HAVING clause. As a more efficient alternative, I suspect you could use an EXISTS predicate with a subquery.
I suspect part of the problem is that your query is referencing the same bind placeholder more than one time. (In previous releases of PDO, this was a restriction, a named bind placeholder could be referenced only once.)
The workaround to this issue is to use a separate bind placeholder, e.g.
HAVING fnames LIKE :findMeToo
And then bind a value to each placeholder:
$query->bindValue(':findMe', '%' . $keywordSearch. '%');
$query->bindValue(':findMeToo', '%' . $keywordSearch. '%');
(With this issue, I don't think PDO issued a warning or error; the effect was as if no value was supplied for the second reference to the named bind placeholder. Not sure if this issue is fixed, either by a code change or a documentation update. The workaround as above, reference a bind placeholder only once within a query.)
Beyond that, it's not clear what problem you are observing.
Your HAVING clause should come after your GROUP BY clause
change
HAVING
fnames
LIKE
:findMe
GROUP BY a.id ORDER BY a.id
to
GROUP BY a.id
HAVING
fnames
LIKE
:findMe
ORDER BY a.id

sql left join for two tables using a CONCAT string as the argument

I need to get a title from table 2, table 2 has title and id column.
Table 1 has some data and three of these columns concatenated together makeup the id that can be found in table 1.
I used CONCAT_WS() function and gave this column an alias name and need to use the Alias for the on argument(At least this is what I understood I needed to do)
I thought this could be a simple left join, yet it is not working for me.
This is my query
SELECT
table_openers.mail,
table_openers.f_name,
table_openers.l_name,
table_openers.Quality,
CONCAT_WS('-',
table_openers.esp,
table_openers.acc,
table_openers.group) as 't1aid',
table_groups.aid,
table_groups.group_name
FROM
lance_mailstats.table_openers
LEFT JOIN
lance_mailstats.table_groups ON table_groups.aid = t1aid;
I get results for mail, f_name, l_name, Quality and t1aid, but the aid and group_name columns of the second table return null.
I feel like you can't use an alias in the ON clause.
Try doing
LEFT JOIN
lance_mailstats.table_groups ON table_groups.aid = CONCAT_WS('-',
table_openers.esp,
table_openers.acc,
table_openers.group);
"You can use the alias in GROUP BY, ORDER BY, or HAVING clauses to refer to the column" (from dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/problems-with-alias.html).
And "The conditional_expr used with ON is any conditional expression of the form that can be used in a WHERE clause" (from dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/join.html).
So as a logical inference you're not allowed to use aliases in ON clauses.
try to use a subquery..
it goes like this.........
ex.
SELECT
tbl1.mail, tbl1.f_name, tbl1.l_name,tbl1.Quality, tbl1.t1aid,table_groups.aid,
table_groups.group_name
FROM
(SELECT
table_openers.mail,
table_openers.f_name,
table_openers.l_name,
table_openers.Quality,
CONCAT_WS('-',
table_openers.esp,
table_openers.acc,
table_openers.group) as 't1aid',
FROM
lance_mailstats.table_openers )tbl1
LEFT JOIN
lance_mailstats.table_groups ON table_groups.aid = tbl1.t1aid;

(mysql) how to add wildcard on where condition when joining with another table?

i have one query that need some changes, and i don't get any clue to do this :
this is my query :
select * from user_data a
left join user_group b
on (a.role like b.role)
actually role value in userdata is (varchar)'staff'
and role value in group is (varchar)'staff;security;finance'
so i don't get result what i expected ..
i imagine the query should be similar to this :
select * from user_data a
left join user_group b
on (b.role like a.role+";%") // using wildcard
and i still don't know the right query using wildcard to this case
any one can help?
You can use CONCAT:
select * from user_data a
left join user_group b
on (b.role like CONCAT(a.role,";%")) // using wildcard
Note - does b.role only have to match a.role at the beginning? what if it was security;staff;finance? You could do CONCAT('%',a.role,'%').
You could do CONCAT('%','a.role','%') to handle matching a.role at any position, but only if you can be sure that you won't have nested roles.
For example: if b.role is staff and a.role is finance;gardenstaff;security, then this row will be returned from the query even though the role is gardenstaff and not staff.
As an alternative, you can use RLIKE instead of LIKE. This is basically a regular-expressions verson of LIKE.
In particular, the regex [[:<:]]staff[[:>:]] will match the whole word staff. The [[:<:]] and [[:>:]] stand for word boundaries, which stop you from matching the staff in gardenstaff.
So, your query could be:
select * from user_data a
left join user_group b
on (b.role RLIKE CONCAT('[[:<:]]',a.role,'[[:>:]]'))
And this would work for b.role being anywhere in the semicolon-separated a.role.