SQL WHERE Clause

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SQL WHERE  Clause
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The SQL WHERE Clause
The WHERE clause is used to filter records.

The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified condition.

WHERE Syntax
SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
WHERE condition;
Note: The WHERE clause is not only used in SELECT statement, it is also used in UPDATE, DELETE statement, etc.!

Demo Database
Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:

CustomerID CustomerName ContactName Address City PostalCode Country
1

Alfreds Futterkiste Maria Anders Obere Str. 57 Berlin 12209 Germany
2 Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados Ana Trujillo Avda. de la Constitución 2222 México D.F. 05021 Mexico
3 Antonio Moreno Taquería Antonio Moreno Mataderos 2312 México D.F. 05023 Mexico
4

Around the Horn Thomas Hardy 120 Hanover Sq. London WA1 1DP UK
5 Berglunds snabbköp Christina Berglund Berguvsvägen 8 Luleå S-958 22 Sweden
WHERE Clause Example
The following SQL statement selects all the customers from the country "Mexico", in the "Customers" table:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country='Mexico';
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Text Fields vs. Numeric Fields
SQL requires single quotes around text values (most database systems will also allow double quotes).

However, numeric fields should not be enclosed in quotes:

Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerID=1;
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Operators in The WHERE Clause
The following operators can be used in the WHERE clause:

Operator Description
= Equal
<> Not equal. Note: In some versions of SQL this operator may be written as !=
> Greater than
< Less than
>= Greater than or equal
<= Less than or equal
BETWEEN Between an inclusive range
LIKE Search for a pattern
IN To specify multiple possible values for a column

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