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SQL WHERE Clause


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';
Try it Yourself »

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;
Try it Yourself »

Operators in The WHERE Clause

The following operators can be used in the WHERE clause:

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

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Select all records where the City column has the value "Berlin".

SELECT * FROM Customers
  = ;

Start the Exercise