DBMS

SQL Operators

Operator is a reserved word or a character used primarily in an SQL statement WHERE clause to perform operations, such as comparisons and arithmetic operations.
 In another word operators are used inside an expression or condition to specify particular operations.SQL operator can be divided into main six categories :

  1. Arithmetic Operators
  2. Relational Operators
  3. Logical Operators
  4. Range searching Operators
  5. Set Searching Operators
  6. Character Operators

Arithmetic Operators:

Arithmetic operators can perform arithmetical operation on numeric operands involved. Arithmetic operators such as addition(+), subtraction(-), multiplication(*) and division(/). The + and - operators can also be used in date arithmetic.
Operator Description
+ Addition - Adds values on either side of the operator
- Subtraction - Subtracts right hand operand from left hand operand
* Multiplication - Multiplies values on either side of the operator
/ Division - Divides left hand operand by right hand operand
% Modulus - Divides left hand operand by right hand operand and returns remainder

Example:

Run SQL Command Line
SQL> Select 5+3 from dual; 

     5+3                     
--------
       8

SQL> Select 5*3 from dual; 

     5*3                     
--------
      15

SQL> Select 15/2 from dual; 

    15/2                     
--------
     7.5


Relational Operators:

Relational operators are used in condition to compare one expression with other. The Relation operators are =, <, >, >=, <=, !=. These realtion operators compare expressions and returns one of three values : True, False, Unknown. An unknown is returned when comparision is performed with a null value. An unknown is treated like as false.
Operator Description
= Equals 
< Less than
> Greater than
<= Less than or equal to
>= Greater than or equal to
!= or <> Not Equals

Example:

Run SQL Command Line
SQL>select * from employee;

ENAME                   SALARY
-------------------     ----------------------
preet                   20000

parimal                 15000


SQL>select * from employee where salary > 18000;
 
ENAME                   SALARY
-------------------     ----------------------
preet                   20000


SQL>select * from employee where salary < 18000;
 
ENAME                   SALARY
-------------------     ----------------------
parimal                 15000


SQL>select * from employee where salary >= 15000;

ENAME                   SALARY
-------------------     ----------------------
preet                   20000

parimal                 15000


Logical Operators:

SQL provides three logical operators : AND, OR and NOT. These operators are explained below:

(i) AND Operator:

  • The AND Operator allows creating an SQL statement based on two or more conditions being met.
  • It can be used in any valid SQL statement such as select, insert, or delete.

Example:

Run SQL Command Line
SQL>select * from employee;

ENAME                   SALARY                    CITY
-------------------     ----------------------    ----------------------
preet                   20000                     Jamnagar

parimal                 15000                     Rajkot

Khanjan                 12000                     Surat

Mehul                    8000                     Ahmedabad


SQL>select * from employee where city = 'jamnagar' AND salary > 15000;
 
ENAME                   SALARY                    CITY
-------------------     ----------------------    ----------------------
preet                   20000                     Jamnagar
 


(ii) OR Operator:

  • The OR condition allows creating an SQL statement where records are returned when any one of the conditions are met
  • It is used to combine two or more conditions in WHERE and HAVING clause.

Example:

Run SQL Command Line
SQL>select * from employee where city = 'Rajkot' OR city = 'Surat';
 
ENAME                   SALARY                    CITY
-------------------     ----------------------    ----------------------
parimal                 15000                     Rajkot

Khanjan                 12000                     Surat
 


(iii) NOT Operator:

  • The Oracle engine will process all rows in a table and display only those records that do not satisfy the condition specified
  • It is used to negate the result of any condition or group of conditions.

Example:

Run SQL Command Line
SQL>select * from employee where not (city = 'Ahemdabad');
 
ENAME                   SALARY                    CITY
-------------------     ----------------------    ----------------------
preet                   20000                     Jamnagar

parimal                 15000                     Rajkot

Khanjan                 12000                     Surat
 


Range Searching Operator:

  • Between operator is used to check between two values or specific range.

Syntax:

... ColumnName BETWEEN lower limit AND upper limit;
  • Selects the rows that contain values within a specified lower and upper limit.
  • The lower and upper limit values must be linked with the keyword AND.
  • The lower and upper limits are inclusive in range.

Example:

Run SQL Command Line
SQL>select * from employee where salary BETWEEN 7000 AND 15000;
 
ENAME                   SALARY                    CITY
-------------------     ----------------------    ----------------------
parimal                 15000                     Rajkot

Khanjan                 12000                     Surat

Mehul                    8000                     Ahmedabad


Set Searching Operator:

  • The IN operator can be used to select rows that match one of the values in a list.

Syntax:

... ColumnName IN ( value1, value2, ..., valueN );
  • Select rows that contain any value given in a set.
  • This is similar to '='. But, '=' compares  single value to another single value, while IN compares single value to a list (set) of values provided with IN predicate.
  • Can be used when there is a need to use multiple OR conditions.
  • Can be used with numerical, Character as well as date data type.  

Example:

Run SQL Command Line
SQL>select * from employee where city IN ('Jamnagar','Rajkot');
 
ENAME                   SALARY                    CITY
-------------------     ----------------------    ----------------------
preet                   20000                     Jamnagar

parimal                 15000                     Rajkot


Character Operator:

  • Character operators can be used to manipulate the way character strings are represented - both in the output of data as well as in providing conditions. The LIKE operator is used for character operator.

Syntax:

... ColumnName like Pattern;
  • The like operator is used with special character % and _(underscore).
  • This is similar to '='. BUT, the '=' operator compares for exact matching. While LIKE compares for pattern similarity.

Example:

Run SQL Command Line
SQL>select * from employee where ename LIKE 'p%';
 
ENAME                   SALARY                    CITY
-------------------     ----------------------    ----------------------
preet                   20000                     Jamnagar

parimal                 15000                     Rajkot



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