28 FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Guide
The SELECT statement can use a variety of clauses:
SELECT [DISTINCT] {* | column_expression [[AS] column_alias],...}
FROM table_name [table_alias], ...
[ WHERE expr1 rel_operator expr2 ]
[ GROUP BY {column_expression, ...} ]
[ HAVING expr1 rel_operator expr2 ]
[ UNION [ALL] (SELECT...) ]
[ ORDER BY {sort_expression [DESC | ASC]}, ... ]
[ FOR UPDATE [OF {column_expression, ...}] ]
Items in brackets are optional.
Note SELECT * on larger databases and SELECT statements that use table aliases or literals in the
projection list might not function correctly. To avoid potential confusion, avoid wildcards and specify table
and column names without aliases.
column_alias can be used to give the column a more descriptive name, or to abbreviate a longer column
name. For example, to assign the alias
department to the column dept:
SELECT dept AS department FROM emp
Field names can be prefixed with the table name or the table alias. For example, EMP.LAST_NAME or
E.LAST_NAME, where E is the alias for the table EMP.
The DISTINCT operator can precede the first column expression. This operator eliminates duplicate rows
from the result of a query. For example:
SELECT DISTINCT dept FROM emp
SQL clauses
The ODBC and JDBC client drivers provide support for the following SQL clauses.
Note If you attempt to retrieve data from a table with no columns, the SELECT statement fails.
Use this SQL clause To
FROM (see below) Indicate which tables are used in the SELECT statement.
WHERE (page 29) Specify the conditions that records must meet to be retrieved (like a FileMaker Pro find
request).
GROUP BY (page 29) Specify the names of one or more fields by which the returned values should be grouped.
This clause is used to return a set of aggregate values by returning one row for each group
(like a FileMaker Pro subsummary).
HAVING (page 30) Specify conditions for groups of records (for example, display only the departments that
have salaries totaling more than $200,000). This clause is only valid if you have already
defined a GROUP BY clause.
UNION (page 29) Combine the results of two or more SELECT statements into a single result.
ORDER BY (page 30) Indicate how the records are sorted
FOR UPDATE (page 31) To perform Positioned Updates or Positioned Deletes via SQL cursors
