9.24. Subquery Expressions#
This section describes theSQL-compliant subquery expressions available inPostgres Pro. All of the expression forms documented in this section return Boolean (true/false) results. The argument of The subquery can refer to variables from the surrounding query, which will act as constants during any one evaluation of the subquery. The subquery will generally only be executed long enough to determine whether at least one row is returned, not all the way to completion. It is unwise to write a subquery that has side effects (such as calling sequence functions); whether the side effects occur might be unpredictable. Since the result depends only on whether any rows are returned, and not on the contents of those rows, the output list of the subquery is normally unimportant. A common coding convention is to write all This simple example is like an inner join on The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly one column. The left-hand expression is evaluated and compared to each row of the subquery result. The result of Note that if the left-hand expression yields null, or if there are no equal right-hand values and at least one right-hand row yields null, the result of the As with The left-hand side of this form of As usual, null values in the rows are combined per the normal rules of SQL Boolean expressions. Two rows are considered equal if all their corresponding members are non-null and equal; the rows are unequal if any corresponding members are non-null and unequal; otherwise the result of that row comparison is unknown (null). If all the per-row results are either unequal or null, with at least one null, then the result of The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly one column. The left-hand expression is evaluated and compared to each row of the subquery result. The result of Note that if the left-hand expression yields null, or if there are no equal right-hand values and at least one right-hand row yields null, the result of the As with The left-hand side of this form of As usual, null values in the rows are combined per the normal rules of SQL Boolean expressions. Two rows are considered equal if all their corresponding members are non-null and equal; the rows are unequal if any corresponding members are non-null and unequal; otherwise the result of that row comparison is unknown (null). If all the per-row results are either unequal or null, with at least one null, then the result of The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly one column. The left-hand expression is evaluated and compared to each row of the subquery result using the given Note that if there are no successes and at least one right-hand row yields null for the operator's result, the result of the As with The left-hand side of this form of SeeSection 9.25.5 for details about the meaning of a row constructor comparison. The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly one column. The left-hand expression is evaluated and compared to each row of the subquery result using the given As with The left-hand side of this form of SeeSection 9.25.5 for details about the meaning of a row constructor comparison. The left-hand side is a row constructor, as described inSection 4.2.13. The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are expressions in the left-hand row. Furthermore, the subquery cannot return more than one row. (If it returns zero rows, the result is taken to be null.) The left-hand side is evaluated and compared row-wise to the single subquery result row. SeeSection 9.25.5 for details about the meaning of a row constructor comparison.9.24.1.
EXISTS
#EXISTS (
subquery
)EXISTS
is an arbitrarySELECT
statement, orsubquery. The subquery is evaluated to determine whether it returns any rows. If it returns at least one row, the result ofEXISTS
is“true”; if the subquery returns no rows, the result ofEXISTS
is“false”.EXISTS
tests in the formEXISTS(SELECT 1 WHERE ...)
. There are exceptions to this rule however, such as subqueries that useINTERSECT
.col2
, but it produces at most one output row for eachtab1
row, even if there are several matchingtab2
rows:SELECT col1FROM tab1WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM tab2 WHERE col2 = tab1.col2);
9.24.2.
IN
#expression
IN (subquery
)IN
is“true” if any equal subquery row is found. The result is“false” if no equal row is found (including the case where the subquery returns no rows).IN
construct will be null, not false. This is in accordance with SQL's normal rules for Boolean combinations of null values.EXISTS
, it's unwise to assume that the subquery will be evaluated completely.row_constructor
IN (subquery
)IN
is a row constructor, as described inSection 4.2.13. The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are expressions in the left-hand row. The left-hand expressions are evaluated and compared row-wise to each row of the subquery result. The result ofIN
is“true” if any equal subquery row is found. The result is“false” if no equal row is found (including the case where the subquery returns no rows).IN
is null.9.24.3.
NOT IN
#expression
NOT IN (subquery
)NOT IN
is“true” if only unequal subquery rows are found (including the case where the subquery returns no rows). The result is“false” if any equal row is found.NOT IN
construct will be null, not true. This is in accordance with SQL's normal rules for Boolean combinations of null values.EXISTS
, it's unwise to assume that the subquery will be evaluated completely.row_constructor
NOT IN (subquery
)NOT IN
is a row constructor, as described inSection 4.2.13. The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are expressions in the left-hand row. The left-hand expressions are evaluated and compared row-wise to each row of the subquery result. The result ofNOT IN
is“true” if only unequal subquery rows are found (including the case where the subquery returns no rows). The result is“false” if any equal row is found.NOT IN
is null.9.24.4.
ANY
/SOME
#expression
operator
ANY (subquery
)expression
operator
SOME (subquery
)operator
, which must yield a Boolean result. The result ofANY
is“true” if any true result is obtained. The result is“false” if no true result is found (including the case where the subquery returns no rows).SOME
is a synonym forANY
.IN
is equivalent to= ANY
.ANY
construct will be null, not false. This is in accordance with SQL's normal rules for Boolean combinations of null values.EXISTS
, it's unwise to assume that the subquery will be evaluated completely.row_constructor
operator
ANY (subquery
)row_constructor
operator
SOME (subquery
)ANY
is a row constructor, as described inSection 4.2.13. The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are expressions in the left-hand row. The left-hand expressions are evaluated and compared row-wise to each row of the subquery result, using the givenoperator
. The result ofANY
is“true” if the comparison returns true for any subquery row. The result is“false” if the comparison returns false for every subquery row (including the case where the subquery returns no rows). The result is NULL if no comparison with a subquery row returns true, and at least one comparison returns NULL.9.24.5.
ALL
#expression
operator
ALL (subquery
)operator
, which must yield a Boolean result. The result ofALL
is“true” if all rows yield true (including the case where the subquery returns no rows). The result is“false” if any false result is found. The result is NULL if no comparison with a subquery row returns false, and at least one comparison returns NULL.NOT IN
is equivalent to<> ALL
.EXISTS
, it's unwise to assume that the subquery will be evaluated completely.row_constructor
operator
ALL (subquery
)ALL
is a row constructor, as described inSection 4.2.13. The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are expressions in the left-hand row. The left-hand expressions are evaluated and compared row-wise to each row of the subquery result, using the givenoperator
. The result ofALL
is“true” if the comparison returns true for all subquery rows (including the case where the subquery returns no rows). The result is“false” if the comparison returns false for any subquery row. The result is NULL if no comparison with a subquery row returns false, and at least one comparison returns NULL.9.24.6. Single-Row Comparison#
row_constructor
operator
(subquery
)