SQL SELECT Statement


The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.

The result is stored in a result table (called the result-set). The syntax on the right is for the select statement:
 SELECT column_name(s)
   FROM table_name;

An SQL Select Example
Assume the table person is given as follows:

person_id last_name first_name address city
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

To select the columns named last_name and first_name, use a select statement like this:

 SELECT last_name, first_name FROM person;

 LAST_NAME                        FIRST_NAME
 ---------------------------      ---------------------------
 Hansen                           Ola
 Svendson                         Tove
 Pettersen                        Kari

Select * Example
Now we want to select all the columns from the person table. We use the following select statement:

 SELECT * FROM person;

 PERSON_ID    LAST_NAME        FIRST_NAME        ADDRESS          CITY
 ---------    -------------    --------------    -------------    -----------
 1            Hansen           Ola               Timoteivn 10     Sandnes
 2            Svendson         Tove              Borgvn 23        Sandnes
 3            Pettersen        Kari              Storgt 20        Stavanger



Demonstration
Below is an SQL test area from W3Schools, which uses the well-known Northwind sample database. The tables here are for read only because of the problem of embedding the scripts. For a fully working example, check this by using Chrome.

SQL Statement:

Edit the SQL statement and click     to see the result, or  

Result:
The Database includes:
The Database includes:

TablenameRecord
Customers91
Categories8
Employees10
OrderDetails518
Orders196
Products77
Shippers3
Suppliers29




      A lawyer was filling out a job application when he came to the question,    
      “Have you ever been arrested?” He answered, “No.”    
      The next question, intended for applicants who had answered, “Yes,” was “Why?”    
      The lawyer answered it, “Never got caught.”