I have an odd SELECT that I am having problems with...

[Randell D.]

Folks,

Can I perform a single select query on two tables, where the results
will include an optional value that might be in the second table?

let me explain:
I have two tables - address and department.

The address table has a unique column to help identify the address (a
hash key).

The department table *could* have records, and if it does, it will have
a hash corresponding to address.hash.

Can I perform a SELECT to retrieve my address records from address table
and include any optional records that some addresses might have in the
department table?

Do I have to perform two seperate selects for this, or is there a method
for me to do this all in one query? My guess is two seperate selects...

Help is appreciated - replies via the newsgroup to help others... thanks

randell d.

[Bill Karwin]

Re: I have an odd SELECT that I am having problems with...

Randell D. wrote:[color=blue]
> Can I perform a SELECT to retrieve my address records from address table
> and include any optional records that some addresses might have in the
> department table?[/color]

A surprisingly high portion of tricky SQL query questions on this
newsgroup can be solved with an outer join! :-)

SELECT *
FROM address AS a LEFT OUTER JOIN department AS d
ON a.hash = d.hash;

Regards,
Bill K.

[Randell D.]

Re: I have an odd SELECT that I am having problems with...

Bill Karwin wrote:[color=blue]
> Randell D. wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Can I perform a SELECT to retrieve my address records from address
>> table and include any optional records that some addresses might have
>> in the department table?[/color]
>
>
> A surprisingly high portion of tricky SQL query questions on this
> newsgroup can be solved with an outer join! :-)
>
> SELECT *
> FROM address AS a LEFT OUTER JOIN department AS d
> ON a.hash = d.hash;
>
> Regards,
> Bill K.[/color]

I'm only just learning to understand JOINs... I appreciate the solution...

Thanks
Randell D.