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Chapter 11. Functions and Operators
Expressions can be used at several points in SQL statements, such as
in the ORDER BY or HAVING
clauses of SELECT statements, in the
WHERE clause of a
SELECT,
DELETE, or
UPDATE statement, or in
SET
statements. Expressions can be written using literal values, column
values, NULL, built-in functions, stored
functions, user-defined functions, and operators. This chapter
describes the functions and operators that are allowed for writing
expressions in MySQL. Instructions for writing stored functions and
user-defined functions are given in
Section 19.2, “Using Stored Routines (Procedures and Functions)”, and
Section 22.3, “Adding New Functions to MySQL”. See
Section 8.2.4, “Function Name Parsing and Resolution”, for the rules describing how
the server interprets references to different kinds of functions.
An expression that contains NULL always produces
a NULL value unless otherwise indicated in the
documentation for a particular function or operator.
Note
By default, there must be no whitespace between a function name
and the parenthesis following it. This helps the MySQL parser
distinguish between function calls and references to tables or
columns that happen to have the same name as a function. However,
spaces around function arguments are permitted.
You can tell the MySQL server to accept spaces after function names
by starting it with the
--sql-mode=IGNORE_SPACE option. (See
Section 5.1.8, “Server SQL Modes”.) Individual client programs can
request this behavior by using the
CLIENT_IGNORE_SPACE option for
mysql_real_connect(). In either
case, all function names become reserved words.
For the sake of brevity, most examples in this chapter display the
output from the mysql program in abbreviated
form. Rather than showing examples in this format:
mysql> SELECT MOD(29,9);
+-----------+
| mod(29,9) |
+-----------+
| 2 |
+-----------+
1 rows in set (0.00 sec)
This format is used instead:
mysql> SELECT MOD(29,9);
-> 2
11.1. Operator and Function ReferenceNote
This table is part of an ongoing process to expand and simplify
the information provided on these elements. Further improvements
to the table, and corresponding descriptions will be applied
over the coming months.
Table 11.1. Operators/Functions | Name | Description |
|---|
ABS() | Return the absolute value | ACOS() | Return the arc cosine | ADDDATE()(v4.1.1) | Add time values (intervals) to a date value | ADDTIME()(v4.1.1) | Add time | AES_DECRYPT() | Decrypt using AES | AES_ENCRYPT() | Encrypt using AES | AND, && | Logical AND | ASCII() | Return numeric value of left-most character | ASIN() | Return the arc sine | ATAN2(), ATAN() | Return the arc tangent of the two arguments | ATAN() | Return the arc tangent | AVG() | Return the average value of the argument | BENCHMARK() | Repeatedly execute an expression | BETWEEN ... AND ... | Check whether a value is within a range of values | BIN() | Return a string representation of the argument | BINARY | Cast a string to a binary string | BIT_AND() | Return bitwise and | BIT_COUNT() | Return the number of bits that are set | BIT_LENGTH() | Return length of argument in bits | BIT_OR() | Return bitwise or | BIT_XOR()(v4.1.1) | Return bitwise xor | & | Bitwise AND | ~ | Invert bits | | | Bitwise OR | ^ | Bitwise XOR | CASE | Case operator | CAST() | Cast a value as a certain type | CEIL() | Return the smallest integer value not less than the argument | CEILING() | Return the smallest integer value not less than the argument | CHAR_LENGTH() | Return number of characters in argument | CHAR() | Return the character for each integer passed | CHARACTER_LENGTH() | A synonym for CHAR_LENGTH() | CHARSET()(v4.1.0) | Return the character set of the argument | COALESCE() | Return the first non-NULL argument | COERCIBILITY()(v4.1.1) | Return the collation coercibility value of the string argument | COLLATION()(v4.1.0) | Return the collation of the string argument | COMPRESS()(v4.1.1) | Return result as a binary string | CONCAT_WS() | Return concatenate with separator | CONCAT() | Return concatenated string | CONNECTION_ID() | Return the connection ID (thread ID) for the connection | CONV() | Convert numbers between different number bases | CONVERT_TZ()(v4.1.3) | Convert from one timezone to another | Convert() | Cast a value as a certain type | COS() | Return the cosine | COT() | Return the cotangent | COUNT(DISTINCT) | Return the count of a number of different values | COUNT() | Return a count of the number of rows returned | CRC32()(v4.1.0) | Compute a cyclic redundancy check value | CURDATE() | Return the current date | CURRENT_DATE(), CURRENT_DATE | Synonyms for CURDATE() | CURRENT_TIME(), CURRENT_TIME | Synonyms for CURTIME() | CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(), CURRENT_TIMESTAMP | Synonyms for NOW() | CURRENT_USER(), CURRENT_USER | The authenticated user name and host name | CURTIME() | Return the current time | DATABASE() | Return the default (current) database name | DATE_ADD() | Add time values (intervals) to a date value | DATE_FORMAT() | Format date as specified | DATE_SUB() | Subtract two dates | DATE()(v4.1.1) | Extract the date part of a date or datetime expression | DATEDIFF()(v4.1.1) | Subtract two dates | DAY()(v4.1.1) | Synonym for DAYOFMONTH() | DAYNAME()(v4.1.21) | Return the name of the weekday | DAYOFMONTH() | Return the day of the month (0-31) | DAYOFWEEK() | Return the weekday index of the argument | DAYOFYEAR() | Return the day of the year (1-366) | DECODE() | Decodes a string encrypted using ENCODE() | DEFAULT() | Return the default value for a table column | DEGREES() | Convert radians to degrees | DES_DECRYPT() | Decrypt a string | DES_ENCRYPT() | Encrypt a string | DIV(v4.1.0) | Integer division | / | Division operator | ELT() | Return string at index number | ENCODE() | Encode a string | ENCRYPT() | Encrypt a string | <=> | NULL-safe equal to operator | = | Equal operator | EXP() | Raise to the power of | EXPORT_SET() | Return a string such that for every bit set in the value bits, you get an on string and for every unset bit, you get an off string | EXTRACT() | Extract part of a date | ExtractValue()(v5.1.5) | Extracts a value from an XML string using XPath notation | FIELD() | Return the index (position) of the first argument in the subsequent arguments | FIND_IN_SET() | Return the index position of the first argument within the second argument | FLOOR() | Return the largest integer value not greater than the argument | FORMAT() | Return a number formatted to specified number of decimal places | FOUND_ROWS() | For a SELECT with a LIMIT clause, the number of rows that would be returned were there no LIMIT clause | FROM_DAYS() | Convert a day number to a date | FROM_UNIXTIME() | Format UNIX timestamp as a date | GET_FORMAT()(v4.1.1) | Return a date format string | GET_LOCK() | Get a named lock | >= | Greater than or equal operator | > | Greater than operator | GREATEST() | Return the largest argument | GROUP_CONCAT()(v4.1) | Return a concatenated string | HEX() | Return a hexadecimal representation of a decimal or string value | HOUR() | Extract the hour | IF() | If/else construct | IFNULL() | Null if/else construct | IN() | Check whether a value is within a set of values | INET_ATON() | Return the numeric value of an IP address | INET_NTOA() | Return the IP address from a numeric value | INSERT() | Insert a substring at the specified position up to the specified number of characters | INSTR() | Return the index of the first occurrence of substring | INTERVAL() | Return the index of the argument that is less than the first argument | IS_FREE_LOCK() | Checks whether the named lock is free | IS NOT NULL | NOT NULL value test | IS NOT | Test a value against a boolean | IS NULL | NULL value test | IS_USED_LOCK()(v4.1.0) | Checks whether the named lock is in use. Return connection identifier if true. | IS | Test a value against a boolean | ISNULL() | Test whether the argument is NULL | LAST_DAY(v4.1.1) | Return the last day of the month for the argument | LAST_INSERT_ID() | Value of the AUTOINCREMENT column for the last INSERT | LCASE() | Synonym for LOWER() | LEAST() | Return the smallest argument | << | Left shift | LEFT() | Return the leftmost number of characters as specified | LENGTH() | Return the length of a string in bytes | <= | Less than or equal operator | < | Less than operator | LIKE | Simple pattern matching | LN() | Return the natural logarithm of the argument | LOAD_FILE() | Load the named file | LOCALTIME(), LOCALTIME | Synonym for NOW() | LOCALTIMESTAMP, LOCALTIMESTAMP()(v4.0.6) | Synonym for NOW() | LOCATE() | Return the position of the first occurrence of substring | LOG10() | Return the base-10 logarithm of the argument | LOG2() | Return the base-2 logarithm of the argument | LOG() | Return the natural logarithm of the first argument | LOWER() | Return the argument in lowercase | LPAD() | Return the string argument, left-padded with the specified string | LTRIM() | Remove leading spaces | MAKE_SET() | Return a set of comma-separated strings that have the corresponding bit in bits set | MAKEDATE()(v4.1.1) | Create a date from the year and day of year | MAKETIME(v4.1.1) | MAKETIME() | MASTER_POS_WAIT() | Block until the slave has read and applied all updates up to the specified position | MATCH | Perform full-text search | MAX() | Return the maximum value | MD5() | Calculate MD5 checksum | MICROSECOND()(v4.1.1) | Return the microseconds from argument | MID() | Return a substring starting from the specified position | MIN() | Return the minimum value | - | Minus operator | MINUTE() | Return the minute from the argument | MOD() | Return the remainder | % | Modulo operator | MONTH() | Return the month from the date passed | MONTHNAME()(v4.1.21) | Return the name of the month | NAME_CONST()(v5.0.12) | Causes the column to have the given name | NOT BETWEEN ... AND ... | Check whether a value is not within a range of values | !=, <> | Not equal operator | NOT IN() | Check whether a value is not within a set of values | NOT LIKE | Negation of simple pattern matching | NOT REGEXP | Negation of REGEXP | NOT, ! | Negates value | NOW() | Return the current date and time | NULLIF() | Return NULL if expr1 = expr2 | OCT() | Return an octal representation of a decimal number | OCTET_LENGTH() | A synonym for LENGTH() | OLD_PASSWORD()(v4.1) | Return the value of the old (pre-4.1) implementation of PASSWORD | ||, OR | Logical OR | ORD() | Return character code for leftmost character of the argument | PASSWORD() | Calculate and return a password string | PERIOD_ADD() | Add a period to a year-month | PERIOD_DIFF() | Return the number of months between periods | PI() | Return the value of pi | + | Addition operator | POSITION() | A synonym for LOCATE() | POW() | Return the argument raised to the specified power | POWER() | Return the argument raised to the specified power | PROCEDURE ANALYSE() | Analyze the results of a query | QUARTER() | Return the quarter from a date argument | QUOTE() | Escape the argument for use in an SQL statement | RADIANS() | Return argument converted to radians | RAND() | Return a random floating-point value | REGEXP | Pattern matching using regular expressions | RELEASE_LOCK() | Releases the named lock | REPEAT() | Repeat a string the specified number of times | REPLACE() | Replace occurrences of a specified string | REVERSE() | Reverse the characters in a string | >> | Right shift | RIGHT() | Return the specified rightmost number of characters | RLIKE | Synonym for REGEXP | ROUND() | Round the argument | ROW_COUNT()(v5.0.1) | The number of rows updated | RPAD() | Append string the specified number of times | RTRIM() | Remove trailing spaces | SCHEMA()(v5.0.2) | A synonym for DATABASE() | SEC_TO_TIME() | Converts seconds to 'HH:MM:SS' format | SECOND() | Return the second (0-59) | SESSION_USER() | Synonym for USER() | SHA1(), SHA() | Calculate an SHA-1 160-bit checksum | SIGN() | Return the sign of the argument | SIN() | Return the sine of the argument | SLEEP()(v5.0.12) | Sleep for a number of seconds | SOUNDEX() | Return a soundex string | SOUNDS LIKE(v4.1.0) | Compare sounds | SPACE() | Return a string of the specified number of spaces | SQRT() | Return the square root of the argument | STD() | Return the population standard deviation | STDDEV_POP()(v5.0.3) | Return the population standard deviation | STDDEV_SAMP()(v5.0.3) | Return the sample standard deviation | STDDEV() | Return the population standard deviation | STR_TO_DATE()(v4.1.1) | Convert a string to a date | STRCMP() | Compare two strings | SUBDATE() | A synonym for DATE_SUB() when invoked with three arguments | SUBSTR() | Return the substring as specified | SUBSTRING_INDEX() | Return a substring from a string before the specified number of occurrences of the delimiter | SUBSTRING() | Return the substring as specified | SUBTIME()(v4.1.1) | Subtract times | SUM() | Return the sum | SYSDATE() | Return the time at which the function executes | SYSTEM_USER() | Synonym for USER() | TAN() | Return the tangent of the argument | TIME_FORMAT() | Format as time | TIME_TO_SEC() | Return the argument converted to seconds | TIME()(v4.1.1) | Extract the time portion of the expression passed | TIMEDIFF()(v4.1.1) | Subtract time | * | Times operator | TIMESTAMP()(v4.1.1) | With a single argument, this function returns the date or datetime expression; with two arguments, the sum of the arguments | TIMESTAMPADD()(v5.0.0) | Add an interval to a datetime expression | TIMESTAMPDIFF()(v5.0.0) | Subtract an interval from a datetime expression | TO_DAYS() | Return the date argument converted to days | TRIM() | Remove leading and trailing spaces | TRUNCATE() | Truncate to specified number of decimal places | UCASE() | Synonym for UPPER() | - | Change the sign of the argument | UNCOMPRESS()(v4.1.1) | Uncompress a string compressed | UNCOMPRESSED_LENGTH()(v4.1.1) | Return the length of a string before compression | UNHEX()(v4.1.2) | Convert each pair of hexadecimal digits to a character | UNIX_TIMESTAMP() | Return a UNIX timestamp | UpdateXML()(v5.1.5) | Return replaced XML fragment | UPPER() | Convert to uppercase | USER() | The user name and host name provided by the client | UTC_DATE()(v4.1.1) | Return the current UTC date | UTC_TIME()(v4.1.1) | Return the current UTC time | UTC_TIMESTAMP()(v4.1.1) | Return the current UTC date and time | UUID_SHORT()(v5.1.20) | Return an integer-valued universal identifier | UUID()(v4.1.2) | Return a Universal Unique Identifier (UUID) | VALUES()(v4.1.1) | Defines the values to be used during an INSERT | VAR_POP()(v5.0.3) | Return the population standard variance | VAR_SAMP()(v5.0.3) | Return the sample variance | VARIANCE()(v4.1) | Return the population standard variance | VERSION() | Returns a string that indicates the MySQL server version | WEEK() | Return the week number | WEEKDAY() | Return the weekday index | WEEKOFYEAR()(v4.1.1) | Return the calendar week of the date (0-53) | XOR | Logical XOR | YEAR() | Return the year | YEARWEEK() | Return the year and week |
Table 11.2. Operators | Name | Description |
|---|
AND, && | Logical AND | BETWEEN ... AND ... | Check whether a value is within a range of values | BINARY | Cast a string to a binary string | & | Bitwise AND | ~ | Invert bits | | | Bitwise OR | ^ | Bitwise XOR | CASE | Case operator | DIV(v4.1.0) | Integer division | / | Division operator | <=> | NULL-safe equal to operator | = | Equal operator | >= | Greater than or equal operator | > | Greater than operator | IS NOT NULL | NOT NULL value test | IS NOT | Test a value against a boolean | IS NULL | NULL value test | IS | Test a value against a boolean | << | Left shift | <= | Less than or equal operator | < | Less than operator | LIKE | Simple pattern matching | - | Minus operator | % | Modulo operator | NOT BETWEEN ... AND ... | Check whether a value is not within a range of values | !=, <> | Not equal operator | NOT LIKE | Negation of simple pattern matching | NOT REGEXP | Negation of REGEXP | NOT, ! | Negates value | ||, OR | Logical OR | + | Addition operator | REGEXP | Pattern matching using regular expressions | >> | Right shift | RLIKE | Synonym for REGEXP | SOUNDS LIKE(v4.1.0) | Compare sounds | * | Times operator | - | Change the sign of the argument | XOR | Logical XOR |
11.2.1. Operator Precedence
Operator precedences are shown in the following list, from
highest precedence to the lowest. Operators that are shown
together on a line have the same precedence.
INTERVAL
BINARY, COLLATE
!
- (unary minus), ~ (unary bit inversion)
^
*, /, DIV, %, MOD
-, +
<<, >>
&
|
=, <=>, >=, >, <=, <, <>, !=, IS, LIKE, REGEXP, IN
BETWEEN, CASE, WHEN, THEN, ELSE
NOT
&&, AND
XOR
||, OR
:=
The || operator has
a precedence between
^ and the
unary operators if the
PIPES_AS_CONCAT SQL mode is
enabled.
The precedence of operators determines the order of evaluation
of terms in an expression. To override this order and group
terms explicitly, use parentheses. For example:
mysql> SELECT 1+2*3;
-> 7
mysql> SELECT (1+2)*3;
-> 9
11.2.2. Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation
When an operator is used with operands of different types, type
conversion occurs to make the operands compatible. Some
conversions occur implicitly. For example, MySQL automatically
converts numbers to strings as necessary, and vice versa.
mysql> SELECT 1+'1';
-> 2
mysql> SELECT CONCAT(2,' test');
-> '2 test'
It is also possible to perform explicit conversions. If you want
to convert a number to a string explicitly, use the
CAST() or
CONCAT() function
(CAST() is preferable):
mysql> SELECT 38.8, CAST(38.8 AS CHAR);
-> 38.8, '38.8'
mysql> SELECT 38.8, CONCAT(38.8);
-> 38.8, '38.8'
The following rules describe how conversion occurs for
comparison operations:
If one or both arguments are NULL, the
result of the comparison is NULL, except
for the NULL-safe
<=>
equality comparison operator. For NULL <=>
NULL, the result is true.
If both arguments in a comparison operation are strings,
they are compared as strings.
If both arguments are integers, they are compared as
integers.
Hexadecimal values are treated as binary strings if not
compared to a number.
If one of the arguments is a
TIMESTAMP or
DATETIME column and the other
argument is a constant, the constant is converted to a
timestamp before the comparison is performed. This is done
to be more ODBC-friendly. Note that this is not done for the
arguments to IN()! To be
safe, always use complete datetime, date, or time strings
when doing comparisons.
In all other cases, the arguments are compared as
floating-point (real) numbers.
The following examples illustrate conversion of strings to
numbers for comparison operations:
mysql> SELECT 1 > '6x';
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 7 > '6x';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 0 > 'x6';
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 0 = 'x6';
-> 1
Note that when you are comparing a string column with a number,
MySQL cannot use an index on the column to look up the value
quickly. If str_col is an indexed
string column, the index cannot be used when performing the
lookup in the following statement:
SELECT * FROM tbl_name WHERE str_col=1;
The reason for this is that there are many different strings
that may convert to the value 1, such as
'1', ' 1', or
'1a'.
Comparisons that use floating-point numbers (or values that are
converted to floating-point numbers) are approximate because
such numbers are inexact. This might lead to results that appear
inconsistent:
mysql> SELECT '18015376320243458' = 18015376320243458;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT '18015376320243459' = 18015376320243459;
-> 0
Such results can occur because the values are converted to
floating-point numbers, which have only 53 bits of precision and
are subject to rounding:
mysql> SELECT '18015376320243459'+0.0;
-> 1.8015376320243e+16
Furthermore, the conversion from string to floating-point and
from integer to floating-point do not necessarily occur the same
way. The integer may be converted to floating-point by the CPU,
whereas the string is converted digit by digit in an operation
that involves floating-point multiplications.
The results shown will vary on different systems, and can be
affected by factors such as computer architecture or the
compiler version or optimization level. One way to avoid such
problems is to use CAST() so that
a value will not be converted implicitly to a float-point
number:
mysql> SELECT CAST('18015376320243459' AS UNSIGNED) = 18015376320243459;
-> 1
For more information about floating-point comparisons, see
Section B.5.5.8, “Problems with Floating-Point Comparisons”.
11.2.3. Comparison Functions and OperatorsTable 11.3. Comparison Operators | Name | Description |
|---|
BETWEEN ... AND ... | Check whether a value is within a range of values | COALESCE() | Return the first non-NULL argument | <=> | NULL-safe equal to operator | = | Equal operator | >= | Greater than or equal operator | > | Greater than operator | GREATEST() | Return the largest argument | IN() | Check whether a value is within a set of values | INTERVAL() | Return the index of the argument that is less than the first argument | IS NOT NULL | NOT NULL value test | IS NOT | Test a value against a boolean | IS NULL | NULL value test | IS | Test a value against a boolean | ISNULL() | Test whether the argument is NULL | LEAST() | Return the smallest argument | <= | Less than or equal operator | < | Less than operator | LIKE | Simple pattern matching | NOT BETWEEN ... AND ... | Check whether a value is not within a range of values | !=, <> | Not equal operator | NOT IN() | Check whether a value is not within a set of values | NOT LIKE | Negation of simple pattern matching | STRCMP() | Compare two strings |
Comparison operations result in a value of 1
(TRUE), 0
(FALSE), or NULL. These
operations work for both numbers and strings. Strings are
automatically converted to numbers and numbers to strings as
necessary.
The following relational comparison operators can be used to
compare not only scalar operands, but row operands:
= > < >= <= <> !=
For examples of row comparisons, see
Section 12.2.9.5, “Row Subqueries”.
Some of the functions in this section return values other than
1 (TRUE),
0 (FALSE), or
NULL. For example,
LEAST() and
GREATEST(). However, the value
they return is based on comparison operations performed
according to the rules described in
Section 11.2.2, “Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation”.
To convert a value to a specific type for comparison purposes,
you can use the CAST() function.
String values can be converted to a different character set
using CONVERT(). See
Section 11.9, “Cast Functions and Operators”.
By default, string comparisons are not case sensitive and use
the current character set. The default is
latin1 (cp1252 West European), which also
works well for English.
=
Equal:
mysql> SELECT 1 = 0;
-> 0
mysql> SELECT '0' = 0;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT '0.0' = 0;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT '0.01' = 0;
-> 0
mysql> SELECT '.01' = 0.01;
-> 1
<=>
NULL-safe equal. This operator performs
an equality comparison like the
= operator,
but returns 1 rather than
NULL if both operands are
NULL, and 0 rather
than NULL if one operand is
NULL.
mysql> SELECT 1 <=> 1, NULL <=> NULL, 1 <=> NULL;
-> 1, 1, 0
mysql> SELECT 1 = 1, NULL = NULL, 1 = NULL;
-> 1, NULL, NULL
<>,
!=
Not equal:
mysql> SELECT '.01' <> '0.01';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT .01 <> '0.01';
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 'zapp' <> 'zappp';
-> 1
<=
Less than or equal:
mysql> SELECT 0.1 <= 2;
-> 1
<
Less than:
mysql> SELECT 2 < 2;
-> 0
>=
Greater than or equal:
mysql> SELECT 2 >= 2;
-> 1
>
Greater than:
mysql> SELECT 2 > 2;
-> 0
IS
boolean_value
Tests a value against a boolean value, where
boolean_value can be
TRUE, FALSE, or
UNKNOWN.
mysql> SELECT 1 IS TRUE, 0 IS FALSE, NULL IS UNKNOWN;
-> 1, 1, 1
IS NOT
boolean_value
Tests a value against a boolean value, where
boolean_value can be
TRUE, FALSE, or
UNKNOWN.
mysql> SELECT 1 IS NOT UNKNOWN, 0 IS NOT UNKNOWN, NULL IS NOT UNKNOWN;
-> 1, 1, 0
IS NULL
Tests whether a value is NULL.
mysql> SELECT 1 IS NULL, 0 IS NULL, NULL IS NULL;
-> 0, 0, 1
To work well with ODBC programs, MySQL supports the
following extra features when using IS
NULL:
If sql_auto_is_null
variable is set to 1 (the default), then after a
statement that successfully inserts an automatically
generated AUTO_INCREMENT value, you
can find that value by issuing a statement of the
following form:
SELECT * FROM tbl_name WHERE auto_col IS NULL
If the statement returns a row, the value returned is
the same as if you invoked the
LAST_INSERT_ID()
function. For details, including the return value after
a multiple-row insert, see
Section 11.11.3, “Information Functions”. If no
AUTO_INCREMENT value was successfully
inserted, the SELECT
statement returns no row.
The behavior of retrieving an
AUTO_INCREMENT value by using an
IS NULL comparison can be
disabled by setting
sql_auto_is_null = 0.
See Section 5.1.5, “Session System Variables”.
For DATE and
DATETIME columns that are
declared as NOT NULL, you can find
the special date '0000-00-00' by
using a statement like this:
SELECT * FROM tbl_name WHERE date_column IS NULL
This is needed to get some ODBC applications to work
because ODBC does not support a
'0000-00-00' date value.
See
Section 21.1.7.1.1, “Obtaining Auto-Increment Values”,
and the description for the
FLAG_AUTO_IS_NULL option at
Section 21.1.4.2, “Connector/ODBC Connection Parameters”.
IS NOT NULL
Tests whether a value is not NULL.
mysql> SELECT 1 IS NOT NULL, 0 IS NOT NULL, NULL IS NOT NULL;
-> 1, 1, 0
expr
BETWEEN min AND
max
If expr is greater than or equal
to min and
expr is less than or equal to
max,
BETWEEN returns
1, otherwise it returns
0. This is equivalent to the expression
(min <=
expr AND
expr <=
max) if all the
arguments are of the same type. Otherwise type conversion
takes place according to the rules described in
Section 11.2.2, “Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation”, but applied to all the
three arguments.
mysql> SELECT 2 BETWEEN 1 AND 3, 2 BETWEEN 3 and 1;
-> 1, 0
mysql> SELECT 1 BETWEEN 2 AND 3;
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 'b' BETWEEN 'a' AND 'c';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 2 BETWEEN 2 AND '3';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 2 BETWEEN 2 AND 'x-3';
-> 0
For best results when using
BETWEEN with date or time
values, you should use CAST()
to explicitly convert the values to the desired data type.
Examples: If you compare a
DATETIME to two
DATE values, convert the
DATE values to
DATETIME values. If you use a
string constant such as '2001-1-1' in a
comparison to a DATE, cast
the string to a DATE.
expr
NOT BETWEEN min AND
max
This is the same as NOT
(expr BETWEEN
min AND
max).
COALESCE(value,...)
Returns the first non-NULL value in the
list, or NULL if there are no
non-NULL values.
mysql> SELECT COALESCE(NULL,1);
-> 1
mysql> SELECT COALESCE(NULL,NULL,NULL);
-> NULL
GREATEST(value1,value2,...)
With two or more arguments, returns the largest
(maximum-valued) argument. The arguments are compared using
the same rules as for
LEAST().
mysql> SELECT GREATEST(2,0);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT GREATEST(34.0,3.0,5.0,767.0);
-> 767.0
mysql> SELECT GREATEST('B','A','C');
-> 'C'
GREATEST() returns
NULL if any argument is
NULL.
expr
IN (value,...)
Returns 1 if
expr is equal to any of the
values in the IN list, else returns
0. If all values are constants, they are
evaluated according to the type of
expr and sorted. The search for
the item then is done using a binary search. This means
IN is very quick if the
IN value list consists entirely of
constants. Otherwise, type conversion takes place according
to the rules described in Section 11.2.2, “Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation”,
but applied to all the arguments.
mysql> SELECT 2 IN (0,3,5,7);
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 'wefwf' IN ('wee','wefwf','weg');
-> 1
You should never mix quoted and unquoted values in an
IN list because the comparison rules for
quoted values (such as strings) and unquoted values (such as
numbers) differ. Mixing types may therefore lead to
inconsistent results. For example, do not write an
IN expression like this:
SELECT val1 FROM tbl1 WHERE val1 IN (1,2,'a');
Instead, write it like this:
SELECT val1 FROM tbl1 WHERE val1 IN ('1','2','a');
The number of values in the IN list is
only limited by the
max_allowed_packet value.
To comply with the SQL standard, IN
returns NULL not only if the expression
on the left hand side is NULL, but also
if no match is found in the list and one of the expressions
in the list is NULL.
IN() syntax can also be used to write
certain types of subqueries. See
Section 12.2.9.3, “Subqueries with ANY, IN, and
SOME”.
expr
NOT IN (value,...)
This is the same as NOT
(expr IN
(value,...)).
ISNULL(expr)
If expr is
NULL,
ISNULL() returns
1, otherwise it returns
0.
mysql> SELECT ISNULL(1+1);
-> 0
mysql> SELECT ISNULL(1/0);
-> 1
ISNULL() can be used instead
of = to test
whether a value is NULL. (Comparing a
value to NULL using
= always
yields false.)
The ISNULL() function shares
some special behaviors with the
IS NULL
comparison operator. See the description of
IS NULL.
INTERVAL(N,N1,N2,N3,...)
Returns 0 if N
< N1, 1 if
N <
N2 and so on or
-1 if N is
NULL. All arguments are treated as
integers. It is required that N1
< N2 <
N3 < ...
< Nn for this function to work
correctly. This is because a binary search is used (very
fast).
mysql> SELECT INTERVAL(23, 1, 15, 17, 30, 44, 200);
-> 3
mysql> SELECT INTERVAL(10, 1, 10, 100, 1000);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT INTERVAL(22, 23, 30, 44, 200);
-> 0
LEAST(value1,value2,...)
With two or more arguments, returns the smallest
(minimum-valued) argument. The arguments are compared using
the following rules:
If the return value is used in an
INTEGER context or all
arguments are integer-valued, they are compared as
integers.
If the return value is used in a
REAL context or all
arguments are real-valued, they are compared as reals.
If any argument is a case-sensitive string, the
arguments are compared as case-sensitive strings.
In all other cases, the arguments are compared as
case-insensitive strings.
LEAST() returns
NULL if any argument is
NULL.
mysql> SELECT LEAST(2,0);
-> 0
mysql> SELECT LEAST(34.0,3.0,5.0,767.0);
-> 3.0
mysql> SELECT LEAST('B','A','C');
-> 'A'
Note that the preceding conversion rules can produce strange
results in some borderline cases:
mysql> SELECT CAST(LEAST(3600, 9223372036854775808.0) as SIGNED);
-> -9223372036854775808
This happens because MySQL reads
9223372036854775808.0 in an integer
context. The integer representation is not good enough to
hold the value, so it wraps to a signed integer.
11.2.4. Logical OperatorsTable 11.4. Logical Operators
In SQL, all logical operators evaluate to
TRUE, FALSE, or
NULL (UNKNOWN). In MySQL,
these are implemented as 1 (TRUE), 0
(FALSE), and NULL. Most of
this is common to different SQL database servers, although some
servers may return any nonzero value for
TRUE.
Note that MySQL evaluates any nonzero or
non-NULL value to TRUE.
For example, the following statements all assess to
TRUE:
mysql> SELECT 10 IS TRUE;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT -10 IS TRUE;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 'string' IS NOT NULL;
-> 1
NOT,
!
Logical NOT. Evaluates to 1 if the
operand is 0, to 0 if
the operand is nonzero, and NOT NULL
returns NULL.
mysql> SELECT NOT 10;
-> 0
mysql> SELECT NOT 0;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT NOT NULL;
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT ! (1+1);
-> 0
mysql> SELECT ! 1+1;
-> 1
The last example produces 1 because the
expression evaluates the same way as
(!1)+1.
AND,
&&
Logical AND. Evaluates to 1 if all
operands are nonzero and not NULL, to
0 if one or more operands are
0, otherwise NULL is
returned.
mysql> SELECT 1 && 1;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 1 && 0;
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 1 && NULL;
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT 0 && NULL;
-> 0
mysql> SELECT NULL && 0;
-> 0
OR,
||
Logical OR. When both operands are
non-NULL, the result is
1 if any operand is nonzero, and
0 otherwise. With a
NULL operand, the result is
1 if the other operand is nonzero, and
NULL otherwise. If both operands are
NULL, the result is
NULL.
mysql> SELECT 1 || 1;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 1 || 0;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 0 || 0;
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 0 || NULL;
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT 1 || NULL;
-> 1
XOR
Logical XOR. Returns NULL if either
operand is NULL. For
non-NULL operands, evaluates to
1 if an odd number of operands is
nonzero, otherwise 0 is returned.
mysql> SELECT 1 XOR 1;
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 1 XOR 0;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 1 XOR NULL;
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT 1 XOR 1 XOR 1;
-> 1
a XOR b is mathematically equal to
(a AND (NOT b)) OR ((NOT a) and b).
11.3. Control Flow FunctionsTable 11.5. Flow Control Operators
CASE
value WHEN
[compare_value] THEN
result [WHEN
[compare_value] THEN
result ...] [ELSE
result] END
CASE WHEN
[condition] THEN
result [WHEN
[condition] THEN
result ...] [ELSE
result] END
The first version returns the
result where
value=compare_value.
The second version returns the result for the first condition
that is true. If there was no matching result value, the
result after ELSE is returned, or
NULL if there is no ELSE
part.
mysql> SELECT CASE 1 WHEN 1 THEN 'one'
-> WHEN 2 THEN 'two' ELSE 'more' END;
-> 'one'
mysql> SELECT CASE WHEN 1>0 THEN 'true' ELSE 'false' END;
-> 'true'
mysql> SELECT CASE BINARY 'B'
-> WHEN 'a' THEN 1 WHEN 'b' THEN 2 END;
-> NULL
The default return type of a CASE
expression is the compatible aggregated type of all return
values, but also depends on the context in which it is used.
If used in a string context, the result is returned as a
string. If used in a numeric context, then the result is
returned as a decimal, real, or integer value.
Note
The syntax of the CASE
expression shown here differs slightly
from that of the SQL
CASE
statement described in
Section 12.8.6.2, “CASE Statement”, for use inside stored
programs. The
CASE
statement cannot have an ELSE NULL
clause, and it is terminated with END
CASE instead of END.
IF(expr1,expr2,expr3)
If expr1 is TRUE
(expr1 <>
0 and expr1
<> NULL) then
IF() returns
expr2; otherwise it returns
expr3.
IF() returns a numeric or
string value, depending on the context in which it is used.
mysql> SELECT IF(1>2,2,3);
-> 3
mysql> SELECT IF(1<2,'yes','no');
-> 'yes'
mysql> SELECT IF(STRCMP('test','test1'),'no','yes');
-> 'no'
If only one of expr2 or
expr3 is explicitly
NULL, the result type of the
IF() function is the type of
the non-NULL expression.
The default return type of IF()
(which may matter when it is stored into a temporary table) is
calculated as follows.
If expr2 and
expr3 are both strings, the result
is case sensitive if either string is case sensitive.
IFNULL(expr1,expr2)
If expr1 is not
NULL,
IFNULL() returns
expr1; otherwise it returns
expr2.
IFNULL() returns a numeric or
string value, depending on the context in which it is used.
mysql> SELECT IFNULL(1,0);
-> 1
mysql> SELECT IFNULL(NULL,10);
-> 10
mysql> SELECT IFNULL(1/0,10);
-> 10
mysql> SELECT IFNULL(1/0,'yes');
-> 'yes'
The default result value of
IFNULL(expr1,expr2)
is the more “general” of the two expressions, in
the order STRING,
REAL, or
INTEGER. Consider the case of a
table based on expressions or where MySQL must internally
store a value returned by
IFNULL() in a temporary table:
mysql> CREATE TABLE tmp SELECT IFNULL(1,'test') AS test;
mysql> DESCRIBE tmp;
+-------+--------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
| Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra |
+-------+--------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
| test | varbinary(4) | NO | | | |
+-------+--------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
In this example, the type of the test
column is VARBINARY(4).
NULLIF(expr1,expr2)
Returns NULL if
expr1 =
expr2 is true, otherwise
returns expr1. This is the same as
CASE WHEN
expr1 =
expr2 THEN NULL ELSE
expr1 END.
mysql> SELECT NULLIF(1,1);
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT NULLIF(1,2);
-> 1
Note that MySQL evaluates expr1
twice if the arguments are not equal.
Table 11.6. String Operators | Name | Description |
|---|
ASCII() | Return numeric value of left-most character | BIN() | Return a string representation of the argument | BIT_LENGTH() | Return length of argument in bits | CHAR_LENGTH() | Return number of characters in argument | CHAR() | Return the character for each integer passed | CHARACTER_LENGTH() | A synonym for CHAR_LENGTH() | CONCAT_WS() | Return concatenate with separator | CONCAT() | Return concatenated string | ELT() | Return string at index number | EXPORT_SET() | Return a string such that for every bit set in the value bits, you get an on string and for every unset bit, you get an off string | FIELD() | Return the index (position) of the first argument in the subsequent arguments | FIND_IN_SET() | Return the index position of the first argument within the second argument | FORMAT() | Return a number formatted to specified number of decimal places | HEX() | Return a hexadecimal representation of a decimal or string value | INSERT() | Insert a substring at the specified position up to the specified number of characters | INSTR() | Return the index of the first occurrence of substring | LCASE() | Synonym for LOWER() | LEFT() | Return the leftmost number of characters as specified | LENGTH() | Return the length of a string in bytes | LIKE | Simple pattern matching | LOAD_FILE() | Load the named file | LOCATE() | Return the position of the first occurrence of substring | LOWER() | Return the argument in lowercase | LPAD() | Return the string argument, left-padded with the specified string | LTRIM() | Remove leading spaces | MAKE_SET() | Return a set of comma-separated strings that have the corresponding bit in bits set | MATCH | Perform full-text search | MID() | Return a substring starting from the specified position | NOT LIKE | Negation of simple pattern matching | NOT REGEXP | Negation of REGEXP | OCTET_LENGTH() | A synonym for LENGTH() | ORD() | Return character code for leftmost character of the argument | POSITION() | A synonym for LOCATE() | QUOTE() | Escape the argument for use in an SQL statement | REGEXP | Pattern matching using regular expressions | REPEAT() | Repeat a string the specified number of times | REPLACE() | Replace occurrences of a specified string | REVERSE() | Reverse the characters in a string | RIGHT() | Return the specified rightmost number of characters | RLIKE | Synonym for REGEXP | RPAD() | Append string the specified number of times | RTRIM() | Remove trailing spaces | SOUNDEX() | Return a soundex string | SOUNDS LIKE(v4.1.0) | Compare sounds | SPACE() | Return a string of the specified number of spaces | STRCMP() | Compare two strings | SUBSTR() | Return the substring as specified | SUBSTRING_INDEX() | Return a substring from a string before the specified number of occurrences of the delimiter | SUBSTRING() | Return the substring as specified | TRIM() | Remove leading and trailing spaces | UCASE() | Synonym for UPPER() | UNHEX()(v4.1.2) | Convert each pair of hexadecimal digits to a character | UPPER() | Convert to uppercase |
String-valued functions return NULL if the
length of the result would be greater than the value of the
max_allowed_packet system
variable. See Section 7.5.3, “Tuning Server Parameters”.
For functions that operate on string positions, the first position
is numbered 1.
For functions that take length arguments, noninteger arguments are
rounded to the nearest integer.
ASCII(str)
Returns the numeric value of the leftmost character of the
string str. Returns
0 if str is the
empty string. Returns NULL if
str is NULL.
ASCII() works for 8-bit
characters.
mysql> SELECT ASCII('2');
-> 50
mysql> SELECT ASCII(2);
-> 50
mysql> SELECT ASCII('dx');
-> 100
See also the ORD() function.
BIN(N)
Returns a string representation of the binary value of
N, where
N is a longlong
(BIGINT) number. This is
equivalent to
CONV(N,10,2).
Returns NULL if
N is NULL.
mysql> SELECT BIN(12);
-> '1100'
BIT_LENGTH(str)
Returns the length of the string
str in bits.
mysql> SELECT BIT_LENGTH('text');
-> 32
CHAR(N,...
[USING charset_name])
CHAR() interprets each argument
N as an integer and returns a
string consisting of the characters given by the code values
of those integers. NULL values are skipped.
mysql> SELECT CHAR(77,121,83,81,'76');
-> 'MySQL'
mysql> SELECT CHAR(77,77.3,'77.3');
-> 'MMM'
CHAR() arguments larger than
255 are converted into multiple result bytes. For example,
CHAR(256) is equivalent to
CHAR(1,0), and
CHAR(256*256) is equivalent to
CHAR(1,0,0):
mysql> SELECT HEX(CHAR(1,0)), HEX(CHAR(256));
+----------------+----------------+
| HEX(CHAR(1,0)) | HEX(CHAR(256)) |
+----------------+----------------+
| 0100 | 0100 |
+----------------+----------------+
mysql> SELECT HEX(CHAR(1,0,0)), HEX(CHAR(256*256));
+------------------+--------------------+
| HEX(CHAR(1,0,0)) | HEX(CHAR(256*256)) |
+------------------+--------------------+
| 010000 | 010000 |
+------------------+--------------------+
By default, CHAR() returns a
binary string. To produce a string in a given character set,
use the optional USING clause:
mysql> SELECT CHARSET(CHAR(0x65)), CHARSET(CHAR(0x65 USING utf8));
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
| CHARSET(CHAR(0x65)) | CHARSET(CHAR(0x65 USING utf8)) |
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
| binary | utf8 |
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
If USING is given and the result string is
illegal for the given character set, a warning is issued.
Also, if strict SQL mode is enabled, the result from
CHAR() becomes
NULL.
CHAR_LENGTH(str)
Returns the length of the string
str, measured in characters. A
multi-byte character counts as a single character. This means
that for a string containing five two-byte characters,
LENGTH() returns
10, whereas
CHAR_LENGTH() returns
5.
CHARACTER_LENGTH(str)
CHARACTER_LENGTH() is a synonym
for CHAR_LENGTH().
CONCAT(str1,str2,...)
Returns the string that results from concatenating the
arguments. May have one or more arguments. If all arguments
are nonbinary strings, the result is a nonbinary string. If
the arguments include any binary strings, the result is a
binary string. A numeric argument is converted to its
equivalent binary string form; if you want to avoid that, you
can use an explicit type cast, as in this example:
SELECT CONCAT(CAST(int_col AS CHAR), char_col);
CONCAT() returns
NULL if any argument is
NULL.
mysql> SELECT CONCAT('My', 'S', 'QL');
-> 'MySQL'
mysql> SELECT CONCAT('My', NULL, 'QL');
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT CONCAT(14.3);
-> '14.3'
For quoted strings, concatenation can be performed by placing
the strings next to each other:
mysql> SELECT 'My' 'S' 'QL';
-> 'MySQL'
CONCAT_WS(separator,str1,str2,...)
CONCAT_WS() stands for
Concatenate With Separator and is a special form of
CONCAT(). The first argument is
the separator for the rest of the arguments. The separator is
added between the strings to be concatenated. The separator
can be a string, as can the rest of the arguments. If the
separator is NULL, the result is
NULL.
mysql> SELECT CONCAT_WS(',','First name','Second name','Last Name');
-> 'First name,Second name,Last Name'
mysql> SELECT CONCAT_WS(',','First name',NULL,'Last Name');
-> 'First name,Last Name'
CONCAT_WS() does not skip empty
strings. However, it does skip any NULL
values after the separator argument.
ELT(N,str1,str2,str3,...)
Returns str1 if
N = 1,
str2 if
N = 2, and so
on. Returns NULL if
N is less than 1
or greater than the number of arguments.
ELT() is the complement of
FIELD().
mysql> SELECT ELT(1, 'ej', 'Heja', 'hej', 'foo');
-> 'ej'
mysql> SELECT ELT(4, 'ej', 'Heja', 'hej', 'foo');
-> 'foo'
EXPORT_SET(bits,on,off[,separator[,number_of_bits]])
Returns a string such that for every bit set in the value
bits, you get an
on string and for every bit not set
in the value, you get an off
string. Bits in bits are examined
from right to left (from low-order to high-order bits).
Strings are added to the result from left to right, separated
by the separator string (the
default being the comma character
“,”). The number of bits
examined is given by number_of_bits
(defaults to 64).
mysql> SELECT EXPORT_SET(5,'Y','N',',',4);
-> 'Y,N,Y,N'
mysql> SELECT EXPORT_SET(6,'1','0',',',10);
-> '0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0'
FIELD(str,str1,str2,str3,...)
Returns the index (position) of str
in the str1,
str2,
str3, ... list.
Returns 0 if str
is not found.
If all arguments to FIELD() are
strings, all arguments are compared as strings. If all
arguments are numbers, they are compared as numbers.
Otherwise, the arguments are compared as double.
If str is NULL,
the return value is 0 because
NULL fails equality comparison with any
value. FIELD() is the
complement of ELT().
mysql> SELECT FIELD('ej', 'Hej', 'ej', 'Heja', 'hej', 'foo');
-> 2
mysql> SELECT FIELD('fo', 'Hej', 'ej', 'Heja', 'hej', 'foo');
-> 0
FIND_IN_SET(str,strlist)
Returns a value in the range of 1 to
N if the string
str is in the string list
strlist consisting of
N substrings. A string list is a
string composed of substrings separated by
“,” characters. If the first
argument is a constant string and the second is a column of
type SET, the
FIND_IN_SET() function is
optimized to use bit arithmetic. Returns 0
if str is not in
strlist or if
strlist is the empty string.
Returns NULL if either argument is
NULL. This function does not work properly
if the first argument contains a comma
(“,”) character.
mysql> SELECT FIND_IN_SET('b','a,b,c,d');
-> 2
FORMAT(X,D)
Formats the number X to a format
like '#,###,###.##', rounded to
D decimal places, and returns the
result as a string. If D is
0, the result has no decimal point or
fractional part.
mysql> SELECT FORMAT(12332.123456, 4);
-> '12,332.1235'
mysql> SELECT FORMAT(12332.1,4);
-> '12,332.1000'
mysql> SELECT FORMAT(12332.2,0);
-> '12,332'
HEX(N_or_S)
If N_or_S is a number, returns a
string representation of the hexadecimal value of
N, where
N is a longlong
(BIGINT) number. This is
equivalent to
CONV(N,10,16).
If N_or_S is a string, returns a
hexadecimal string representation of
N_or_S where each character in
N_or_S is converted to two
hexadecimal digits. The inverse of this operation is performed
by the UNHEX() function.
mysql> SELECT HEX(255);
-> 'FF'
mysql> SELECT 0x616263;
-> 'abc'
mysql> SELECT HEX('abc');
-> 616263
INSERT(str,pos,len,newstr)
Returns the string str, with the
substring beginning at position pos
and len characters long replaced by
the string newstr. Returns the
original string if pos is not
within the length of the string. Replaces the rest of the
string from position pos if
len is not within the length of the
rest of the string. Returns NULL if any
argument is NULL.
mysql> SELECT INSERT('Quadratic', 3, 4, 'What');
-> 'QuWhattic'
mysql> SELECT INSERT('Quadratic', -1, 4, 'What');
-> 'Quadratic'
mysql> SELECT INSERT('Quadratic', 3, 100, 'What');
-> 'QuWhat'
This function is multi-byte safe.
INSTR(str,substr)
Returns the position of the first occurrence of substring
substr in string
str. This is the same as the
two-argument form of LOCATE(),
except that the order of the arguments is reversed.
mysql> SELECT INSTR('foobarbar', 'bar');
-> 4
mysql> SELECT INSTR('xbar', 'foobar');
-> 0
This function is multi-byte safe, and is case sensitive only
if at least one argument is a binary string.
LCASE(str)
LCASE() is a synonym for
LOWER().
LEFT(str,len)
Returns the leftmost len characters
from the string str, or
NULL if any argument is
NULL.
mysql> SELECT LEFT('foobarbar', 5);
-> 'fooba'
LENGTH(str)
Returns the length of the string
str, measured in bytes. A
multi-byte character counts as multiple bytes. This means that
for a string containing five two-byte characters,
LENGTH() returns
10, whereas
CHAR_LENGTH() returns
5.
mysql> SELECT LENGTH('text');
-> 4
LOAD_FILE(file_name)
Reads the file and returns the file contents as a string. To
use this function, the file must be located on the server
host, you must specify the full path name to the file, and you
must have the FILE privilege.
The file must be readable by all and its size less than
max_allowed_packet bytes. If
the secure_file_priv system
variable is set to a nonempty directory name, the file to be
loaded must be located in that directory.
If the file does not exist or cannot be read because one of
the preceding conditions is not satisfied, the function
returns NULL.
As of MySQL 5.1.6, the
character_set_filesystem
system variable controls interpretation of file names that are
given as literal strings.
mysql> UPDATE t
SET blob_col=LOAD_FILE('/tmp/picture')
WHERE id=1;
LOCATE(substr,str),
LOCATE(substr,str,pos)
The first syntax returns the position of the first occurrence
of substring substr in string
str. The second syntax returns the
position of the first occurrence of substring
substr in string
str, starting at position
pos. Returns 0
if substr is not in
str.
mysql> SELECT LOCATE('bar', 'foobarbar');
-> 4
mysql> SELECT LOCATE('xbar', 'foobar');
-> 0
mysql> SELECT LOCATE('bar', 'foobarbar', 5);
-> 7
This function is multi-byte safe, and is case-sensitive only
if at least one argument is a binary string.
LOWER(str)
Returns the string str with all
characters changed to lowercase according to the current
character set mapping. The default is
latin1 (cp1252 West European).
mysql> SELECT LOWER('QUADRATICALLY');
-> 'quadratically'
LOWER() (and
UPPER()) are ineffective when
applied to binary strings
(BINARY,
VARBINARY,
BLOB). To perform lettercase
conversion, convert the string to a nonbinary string:
mysql> SET @str = BINARY 'New York';
mysql> SELECT LOWER(@str), LOWER(CONVERT(@str USING latin1));
+-------------+-----------------------------------+
| LOWER(@str) | LOWER(CONVERT(@str USING latin1)) |
+-------------+-----------------------------------+
| New York | new york |
+-------------+-----------------------------------+
This function is multi-byte safe.
LPAD(str,len,padstr)
Returns the string str, left-padded
with the string padstr to a length
of len characters. If
str is longer than
len, the return value is shortened
to len characters.
mysql> SELECT LPAD('hi',4,'??');
-> '??hi'
mysql> SELECT LPAD('hi',1,'??');
-> 'h'
LTRIM(str)
Returns the string str with leading
space characters removed.
mysql> SELECT LTRIM(' barbar');
-> 'barbar'
This function is multi-byte safe.
MAKE_SET(bits,str1,str2,...)
Returns a set value (a string containing substrings separated
by “,” characters) consisting
of the strings that have the corresponding bit in
bits set.
str1 corresponds to bit 0,
str2 to bit 1, and so on.
NULL values in
str1,
str2, ... are
not appended to the result.
mysql> SELECT MAKE_SET(1,'a','b','c');
-> 'a'
mysql> SELECT MAKE_SET(1 | 4,'hello','nice','world');
-> 'hello,world'
mysql> SELECT MAKE_SET(1 | 4,'hello','nice',NULL,'world');
-> 'hello'
mysql> SELECT MAKE_SET(0,'a','b','c');
-> ''
MID(str,pos,len)
MID(str,pos,len)
is a synonym for
SUBSTRING(str,pos,len).
OCTET_LENGTH(str)
OCTET_LENGTH() is a synonym for
LENGTH().
ORD(str)
If the leftmost character of the string
str is a multi-byte character,
returns the code for that character, calculated from the
numeric values of its constituent bytes using this formula:
(1st byte code)
+ (2nd byte code ? 256)
+ (3rd byte code ? 2562) ...
If the leftmost character is not a multi-byte character,
ORD() returns the same value as
the ASCII() function.
mysql> SELECT ORD('2');
-> 50
POSITION(substr
IN str)
POSITION(substr
IN str) is a synonym for
LOCATE(substr,str).
QUOTE(str)
Quotes a string to produce a result that can be used as a
properly escaped data value in an SQL statement. The string is
returned enclosed by single quotes and with each instance of
single quote (“'”), backslash
(“\”), ASCII
NUL, and Control-Z preceded by a backslash.
If the argument is NULL, the return value
is the word “NULL” without enclosing single
quotes.
mysql> SELECT QUOTE('Don\'t!');
-> 'Don\'t!'
mysql> SELECT QUOTE(NULL);
-> NULL
REPEAT(str,count)
Returns a string consisting of the string
str repeated
count times. If
count is less than 1, returns an
empty string. Returns NULL if
str or
count are NULL.
mysql> SELECT REPEAT('MySQL', 3);
-> 'MySQLMySQLMySQL'
REPLACE(str,from_str,to_str)
Returns the string str with all
occurrences of the string from_str
replaced by the string to_str.
REPLACE() performs a
case-sensitive match when searching for
from_str.
mysql> SELECT REPLACE('www.mysql.com', 'w', 'Ww');
-> 'WwWwWw.mysql.com'
This function is multi-byte safe.
REVERSE(str)
Returns the string str with the
order of the characters reversed.
mysql> SELECT REVERSE('abc');
-> 'cba'
This function is multi-byte safe.
RIGHT(str,len)
Returns the rightmost len
characters from the string str, or
NULL if any argument is
NULL.
mysql> SELECT RIGHT('foobarbar', 4);
-> 'rbar'
This function is multi-byte safe.
RPAD(str,len,padstr)
Returns the string str,
right-padded with the string padstr
to a length of len characters. If
str is longer than
len, the return value is shortened
to len characters.
mysql> SELECT RPAD('hi',5,'?');
-> 'hi???'
mysql> SELECT RPAD('hi',1,'?');
-> 'h'
This function is multi-byte safe.
RTRIM(str)
Returns the string str with
trailing space characters removed.
mysql> SELECT RTRIM('barbar ');
-> 'barbar'
This function is multi-byte safe.
SOUNDEX(str)
Returns a soundex string from str.
Two strings that sound almost the same should have identical
soundex strings. A standard soundex string is four characters
long, but the SOUNDEX()
function returns an arbitrarily long string. You can use
SUBSTRING() on the result to
get a standard soundex string. All nonalphabetic characters in
str are ignored. All international
alphabetic characters outside the A-Z range are treated as
vowels.
Important
When using SOUNDEX(), you
should be aware of the following limitations:
This function, as currently implemented, is intended to
work well with strings that are in the English language
only. Strings in other languages may not produce reliable
results.
This function is not guaranteed to provide consistent
results with strings that use multi-byte character sets,
including utf-8.
We hope to remove these limitations in a future release.
See Bug#22638 for more information.
mysql> SELECT SOUNDEX('Hello');
-> 'H400'
mysql> SELECT SOUNDEX('Quadratically');
-> 'Q36324'
Note
This function implements the original Soundex algorithm, not
the more popular enhanced version (also described by D.
Knuth). The difference is that original version discards
vowels first and duplicates second, whereas the enhanced
version discards duplicates first and vowels second.
expr1
SOUNDS LIKE expr2
This is the same as
SOUNDEX(expr1)
= SOUNDEX(expr2).
SPACE(N)
Returns a string consisting of N
space characters.
mysql> SELECT SPACE(6);
-> ' '
SUBSTR(str,pos),
SUBSTR(str
FROM pos),
SUBSTR(str,pos,len),
SUBSTR(str
FROM pos FOR
len)
SUBSTR() is a synonym for
SUBSTRING().
SUBSTRING(str,pos),
SUBSTRING(str
FROM pos),
SUBSTRING(str,pos,len),
SUBSTRING(str
FROM pos FOR
len)
The forms without a len argument
return a substring from string str
starting at position pos. The forms
with a len argument return a
substring len characters long from
string str, starting at position
pos. The forms that use
FROM are standard SQL syntax. It is also
possible to use a negative value for
pos. In this case, the beginning of
the substring is pos characters
from the end of the string, rather than the beginning. A
negative value may be used for pos
in any of the forms of this function.
For all forms of SUBSTRING(),
the position of the first character in the string from which
the substring is to be extracted is reckoned as
1.
mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING('Quadratically',5);
-> 'ratically'
mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING('foobarbar' FROM 4);
-> 'barbar'
mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING('Quadratically',5,6);
-> 'ratica'
mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING('Sakila', -3);
-> 'ila'
mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING('Sakila', -5, 3);
-> 'aki'
mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING('Sakila' FROM -4 FOR 2);
-> 'ki'
This function is multi-byte safe.
If len is less than 1, the result
is the empty string.
SUBSTRING_INDEX(str,delim,count)
Returns the substring from string
str before
count occurrences of the delimiter
delim. If
count is positive, everything to
the left of the final delimiter (counting from the left) is
returned. If count is negative,
everything to the right of the final delimiter (counting from
the right) is returned.
SUBSTRING_INDEX() performs a
case-sensitive match when searching for
delim.
mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING_INDEX('www.mysql.com', '.', 2);
-> 'www.mysql'
mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING_INDEX('www.mysql.com', '.', -2);
-> 'mysql.com'
This function is multi-byte safe.
TRIM([{BOTH | LEADING | TRAILING}
[remstr] FROM]
str),
TRIM([remstr
FROM] str)
Returns the string str with all
remstr prefixes or suffixes
removed. If none of the specifiers BOTH,
LEADING, or TRAILING is
given, BOTH is assumed.
remstr is optional and, if not
specified, spaces are removed.
mysql> SELECT TRIM(' bar ');
-> 'bar'
mysql> SELECT TRIM(LEADING 'x' FROM 'xxxbarxxx');
-> 'barxxx'
mysql> SELECT TRIM(BOTH 'x' FROM 'xxxbarxxx');
-> 'bar'
mysql> SELECT TRIM(TRAILING 'xyz' FROM 'barxxyz');
-> 'barx'
This function is multi-byte safe.
UCASE(str)
UCASE() is a synonym for
UPPER().
UNHEX(str)
Performs the inverse operation of
HEX(str).
That is, it interprets each pair of hexadecimal digits in the
argument as a number and converts it to the character
represented by the number. The resulting characters are
returned as a binary string.
mysql> SELECT UNHEX('4D7953514C');
-> 'MySQL'
mysql> SELECT 0x4D7953514C;
-> 'MySQL'
mysql> SELECT UNHEX(HEX('string'));
-> 'string'
mysql> SELECT HEX(UNHEX('1267'));
-> '1267'
The characters in the argument string must be legal
hexadecimal digits: '0' ..
'9', 'A' ..
'F', 'a' ..
'f'. If
UNHEX() encounters any
nonhexadecimal digits in the argument, it returns
NULL:
mysql> SELECT UNHEX('GG');
+-------------+
| UNHEX('GG') |
+-------------+
| NULL |
+-------------+
A NULL result can occur if the argument to
UNHEX() is a
BINARY column, because values
are padded with 0x00 bytes when stored but those bytes are not
stripped on retrieval. For example 'aa' is
stored into a CHAR(3) column as
'aa ' and retrieved as
'aa' (with the trailing pad space
stripped), so UNHEX() for the
column value returns 'A'. By contrast
'aa' is stored into a
BINARY(3) column as
'aa\0' and retrieved as
'aa\0' (with the trailing pad
0x00 byte not stripped).
'\0' is not a legal hexadecimal digit, so
UNHEX() for the column value
returns NULL.
UPPER(str)
Returns the string str with all
characters changed to uppercase according to the current
character set mapping. The default is
latin1 (cp1252 West European).
mysql> SELECT UPPER('Hej');
-> 'HEJ'
UPPER() is ineffective when
applied to binary strings
(BINARY,
VARBINARY,
BLOB). The description of
LOWER() shows how to perform
lettercase conversion of binary strings.
This function is multi-byte safe.
11.4.1. String Comparison FunctionsTable 11.7. String Comparison Operators | Name | Description |
|---|
LIKE | Simple pattern matching | NOT LIKE | Negation of simple pattern matching | STRCMP() | Compare two strings |
If a string function is given a binary string as an argument,
the resulting string is also a binary string. A number converted
to a string is treated as a binary string. This affects only
comparisons.
Normally, if any expression in a string comparison is case
sensitive, the comparison is performed in case-sensitive
fashion.
expr
LIKE pat [ESCAPE
'escape_char']
Pattern matching using SQL simple regular expression
comparison. Returns 1
(TRUE) or 0
(FALSE). If either
expr or
pat is NULL,
the result is NULL.
The pattern need not be a literal string. For example, it
can be specified as a string expression or table column.
Per the SQL standard, LIKE
performs matching on a per-character basis, thus it can
produce results different from the
= comparison
operator:
mysql> SELECT '?' LIKE 'ae' COLLATE latin1_german2_ci;
+-----------------------------------------+
| '?' LIKE 'ae' COLLATE latin1_german2_ci |
+-----------------------------------------+
| 0 |
+-----------------------------------------+
mysql> SELECT '?' = 'ae' COLLATE latin1_german2_ci;
+--------------------------------------+
| '?' = 'ae' COLLATE latin1_german2_ci |
+--------------------------------------+
| 1 |
+--------------------------------------+
In particular, trailing spaces are significant, which is not
true for CHAR or
VARCHAR comparisons performed
with the =
operator:
mysql> SELECT 'a' = 'a ', 'a' LIKE 'a ';
+------------+---------------+
| 'a' = 'a ' | 'a' LIKE 'a ' |
+------------+---------------+
| 1 | 0 |
+------------+---------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
With LIKE you can use the
following two wildcard characters in the pattern.
mysql> SELECT 'David!' LIKE 'David_';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 'David!' LIKE '%D%v%';
-> 1
To test for literal instances of a wildcard character,
precede it by the escape character. If you do not specify
the ESCAPE character,
“\” is assumed.
mysql> SELECT 'David!' LIKE 'David\_';
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 'David_' LIKE 'David\_';
-> 1
To specify a different escape character, use the
ESCAPE clause:
mysql> SELECT 'David_' LIKE 'David|_' ESCAPE '|';
-> 1
The escape sequence should be empty or one character long.
As of MySQL 5.1.2, if the
NO_BACKSLASH_ESCAPES SQL
mode is enabled, the sequence cannot be empty.
The following two statements illustrate that string
comparisons are not case sensitive unless one of the
operands is a binary string:
mysql> SELECT 'abc' LIKE 'ABC';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 'abc' LIKE BINARY 'ABC';
-> 0
In MySQL, LIKE is allowed on
numeric expressions. (This is an extension to the standard
SQL LIKE.)
mysql> SELECT 10 LIKE '1%';
-> 1
Note
Because MySQL uses C escape syntax in strings (for
example, “\n” to represent
a newline character), you must double any
“\” that you use in
LIKE strings. For example, to
search for “\n”, specify
it as “\\n”. To search for
“\”, specify it as
“\\\\”; this is because
the backslashes are stripped once by the parser and again
when the pattern match is made, leaving a single backslash
to be matched against.
Exception: At the end of the pattern string, backslash can
be specified as “\\”. At
the end of the string, backslash stands for itself because
there is nothing following to escape. Suppose that a table
contains the following values:
mysql> SELECT filename FROM t1;
+--------------+
| filename |
+--------------+
| C: |
| C:\ |
| C:\Programs |
| C:\Programs\ |
+--------------+
To test for values that end with backslash, you can match
the values using either of the following patterns:
mysql> SELECT filename, filename LIKE '%\\' FROM t1;
+--------------+---------------------+
| filename | filename LIKE '%\\' |
+--------------+---------------------+
| C: | 0 |
| C:\ | 1 |
| C:\Programs | 0 |
| C:\Programs\ | 1 |
+--------------+---------------------+
mysql> SELECT filename, filename LIKE '%\\\\' FROM t1;
+--------------+-----------------------+
| filename | filename LIKE '%\\\\' |
+--------------+-----------------------+
| C: | 0 |
| C:\ | 1 |
| C:\Programs | 0 |
| C:\Programs\ | 1 |
+--------------+-----------------------+
expr
NOT LIKE pat [ESCAPE
'escape_char']
This is the same as NOT
(expr LIKE
pat [ESCAPE
'escape_char']).
Note
Aggregate queries involving NOT
LIKE comparisons with columns containing
NULL may yield unexpected results. For
example, consider the following table and data:
CREATE TABLE foo (bar VARCHAR(10));
INSERT INTO foo VALUES (NULL), (NULL);
The query SELECT COUNT(*) FROM foo WHERE bar LIKE
'%baz%'; returns 0. You might
assume that SELECT COUNT(*) FROM foo WHERE bar
NOT LIKE '%baz%'; would return
2. However, this is not the case: The
second query returns 0. This is because
NULL NOT LIKE
expr always returns
NULL, regardless of the value of
expr. The same is true for
aggregate queries involving NULL and
comparisons using
NOT
RLIKE or NOT
REGEXP. In such cases, you must test explicitly
for NOT NULL using
OR (and not
AND), as shown here:
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM foo WHERE bar NOT LIKE '%baz%' OR bar IS NULL;
STRCMP(expr1,expr2)
STRCMP() returns
0 if the strings are the same,
-1 if the first argument is smaller than
the second according to the current sort order, and
1 otherwise.
mysql> SELECT STRCMP('text', 'text2');
-> -1
mysql> SELECT STRCMP('text2', 'text');
-> 1
mysql> SELECT STRCMP('text', 'text');
-> 0
STRCMP() uses the current
character set when performing comparisons. This makes the
default comparison behavior case insensitive unless one or
both of the operands are binary strings.
11.4.2. Regular ExpressionsTable 11.8. String Regular Expression Operators | Name | Description |
|---|
NOT REGEXP | Negation of REGEXP | REGEXP | Pattern matching using regular expressions | RLIKE | Synonym for REGEXP |
A regular expression is a powerful way of specifying a pattern
for a complex search.
MySQL uses Henry Spencer's implementation of regular
expressions, which is aimed at conformance with POSIX 1003.2.
MySQL uses the extended version to support pattern-matching
operations performed with the
REGEXP operator in SQL statements.
This section summarizes, with examples, the special characters
and constructs that can be used in MySQL for
REGEXP operations. It does not
contain all the details that can be found in Henry Spencer's
regex(7) manual page. That manual page is
included in MySQL source distributions, in the
regex.7 file under the
regex directory. See also
Section 3.3.4.7, “Pattern Matching”.
expr
NOT REGEXP pat,
expr
NOT RLIKE pat
This is the same as NOT
(expr REGEXP
pat).
expr
REGEXP pat,
expr
RLIKE pat
Performs a pattern match of a string expression
expr against a pattern
pat. The pattern can be an
extended regular expression. The syntax for regular
expressions is discussed in Section 11.4.2, “Regular Expressions”.
Returns 1 if
expr matches
pat; otherwise it returns
0. If either
expr or
pat is NULL,
the result is NULL.
RLIKE is a
synonym for REGEXP, provided
for mSQL compatibility.
The pattern need not be a literal string. For example, it
can be specified as a string expression or table column.
Note
Because MySQL uses the C escape syntax in strings (for
example, “\n” to represent
the newline character), you must double any
“\” that you use in your
REGEXP strings.
REGEXP is not case sensitive,
except when used with binary strings.
mysql> SELECT 'Monty!' REGEXP '.*';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 'new*\n*line' REGEXP 'new\\*.\\*line';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT 'a' REGEXP 'A', 'a' REGEXP BINARY 'A';
-> 1 0
mysql> SELECT 'a' REGEXP '^[a-d]';
-> 1
REGEXP and
RLIKE use
the current character set when deciding the type of a
character. The default is latin1 (cp1252
West European).
Warning
The REGEXP and
RLIKE
operators work in byte-wise fashion, so they are not
multi-byte safe and may produce unexpected results with
multi-byte character sets. In addition, these operators
compare characters by their byte values and accented
characters may not compare as equal even if a given
collation treats them as equal.
A regular expression describes a set of strings. The simplest
regular expression is one that has no special characters in it.
For example, the regular expression hello
matches hello and nothing else.
Nontrivial regular expressions use certain special constructs so
that they can match more than one string. For example, the
regular expression hello|word matches either
the string hello or the string
word.
As a more complex example, the regular expression
B[an]*s matches any of the strings
Bananas, Baaaaas,
Bs, and any other string starting with a
B, ending with an s, and
containing any number of a or
n characters in between.
A regular expression for the REGEXP
operator may use any of the following special characters and
constructs:
^
Match the beginning of a string.
mysql> SELECT 'fo\nfo' REGEXP '^fo$'; -> 0
mysql> SELECT 'fofo' REGEXP '^fo'; -> 1
$
Match the end of a string.
mysql> SELECT 'fo\no' REGEXP '^fo\no$'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'fo\no' REGEXP '^fo$'; -> 0
.
Match any character (including carriage return and newline).
mysql> SELECT 'fofo' REGEXP '^f.*$'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'fo\r\nfo' REGEXP '^f.*$'; -> 1
a*
Match any sequence of zero or more a
characters.
mysql> SELECT 'Ban' REGEXP '^Ba*n'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'Baaan' REGEXP '^Ba*n'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'Bn' REGEXP '^Ba*n'; -> 1
a+
Match any sequence of one or more a
characters.
mysql> SELECT 'Ban' REGEXP '^Ba+n'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'Bn' REGEXP '^Ba+n'; -> 0
a?
Match either zero or one a character.
mysql> SELECT 'Bn' REGEXP '^Ba?n'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'Ban' REGEXP '^Ba?n'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'Baan' REGEXP '^Ba?n'; -> 0
de|abc
Match either of the sequences de or
abc.
mysql> SELECT 'pi' REGEXP 'pi|apa'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'axe' REGEXP 'pi|apa'; -> 0
mysql> SELECT 'apa' REGEXP 'pi|apa'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'apa' REGEXP '^(pi|apa)$'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'pi' REGEXP '^(pi|apa)$'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'pix' REGEXP '^(pi|apa)$'; -> 0
(abc)*
Match zero or more instances of the sequence
abc.
mysql> SELECT 'pi' REGEXP '^(pi)*$'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'pip' REGEXP '^(pi)*$'; -> 0
mysql> SELECT 'pipi' REGEXP '^(pi)*$'; -> 1
{1}, {2,3}
{n} or {m,n} notation
provides a more general way of writing regular expressions
that match many occurrences of the previous atom (or
“piece”) of the pattern. m
and n are integers.
To be more precise, a{n} matches exactly
n instances of a.
a{n,} matches n or
more instances of a.
a{m,n} matches m
through n instances of
a, inclusive.
m and n must be in the
range from 0 to
RE_DUP_MAX (default 255), inclusive. If
both m and n are
given, m must be less than or equal to
n.
mysql> SELECT 'abcde' REGEXP 'a[bcd]{2}e'; -> 0
mysql> SELECT 'abcde' REGEXP 'a[bcd]{3}e'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'abcde' REGEXP 'a[bcd]{1,10}e'; -> 1
[a-dX], [^a-dX]
Matches any character that is (or is not, if ^ is used)
either a, b,
c, d or
X. A - character
between two other characters forms a range that matches all
characters from the first character to the second. For
example, [0-9] matches any decimal digit.
To include a literal ] character, it must
immediately follow the opening bracket [.
To include a literal - character, it must
be written first or last. Any character that does not have a
defined special meaning inside a [] pair
matches only itself.
mysql> SELECT 'aXbc' REGEXP '[a-dXYZ]'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'aXbc' REGEXP '^[a-dXYZ]$'; -> 0
mysql> SELECT 'aXbc' REGEXP '^[a-dXYZ]+$'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'aXbc' REGEXP '^[^a-dXYZ]+$'; -> 0
mysql> SELECT 'gheis' REGEXP '^[^a-dXYZ]+$'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'gheisa' REGEXP '^[^a-dXYZ]+$'; -> 0
[.characters.]
Within a bracket expression (written using
[ and ]), matches the
sequence of characters of that collating element.
characters is either a single character
or a character name like newline. The
following table lists the allowable character names.
The following table shows the allowable character names and
the characters that they match. For characters given as
numeric values, the values are represented in octal.
mysql> SELECT '~' REGEXP '[[.~.]]'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT '~' REGEXP '[[.tilde.]]'; -> 1
[=character_class=]
Within a bracket expression (written using
[ and ]),
[=character_class=] represents an
equivalence class. It matches all characters with the same
collation value, including itself. For example, if
o and (+) are the
members of an equivalence class, then
[[=o=]], [[=(+)=]],
and [o(+)] are all synonymous. An
equivalence class may not be used as an endpoint of a range.
[:character_class:]
Within a bracket expression (written using
[ and ]),
[:character_class:] represents a
character class that matches all characters belonging to
that class. The following table lists the standard class
names. These names stand for the character classes defined
in the ctype(3) manual page. A particular
locale may provide other class names. A character class may
not be used as an endpoint of a range.
mysql> SELECT 'justalnums' REGEXP '[[:alnum:]]+'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT '!!' REGEXP '[[:alnum:]]+'; -> 0
[[:<:]], [[:>:]]
These markers stand for word boundaries. They match the
beginning and end of words, respectively. A word is a
sequence of word characters that is not preceded by or
followed by word characters. A word character is an
alphanumeric character in the alnum class
or an underscore (_).
mysql> SELECT 'a word a' REGEXP '[[:<:]]word[[:>:]]'; -> 1
mysql> SELECT 'a xword a' REGEXP '[[:<:]]word[[:>:]]'; -> 0
To use a literal instance of a special character in a regular
expression, precede it by two backslash (\) characters. The
MySQL parser interprets one of the backslashes, and the regular
expression library interprets the other. For example, to match
the string 1+2 that contains the special
+ character, only the last of the following
regular expressions is the correct one:
mysql> SELECT '1+2' REGEXP '1+2'; -> 0
mysql> SELECT '1+2' REGEXP '1\+2'; -> 0
mysql> SELECT '1+2' REGEXP '1\\+2'; -> 1
Table 11.9. Numeric Functions | Name | Description |
|---|
ABS() | Return the absolute value | ACOS() | Return the arc cosine | ASIN() | Return the arc sine | ATAN2(), ATAN() | Return the arc tangent of the two arguments | ATAN() | Return the arc tangent | CEIL() | Return the smallest integer value not less than the argument | CEILING() | Return the smallest integer value not less than the argument | CONV() | Convert numbers between different number bases | COS() | Return the cosine | COT() | Return the cotangent | CRC32()(v4.1.0) | Compute a cyclic redundancy check value | DEGREES() | Convert radians to degrees | DIV(v4.1.0) | Integer division | / | Division operator | EXP() | Raise to the power of | FLOOR() | Return the largest integer value not greater than the argument | LN() | Return the natural logarithm of the argument | LOG10() | Return the base-10 logarithm of the argument | LOG2() | Return the base-2 logarithm of the argument | LOG() | Return the natural logarithm of the first argument | - | Minus operator | MOD() | Return the remainder | % | Modulo operator | OCT() | Return an octal representation of a decimal number | PI() | Return the value of pi | + | Addition operator | POW() | Return the argument raised to the specified power | POWER() | Return the argument raised to the specified power | RADIANS() | Return argument converted to radians | RAND() | Return a random floating-point value | ROUND() | Round the argument | SIGN() | Return the sign of the argument | SIN() | Return the sine of the argument | SQRT() | Return the square root of the argument | TAN() | Return the tangent of the argument | * | Times operator | TRUNCATE() | Truncate to specified number of decimal places | - | Change the sign of the argument |
11.5.1. Arithmetic OperatorsTable 11.10. Arithmetic Functions | Name | Description |
|---|
DIV(v4.1.0) | Integer division | / | Division operator | - | Minus operator | % | Modulo operator | + | Addition operator | * | Times operator | - | Change the sign of the argument |
The usual arithmetic operators are available. The result is
determined according to the following rules:
In the case of
-,
+, and
*, the result
is calculated with BIGINT
(64-bit) precision if both arguments are integers.
If one of the arguments is an unsigned integer, and the
other argument is also an integer, the result is an unsigned
integer.
If any of the operands of a
+,
-,
/,
*,
% is a real or
string value, then the precision of the result is the
precision of the argument with the maximum precision.
In division performed with
/, the scale
of the result when using two exact values is the scale of
the first argument plus the value of the
div_precision_increment
system variable (which is 4 by default). For example, the
result of the expression 5.05 / 0.014 has
a scale of six decimal places
(360.714286).
These rules are applied for each operation, such that nested
calculations imply the precision of each component. Hence,
(14620 / 9432456) / (24250 / 9432456), would
resolve first to (0.0014) / (0.0026), with
the final result having 8 decimal places
(0.60288653).
Because of these rules and the way they are applied, care should
be taken to ensure that components and subcomponents of a
calculation use the appropriate level of precision. See
Section 11.9, “Cast Functions and Operators”.
Arithmetic operators apply to numbers. For other types of
values, alternative operations may be available. For example, to
add date values, use DATE_ADD();
see Section 11.6, “Date and Time Functions”.
+
Addition:
mysql> SELECT 3+5;
-> 8
-
Subtraction:
mysql> SELECT 3-5;
-> -2
-
Unary minus. This operator changes the sign of the argument.
mysql> SELECT - 2;
-> -2
Note
If this operator is used with a
BIGINT, the return value is
also a BIGINT. This means
that you should avoid using – on
integers that may have the value of
–263.
*
Multiplication:
mysql> SELECT 3*5;
-> 15
mysql> SELECT 18014398509481984*18014398509481984.0;
-> 324518553658426726783156020576256.0
mysql> SELECT 18014398509481984*18014398509481984;
-> 0
The result of the last expression is incorrect because the
result of the integer multiplication exceeds the 64-bit
range of BIGINT calculations.
(See Section 10.2, “Numeric Types”.)
/
Division:
mysql> SELECT 3/5;
-> 0.60
Division by zero produces a NULL result:
mysql> SELECT 102/(1-1);
-> NULL
A division is calculated with
BIGINT arithmetic only if
performed in a context where its result is converted to an
integer.
DIV
Integer division. Similar to
FLOOR(), but is safe with
BIGINT values. Incorrect
results may occur for noninteger operands that exceed
BIGINT range.
mysql> SELECT 5 DIV 2;
-> 2
N
% M
Modulo operation. Returns the remainder of
N divided by
M. For more information, see the
description for the MOD()
function in Section 11.5.2, “Mathematical Functions”.
11.5.2. Mathematical FunctionsTable 11.11. Mathematical Functions | Name | Description |
|---|
ABS() | Return the absolute value | ACOS() | Return the arc cosine | ASIN() | Return the arc sine | ATAN2(), ATAN() | Return the arc tangent of the two arguments | ATAN() | Return the arc tangent | CEIL() | Return the smallest integer value not less than the argument | CEILING() | Return the smallest integer value not less than the argument | CONV() | Convert numbers between different number bases | COS() | Return the cosine | COT() | Return the cotangent | CRC32()(v4.1.0) | Compute a cyclic redundancy check value | DEGREES() | Convert radians to degrees | EXP() | Raise to the power of | FLOOR() | Return the largest integer value not greater than the argument | LN() | Return the natural logarithm of the argument | LOG10() | Return the base-10 logarithm of the argument | LOG2() | Return the base-2 logarithm of the argument | LOG() | Return the natural logarithm of the first argument | MOD() | Return the remainder | OCT() | Return an octal representation of a decimal number | PI() | Return the value of pi | POW() | Return the argument raised to the specified power | POWER() | Return the argument raised to the specified power | RADIANS() | Return argument converted to radians | RAND() | Return a random floating-point value | ROUND() | Round the argument | SIGN() | Return the sign of the argument | SIN() | Return the sine of the argument | SQRT() | Return the square root of the argument | TAN() | Return the tangent of the argument | TRUNCATE() | Truncate to specified number of decimal places |
All mathematical functions return NULL in the
event of an error.
ABS(X)
Returns the absolute value of X.
mysql> SELECT ABS(2);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT ABS(-32);
-> 32
This function is safe to use with
BIGINT values.
ACOS(X)
Returns the arc cosine of X, that
is, the value whose cosine is X.
Returns NULL if
X is not in the range
-1 to 1.
mysql> SELECT ACOS(1);
-> 0
mysql> SELECT ACOS(1.0001);
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT ACOS(0);
-> 1.5707963267949
ASIN(X)
Returns the arc sine of X, that
is, the value whose sine is X.
Returns NULL if
X is not in the range
-1 to 1.
mysql> SELECT ASIN(0.2);
-> 0.20135792079033
mysql> SELECT ASIN('foo');
+-------------+
| ASIN('foo') |
+-------------+
| 0 |
+-------------+
1 row in set, 1 warning (0.00 sec)
mysql> SHOW WARNINGS;
+---------+------+-----------------------------------------+
| Level | Code | Message |
+---------+------+-----------------------------------------+
| Warning | 1292 | Truncated incorrect DOUBLE value: 'foo' |
+---------+------+-----------------------------------------+
ATAN(X)
Returns the arc tangent of X,
that is, the value whose tangent is
X.
mysql> SELECT ATAN(2);
-> 1.1071487177941
mysql> SELECT ATAN(-2);
-> -1.1071487177941
ATAN(Y,X),
ATAN2(Y,X)
Returns the arc tangent of the two variables
X and
Y. It is similar to calculating
the arc tangent of Y /
X, except that the
signs of both arguments are used to determine the quadrant
of the result.
mysql> SELECT ATAN(-2,2);
-> -0.78539816339745
mysql> SELECT ATAN2(PI(),0);
-> 1.5707963267949
CEIL(X)
CEIL() is a synonym for
CEILING().
CEILING(X)
Returns the smallest integer value not less than
X.
mysql> SELECT CEILING(1.23);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT CEILING(-1.23);
-> -1
For exact-value numeric arguments, the return value has an
exact-value numeric type. For string or floating-point
arguments, the return value has a floating-point type.
CONV(N,from_base,to_base)
Converts numbers between different number bases. Returns a
string representation of the number
N, converted from base
from_base to base
to_base. Returns
NULL if any argument is
NULL. The argument
N is interpreted as an integer,
but may be specified as an integer or a string. The minimum
base is 2 and the maximum base is
36. If to_base
is a negative number, N is
regarded as a signed number. Otherwise,
N is treated as unsigned.
CONV() works with 64-bit
precision.
mysql> SELECT CONV('a',16,2);
-> '1010'
mysql> SELECT CONV('6E',18,8);
-> '172'
mysql> SELECT CONV(-17,10,-18);
-> '-H'
mysql> SELECT CONV(10+'10'+'10'+0xa,10,10);
-> '40'
COS(X)
Returns the cosine of X, where
X is given in radians.
mysql> SELECT COS(PI());
-> -1
COT(X)
Returns the cotangent of X.
mysql> SELECT COT(12);
-> -1.5726734063977
mysql> SELECT COT(0);
-> NULL
CRC32(expr)
Computes a cyclic redundancy check value and returns a
32-bit unsigned value. The result is NULL
if the argument is NULL. The argument is
expected to be a string and (if possible) is treated as one
if it is not.
mysql> SELECT CRC32('MySQL');
-> 3259397556
mysql> SELECT CRC32('mysql');
-> 2501908538
DEGREES(X)
Returns the argument X, converted
from radians to degrees.
mysql> SELECT DEGREES(PI());
-> 180
mysql> SELECT DEGREES(PI() / 2);
-> 90
EXP(X)
Returns the value of e (the base of
natural logarithms) raised to the power of
X. The inverse of this function
is LOG() (using a single
argument only) or LN().
mysql> SELECT EXP(2);
-> 7.3890560989307
mysql> SELECT EXP(-2);
-> 0.13533528323661
mysql> SELECT EXP(0);
-> 1
FLOOR(X)
Returns the largest integer value not greater than
X.
mysql> SELECT FLOOR(1.23);
-> 1
mysql> SELECT FLOOR(-1.23);
-> -2
For exact-value numeric arguments, the return value has an
exact-value numeric type. For string or floating-point
arguments, the return value has a floating-point type.
FORMAT(X,D)
Formats the number X to a format
like '#,###,###.##', rounded to
D decimal places, and returns the
result as a string. For details, see
Section 11.4, “String Functions”.
HEX(N_or_S)
This function can be used to obtain a hexadecimal
representation of a decimal number or a string; the manner
in which it does so varies according to the argument's
type. See this function's description in
Section 11.4, “String Functions”, for details.
LN(X)
Returns the natural logarithm of
X; that is, the
base-e logarithm of
X. If
X is less than or equal to 0,
then NULL is returned.
mysql> SELECT LN(2);
-> 0.69314718055995
mysql> SELECT LN(-2);
-> NULL
This function is synonymous with
LOG(X).
The inverse of this function is the
EXP() function.
LOG(X),
LOG(B,X)
If called with one parameter, this function returns the
natural logarithm of X. If
X is less than or equal to 0,
then NULL is returned.
The inverse of this function (when called with a single
argument) is the EXP()
function.
mysql> SELECT LOG(2);
-> 0.69314718055995
mysql> SELECT LOG(-2);
-> NULL
If called with two parameters, this function returns the
logarithm of X to the base
B. If
X is less than or equal to 0, or
if B is less than or equal to 1,
then NULL is returned.
mysql> SELECT LOG(2,65536);
-> 16
mysql> SELECT LOG(10,100);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT LOG(1,100);
-> NULL
LOG(B,X)
is equivalent to
LOG(X) /
LOG(B).
LOG2(X)
Returns the base-2 logarithm of
X.
mysql> SELECT LOG2(65536);
-> 16
mysql> SELECT LOG2(-100);
-> NULL
LOG2() is useful for finding
out how many bits a number requires for storage. This
function is equivalent to the expression
LOG(X) /
LOG(2).
LOG10(X)
Returns the base-10 logarithm of
X.
mysql> SELECT LOG10(2);
-> 0.30102999566398
mysql> SELECT LOG10(100);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT LOG10(-100);
-> NULL
LOG10(X)
is equivalent to
LOG(10,X).
MOD(N,M),
N
% M,
N
MOD M
Modulo operation. Returns the remainder of
N divided by
M.
mysql> SELECT MOD(234, 10);
-> 4
mysql> SELECT 253 % 7;
-> 1
mysql> SELECT MOD(29,9);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT 29 MOD 9;
-> 2
This function is safe to use with
BIGINT values.
MOD() also works on values
that have a fractional part and returns the exact remainder
after division:
mysql> SELECT MOD(34.5,3);
-> 1.5
MOD(N,0)
returns NULL.
OCT(N)
Returns a string representation of the octal value of
N, where
N is a longlong
(BIGINT) number. This is
equivalent to
CONV(N,10,8).
Returns NULL if
N is NULL.
mysql> SELECT OCT(12);
-> '14'
PI()
Returns the value of ? (pi). The default number of
decimal places displayed is seven, but MySQL uses the full
double-precision value internally.
mysql> SELECT PI();
-> 3.141593
mysql> SELECT PI()+0.000000000000000000;
-> 3.141592653589793116
POW(X,Y)
Returns the value of X raised to
the power of Y.
mysql> SELECT POW(2,2);
-> 4
mysql> SELECT POW(2,-2);
-> 0.25
POWER(X,Y)
This is a synonym for POW().
RADIANS(X)
Returns the argument X, converted
from degrees to radians. (Note that ? radians equals 180
degrees.)
mysql> SELECT RADIANS(90);
-> 1.5707963267949
RAND(),
RAND(N)
Returns a random floating-point value
v in the range
0 <= v <
1.0. If a constant integer argument
N is specified, it is used as the
seed value, which produces a repeatable sequence of column
values. In the following example, note that the sequences of
values produced by RAND(3) is the same
both places where it occurs.
mysql> CREATE TABLE t (i INT);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.42 sec)
mysql> INSERT INTO t VALUES(1),(2),(3);
Query OK, 3 rows affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 3 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
mysql> SELECT i, RAND() FROM t;
+------+------------------+
| i | RAND() |
+------+------------------+
| 1 | 0.61914388706828 |
| 2 | 0.93845168309142 |
| 3 | 0.83482678498591 |
+------+------------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT i, RAND(3) FROM t;
+------+------------------+
| i | RAND(3) |
+------+------------------+
| 1 | 0.90576975597606 |
| 2 | 0.37307905813035 |
| 3 | 0.14808605345719 |
+------+------------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT i, RAND() FROM t;
+------+------------------+
| i | RAND() |
+------+------------------+
| 1 | 0.35877890638893 |
| 2 | 0.28941420772058 |
| 3 | 0.37073435016976 |
+------+------------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT i, RAND(3) FROM t;
+------+------------------+
| i | RAND(3) |
+------+------------------+
| 1 | 0.90576975597606 |
| 2 | 0.37307905813035 |
| 3 | 0.14808605345719 |
+------+------------------+
3 rows in set (0.01 sec)
With a constant initializer, the seed is initialized once
when the statement is compiled, prior to execution. As of
MySQL 5.1.16, if a nonconstant initializer (such as a column
name) is used as the argument, the seed is initialized with
the value for each invocation of
RAND(). (One implication of
this is that for equal argument values,
RAND() will return the same
value each time.) From MySQL 5.1.3 to 5.1.15, nonconstant
arguments are disallowed. Before that, the effect of using a
nonconstant argument is undefined.
To obtain a random integer R in
the range i <=
R <
j, use the expression
FLOOR(i
+ RAND() * (j –
i)). For example, to
obtain a random integer in the range the range
7 <= R <
12, you could use the following
statement:
SELECT FLOOR(7 + (RAND() * 5));
RAND() in a
WHERE clause is re-evaluated every time
the WHERE is executed.
You cannot use a column with
RAND() values in an
ORDER BY clause, because ORDER
BY would evaluate the column multiple times.
However, you can retrieve rows in random order like this:
mysql> SELECT * FROM tbl_name ORDER BY RAND();
ORDER BY RAND() combined with
LIMIT is useful for selecting a random
sample from a set of rows:
mysql> SELECT * FROM table1, table2 WHERE a=b AND c<d -> ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1000;
RAND() is not meant to be a
perfect random generator, but instead is a fast way to
generate ad hoc random
numbers which is portable between platforms for the same
MySQL version.
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.43, this function is flagged as
unsafe for statement-based replication; use of this function
causes a warning when using statement-based replication, and
the statement is logged using the binary format when
binlog_format is
MIXED. (Bug#49222)
ROUND(X),
ROUND(X,D)
Rounds the argument X to
D decimal places. The rounding
algorithm depends on the data type of
X. D
defaults to 0 if not specified. D
can be negative to cause D digits
left of the decimal point of the value
X to become zero.
mysql> SELECT ROUND(-1.23);
-> -1
mysql> SELECT ROUND(-1.58);
-> -2
mysql> SELECT ROUND(1.58);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT ROUND(1.298, 1);
-> 1.3
mysql> SELECT ROUND(1.298, 0);
-> 1
mysql> SELECT ROUND(23.298, -1);
-> 20
The return type is the same type as that of the first
argument (assuming that it is integer, double, or decimal).
This means that for an integer argument, the result is an
integer (no decimal places):
mysql> SELECT ROUND(150.000,2), ROUND(150,2);
+------------------+--------------+
| ROUND(150.000,2) | ROUND(150,2) |
+------------------+--------------+
| 150.00 | 150 |
+------------------+--------------+
ROUND() uses the following
rules depending on the type of the first argument:
For exact-value numbers,
ROUND() uses the
“round half up” or “round toward
nearest” rule: A value with a fractional part of
.5 or greater is rounded up to the next integer if
positive or down to the next integer if negative. (In
other words, it is rounded away from zero.) A value with
a fractional part less than .5 is rounded down to the
next integer if positive or up to the next integer if
negative.
For approximate-value numbers, the result depends on the
C library. On many systems, this means that
ROUND() uses the "round
to nearest even" rule: A value with any fractional part
is rounded to the nearest even integer.
The following example shows how rounding differs for exact
and approximate values:
mysql> SELECT ROUND(2.5), ROUND(25E-1);
+------------+--------------+
| ROUND(2.5) | ROUND(25E-1) |
+------------+--------------+
| 3 | 2 |
+------------+--------------+
For more information, see Section 11.14, “Precision Math”.
SIGN(X)
Returns the sign of the argument as -1,
0, or 1, depending on
whether X is negative, zero, or
positive.
mysql> SELECT SIGN(-32);
-> -1
mysql> SELECT SIGN(0);
-> 0
mysql> SELECT SIGN(234);
-> 1
SIN(X)
Returns the sine of X, where
X is given in radians.
mysql> SELECT SIN(PI());
-> 1.2246063538224e-16
mysql> SELECT ROUND(SIN(PI()));
-> 0
SQRT(X)
Returns the square root of a nonnegative number
X.
mysql> SELECT SQRT(4);
-> 2
mysql> SELECT SQRT(20);
-> 4.4721359549996
mysql> SELECT SQRT(-16);
-> NULL
TAN(X)
Returns the tangent of X, where
X is given in radians.
mysql> SELECT TAN(PI());
-> -1.2246063538224e-16
mysql> SELECT TAN(PI()+1);
-> 1.5574077246549
TRUNCATE(X,D)
Returns the number X, truncated
to D decimal places. If
D is 0, the
result has no decimal point or fractional part.
D can be negative to cause
D digits left of the decimal
point of the value X to become
zero.
mysql> SELECT TRUNCATE(1.223,1);
-> 1.2
mysql> SELECT TRUNCATE(1.999,1);
-> 1.9
mysql> SELECT TRUNCATE(1.999,0);
-> 1
mysql> SELECT TRUNCATE(-1.999,1);
-> -1.9
mysql> SELECT TRUNCATE(122,-2);
-> 100
mysql> SELECT TRUNCATE(10.28*100,0);
-> 1028
All numbers are rounded toward zero.
11.6. Date and Time Functions
This section describes the functions that can be used to
manipulate temporal values. See
Section 10.3, “Date and Time Types”, for a description of the
range of values each date and time type has and the valid formats
in which values may be specified.
Table 11.12. Date/Time Functions
Here is an example that uses date functions. The following query
selects all rows with a date_col value
from within the last 30 days:
mysql> SELECT something FROM tbl_name
-> WHERE DATE_SUB(CURDATE(),INTERVAL 30 DAY) <= date_col;
The query also selects rows with dates that lie in the future.
Functions that expect date values usually accept datetime values
and ignore the time part. Functions that expect time values
usually accept datetime values and ignore the date part.
Functions that return the current date or time each are evaluated
only once per query at the start of query execution. This means
that multiple references to a function such as
NOW() within a single query always
produce the same result. (For our purposes, a single query also
includes a call to a stored program (stored routine, trigger, or
event) and all subprograms called by that program.) This principle
also applies to CURDATE(),
CURTIME(),
UTC_DATE(),
UTC_TIME(),
UTC_TIMESTAMP(), and to any of
their synonyms.
The CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(),
CURRENT_TIME(),
CURRENT_DATE(), and
FROM_UNIXTIME() functions return
values in the connection's current time zone, which is available
as the value of the time_zone
system variable. In addition,
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() assumes that its
argument is a datetime value in the current time zone. See
Section 9.7, “MySQL Server Time Zone Support”.
Some date functions can be used with “zero” dates or
incomplete dates such as '2001-11-00', whereas
others cannot. Functions that extract parts of dates typically
work with incomplete dates and thus can return 0 when you might
otherwise expect a nonzero value. For example:
mysql> SELECT DAYOFMONTH('2001-11-00'), MONTH('2005-00-00');
-> 0, 0
Other functions expect complete dates and return
NULL for incomplete dates. These include
functions that perform date arithmetic or that map parts of dates
to names. For example:
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2006-05-00',INTERVAL 1 DAY);
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT DAYNAME('2006-05-00');
-> NULL
ADDDATE(date,INTERVAL
expr
unit),
ADDDATE(expr,days)
When invoked with the INTERVAL form of the
second argument, ADDDATE() is a
synonym for DATE_ADD(). The
related function SUBDATE() is a
synonym for DATE_SUB(). For
information on the INTERVAL
unit argument, see the discussion
for DATE_ADD().
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2008-01-02', INTERVAL 31 DAY);
-> '2008-02-02'
mysql> SELECT ADDDATE('2008-01-02', INTERVAL 31 DAY);
-> '2008-02-02'
When invoked with the days form of
the second argument, MySQL treats it as an integer number of
days to be added to expr.
mysql> SELECT ADDDATE('2008-01-02', 31);
-> '2008-02-02'
ADDTIME(expr1,expr2)
ADDTIME() adds
expr2 to
expr1 and returns the result.
expr1 is a time or datetime
expression, and expr2 is a time
expression.
mysql> SELECT ADDTIME('2007-12-31 23:59:59.999999', '1 1:1:1.000002');
-> '2008-01-02 01:01:01.000001'
mysql> SELECT ADDTIME('01:00:00.999999', '02:00:00.999998');
-> '03:00:01.999997'
CONVERT_TZ(dt,from_tz,to_tz)
CONVERT_TZ() converts a
datetime value dt from the time
zone given by from_tz to the time
zone given by to_tz and returns the
resulting value. Time zones are specified as described in
Section 9.7, “MySQL Server Time Zone Support”. This function returns
NULL if the arguments are invalid.
If the value falls out of the supported range of the
TIMESTAMP type when converted
from from_tz to UTC, no conversion
occurs. The TIMESTAMP range is
described in Section 10.1.2, “Overview of Date and Time Types”.
mysql> SELECT CONVERT_TZ('2004-01-01 12:00:00','GMT','MET');
-> '2004-01-01 13:00:00'
mysql> SELECT CONVERT_TZ('2004-01-01 12:00:00','+00:00','+10:00');
-> '2004-01-01 22:00:00'
Before MySQL 5.1.17, if you intend to use
CONVERT_TZ() while other tables
are locked with LOCK TABLES,
you must also lock the mysql.time_zone_name
table. See Section 12.4.5, “LOCK TABLES and
UNLOCK
TABLES Syntax”.
CURDATE()
Returns the current date as a value in
'YYYY-MM-DD' or YYYYMMDD
format, depending on whether the function is used in a string
or numeric context.
mysql> SELECT CURDATE();
-> '2008-06-13'
mysql> SELECT CURDATE() + 0;
-> 20080613
CURRENT_DATE,
CURRENT_DATE()
CURRENT_DATE and
CURRENT_DATE() are synonyms for
CURDATE().
CURTIME()
Returns the current time as a value in
'HH:MM:SS' or
HHMMSS.uuuuuu format, depending on whether
the function is used in a string or numeric context. The value
is expressed in the current time zone.
mysql> SELECT CURTIME();
-> '23:50:26'
mysql> SELECT CURTIME() + 0;
-> 235026.000000
CURRENT_TIME,
CURRENT_TIME()
CURRENT_TIME and
CURRENT_TIME() are synonyms for
CURTIME().
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() are
synonyms for NOW().
DATE(expr)
Extracts the date part of the date or datetime expression
expr.
mysql> SELECT DATE('2003-12-31 01:02:03');
-> '2003-12-31'
DATEDIFF(expr1,expr2)
DATEDIFF() returns
expr1 –
expr2 expressed as a value in days
from one date to the other. expr1
and expr2 are date or date-and-time
expressions. Only the date parts of the values are used in the
calculation.
mysql> SELECT DATEDIFF('2007-12-31 23:59:59','2007-12-30');
-> 1
mysql> SELECT DATEDIFF('2010-11-30 23:59:59','2010-12-31');
-> -31
DATE_ADD(date,INTERVAL
expr
unit),
DATE_SUB(date,INTERVAL
expr
unit)
These functions perform date arithmetic. The
date argument specifies the
starting date or datetime value.
expr is an expression specifying
the interval value to be added or subtracted from the starting
date. expr is a string; it may
start with a “-” for negative
intervals. unit is a keyword
indicating the units in which the expression should be
interpreted.
The INTERVAL keyword and the
unit specifier are not case
sensitive.
The following table shows the expected form of the
expr argument for each
unit value.
The return value depends on the arguments:
DATETIME if the first
argument is a DATETIME (or
TIMESTAMP) value, or if the
first argument is a DATE
and the unit value uses
HOURS, MINUTES, or
SECONDS.
String otherwise.
To ensure that the result is
DATETIME, you can use
CAST() to convert the first
argument to DATETIME.
MySQL allows any punctuation delimiter in the
expr format. Those shown in the
table are the suggested delimiters. If the
date argument is a
DATE value and your
calculations involve only YEAR,
MONTH, and DAY parts
(that is, no time parts), the result is a
DATE value. Otherwise, the
result is a DATETIME value.
Date arithmetic also can be performed using
INTERVAL together with the
+ or
- operator:
date + INTERVAL expr unit
date - INTERVAL expr unit
INTERVAL expr
unit is allowed on either
side of the +
operator if the expression on the other side is a date or
datetime value. For the
- operator,
INTERVAL expr
unit is allowed only on
the right side, because it makes no sense to subtract a date
or datetime value from an interval.
mysql> SELECT '2008-12-31 23:59:59' + INTERVAL 1 SECOND;
-> '2009-01-01 00:00:00'
mysql> SELECT INTERVAL 1 DAY + '2008-12-31';
-> '2009-01-01'
mysql> SELECT '2005-01-01' - INTERVAL 1 SECOND;
-> '2004-12-31 23:59:59'
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2000-12-31 23:59:59',
-> INTERVAL 1 SECOND);
-> '2001-01-01 00:00:00'
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2010-12-31 23:59:59',
-> INTERVAL 1 DAY);
-> '2011-01-01 23:59:59'
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2100-12-31 23:59:59',
-> INTERVAL '1:1' MINUTE_SECOND);
-> '2101-01-01 00:01:00'
mysql> SELECT DATE_SUB('2005-01-01 00:00:00',
-> INTERVAL '1 1:1:1' DAY_SECOND);
-> '2004-12-30 22:58:59'
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('1900-01-01 00:00:00',
-> INTERVAL '-1 10' DAY_HOUR);
-> '1899-12-30 14:00:00'
mysql> SELECT DATE_SUB('1998-01-02', INTERVAL 31 DAY);
-> '1997-12-02'
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('1992-12-31 23:59:59.000002',
-> INTERVAL '1.999999' SECOND_MICROSECOND);
-> '1993-01-01 00:00:01.000001'
If you specify an interval value that is too short (does not
include all the interval parts that would be expected from the
unit keyword), MySQL assumes that
you have left out the leftmost parts of the interval value.
For example, if you specify a unit
of DAY_SECOND, the value of
expr is expected to have days,
hours, minutes, and seconds parts. If you specify a value like
'1:10', MySQL assumes that the days and
hours parts are missing and the value represents minutes and
seconds. In other words, '1:10' DAY_SECOND
is interpreted in such a way that it is equivalent to
'1:10' MINUTE_SECOND. This is analogous to
the way that MySQL interprets
TIME values as representing
elapsed time rather than as a time of day.
Because expr is treated as a
string, be careful if you specify a nonstring value with
INTERVAL. For example, with an interval
specifier of HOUR_MINUTE,
6/4 evaluates to 1.5000
and is treated as 1 hour, 5000 minutes:
mysql> SELECT 6/4;
-> 1.5000
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2009-01-01', INTERVAL 6/4 HOUR_MINUTE);
-> '2009-01-04 12:20:00'
To ensure interpretation of the interval value as you expect,
a CAST() operation may be used.
To treat 6/4 as 1 hour, 5 minutes, cast it
to a DECIMAL value with a
single fractional digit:
mysql> SELECT CAST(6/4 AS DECIMAL(3,1));
-> 1.5
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('1970-01-01 12:00:00',
-> INTERVAL CAST(6/4 AS DECIMAL(3,1)) HOUR_MINUTE);
-> '1970-01-01 13:05:00'
If you add to or subtract from a date value something that
contains a time part, the result is automatically converted to
a datetime value:
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2013-01-01', INTERVAL 1 DAY);
-> '2013-01-02'
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2013-01-01', INTERVAL 1 HOUR);
-> '2013-01-01 01:00:00'
If you add MONTH,
YEAR_MONTH, or YEAR and
the resulting date has a day that is larger than the maximum
day for the new month, the day is adjusted to the maximum days
in the new month:
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2009-01-30', INTERVAL 1 MONTH);
-> '2009-02-28'
Date arithmetic operations require complete dates and do not
work with incomplete dates such as
'2006-07-00' or badly malformed dates:
mysql> SELECT DATE_ADD('2006-07-00', INTERVAL 1 DAY);
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT '2005-03-32' + INTERVAL 1 MONTH;
-> NULL
DATE_FORMAT(date,format)
Formats the date value according to
the format string.
The following specifiers may be used in the
format string. The
“%” character is required
before format specifier characters.
Ranges for the month and day specifiers begin with zero due to
the fact that MySQL allows the storing of incomplete dates
such as '2014-00-00'.
As of MySQL 5.1.12, the language used for day and month names
and abbreviations is controlled by the value of the
lc_time_names system variable
(Section 9.8, “MySQL Server Locale Support”).
As of MySQL 5.1.15,
DATE_FORMAT() returns a string
with a character set and collation given by
character_set_connection and
collation_connection so that
it can return month and weekday names containing non-ASCII
characters. Before 5.1.15, the return value is a binary
string.
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('2009-10-04 22:23:00', '%W %M %Y');
-> 'Sunday October 2009'
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('2007-10-04 22:23:00', '%H:%i:%s');
-> '22:23:00'
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('1900-10-04 22:23:00',
-> '%D %y %a %d %m %b %j');
-> '4th 00 Thu 04 10 Oct 277'
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('1997-10-04 22:23:00',
-> '%H %k %I %r %T %S %w');
-> '22 22 10 10:23:00 PM 22:23:00 00 6'
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('1999-01-01', '%X %V');
-> '1998 52'
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('2006-06-00', '%d');
-> '00'
DATE_SUB(date,INTERVAL
expr
unit)
See the description for
DATE_ADD().
DAY(date)
DAY() is a synonym for
DAYOFMONTH().
DAYNAME(date)
Returns the name of the weekday for
date. As of MySQL 5.1.12, the
language used for the name is controlled by the value of the
lc_time_names system variable
(Section 9.8, “MySQL Server Locale Support”).
mysql> SELECT DAYNAME('2007-02-03');
-> 'Saturday'
DAYOFMONTH(date)
Returns the day of the month for
date, in the range
1 to 31, or
0 for dates such as
'0000-00-00' or
'2008-00-00' that have a zero day part.
mysql> SELECT DAYOFMONTH('2007-02-03');
-> 3
DAYOFWEEK(date)
Returns the weekday index for date
(1 = Sunday, 2 = Monday,
…, 7 = Saturday). These index values
correspond to the ODBC standard.
mysql> SELECT DAYOFWEEK('2007-02-03');
-> 7
DAYOFYEAR(date)
Returns the day of the year for
date, in the range
1 to 366.
mysql> SELECT DAYOFYEAR('2007-02-03');
-> 34
EXTRACT(unit
FROM date)
The EXTRACT() function uses the
same kinds of unit specifiers as
DATE_ADD() or
DATE_SUB(), but extracts parts
from the date rather than performing date arithmetic.
mysql> SELECT EXTRACT(YEAR FROM '2009-07-02');
-> 2009
mysql> SELECT EXTRACT(YEAR_MONTH FROM '2009-07-02 01:02:03');
-> 200907
mysql> SELECT EXTRACT(DAY_MINUTE FROM '2009-07-02 01:02:03');
-> 20102
mysql> SELECT EXTRACT(MICROSECOND
-> FROM '2003-01-02 10:30:00.000123');
-> 123
FROM_DAYS(N)
Given a day number N, returns a
DATE value.
mysql> SELECT FROM_DAYS(730669);
-> '2007-07-03'
Use FROM_DAYS() with caution on
old dates. It is not intended for use with values that precede
the advent of the Gregorian calendar (1582). See
Section 11.7, “What Calendar Is Used By MySQL?”.
FROM_UNIXTIME(unix_timestamp),
FROM_UNIXTIME(unix_timestamp,format)
Returns a representation of the
unix_timestamp argument as a value
in 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' or
YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format, depending on
whether the function is used in a string or numeric context.
The value is expressed in the current time zone.
unix_timestamp is an internal
timestamp value such as is produced by the
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() function.
If format is given, the result is
formatted according to the format
string, which is used the same way as listed in the entry for
the DATE_FORMAT() function.
mysql> SELECT FROM_UNIXTIME(1196440219);
-> '2007-11-30 10:30:19'
mysql> SELECT FROM_UNIXTIME(1196440219) + 0;
-> 20071130103019.000000
mysql> SELECT FROM_UNIXTIME(UNIX_TIMESTAMP(),
-> '%Y %D %M %h:%i:%s %x');
-> '2007 30th November 10:30:59 2007'
Note: If you use
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() and
FROM_UNIXTIME() to convert
between TIMESTAMP values and
Unix timestamp values, the conversion is lossy because the
mapping is not one-to-one in both directions. For details, see
the description of the
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() function.
GET_FORMAT({DATE|TIME|DATETIME},
{'EUR'|'USA'|'JIS'|'ISO'|'INTERNAL'})
Returns a format string. This function is useful in
combination with the
DATE_FORMAT() and the
STR_TO_DATE() functions.
The possible values for the first and second arguments result
in several possible format strings (for the specifiers used,
see the table in the
DATE_FORMAT() function
description). ISO format refers to ISO 9075, not ISO 8601.
TIMESTAMP can also be used as
the first argument to
GET_FORMAT(), in which case the
function returns the same values as for
DATETIME.
mysql> SELECT DATE_FORMAT('2003-10-03',GET_FORMAT(DATE,'EUR'));
-> '03.10.2003'
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('10.31.2003',GET_FORMAT(DATE,'USA'));
-> '2003-10-31'
HOUR(time)
Returns the hour for time. The
range of the return value is 0 to
23 for time-of-day values. However, the
range of TIME values actually
is much larger, so HOUR can return values
greater than 23.
mysql> SELECT HOUR('10:05:03');
-> 10
mysql> SELECT HOUR('272:59:59');
-> 272
LAST_DAY(date)
Takes a date or datetime value and returns the corresponding
value for the last day of the month. Returns
NULL if the argument is invalid.
mysql> SELECT LAST_DAY('2003-02-05');
-> '2003-02-28'
mysql> SELECT LAST_DAY('2004-02-05');
-> '2004-02-29'
mysql> SELECT LAST_DAY('2004-01-01 01:01:01');
-> '2004-01-31'
mysql> SELECT LAST_DAY('2003-03-32');
-> NULL
LOCALTIME,
LOCALTIME()
LOCALTIME and
LOCALTIME() are synonyms for
NOW().
LOCALTIMESTAMP,
LOCALTIMESTAMP()
LOCALTIMESTAMP and
LOCALTIMESTAMP() are synonyms
for NOW().
MAKEDATE(year,dayofyear)
Returns a date, given year and day-of-year values.
dayofyear must be greater than 0 or
the result is NULL.
mysql> SELECT MAKEDATE(2011,31), MAKEDATE(2011,32);
-> '2011-01-31', '2011-02-01'
mysql> SELECT MAKEDATE(2011,365), MAKEDATE(2014,365);
-> '2011-12-31', '2014-12-31'
mysql> SELECT MAKEDATE(2011,0);
-> NULL
MAKETIME(hour,minute,second)
Returns a time value calculated from the
hour,
minute, and
second arguments.
mysql> SELECT MAKETIME(12,15,30);
-> '12:15:30'
MICROSECOND(expr)
Returns the microseconds from the time or datetime expression
expr as a number in the range from
0 to 999999.
mysql> SELECT MICROSECOND('12:00:00.123456');
-> 123456
mysql> SELECT MICROSECOND('2009-12-31 23:59:59.000010');
-> 10
MINUTE(time)
Returns the minute for time, in the
range 0 to 59.
mysql> SELECT MINUTE('2008-02-03 10:05:03');
-> 5
MONTH(date)
Returns the month for date, in the
range 1 to 12 for
January to December, or 0 for dates such as
'0000-00-00' or
'2008-00-00' that have a zero month part.
mysql> SELECT MONTH('2008-02-03');
-> 2
MONTHNAME(date)
Returns the full name of the month for
date. As of MySQL 5.1.12, the
language used for the name is controlled by the value of the
lc_time_names system variable
(Section 9.8, “MySQL Server Locale Support”).
mysql> SELECT MONTHNAME('2008-02-03');
-> 'February'
NOW()
Returns the current date and time as a value in
'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' or
YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format, depending on
whether the function is used in a string or numeric context.
The value is expressed in the current time zone.
mysql> SELECT NOW();
-> '2007-12-15 23:50:26'
mysql> SELECT NOW() + 0;
-> 20071215235026.000000
NOW() returns a constant time
that indicates the time at which the statement began to
execute. (Within a stored function or trigger,
NOW() returns the time at which
the function or triggering statement began to execute.) This
differs from the behavior for
SYSDATE(), which returns the
exact time at which it executes.
mysql> SELECT NOW(), SLEEP(2), NOW();
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
| NOW() | SLEEP(2) | NOW() |
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
| 2006-04-12 13:47:36 | 0 | 2006-04-12 13:47:36 |
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
mysql> SELECT SYSDATE(), SLEEP(2), SYSDATE();
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
| SYSDATE() | SLEEP(2) | SYSDATE() |
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
| 2006-04-12 13:47:44 | 0 | 2006-04-12 13:47:46 |
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
In addition, the SET TIMESTAMP statement
affects the value returned by
NOW() but not by
SYSDATE(). This means that
timestamp settings in the binary log have no effect on
invocations of SYSDATE().
See the description for
SYSDATE() for additional
information about the differences between the two functions.
PERIOD_ADD(P,N)
Adds N months to period
P (in the format
YYMM or YYYYMM). Returns
a value in the format YYYYMM. Note that the
period argument P is
not a date value.
mysql> SELECT PERIOD_ADD(200801,2);
-> 200803
PERIOD_DIFF(P1,P2)
Returns the number of months between periods
P1 and
P2. P1
and P2 should be in the format
YYMM or YYYYMM. Note
that the period arguments P1 and
P2 are not
date values.
mysql> SELECT PERIOD_DIFF(200802,200703);
-> 11
QUARTER(date)
Returns the quarter of the year for
date, in the range
1 to 4.
mysql> SELECT QUARTER('2008-04-01');
-> 2
SECOND(time)
Returns the second for time, in the
range 0 to 59.
mysql> SELECT SECOND('10:05:03');
-> 3
SEC_TO_TIME(seconds)
Returns the seconds argument,
converted to hours, minutes, and seconds, as a
TIME value. The range of the
result is constrained to that of the
TIME data type. A warning
occurs if the argument corresponds to a value outside that
range.
mysql> SELECT SEC_TO_TIME(2378);
-> '00:39:38'
mysql> SELECT SEC_TO_TIME(2378) + 0;
-> 3938
STR_TO_DATE(str,format)
This is the inverse of the
DATE_FORMAT() function. It
takes a string str and a format
string format.
STR_TO_DATE() returns a
DATETIME value if the format
string contains both date and time parts, or a
DATE or
TIME value if the string
contains only date or time parts. If the date, time, or
datetime value extracted from str
is illegal, STR_TO_DATE()
returns NULL and produces a warning.
The server scans str attempting to
match format to it. The format
string can contain literal characters and format specifiers
beginning with %. Literal characters in
format must match literally in
str. Format specifiers in
format must match a date or time
part in str. For the specifiers
that can be used in format, see the
DATE_FORMAT() function
description.
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('01,5,2013','%d,%m,%Y');
-> '2013-05-01'
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('May 1, 2013','%M %d,%Y');
-> '2013-05-01'
Scanning starts at the beginning of
str and fails if
format is found not to match. Extra
characters at the end of str are
ignored.
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('a09:30:17','a%h:%i:%s');
-> '09:30:17'
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('a09:30:17','%h:%i:%s');
-> NULL
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('09:30:17a','%h:%i:%s');
-> '09:30:17'
Unspecified date or time parts have a value of 0, so
incompletely specified values in
str produce a result with some or
all parts set to 0:
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('abc','abc');
-> '0000-00-00'
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('9','%m');
-> '0000-09-00'
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('9','%s');
-> '00:00:09'
Range checking on the parts of date values is as described in
Section 10.3.1, “The DATETIME,
DATE, and
TIMESTAMP Types”. This means, for example, that
“zero” dates or dates with part values of 0 are
allowed unless the SQL mode is set to disallow such values.
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('00/00/0000', '%m/%d/%Y');
-> '0000-00-00'
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('04/31/2004', '%m/%d/%Y');
-> '2004-04-31'
Note
You cannot use format "%X%V" to convert a
year-week string to a date because the combination of a year
and week does not uniquely identify a year and month if the
week crosses a month boundary. To convert a year-week to a
date, then you should also specify the weekday:
mysql> SELECT STR_TO_DATE('200442 Monday', '%X%V %W');
-> '2004-10-18'
SUBDATE(date,INTERVAL
expr
unit),
SUBDATE(expr,days)
When invoked with the INTERVAL form of the
second argument, SUBDATE() is a
synonym for DATE_SUB(). For
information on the INTERVAL
unit argument, see the discussion
for DATE_ADD().
mysql> SELECT DATE_SUB('2008-01-02', INTERVAL 31 DAY);
-> '2007-12-02'
mysql> SELECT SUBDATE('2008-01-02', INTERVAL 31 DAY);
-> '2007-12-02'
The second form allows the use of an integer value for
days. In such cases, it is
interpreted as the number of days to be subtracted from the
date or datetime expression expr.
mysql> SELECT SUBDATE('2008-01-02 12:00:00', 31);
-> '2007-12-02 12:00:00'
SUBTIME(expr1,expr2)
SUBTIME() returns
expr1 –
expr2 expressed as a value in the
same format as expr1.
expr1 is a time or datetime
expression, and expr2 is a time
expression.
mysql> SELECT SUBTIME('2007-12-31 23:59:59.999999','1 1:1:1.000002');
-> '2007-12-30 22:58:58.999997'
mysql> SELECT SUBTIME('01:00:00.999999', '02:00:00.999998');
-> '-00:59:59.999999'
SYSDATE()
Returns the current date and time as a value in
'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' or
YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format, depending on
whether the function is used in a string or numeric context.
SYSDATE() returns the time at
which it executes. This differs from the behavior for
NOW(), which returns a constant
time that indicates the time at which the statement began to
execute. (Within a stored function or trigger,
NOW() returns the time at which
the function or triggering statement began to execute.)
mysql> SELECT NOW(), SLEEP(2), NOW();
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
| NOW() | SLEEP(2) | NOW() |
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
| 2006-04-12 13:47:36 | 0 | 2006-04-12 13:47:36 |
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
mysql> SELECT SYSDATE(), SLEEP(2), SYSDATE();
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
| SYSDATE() | SLEEP(2) | SYSDATE() |
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
| 2006-04-12 13:47:44 | 0 | 2006-04-12 13:47:46 |
+---------------------+----------+---------------------+
In addition, the SET TIMESTAMP statement
affects the value returned by
NOW() but not by
SYSDATE(). This means that
timestamp settings in the binary log have no effect on
invocations of SYSDATE().
Because SYSDATE() can return
different values even within the same statement, and is not
affected by SET TIMESTAMP, it is
nondeterministic and therefore unsafe for replication if
statement-based binary logging is used. If that is a problem,
you can use row-based logging.
Alternatively, you can use the
--sysdate-is-now option to
cause SYSDATE() to be an alias
for NOW(). This works if the
option is used on both the master and the slave.
The nondeterministic nature of
SYSDATE() also means that
indexes cannot be used for evaluating expressions that refer
to it.
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.42, a warning is logged if you use
this function when
binlog_format is set to
STATEMENT. (Bug#47995)
TIME(expr)
Extracts the time part of the time or datetime expression
expr and returns it as a string.
This function is unsafe for statement-based replication.
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.42, a warning is logged if you use
this function when
binlog_format is set to
STATEMENT. (Bug#47995)
mysql> SELECT TIME('2003-12-31 01:02:03');
-> '01:02:03'
mysql> SELECT TIME('2003-12-31 01:02:03.000123');
-> '01:02:03.000123'
TIMEDIFF(expr1,expr2)
TIMEDIFF() returns
expr1 –
expr2 expressed as a time value.
expr1 and
expr2 are time or date-and-time
expressions, but both must be of the same type.
mysql> SELECT TIMEDIFF('2000:01:01 00:00:00',
-> '2000:01:01 00:00:00.000001');
-> '-00:00:00.000001'
mysql> SELECT TIMEDIFF('2008-12-31 23:59:59.000001',
-> '2008-12-30 01:01:01.000002');
-> '46:58:57.999999'
TIMESTAMP(expr),
TIMESTAMP(expr1,expr2)
With a single argument, this function returns the date or
datetime expression expr as a
datetime value. With two arguments, it adds the time
expression expr2 to the date or
datetime expression expr1 and
returns the result as a datetime value.
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMP('2003-12-31');
-> '2003-12-31 00:00:00'
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMP('2003-12-31 12:00:00','12:00:00');
-> '2004-01-01 00:00:00'
TIMESTAMPADD(unit,interval,datetime_expr)
Adds the integer expression
interval to the date or datetime
expression datetime_expr. The unit
for interval is given by the
unit argument, which should be one
of the following values: FRAC_SECOND
(microseconds), SECOND,
MINUTE, HOUR,
DAY, WEEK,
MONTH, QUARTER, or
YEAR.
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.24, it is possible to use
MICROSECOND in place of
FRAC_SECOND with this function, and
FRAC_SECOND is deprecated.
The unit value may be specified
using one of keywords as shown, or with a prefix of
SQL_TSI_. For example,
DAY and SQL_TSI_DAY both
are legal.
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMPADD(MINUTE,1,'2003-01-02');
-> '2003-01-02 00:01:00'
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMPADD(WEEK,1,'2003-01-02');
-> '2003-01-09'
TIMESTAMPDIFF(unit,datetime_expr1,datetime_expr2)
Returns datetime_expr2
– datetime_expr1,
where datetime_expr1 and
datetime_expr2 are date or datetime
expressions. One expression may be a date and the other a
datetime; a date value is treated as a datetime having the
time part '00:00:00' where necessary. The
unit for the result (an integer) is given by the
unit argument. The legal values for
unit are the same as those listed
in the description of the
TIMESTAMPADD() function.
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMPDIFF(MONTH,'2003-02-01','2003-05-01');
-> 3
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMPDIFF(YEAR,'2002-05-01','2001-01-01');
-> -1
mysql> SELECT TIMESTAMPDIFF(MINUTE,'2003-02-01','2003-05-01 12:05:55');
-> 128885
Note
The order of the date or datetime arguments for this
function is the opposite of that used with the
TIMESTAMP() function when
invoked with 2 arguments.
TIME_FORMAT(time,format)
This is used like the
DATE_FORMAT() function, but the
format string may contain format
specifiers only for hours, minutes, seconds, and microseconds.
Other specifiers produce a NULL value or
0.
If the time value contains an hour
part that is greater than 23, the
%H and %k hour format
specifiers produce a value larger than the usual range of
0..23. The other hour format specifiers
produce the hour value modulo 12.
mysql> SELECT TIME_FORMAT('100:00:00', '%H %k %h %I %l');
-> '100 100 04 04 4'
TIME_TO_SEC(time)
Returns the time argument,
converted to seconds.
mysql> SELECT TIME_TO_SEC('22:23:00');
-> 80580
mysql> SELECT TIME_TO_SEC('00:39:38');
-> 2378
TO_DAYS(date)
Given a date date, returns a day
number (the number of days since year 0).
mysql> SELECT TO_DAYS(950501);
-> 728779
mysql> SELECT TO_DAYS('2007-10-07');
-> 733321
TO_DAYS() is not intended for
use with values that precede the advent of the Gregorian
calendar (1582), because it does not take into account the
days that were lost when the calendar was changed. For dates
before 1582 (and possibly a later year in other locales),
results from this function are not reliable. See
Section 11.7, “What Calendar Is Used By MySQL?”, for details.
Remember that MySQL converts two-digit year values in dates to
four-digit form using the rules in
Section 10.3, “Date and Time Types”. For example,
'2008-10-07' and
'08-10-07' are seen as identical dates:
mysql> SELECT TO_DAYS('2008-10-07'), TO_DAYS('08-10-07');
-> 733687, 733687
In MySQL, the zero date is defined as
'0000-00-00', even though this date is
itself considered invalid. This means that, for
'0000-00-00' and
'0000-01-01',
TO_DAYS() returns the values
shown here:
mysql> SELECT TO_DAYS('0000-00-00');
+-----------------------+
| to_days('0000-00-00') |
+-----------------------+
| NULL |
+-----------------------+
1 row in set, 1 warning (0.00 sec)
mysql> SHOW WARNINGS;
+---------+------+----------------------------------------+
| Level | Code | Message |
+---------+------+----------------------------------------+
| Warning | 1292 | Incorrect datetime value: '0000-00-00' |
+---------+------+----------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT TO_DAYS('0000-01-01');
+-----------------------+
| to_days('0000-01-01') |
+-----------------------+
| 1 |
+-----------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
This is true whether or not the
ALLOW_INVALID_DATES SQL
server mode is enabled.
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(),
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(date)
If called with no argument, returns a Unix timestamp (seconds
since '1970-01-01 00:00:00' UTC) as an
unsigned integer. If
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() is called with
a date argument, it returns the
value of the argument as seconds since '1970-01-01
00:00:00' UTC. date may
be a DATE string, a
DATETIME string, a
TIMESTAMP, or a number in the
format YYMMDD or
YYYYMMDD. The server interprets
date as a value in the current time
zone and converts it to an internal value in UTC. Clients can
set their time zone as described in
Section 9.7, “MySQL Server Time Zone Support”.
mysql> SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP();
-> 1196440210
mysql> SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2007-11-30 10:30:19');
-> 1196440219
When UNIX_TIMESTAMP() is used
on a TIMESTAMP column, the
function returns the internal timestamp value directly, with
no implicit “string-to-Unix-timestamp”
conversion. If you pass an out-of-range date to
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(), it returns
0.
Note: If you use
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() and
FROM_UNIXTIME() to convert
between TIMESTAMP values and
Unix timestamp values, the conversion is lossy because the
mapping is not one-to-one in both directions. For example, due
to conventions for local time zone changes, it is possible for
two UNIX_TIMESTAMP() to map two
TIMESTAMP values to the same
Unix timestamp value.
FROM_UNIXTIME() will map that
value back to only one of the original
TIMESTAMP values. Here is an
example, using TIMESTAMP values
in the CET time zone:
mysql> SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2005-03-27 03:00:00');
+---------------------------------------+
| UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2005-03-27 03:00:00') |
+---------------------------------------+
| 1111885200 |
+---------------------------------------+
mysql> SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2005-03-27 02:00:00');
+---------------------------------------+
| UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2005-03-27 02:00:00') |
+---------------------------------------+
| 1111885200 |
+---------------------------------------+
mysql> SELECT FROM_UNIXTIME(1111885200);
+---------------------------+
| FROM_UNIXTIME(1111885200) |
+---------------------------+
| 2005-03-27 03:00:00 |
+---------------------------+
If you want to subtract
UNIX_TIMESTAMP() columns, you
might want to cast the result to signed integers. See
Section 11.9, “Cast Functions and Operators”.
UTC_DATE,
UTC_DATE()
Returns the current UTC date as a value in
'YYYY-MM-DD' or YYYYMMDD
format, depending on whether the function is used in a string
or numeric context.
mysql> SELECT UTC_DATE(), UTC_DATE() + 0;
-> '2003-08-14', 20030814
UTC_TIME,
UTC_TIME()
Returns the current UTC time as a value in
'HH:MM:SS' or
HHMMSS.uuuuuu format, depending on whether
the function is used in a string or numeric context.
mysql> SELECT UTC_TIME(), UTC_TIME() + 0;
-> '18:07:53', 180753.000000
UTC_TIMESTAMP,
UTC_TIMESTAMP()
Returns the current UTC date and time as a value in
'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' or
YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format, depending on
whether the function is used in a string or numeric context.
mysql> SELECT UTC_TIMESTAMP(), UTC_TIMESTAMP() + 0;
-> '2003-08-14 18:08:04', 20030814180804.000000
WEEK(date[,mode])
This function returns the week number for
date. The two-argument form of
WEEK() allows you to specify
whether the week starts on Sunday or Monday and whether the
return value should be in the range from 0
to 53 or from 1 to
53. If the mode
argument is omitted, the value of the
default_week_format system
variable is used. See
Section 5.1.4, “Server System Variables”.
The following table describes how the
mode argument works.
mysql> SELECT WEEK('2008-02-20');
-> 7
mysql> SELECT WEEK('2008-02-20',0);
-> 7
mysql> SELECT WEEK('2008-02-20',1);
-> 8
mysql> SELECT WEEK('2008-12-31',1);
-> 53
Note that if a date falls in the last week of the previous
year, MySQL returns 0 if you do not use
2, 3,
6, or 7 as the optional
mode argument:
mysql> SELECT YEAR('2000-01-01'), WEEK('2000-01-01',0);
-> 2000, 0
One might argue that MySQL should return 52
for the WEEK() function,
because the given date actually occurs in the 52nd week of
1999. We decided to return 0 instead
because we want the function to return “the week number
in the given year.” This makes use of the
WEEK() function reliable when
combined with other functions that extract a date part from a
date.
If you would prefer the result to be evaluated with respect to
the year that contains the first day of the week for the given
date, use 0, 2,
5, or 7 as the optional
mode argument.
mysql> SELECT WEEK('2000-01-01',2);
-> 52
Alternatively, use the
YEARWEEK() function:
mysql> SELECT YEARWEEK('2000-01-01');
-> 199952
mysql> SELECT MID(YEARWEEK('2000-01-01'),5,2);
-> '52'
WEEKDAY(date)
Returns the weekday index for date
(0 = Monday, 1 =
Tuesday, … 6 = Sunday).
mysql> SELECT WEEKDAY('2008-02-03 22:23:00');
-> 6
mysql> SELECT WEEKDAY('2007-11-06');
-> 1
WEEKOFYEAR(date)
Returns the calendar week of the date as a number in the range
from 1 to 53.
WEEKOFYEAR() is a compatibility
function that is equivalent to
WEEK(date,3).
mysql> SELECT WEEKOFYEAR('2008-02-20');
-> 8
YEAR(date)
Returns the year for date, in the
range 1000 to 9999, or
0 for the “zero” date.
mysql> SELECT YEAR('1987-01-01');
-> 1987
YEARWEEK(date),
YEARWEEK(date,mode)
Returns year and week for a date. The
mode argument works exactly like
the mode argument to
WEEK(). The year in the result
may be different from the year in the date argument for the
first and the last week of the year.
mysql> SELECT YEARWEEK('1987-01-01');
-> 198653
Note that the week number is different from what the
WEEK() function would return
(0) for optional arguments
0 or 1, as
WEEK() then returns the week in
the context of the given year.
11.7. What Calendar Is Used By MySQL?
MySQL uses what is known as a proleptic Gregorian
calendar.
Every country that has switched from the Julian to the Gregorian
calendar has had to discard at least ten days during the switch.
To see how this works, consider the month of October 1582, when
the first Julian-to-Gregorian switch occurred.
There are no dates between October 4 and October 15. This
discontinuity is called the cutover. Any
dates before the cutover are Julian, and any dates following the
cutover are Gregorian. Dates during a cutover are nonexistent.
A calendar applied to dates when it wasn't actually in use is
called proleptic. Thus, if we assume there
was never a cutover and Gregorian rules always rule, we have a
proleptic Gregorian calendar. This is what is used by MySQL, as is
required by standard SQL. For this reason, dates prior to the
cutover stored as MySQL DATE or
DATETIME values must be adjusted to
compensate for the difference. It is important to realize that the
cutover did not occur at the same time in all countries, and that
the later it happened, the more days were lost. For example, in
Great Britain, it took place in 1752, when Wednesday September 2
was followed by Thursday September 14. Russia remained on the
Julian calendar until 1918, losing 13 days in the process, and
what is popularly referred to as its “October
Revolution” occurred in November according to the Gregorian
calendar.
11.8. Full-Text Search Functions
MATCH
(col1,col2,...)
AGAINST (expr
[search_modifier])
search_modifier:
{
IN BOOLEAN MODE
| IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE
| IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE WITH QUERY EXPANSION
| WITH QUERY EXPANSION
}
MySQL has support for full-text indexing and searching:
A full-text index in MySQL is an index of type
FULLTEXT.
Full-text indexes can be used only with
MyISAM tables, and can be created only for
CHAR,
VARCHAR, or
TEXT columns.
A FULLTEXT index definition can be given in
the CREATE TABLE statement when
a table is created, or added later using
ALTER TABLE or
CREATE INDEX.
For large data sets, it is much faster to load your data into
a table that has no FULLTEXT index and then
create the index after that, than to load data into a table
that has an existing FULLTEXT index.
Full-text searching is performed using
MATCH() ... AGAINST syntax.
MATCH() takes a comma-separated
list that names the columns to be searched.
AGAINST takes a string to search for, and an
optional modifier that indicates what type of search to perform.
The search string must be a literal string, not a variable or a
column name. There are three types of full-text searches:
A boolean search interprets the search string using the rules
of a special query language. The string contains the words to
search for. It can also contain operators that specify
requirements such that a word must be present or absent in
matching rows, or that it should be weighted higher or lower
than usual. Common words such as “some” or
“then” are stopwords and do not match if present
in the search string. The IN BOOLEAN MODE
modifier specifies a boolean search. For more information, see
Section 11.8.2, “Boolean Full-Text Searches”.
A natural language search interprets the search string as a
phrase in natural human language (a phrase in free text).
There are no special operators. The stopword list applies. In
addition, words that are present in 50% or more of the rows
are considered common and do not match. Full-text searches are
natural language searches if the IN NATURAL LANGUAGE
MODE modifier is given or if no modifier is given.
A query expansion search is a modification of a natural
language search. The search string is used to perform a
natural language search. Then words from the most relevant
rows returned by the search are added to the search string and
the search is done again. The query returns the rows from the
second search. The IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE WITH
QUERY EXPANSION or WITH QUERY
EXPANSION modifier specifies a query expansion
search. For more information, see
Section 11.8.3, “Full-Text Searches with Query Expansion”.
The IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE and IN
NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE WITH QUERY EXPANSION modifiers
were added in MySQL 5.1.7.
Constraints on full-text searching are listed in
Section 11.8.5, “Full-Text Restrictions”.
The myisam_ftdump utility can be used to dump
the contents of a full-text index. This may be helpful for
debugging full-text queries. See Section 4.6.2, “myisam_ftdump — Display Full-Text Index information”.
11.8.1. Natural Language Full-Text Searches
By default or with the IN NATURAL LANGUAGE
MODE modifier, the
MATCH() function performs a
natural language search for a string against a text
collection. A collection is a set of one or more
columns included in a FULLTEXT index. The
search string is given as the argument to
AGAINST(). For each row in the table,
MATCH() returns a relevance
value; that is, a similarity measure between the search string
and the text in that row in the columns named in the
MATCH() list.
mysql> CREATE TABLE articles (
-> id INT UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
-> title VARCHAR(200),
-> body TEXT,
-> FULLTEXT (title,body)
-> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> INSERT INTO articles (title,body) VALUES
-> ('MySQL Tutorial','DBMS stands for DataBase ...'),
-> ('How To Use MySQL Well','After you went through a ...'),
-> ('Optimizing MySQL','In this tutorial we will show ...'),
-> ('1001 MySQL Tricks','1. Never run mysqld as root. 2. ...'),
-> ('MySQL vs. YourSQL','In the following database comparison ...'),
-> ('MySQL Security','When configured properly, MySQL ...');
Query OK, 6 rows affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 6 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
mysql> SELECT * FROM articles
-> WHERE MATCH (title,body)
-> AGAINST ('database' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE);
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
| id | title | body |
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
| 5 | MySQL vs. YourSQL | In the following database comparison ... |
| 1 | MySQL Tutorial | DBMS stands for DataBase ... |
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
By default, the search is performed in case-insensitive fashion.
However, you can perform a case-sensitive full-text search by
using a binary collation for the indexed columns. For example, a
column that uses the latin1 character set of
can be assigned a collation of latin1_bin to
make it case sensitive for full-text searches.
When MATCH() is used in a
WHERE clause, as in the example shown
earlier, the rows returned are automatically sorted with the
highest relevance first. Relevance values are nonnegative
floating-point numbers. Zero relevance means no similarity.
Relevance is computed based on the number of words in the row,
the number of unique words in that row, the total number of
words in the collection, and the number of documents (rows) that
contain a particular word.
To simply count matches, you could use a query like this:
mysql> SELECT COUNT(*) FROM articles
-> WHERE MATCH (title,body)
-> AGAINST ('database' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE);
+----------+
| COUNT(*) |
+----------+
| 2 |
+----------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
However, you might find it quicker to rewrite the query as
follows:
mysql> SELECT
-> COUNT(IF(MATCH (title,body) AGAINST ('database' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE), 1, NULL))
-> AS count
-> FROM articles;
+-------+
| count |
+-------+
| 2 |
+-------+
1 row in set (0.03 sec)
The first query sorts the results by relevance whereas the
second does not. However, the second query performs a full table
scan and the first does not. The first may be faster if the
search matches few rows; otherwise, the second may be faster
because it would read many rows anyway.
For natural-language full-text searches, it is a requirement
that the columns named in the
MATCH() function be the same
columns included in some FULLTEXT index in
your table. For the preceding query, note that the columns named
in the MATCH() function
(title and body) are the
same as those named in the definition of the
article table's FULLTEXT
index. If you wanted to search the title or
body separately, you would need to create
separate FULLTEXT indexes for each column.
It is also possible to perform a boolean search or a search with
query expansion. These search types are described in
Section 11.8.2, “Boolean Full-Text Searches”, and
Section 11.8.3, “Full-Text Searches with Query Expansion”.
A full-text search that uses an index can name columns only from
a single table in the MATCH()
clause because an index cannot span multiple tables. A boolean
search can be done in the absence of an index (albeit more
slowly), in which case it is possible to name columns from
multiple tables.
The preceding example is a basic illustration that shows how to
use the MATCH() function where
rows are returned in order of decreasing relevance. The next
example shows how to retrieve the relevance values explicitly.
Returned rows are not ordered because the
SELECT statement includes neither
WHERE nor ORDER BY
clauses:
mysql> SELECT id, MATCH (title,body)
-> AGAINST ('Tutorial' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE) AS score
-> FROM articles;
+----+------------------+
| id | score |
+----+------------------+
| 1 | 0.65545833110809 |
| 2 | 0 |
| 3 | 0.66266459226608 |
| 4 | 0 |
| 5 | 0 |
| 6 | 0 |
+----+------------------+
6 rows in set (0.00 sec)
The following example is more complex. The query returns the
relevance values and it also sorts the rows in order of
decreasing relevance. To achieve this result, you should specify
MATCH() twice: once in the
SELECT list and once in the
WHERE clause. This causes no additional
overhead, because the MySQL optimizer notices that the two
MATCH() calls are identical and
invokes the full-text search code only once.
mysql> SELECT id, body, MATCH (title,body) AGAINST
-> ('Security implications of running MySQL as root'
-> IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE) AS score
-> FROM articles WHERE MATCH (title,body) AGAINST
-> ('Security implications of running MySQL as root'
-> IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE);
+----+-------------------------------------+-----------------+
| id | body | score |
+----+-------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 4 | 1. Never run mysqld as root. 2. ... | 1.5219271183014 |
| 6 | When configured properly, MySQL ... | 1.3114095926285 |
+----+-------------------------------------+-----------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
The MySQL FULLTEXT implementation regards any
sequence of true word characters (letters, digits, and
underscores) as a word. That sequence may also contain
apostrophes (“'”), but not more
than one in a row. This means that aaa'bbb is
regarded as one word, but aaa''bbb is
regarded as two words. Apostrophes at the beginning or the end
of a word are stripped by the FULLTEXT
parser; 'aaa'bbb' would be parsed as
aaa'bbb.
The FULLTEXT parser determines where words
start and end by looking for certain delimiter characters; for
example, “ ” (space),
“,” (comma), and
“.” (period). If words are not
separated by delimiters (as in, for example, Chinese), the
FULLTEXT parser cannot determine where a word
begins or ends. To be able to add words or other indexed terms
in such languages to a FULLTEXT index, you
must preprocess them so that they are separated by some
arbitrary delimiter such as “"”.
In MySQL 5.1, it is possible to write a plugin that
replaces the built-in full-text parser. For details, see
Section 22.2, “The MySQL Plugin Interface”. For example parser plugin source
code, see the plugin/fulltext directory of
a MySQL source distribution.
Some words are ignored in full-text searches:
Any word that is too short is ignored. The default minimum
length of words that are found by full-text searches is four
characters.
Words in the stopword list are ignored. A stopword is a word
such as “the” or “some” that is so
common that it is considered to have zero semantic value.
There is a built-in stopword list, but it can be overwritten
by a user-defined list.
The default stopword list is given in
Section 11.8.4, “Full-Text Stopwords”. The default minimum word
length and stopword list can be changed as described in
Section 11.8.6, “Fine-Tuning MySQL Full-Text Search”.
Every correct word in the collection and in the query is
weighted according to its significance in the collection or
query. Consequently, a word that is present in many documents
has a lower weight (and may even have a zero weight), because it
has lower semantic value in this particular collection.
Conversely, if the word is rare, it receives a higher weight.
The weights of the words are combined to compute the relevance
of the row.
Such a technique works best with large collections (in fact, it
was carefully tuned this way). For very small tables, word
distribution does not adequately reflect their semantic value,
and this model may sometimes produce bizarre results. For
example, although the word “MySQL” is present in
every row of the articles table shown
earlier, a search for the word produces no results:
mysql> SELECT * FROM articles
-> WHERE MATCH (title,body)
-> AGAINST ('MySQL' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE);
Empty set (0.00 sec)
The search result is empty because the word “MySQL”
is present in at least 50% of the rows. As such, it is
effectively treated as a stopword. For large data sets, this is
the most desirable behavior: A natural language query should not
return every second row from a 1GB table. For small data sets,
it may be less desirable.
A word that matches half of the rows in a table is less likely
to locate relevant documents. In fact, it most likely finds
plenty of irrelevant documents. We all know this happens far too
often when we are trying to find something on the Internet with
a search engine. It is with this reasoning that rows containing
the word are assigned a low semantic value for the
particular data set in which they occur. A given word
may reach the 50% threshold in one data set but not another.
The 50% threshold has a significant implication when you first
try full-text searching to see how it works: If you create a
table and insert only one or two rows of text into it, every
word in the text occurs in at least 50% of the rows. As a
result, no search returns any results. Be sure to insert at
least three rows, and preferably many more. Users who need to
bypass the 50% limitation can use the boolean search mode; see
Section 11.8.2, “Boolean Full-Text Searches”.
11.8.2. Boolean Full-Text Searches
MySQL can perform boolean full-text searches using the
IN BOOLEAN MODE modifier. With this modifier,
certain characters have special meaning at the beginning or end
of words in the search string. In the following query, the
+ and - operators indicate
that a word is required to be present or absent, respectively,
for a match to occur. Thus, the query retrieves all the rows
that contain the word “MySQL” but that do
not contain the word
“YourSQL”:
mysql> SELECT * FROM articles WHERE MATCH (title,body)
-> AGAINST ('+MySQL -YourSQL' IN BOOLEAN MODE);
+----+-----------------------+-------------------------------------+
| id | title | body |
+----+-----------------------+-------------------------------------+
| 1 | MySQL Tutorial | DBMS stands for DataBase ... |
| 2 | How To Use MySQL Well | After you went through a ... |
| 3 | Optimizing MySQL | In this tutorial we will show ... |
| 4 | 1001 MySQL Tricks | 1. Never run mysqld as root. 2. ... |
| 6 | MySQL Security | When configured properly, MySQL ... |
+----+-----------------------+-------------------------------------+
Note
In implementing this feature, MySQL uses what is sometimes
referred to as implied Boolean logic,
in which
+ stands for AND
- stands for NOT
[no operator] implies
OR
Boolean full-text searches have these characteristics:
They do not use the 50% threshold.
They do not automatically sort rows in order of decreasing
relevance. You can see this from the preceding query result:
The row with the highest relevance is the one that contains
“MySQL” twice, but it is listed last, not
first.
They can work even without a FULLTEXT
index, although a search executed in this fashion would be
quite slow.
The minimum and maximum word length full-text parameters
apply.
The stopword list applies.
The boolean full-text search capability supports the following
operators:
+
A leading plus sign indicates that this word
must be present in each row that is
returned.
-
A leading minus sign indicates that this word must
not be present in any of the rows that
are returned.
Note: The - operator acts only to exclude
rows that are otherwise matched by other search terms. Thus,
a boolean-mode search that contains only terms preceded by
- returns an empty result. It does not
return “all rows except those containing any of the
excluded terms.”
(no operator)
By default (when neither + nor
- is specified) the word is optional, but
the rows that contain it are rated higher. This mimics the
behavior of MATCH() ...
AGAINST() without the IN BOOLEAN
MODE modifier.
> <
These two operators are used to change a word's contribution
to the relevance value that is assigned to a row. The
> operator increases the contribution
and the < operator decreases it. See
the example following this list.
( )
Parentheses group words into subexpressions. Parenthesized
groups can be nested.
~
A leading tilde acts as a negation operator, causing the
word's contribution to the row's relevance to be negative.
This is useful for marking “noise” words. A row
containing such a word is rated lower than others, but is
not excluded altogether, as it would be with the
- operator.
*
The asterisk serves as the truncation (or wildcard)
operator. Unlike the other operators, it should be
appended to the word to be affected.
Words match if they begin with the word preceding the
* operator.
If a word is specified with the truncation operator, it is
not stripped from a boolean query, even if it is too short
(as determined from the
ft_min_word_len setting) or
a stopword. This occurs because the word is not seen as too
short or a stopword, but as a prefix that must be present in
the document in the form of a word that begins with the
prefix. Suppose that ft_min_word_len=4.
Then a search for '+word
+the*' will likely return fewer rows than a search
for '+word
+the':
The former query remains as is and requires both
word and
the* (a word starting with
the) to be present in the document.
The latter query is transformed to
+word
(requiring only word to be
present). the is both too short and a
stopword, and either condition is enough to cause it to
be ignored.
"
A phrase that is enclosed within double quote
(“"”) characters matches
only rows that contain the phrase literally, as it
was typed. The full-text engine splits the phrase
into words and performs a search in the
FULLTEXT index for the words. Nonword
characters need not be matched exactly: Phrase searching
requires only that matches contain exactly the same words as
the phrase and in the same order. For example,
"test phrase" matches "test,
phrase".
If the phrase contains no words that are in the index, the
result is empty. For example, if all words are either
stopwords or shorter than the minimum length of indexed
words, the result is empty.
The following examples demonstrate some search strings that use
boolean full-text operators:
'apple banana'
Find rows that contain at least one of the two words.
'+apple +juice'
Find rows that contain both words.
'+apple macintosh'
Find rows that contain the word “apple”, but
rank rows higher if they also contain
“macintosh”.
'+apple -macintosh'
Find rows that contain the word “apple” but not
“macintosh”.
'+apple ~macintosh'
Find rows that contain the word “apple”, but if
the row also contains the word “macintosh”,
rate it lower than if row does not. This is
“softer” than a search for '+apple
-macintosh', for which the presence of
“macintosh” causes the row not to be returned
at all.
'+apple +(>turnover <strudel)'
Find rows that contain the words “apple” and
“turnover”, or “apple” and
“strudel” (in any order), but rank “apple
turnover” higher than “apple strudel”.
'apple*'
Find rows that contain words such as “apple”,
“apples”, “applesauce”, or
“applet”.
'"some words"'
Find rows that contain the exact phrase “some
words” (for example, rows that contain “some
words of wisdom” but not “some noise
words”). Note that the
“"” characters that enclose
the phrase are operator characters that delimit the phrase.
They are not the quotes that enclose the search string
itself.
11.8.3. Full-Text Searches with Query Expansion
Full-text search supports query expansion (and in particular,
its variant “blind query expansion”). This is
generally useful when a search phrase is too short, which often
means that the user is relying on implied knowledge that the
full-text search engine lacks. For example, a user searching for
“database” may really mean that
“MySQL”, “Oracle”, “DB2”,
and “RDBMS” all are phrases that should match
“databases” and should be returned, too. This is
implied knowledge.
Blind query expansion (also known as automatic relevance
feedback) is enabled by adding WITH QUERY
EXPANSION or IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE WITH
QUERY EXPANSION following the search phrase. It works
by performing the search twice, where the search phrase for the
second search is the original search phrase concatenated with
the few most highly relevant documents from the first search.
Thus, if one of these documents contains the word
“databases” and the word “MySQL”, the
second search finds the documents that contain the word
“MySQL” even if they do not contain the word
“database”. The following example shows this
difference:
mysql> SELECT * FROM articles
-> WHERE MATCH (title,body)
-> AGAINST ('database' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE);
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
| id | title | body |
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
| 5 | MySQL vs. YourSQL | In the following database comparison ... |
| 1 | MySQL Tutorial | DBMS stands for DataBase ... |
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT * FROM articles
-> WHERE MATCH (title,body)
-> AGAINST ('database' WITH QUERY EXPANSION);
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
| id | title | body |
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
| 1 | MySQL Tutorial | DBMS stands for DataBase ... |
| 5 | MySQL vs. YourSQL | In the following database comparison ... |
| 3 | Optimizing MySQL | In this tutorial we will show ... |
+----+-------------------+------------------------------------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Another example could be searching for books by Georges Simenon
about Maigret, when a user is not sure how to spell
“Maigret”. A search for “Megre and the
reluctant witnesses” finds only “Maigret and the
Reluctant Witnesses” without query expansion. A search
with query expansion finds all books with the word
“Maigret” on the second pass.
Note
Because blind query expansion tends to increase noise
significantly by returning nonrelevant documents, it is
meaningful to use only when a search phrase is rather short.
11.8.4. Full-Text Stopwords
The following table shows the default list of full-text
stopwords.
11.8.5. Full-Text Restrictions
Full-text searches are supported for
MyISAM tables only.
Full-text searches can be used with most multi-byte
character sets. The exception is that for Unicode, the
utf8 character set can be used, but not
the ucs2 character set. However, although
FULLTEXT indexes on
ucs2 columns cannot be used, you can
perform IN BOOLEAN MODE searches on a
ucs2 column that has no such index.
Ideographic languages such as Chinese and Japanese do not
have word delimiters. Therefore, the
FULLTEXT parser cannot
determine where words begin and end in these and other such
languages. The implications of this and some
workarounds for the problem are described in
Section 11.8, “Full-Text Search Functions”.
Although the use of multiple character sets within a single
table is supported, all columns in a
FULLTEXT index must use the same
character set and collation.
The MATCH() column list must
match exactly the column list in some
FULLTEXT index definition for the table,
unless this MATCH() is
IN BOOLEAN MODE. Boolean-mode searches
can be done on nonindexed columns, although they are likely
to be slow.
The argument to AGAINST() must be a
constant string.
Index hints are more limited for FULLTEXT
searches than for non-FULLTEXT searches.
See Section 12.2.8.2, “Index Hint Syntax”.
11.8.6. Fine-Tuning MySQL Full-Text Search
MySQL's full-text search capability has few user-tunable
parameters. You can exert more control over full-text searching
behavior if you have a MySQL source distribution because some
changes require source code modifications. See
Section 2.3, “MySQL Installation Using a Source Distribution”.
Note that full-text search is carefully tuned for the most
effectiveness. Modifying the default behavior in most cases can
actually decrease effectiveness. Do not alter the
MySQL sources unless you know what you are doing.
Most full-text variables described in this section must be set
at server startup time. A server restart is required to change
them; they cannot be modified while the server is running.
Some variable changes require that you rebuild the
FULLTEXT indexes in your tables. Instructions
for doing so are given later in this section.
The minimum and maximum lengths of words to be indexed are
defined by the
ft_min_word_len and
ft_max_word_len system
variables. (See Section 5.1.4, “Server System Variables”.)
The default minimum value is four characters; the default
maximum is version dependent. If you change either value,
you must rebuild your FULLTEXT indexes.
For example, if you want three-character words to be
searchable, you can set the
ft_min_word_len variable by
putting the following lines in an option file:
[mysqld]
ft_min_word_len=3
Then restart the server and rebuild your
FULLTEXT indexes. Note particularly the
remarks regarding myisamchk in the
instructions following this list.
To override the default stopword list, set the
ft_stopword_file system
variable. (See Section 5.1.4, “Server System Variables”.)
The variable value should be the path name of the file
containing the stopword list, or the empty string to disable
stopword filtering. The server looks for the file in the
data directory unless an absolute path name is given to
specify a different directory. After changing the value of
this variable or the contents of the stopword file, restart
the server and rebuild your FULLTEXT
indexes.
The stopword list is free-form. That is, you may use any
nonalphanumeric character such as newline, space, or comma
to separate stopwords. Exceptions are the underscore
character (“_”) and a single
apostrophe (“'”) which are
treated as part of a word. The character set of the stopword
list is the server's default character set; see
Section 9.1.3.1, “Server Character Set and Collation”.
The 50% threshold for natural language searches is
determined by the particular weighting scheme chosen. To
disable it, look for the following line in
storage/myisam/ftdefs.h:
#define GWS_IN_USE GWS_PROB
Change that line to this:
#define GWS_IN_USE GWS_FREQ
Then recompile MySQL. There is no need to rebuild the
indexes in this case.
Note
By making this change, you severely
decrease MySQL's ability to provide adequate relevance
values for the MATCH()
function. If you really need to search for such common
words, it would be better to search using IN
BOOLEAN MODE instead, which does not observe the
50% threshold.
To change the operators used for boolean full-text searches,
set the ft_boolean_syntax
system variable. This variable can be changed while the
server is running, but you must have the
SUPER privilege to do so. No
rebuilding of indexes is necessary in this case. See
Section 5.1.4, “Server System Variables”, which describes
the rules governing how to set this variable.
If you want to change the set of characters that are
considered word characters, you can do so in two ways.
Suppose that you want to treat the hyphen character ('-') as
a word character. Use one of these methods:
Modify the MySQL source: In
storage/myisam/ftdefs.h, see the
true_word_char() and
misc_word_char() macros. Add
'-' to one of those macros and
recompile MySQL.
Modify a character set file: This requires no
recompilation. The true_word_char()
macro uses a “character type” table to
distinguish letters and numbers from other characters. .
You can edit the contents of the
<ctype><map> array in one
of the character set XML files to specify that
'-' is a “letter.” Then
use the given character set for your
FULLTEXT indexes.
Add a new collation for the character set used by the
indexed columns, and alter the columns to use that
collation.
After making the modification, you must rebuild the indexes
for each table that contains any FULLTEXT
indexes.
For information about the
<ctype><map> array format,
see Section 9.4.1, “The Character Definition Arrays”. For information
about adding collations, see
Section 9.5, “How to Add a New Collation to a Character Set”.
If you modify full-text variables that affect indexing
(ft_min_word_len,
ft_max_word_len, or
ft_stopword_file), or if you
change the stopword file itself, you must rebuild your
FULLTEXT indexes after making the changes and
restarting the server. To rebuild the indexes in this case, it
is sufficient to do a QUICK repair operation:
mysql> REPAIR TABLE tbl_name QUICK;
Alternatively, use ALTER TABLE
with the DROP INDEX and ADD
INDEX options to drop and re-create each
FULLTEXT index. In some cases, this may be
faster than a repair operation.
Each table that contains any FULLTEXT index
must be repaired as just shown. Otherwise, queries for the table
may yield incorrect results, and modifications to the table will
cause the server to see the table as corrupt and in need of
repair.
Note that if you use myisamchk to perform an
operation that modifies table indexes (such as repair or
analyze), the FULLTEXT indexes are rebuilt
using the default full-text parameter
values for minimum word length, maximum word length, and
stopword file unless you specify otherwise. This can result in
queries failing.
The problem occurs because these parameters are known only by
the server. They are not stored in MyISAM
index files. To avoid the problem if you have modified the
minimum or maximum word length or stopword file values used by
the server, specify the same
ft_min_word_len,
ft_max_word_len, and
ft_stopword_file values for
myisamchk that you use for
mysqld. For example, if you have set the
minimum word length to 3, you can repair a table with
myisamchk like this:
shell> myisamchk --recover --ft_min_word_len=3 tbl_name.MYI
To ensure that myisamchk and the server use
the same values for full-text parameters, place each one in both
the [mysqld] and
[myisamchk] sections of an option file:
[mysqld]
ft_min_word_len=3
[myisamchk]
ft_min_word_len=3
An alternative to using myisamchk for index
modification is to use the REPAIR
TABLE, ANALYZE TABLE,
OPTIMIZE TABLE, or
ALTER TABLE statements. These
statements are performed by the server, which knows the proper
full-text parameter values to use.
11.9. Cast Functions and OperatorsTable 11.13. Cast Functions | Name | Description |
|---|
BINARY | Cast a string to a binary string | CAST() | Cast a value as a certain type | Convert() | Cast a value as a certain type |
BINARY
The BINARY operator casts the
string following it to a binary string. This is an easy way to
force a column comparison to be done byte by byte rather than
character by character. This causes the comparison to be case
sensitive even if the column isn't defined as
BINARY or
BLOB.
BINARY also causes trailing
spaces to be significant.
mysql> SELECT 'a' = 'A';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT BINARY 'a' = 'A';
-> 0
mysql> SELECT 'a' = 'a ';
-> 1
mysql> SELECT BINARY 'a' = 'a ';
-> 0
In a comparison, BINARY affects
the entire operation; it can be given before either operand
with the same result.
BINARY
str is shorthand for
CAST(str AS
BINARY).
Note that in some contexts, if you cast an indexed column to
BINARY, MySQL is not able to use the index
efficiently.
CAST(expr AS
type)
The CAST() function takes a
value of one type and produce a value of another type, similar
to CONVERT(). See the
description of CONVERT() for
more information.
CONVERT(expr,type),
CONVERT(expr
USING transcoding_name)
The CONVERT() and
CAST() functions take a value
of one type and produce a value of another type.
The type can be one of the
following values:
BINARY[(N)]
CHAR[(N)]
DATE
DATETIME
DECIMAL[(M[,D])]
SIGNED [INTEGER]
TIME
UNSIGNED [INTEGER]
BINARY produces a string with
the BINARY data type. See
Section 10.4.2, “The BINARY and
VARBINARY Types” for a description of how
this affects comparisons. If the optional length
N is given,
BINARY(N) causes
the cast to use no more than N
bytes of the argument. Values shorter than
N bytes are padded with
0x00 bytes to a length of
N.
CHAR(N)
causes the cast to use no more than
N characters of the argument.
CAST() and
CONVERT(... USING ...) are
standard SQL syntax. The non-USING form of
CONVERT() is ODBC syntax.
CONVERT() with
USING is used to convert data between
different character sets. In MySQL, transcoding names are the
same as the corresponding character set names. For example,
this statement converts the string 'abc' in
the default character set to the corresponding string in the
utf8 character set:
SELECT CONVERT('abc' USING utf8);
Normally, you cannot compare a BLOB
value or other binary string in case-insensitive fashion because
binary strings have no character set, and thus no concept of
lettercase. To perform a case-insensitive comparison, use the
CONVERT() function to convert the
value to a nonbinary string. If the character set of the result
has a case-insensitive collation, the
LIKE operation is not case sensitive:
SELECT 'A' LIKE CONVERT(blob_col USING latin1) FROM tbl_name;
To use a different character set, substitute its name for
latin1 in the preceding statement. To ensure
that a case-insensitive collation is used, specify a
COLLATE clause following the
CONVERT() call.
CONVERT() can be used more
generally for comparing strings that are represented in different
character sets.
The cast functions are useful when you want to create a column
with a specific type in a
CREATE TABLE ...
SELECT statement:
CREATE TABLE new_table SELECT CAST('2000-01-01' AS DATE);
The functions also can be useful for sorting
ENUM columns in lexical order.
Normally, sorting of ENUM columns
occurs using the internal numeric values. Casting the values to
CHAR results in a lexical sort:
SELECT enum_col FROM tbl_name ORDER BY CAST(enum_col AS CHAR);
CAST(str AS
BINARY) is the same thing as
BINARY
str.
CAST(expr AS
CHAR) treats the expression as a string with the default
character set.
CAST() also changes the result if
you use it as part of a more complex expression such as
CONCAT('Date: ',CAST(NOW() AS
DATE)).
You should not use CAST() to
extract data in different formats but instead use string functions
like LEFT() or
EXTRACT(). See
Section 11.6, “Date and Time Functions”.
To cast a string to a numeric value in numeric context, you
normally do not have to do anything other than to use the string
value as though it were a number:
mysql> SELECT 1+'1';
-> 2
If you use a number in string context, the number automatically is
converted to a BINARY string.
mysql> SELECT CONCAT('hello you ',2);
-> 'hello you 2'
MySQL supports arithmetic with both signed and unsigned 64-bit
values. If you are using numeric operators (such as
+ or
-) and one of the
operands is an unsigned integer, the result is unsigned. You can
override this by using the SIGNED and
UNSIGNED cast operators to cast the operation
to a signed or unsigned 64-bit integer, respectively.
mysql> SELECT CAST(1-2 AS UNSIGNED)
-> 18446744073709551615
mysql> SELECT CAST(CAST(1-2 AS UNSIGNED) AS SIGNED);
-> -1
Note that if either operand is a floating-point value, the result
is a floating-point value and is not affected by the preceding
rule. (In this context, DECIMAL
column values are regarded as floating-point values.)
mysql> SELECT CAST(1 AS UNSIGNED) - 2.0;
-> -1.0
If you are using a string in an arithmetic operation, this is
converted to a floating-point number.
If you convert a “zero” date string to a date,
CONVERT() and
CAST() return
NULL and produce a warning when the
NO_ZERO_DATE SQL mode is
enabled.
Table 11.14. XML Functions | Name | Description |
|---|
ExtractValue()(v5.1.5) | Extracts a value from an XML string using XPath notation | UpdateXML()(v5.1.5) | Return replaced XML fragment |
This section discusses XML and related functionality in MySQL.
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.5, two functions providing basic XPath
1.0 (XML Path Language, version 1.0) capabilities are available.
Some basic information about XPath syntax and usage is provided
later in this section; however, an in-depth discussion of these
topics is beyond the scope of this Manual, and you should refer to
the XML Path Language
(XPath) 1.0 standard for definitive information. A useful
resource for those new to XPath or who desire a refresher in the
basics is the
Zvon.org XPath
Tutorial, which is available in several languages.
Note
These functions remain under development. We continue to improve
these and other aspects of XML and XPath functionality in MySQL
5.1 and onwards. You may discuss these, ask
questions about them, and obtain help from other users with them
in the MySQL XML User
Forum.
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.20, XPath expressions used with these
functions support user variables and local stored program
variables. User variables are weakly checked; variables local to
stored programs are strongly checked (see also Bug#26518):
User variables (weak checking).
Variables using the syntax
$@variable_name
(that is, user variables) are not checked. No warnings or
errors are issued by the server if a variable has the wrong
type or has previously not been assigned a value. This also
means the user is fully responsible for any typographical
errors, since no warnings will be given if (for example)
$@myvairable is used where
$@myvariable was intended.
Example.
mysql> SET @xml = '<a><b>X</b><b>Y</b></a>';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SET @i =1, @j = 2;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @i, ExtractValue(@xml, '//b[$@i]');
+------+--------------------------------+
| @i | ExtractValue(@xml, '//b[$@i]') |
+------+--------------------------------+
| 1 | X |
+------+--------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @j, ExtractValue(@xml, '//b[$@j]');
+------+--------------------------------+
| @j | ExtractValue(@xml, '//b[$@j]') |
+------+--------------------------------+
| 2 | Y |
+------+--------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT @k, ExtractValue(@xml, '//b[$@k]');
+------+--------------------------------+
| @k | ExtractValue(@xml, '//b[$@k]') |
+------+--------------------------------+
| NULL | |
+------+--------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
Variables in stored programs (strong checking).
Variables using the syntax
$variable_name
can be declared and used with these functions when they are
called inside stored programs. Such variables are local to
the stored program in which they are defined, and are
strongly checked for type and value.
Example.
mysql> DELIMITER |
mysql> CREATE PROCEDURE myproc ()
-> BEGIN
-> DECLARE i INT DEFAULT 1;
-> DECLARE xml VARCHAR(25) DEFAULT '<a>X</a><a>Y</a><a>Z</a>';
->
-> WHILE i < 4 DO
-> SELECT xml, i, ExtractValue(xml, '//a[$i]');
-> SET i = i+1;
-> END WHILE;
-> END |
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)
mysql> DELIMITER ;
mysql> CALL myproc;
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
| xml | i | ExtractValue(xml, '//a[$i]') |
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
| <a>X</a><a>Y</a><a>Z</a> | 1 | X |
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
| xml | i | ExtractValue(xml, '//a[$i]') |
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
| <a>X</a><a>Y</a><a>Z</a> | 2 | Y |
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
| xml | i | ExtractValue(xml, '//a[$i]') |
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
| <a>X</a><a>Y</a><a>Z</a> | 3 | Z |
+--------------------------+---+------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)
Parameters.
Variables used in XPath expressions inside stored routines
that are passed in as parameters are also subject to strong
checking.
Expressions containing user variables or variables local to stored
programs must otherwise (except for notation) conform to the rules
for XPath expressions containing variables as given in the XPath
1.0 specification.
Note
Currently, a user variable used to store an XPath expression is
treated as an empty string. Because of this, it is not possible
to store an XPath expression as a user variable. We intend to
fix this issue in a future MySQL release. (Bug#32911)
ExtractValue(xml_frag,
xpath_expr)
ExtractValue() takes two string
arguments, a fragment of XML markup
xml_frag and an XPath expression
xpath_expr (also known as a
locator); it returns the text
(CDATA) of the first text node which is a
child of the element(s) matched by the XPath expression. It is
the equivalent of performing a match using the
xpath_expr after appending
/text(). In other words,
ExtractValue('<a><b>Sakila</b></a>',
'/a/b') and
ExtractValue('<a><b>Sakila</b></a>',
'/a/b/text()') produce the same result.
If multiple matches are found, then the content of the first
child text node of each matching element is returned (in the
order matched) as a single, space-delimited string.
If no matching text node is found for the expression
(including the implicit /text()) —
for whatever reason, as long as
xpath_expr is valid, and
xml_frag consists of elements which
are properly nested and closed — an empty string is
returned. No distinction is made between a match on an empty
element and no match at all. This is by design.
If you need to determine whether no matching element was found
in xml_frag or such an element was
found but contained no child text nodes, you should test the
result of an expression that uses the XPath
count() function. For example, both of
these statements return an empty string, as shown here:
mysql> SELECT ExtractValue('<a><b/></a>', '/a/b');
+-------------------------------------+
| ExtractValue('<a><b/></a>', '/a/b') |
+-------------------------------------+
| |
+-------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT ExtractValue('<a><c/></a>', '/a/b');
+-------------------------------------+
| ExtractValue('<a><c/></a>', '/a/b') |
+-------------------------------------+
| |
+-------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
However, you can determine whether there was actually a
matching element using the following:
mysql> SELECT ExtractValue('<a><b/></a>', 'count(/a/b)');
+-------------------------------------+
| ExtractValue('<a><b/></a>', 'count(/a/b)') |
+-------------------------------------+
| 1 |
+-------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT ExtractValue('<a><c/></a>', 'count(/a/b)');
+-------------------------------------+
| ExtractValue('<a><c/></a>', 'count(/a/b)') |
+-------------------------------------+
| 0 |
+-------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)
Important
ExtractValue() returns only
CDATA, and does not return any tags that
might be contained within a matching tag, nor any of their
content (see the result returned as val1
in the following example).
mysql> SELECT
-> ExtractValue('<a>ccc<b>ddd</b></a>', '/a') AS val1,
-> ExtractValue('<a>ccc<b>ddd</b></a>', '/a/b') AS val2,
-> ExtractValue('<a>ccc<b>ddd</b></a>', '//b') AS val3,
-> ExtractValue('<a>ccc<b>ddd</b></a>', '/b') AS val4,
-> ExtractValue('<a>ccc<b>ddd</b><b>eee</b></a>', '//b') AS val5;
+------+------+------+------+---------+
| val1 | val2 | val3 | val4 | val5 |
+------+------+------+------+---------+
| ccc | ddd | ddd | | ddd eee |
+------+------+------+------+---------+
Beginning with MySQL 5.1.8, this function uses the current SQL
collation for making comparisons with
contains(), performing the same collation
aggregation as other string functions (such as
CONCAT()), in taking into
account the collation coercibility of their arguments; see
Section 9.1.7.5, “Special Cases Where Collation Determination Is Tricky”, for an explanation
of the rules governing this behavior.
(Previously, binary — that is, case-sensitive —
compar
| |