Spec-Zone .ru
спецификации, руководства, описания, API

13.2.9.2. JOIN Syntax

MySQL supports the following JOIN syntaxes for the table_references part of SELECT statements and multiple-table DELETE and UPDATE statements:

table_references:    escaped_table_reference [, escaped_table_reference] ...escaped_table_reference:    table_reference  | { OJ table_reference }table_reference:    table_factor  | join_tabletable_factor:    tbl_name [PARTITION (partition_names)]         [[AS] alias] [index_hint_list]  | table_subquery [AS] alias  | ( table_references )join_table:    table_reference [INNER | CROSS] JOIN table_factor [join_condition]  | table_reference STRAIGHT_JOIN table_factor  | table_reference STRAIGHT_JOIN table_factor ON conditional_expr  | table_reference {LEFT|RIGHT} [OUTER] JOIN table_reference join_condition  | table_reference NATURAL [{LEFT|RIGHT} [OUTER]] JOIN table_factorjoin_condition:    ON conditional_expr  | USING (column_list)index_hint_list:    index_hint [, index_hint] ...index_hint:    USE {INDEX|KEY}      [FOR {JOIN|ORDER BY|GROUP BY}] ([index_list])  | IGNORE {INDEX|KEY}      [FOR {JOIN|ORDER BY|GROUP BY}] (index_list)  | FORCE {INDEX|KEY}      [FOR {JOIN|ORDER BY|GROUP BY}] (index_list)index_list:    index_name [, index_name] ...

A table reference is also known as a join expression.

In MySQL 5.6.2 and later, a table reference (when it refers to a partitioned table) may contain a PARTITION option, including a comma-separated list of partitions, subpartitions, or both. This option follows the name of the table and precedes any alias declaration. The effect of this option is that rows are selected only from the listed partitions or subpartitions—in other words, any partitions or subpartitions not named in the list are ignored For more information, see Section 18.5, "Partition Selection".

The syntax of table_factor is extended in comparison with the SQL Standard. The latter accepts only table_reference, not a list of them inside a pair of parentheses.

This is a conservative extension if we consider each comma in a list of table_reference items as equivalent to an inner join. For example:

SELECT * FROM t1 LEFT JOIN (t2, t3, t4)                 ON (t2.a=t1.a AND t3.b=t1.b AND t4.c=t1.c)

is equivalent to:

SELECT * FROM t1 LEFT JOIN (t2 CROSS JOIN t3 CROSS JOIN t4)                 ON (t2.a=t1.a AND t3.b=t1.b AND t4.c=t1.c)

In MySQL, JOIN, CROSS JOIN, and INNER JOIN are syntactic equivalents (they can replace each other). In standard SQL, they are not equivalent. INNER JOIN is used with an ON clause, CROSS JOIN is used otherwise.

In general, parentheses can be ignored in join expressions containing only inner join operations. MySQL also supports nested joins (see Section 8.13.9, "Nested Join Optimization").

Index hints can be specified to affect how the MySQL optimizer makes use of indexes. For more information, see Section 13.2.9.3, "Index Hint Syntax".

The following list describes general factors to take into account when writing joins.

Some join examples:

SELECT * FROM table1, table2;SELECT * FROM table1 INNER JOIN table2 ON table1.id=table2.id;SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON table1.id=table2.id;SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 USING (id);SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON table1.id=table2.id  LEFT JOIN table3 ON table2.id=table3.id;

Join Processing Changes in MySQL 5.0.12

Note

Natural joins and joins with USING, including outer join variants, are processed according to the SQL:2003 standard. The goal was to align the syntax and semantics of MySQL with respect to NATURAL JOIN and JOIN ... USING according to SQL:2003. However, these changes in join processing can result in different output columns for some joins. Also, some queries that appeared to work correctly in older versions (prior to 5.0.12) must be rewritten to comply with the standard.

These changes have five main aspects:

The following list provides more detail about several effects of current join processing versus join processing in older versions. The term "previously" means "prior to MySQL 5.0.12."