13.2.11.6 Subqueries with EXISTS or NOT EXISTS

If a subquery returns any rows at all, EXISTS subquery is TRUE, and NOT EXISTS subquery is FALSE. For example:

SELECT column1 FROM t1 WHERE EXISTS (SELECT * FROM t2);

Traditionally, an EXISTS subquery starts with SELECT *, but it could begin with SELECT 5 or SELECT column1 or anything at all. MySQL ignores the SELECT list in such a subquery, so it makes no difference.

For the preceding example, if t2 contains any rows, even rows with nothing but NULL values, the EXISTS condition is TRUE. This is actually an unlikely example because a [NOT] EXISTS subquery almost always contains correlations. Here are some more realistic examples:

What kind of store is present in one or more cities?
1. SELECT DISTINCT store_type FROM stores
2. WHERE EXISTS (SELECT * FROM cities_stores
3. WHERE cities_stores.store_type = stores.store_type);
What kind of store is present in no cities?
1. SELECT DISTINCT store_type FROM stores
2. WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM cities_stores
3. WHERE cities_stores.store_type = stores.store_type);
What kind of store is present in all cities?
1. SELECT DISTINCT store_type FROM stores s1
2. WHERE NOT EXISTS (
3. SELECT * FROM cities WHERE NOT EXISTS (
4. SELECT * FROM cities_stores
5. WHERE cities_stores.city = cities.city
6. AND cities_stores.store_type = stores.store_type));

The last example is a double-nested NOT EXISTS query. That is, it has a NOT EXISTS clause within a NOT EXISTS clause. Formally, it answers the question “does a city exist with a store that is not in Stores”? But it is easier to say that a nested NOT EXISTS answers the question “is x TRUE for all y?”

Find a PHP function

Document created the 26/06/2006, last modified the 26/10/2018
Source of the printed document:https://www.gaudry.be/en/mysql-rf-exists-and-not-exists-subqueries.html

The infobrol is a personal site whose content is my sole responsibility. The text is available under CreativeCommons license (BY-NC-SA). More info on the terms of use and the author.

References

Manuel MySQL : https://dev.mysql.com/

These references and links indicate documents consulted during the writing of this page, or which may provide additional information, but the authors of these sources can not be held responsible for the content of this page.
The author This site is solely responsible for the way in which the various concepts, and the freedoms that are taken with the reference works, are presented here. Remember that you must cross multiple source information to reduce the risk of errors.

Contents Haut