Excel Services

SELECT Statements

A SELECT statement can consist of the following basic clauses.

  • SELECT

  • INTO

  • FROM

  • JOIN

  • WHERE

  • GROUP BY

  • HAVING

  • UNION

  • ORDER BY

  • LIMIT

SELECT Syntax

The following syntax diagram outlines the syntax supported by the SQL engine of the provider:

SELECT {

[ TOP <numeric_literal> | DISTINCT ]

{

*

| {

<expression> [ [ AS ] <column_reference> ]

| { <table_name> | <correlation_name> } .*

} [ , ... ]

}

[ INTO csv:// [ filename= ] <file_path> [ ;delimiter=tab ] ]

{

FROM <table_reference> [ [ AS ] <identifier> ]

} [ , ... ]

[ [

INNER | { { LEFT | RIGHT | FULL } [ OUTER ] }

] JOIN <table_reference> [ ON <search_condition> ] [ [ AS ] <identifier> ]

] [ ... ]

[ WHERE <search_condition> ]

[ GROUP BY <column_reference> [ , ... ]

[ HAVING <search_condition> ]

[ UNION [ ALL ] <select_statement> ]

[

ORDER BY

<column_reference> [ ASC | DESC ] [ NULLS FIRST | NULLS LAST ]

]

[

LIMIT <expression>

[

{ OFFSET | , }

<expression>

]

]

} | SCOPE_IDENTITY()

<expression> ::=

| <column_reference>

| @ <parameter>

| ?

| COUNT( * | { [ DISTINCT ] <expression> } )

| { AVG | MAX | MIN | SUM | COUNT } ( <expression> )

| NULLIF ( <expression> , <expression> )

| COALESCE ( <expression> , ... )

| CASE <expression>

WHEN { <expression> | <search_condition> } THEN { <expression> | NULL } [ ... ]

[ ELSE { <expression> | NULL } ]

END

| <literal>

| <sql_function>

<search_condition> ::=

{

<expression> { = | > | < | >= | <= | <> | != | LIKE | NOT LIKE | IN | NOT IN | IS NULL | IS NOT NULL | AND | OR | CONTAINS | BETWEEN } [ <expression> ]

} [ { AND | OR } ... ]

Examples

  1. Return all columns:

    SELECT * FROM Account

  2. Rename a column:

    SELECT [Name] AS MY_Name FROM Account

  3. Cast a column's data as a different data type:

    SELECT CAST(AnnualRevenue AS VARCHAR) AS Str_AnnualRevenue FROM Account

  4. Search data:

    SELECT * FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Floppy Disks';

  5. Return the number of items matching the query criteria:

    SELECT COUNT(*) AS MyCount FROM Account

  6. Return the number of unique items matching the query criteria:

    SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Name) FROM Account

  7. Return the unique items matching the query criteria:

    SELECT DISTINCT Name FROM Account

  8. Summarize data:

    SELECT Name, MAX(AnnualRevenue) FROM Account GROUP BY Name

    See Aggregate Functions below for details.

  9. Retrieve data from multiple tables.

    SELECT Customers.ContactName, Orders.OrderDate FROM Customers, Orders WHERE Customers.CustomerID=Orders.CustomerID

    See JOIN Queries below for details.

  10. Sort a result set in ascending order:

    SELECT Id, Name FROM Account ORDER BY Name ASC

  11. Restrict a result set to the specified number of rows:

    SELECT Id, Name FROM Account LIMIT 10

  12. Parameterize a query to pass in inputs at execution time. This enables you to create prepared statements and mitigate SQL injection attacks.

    SELECT * FROM Account WHERE Industry = @param

Aggregate Functions

COUNT

Returns the number of rows matching the query criteria.

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Floppy Disks'

COUNT(DISTINCT)

Returns the number of distinct, non-null field values matching the query criteria.

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Id) AS DistinctValues FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Floppy Disks'

AVG

Returns the average of the column values.

SELECT Name, AVG(AnnualRevenue) FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Floppy Disks' GROUP BY Name

MIN

Returns the minimum column value.

SELECT MIN(AnnualRevenue), Name FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Floppy Disks' GROUP BY Name

MAX

Returns the maximum column value.

SELECT Name, MAX(AnnualRevenue) FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Floppy Disks' GROUP BY Name

SUM

Returns the total sum of the column values.

SELECT SUM(AnnualRevenue) FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Floppy Disks'

JOIN Queries

The Provider for Excel Services supports standard SQL joins like the following examples.

Inner Join

An inner join selects only rows from both tables that match the join condition:

SELECT Customers.ContactName, Orders.OrderDate FROM Customers, Orders WHERE Customers.CustomerID=Orders.CustomerID

Left Join

A left join selects all rows in the FROM table and only matching rows in the JOIN table:

SELECT Customers.ContactName, Orders.OrderDate FROM Customers LEFT OUTER JOIN Orders ON Customers.CustomerID=Orders.CustomerID

Date Literal Functions

The following date literal functions can be used to filter date fields using relative intervals. Note that while the <, >, and = operators are supported for these functions, <= and >= are not.

L_TODAY()

The current day.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_TODAY()

L_YESTERDAY()

The previous day.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_YESTERDAY()

L_TOMORROW()

The following day.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_TOMORROW()

L_LAST_WEEK()

Every day in the preceding week.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_LAST_WEEK()

L_THIS_WEEK()

Every day in the current week.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_THIS_WEEK()

L_NEXT_WEEK()

Every day in the following week.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_NEXT_WEEK()

Also available:

  • L_LAST/L_THIS/L_NEXT MONTH

  • L_LAST/L_THIS/L_NEXT QUARTER

  • L_LAST/L_THIS/L_NEXT YEAR

L_LAST_N_DAYS(n)

The previous n days, excluding the current day.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_LAST_N_DAYS(3)

L_NEXT_N_DAYS(n)

The following n days, including the current day.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_NEXT_N_DAYS(3)

Also available:

  • L_LAST/L_NEXT_90_DAYS

L_LAST_N_WEEKS(n)

Every day in every week, starting n weeks before current week, and ending in the previous week.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_LAST_N_WEEKS(3)

L_NEXT_N_WEEKS(n)

Every day in every week, starting the following week, and ending n weeks in the future.

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE MyDateField = L_NEXT_N_WEEKS(3)

Also available:

  • L_LAST/L_NEXT_N_MONTHS(n)

  • L_LAST/L_NEXT_N_QUARTERS(n)

  • L_LAST/L_NEXT_N_YEARS(n)

Predicate Functions

CEILING(value)

Returns the value rounded up to the nearest whole number (no decimal component).

  • expression: The value to round.

CONCAT(string_expr1, string_expr2)

Returns the string that is the concatenation of string_expr1 and string_expr2.

  • string_expr1: The first string to be concatenated.

  • string_expr2: The second string to be concatenated.

DAY(datetime_date)

Returns the integer that specifies the day component of the specified date.

  • datetime_date: The datetime string that specifies the date.

ENDSWITH(string_expression, string_suffix)

Returns true if string_expression ends with string_suffix, otherwise returns false.

  • string_expression: The string expression to search within.

  • string_suffix: The string suffix to search for.

FLOOR(value)

Returns the value rounded down to the nearest whole number (no decimal component).

  • value: The value to round.

HOUR(datetime_time)

Returns the integer that specifies the hour component of the specified time.

  • datetime_time: The datetime string that specifies the time.

INDEXOF(string_expression, string_search)

Returns the index location where string_search is contained within string_expression.

  • string_expression: The string expression to search within.

  • string_search: The search value to locate within string_expression.

LENGTH(string_expression)

Returns the number of characters of the specified string expression.

  • string_expression: The string expression.

MINUTE(datetime_time)

Returns the integer that specifies the minute component of the specified time.

  • datetime_time: The datetime string that specifies the time.

MONTH(datetime_date)

Returns the integer that specifies the month component of the specified date.

  • datetime_date: The datetime string that specifies the date.

REPLACE(string_expression, string_search, string_replace)

Returns the string after replacing any found string_search values with string_replace.

  • string_expression: The string expression to perform a replace on.

  • string_search: The string value to find within string_expression.

  • string_replace: The string value replace and string_search instances found.

ROUND(value)

Returns the value to the nearest whole number (no decimal component).

  • value: The value to round.

SECOND(datetime_time)

Returns the integer that specifies the second component of the specified time.

  • datetime_time: The datetime string that specifies the time.

STARTSWITH(string_expression, string_prefix)

Returns true if string_expression starts with string_prefix, otherwise returns false.

  • string_expression: The string expression to search within.

  • string_prefix: The string prefix to search for.

SUBSTRINGOF(string_expression, string_search)

Returns true if string_expression contains string_expression, otherwise returns false.

  • string_expression: The string expression to search within.

  • string_search: The value to search for.

TOLOWER(string_expression)

Returns the string_expression with the uppercase character data converted to lowercase.

  • string_expression: The string expression to lowercase.

TOUPPER(string_expression)

Returns the string_expression with the lowercase character data converted to uppercase.

  • string_expression: The string expression to uppercase.

TRIM(string_expression)

Returns the string_expression with the leading and trailing whitespace removed.

  • string_expression: The string expression to trim.

YEAR(datetime_date)

Returns the integer that specifies the year component of the specified date.

  • datetime_date: The datetime string that specifies the date.

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