SELECT Statement

Retrieve data from one or more tables, views, or snapshots.

Summary of Syntax:

   SELECT [hint][DISTINCT] select_list
   FROM table_list
   [WHERE conditions]
   [GROUP BY group_by_list]
   [HAVING search_conditions]
   [ORDER BY order_list [ASC | DESC] ]
   [FOR UPDATE for_update_options]

key:

select_list
A comma-separated list of table columns (or expressions) eg:

column1, column2, column3 
table.column1, table.column2
table.column1 Col_1_Alias, table.column2 Col_2_Alias
schema.table.column1 Col_1_Alias, schema.table.column2 Col_2_Alias
schema.table.*
*
expr1, expr2
(subquery [WITH READ ONLY | WITH CHECK OPTION [CONSTRAINT constraint]])

In the select_lists above, 'table' may be replaced with view or snapshot.
Using the * expression will return all columns.
If a Column_Alias is specified this will appear at the top of any column headings in the query output.

DISTINCT
Supress duplicate rows - display only the unique values.
Duplicate rows have matching values across every column (or expression) in the select_list.

FROM table_list
Contains a list of the tables from which the result set data is retrieved.

[schema.]{table | view | snapshot}[@dblink] [t_alias]

When selecting from a table you can also specify Partition and/or Sample clauses e.g.

[schema.]table [PARTITION (partition)] [SAMPLE (sample_percent)]

If the SELECT statement involves more than one table, the FROM clause can also contain join specifications (SQL1992 standard). Read more about joins.

WHERE search_conditions
A filter that defines the conditions each row in the source table(s) must meet to qualify for the SELECT. Only rows that meet the conditions will be included in the result set. The WHERE clause can also contain inner and outer join specifications (SQL1989 standard). e.g.

WHERE tableA.column = tableB.column
WHERE tableA.column = tableB.column(+)
WHERE tableA.column(+) = tableB.column

GROUP BY group_by_list
The GROUP BY clause partitions the result set into groups.
The group_by_list may be one or more columns or expressions and may optionally include the CUBE / ROLLUP keywords for creating crosstab results.

Heirarchical Queries
Any query that does *not* include a GROUP BY clause may include a CONNECT BY heirarchy clause:

[START WITH condition] CONNECT BY condition

HAVING search_conditions
An additional filter - the HAVING clause acts as an additional filter to the grouped result rows - as opposed to the WHERE clause that applies to individual rows. The HAVING clause is most commonly used in conjunction with a GROUP BY clause.

ORDER BY order_list [ ASC | DESC ] [ NULLS { FIRST | LAST } ]
The ORDER BY clause defines the order in which the rows in the result set are sorted. order_list specifies the result set columns that make up the sort list. The ASC and DESC keywords are used to specify if the rows are sorted ascending (1...9 a...z) or descending (9...1 z...a).

You can sort by any column even if that column is not actually in the main SELECT clause. If you do not include an ORDER BY clause then the order of the result set rows will be unpredictable (random or quasi random).

FOR UPDATE options - this locks the selected rows (Oracle will normally wait for a lock unless you spacify NOWAIT)

FOR UPDATE [OF [ [schema.]{table|view}.] column] [NOWAIT]

Writing a SELECT statement

The clauses (SELECT ... FROM ... WHERE ... HAVING ... ORDER BY ... ) must be in this order.

The position of commas and semicolons is not forgiving.

Each expression must be unambiguous. In other words if the FROM clause includes 2 columns with the same name, then both column names must be prefixed with the tablename (or view name).

    SELECT DISTINCT
        customer_id, 
        oi_ship_date
    FROM
        customers,
        order_items  
    WHERE
        customers.customer_id = order_items.customer_id
        AND order_items.oi_ship_date > '01-may-2001';

If the table and view names themselves must be qualified with the schema (scott.t_customers.customer_id,) then this can become rather verbose. The SQL can be simplified by assigning a table_alias (sometimes also known as a range variable or correlation name).

With a Table Alias the fully qualified table has to be specified only in the FROM clause. All other table or view references can then use the alias name. e.g.

    SELECT DISTINCT
        cst.customer_id, 
        ord.oi_ship_date
    FROM
        customers cst,
        order_items ord
    WHERE
        cst.customer_id = ord.customer_id
        AND ord.oi_ship_date > '01-may-2001';

More complex queries can be written by combining several SELECT commands in a single SQL statement:
SELECT command { UNION | UNION ALL | INTERSECT | MINUS } SELECT command ]

"The most important questions in life can never be answered by anyone except oneself" John Fowles, The Magus

Related Commands:

Outer Joins
An online SQL Tutorial
SQL reference books

DELETE
EXPLAIN PLAN
INSERT
TRUNCATE
UPDATE
DBMS_LOCK
DBMS_SQL

Related Views:

  DBA_SNAPSHOTS        ALL_SNAPSHOTS        USER_SNAPSHOTS 
  DBA_ALL_TABLES       ALL_ALL_TABLES       USER_ALL_TABLES
  DBA_TABLES           ALL_TABLES           USER_TABLES         TAB
  DBA_VIEWS            ALL_VIEWS            USER_VIEWS
                                                                DICTIONARY
                                                                DICT_COLUMNS