MySQL SELECT Statement

Using MySQL SELECT statement you can fetch combination of columns and rows from tables or views, known as a result set. This is the one of the most commonly used queries in MySQL to get data from the MySQL database.

You can add or use one or more tables i.e. separated by comma for including various conditions using a WHERE clause. WHERE clause is an optional part of a SELECT statement.

Example of MySQL SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM user;

Here is few SQL syntax of SELECT command:

• One or more fields can be fetched in a single SELECT command.
• In case of all fields, specify (*) in place of fields.
• Specify any condition in the WHERE clause.
• Using LIMIT attribute, you can limit the number of output.
• Using OFFSET, you can mention where to start.

SELECT field1, field2,...fieldN FROM table_name1, table_name2...[WHERE Clause] [OFFSET M ][LIMIT N]

Read also: MySQL copy table

You can also use SELECT to retrieve rows computed without any reference to table.

For e.g.

mysql> SELECT 1 + 1;
-> 2

Also you are permitted to specify DUAL as a dummy table in situations where there is no tables are referenced:

mysql> SELECT 1 + 1 FROM DUAL;
-> 2

There is a good practice to release cursor memory at the end of each SELECT statement in MySQL. Use PHP function mysql_free_result() at the end.