What is SQL ALL? How to use?

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a domain-specific programming language that helps in managing and manipulating relational databases.

It provides various functions and operators to filter and retrieve data from tables. One such operator is “ALL,” which is used to compare a value with a set of values.

In this tutorial, we will discuss what SQL ALL is, when to use it, and how to use it in SQL queries.

What is SQL ALL? How to use?

What is SQL ALL?

SQL ALL is an operator that compares a value with a set of values and returns true if the value matches all the values in the set. It is typically used with subqueries to retrieve data that meets specific criteria.

The ALL operator is often used with comparison operators such as =, <, >, <=, and >= to create complex conditions for filtering data.

When to use SQL ALL?

SQL ALL is used when you want to compare a value with a set of values returned by a subquery, and you want all the values in the set to match the value being compared.

It allows you to filter data based on multiple criteria, making it a powerful tool for retrieving specific data.

For instance, you can use SQL ALL to find all the employees who have a salary greater than all of their peers.

In this case, you would compare the salary of each employee with the salaries of their peers and return the employees who have a higher salary than all of their peers.

How to use SQL ALL?

To use SQL ALL, you need to include it in a SQL query. The syntax for using SQL ALL is as follows:

SELECT column1, column2, … FROM table_name WHERE value operator ALL (subquery);

Here, “column1, column2, …” refers to the columns you want to retrieve from the table, “table_name” is the name of the table you want to retrieve data from, “value” is the value you want to compare with the set of values returned by the subquery, “operator” is the comparison operator you want to use, and “subquery” is the subquery that returns a set of values to compare with the value.

For example, consider a table called “employees” that contains the following data:

To find all the employees who have a salary greater than all of their peers, you would use the following SQL query:

SELECT name, salary 
FROM employees 
WHERE salary > ALL (SELECT salary FROM employees WHERE employee_id <> employees.employee_id);

In this query, the subquery returns the salaries of all the employees except for the current employee (identified by “employee_id”), and the ALL operator compares the salary of each employee with the salaries returned by the subquery.

The query returns the names and salaries of the employees who have a salary greater than all of their peers.

Advanced Examples

Example 1: Find all customers who have placed an order for every product.

SELECT customer_name
FROM customers
WHERE customer_id = ALL (
  SELECT customer_id
  FROM orders
  GROUP BY customer_id
  HAVING COUNT(DISTINCT product_id) = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM products)
);

In this example, the subquery returns the customer IDs for customers who have ordered every product.

The ALL operator is used to compare the customer_id column of the customers table with the subquery result set to return the names of those customers.

Example 2: Find all products whose price is greater than or equal to the price of all products in a specific category.

SELECT product_name
FROM products
WHERE price >= ALL (
  SELECT price
  FROM products
  WHERE category_id = 2
);

In this example, the subquery returns the prices of all products in category 2. The ALL operator is used to compare the price column of the products table with the subquery result set to return the names of those products whose price is greater than or equal to the price of all products in category 2.

Conclusion:

When using the ANY operator in SQL, you should pay attention to the following:

• The ANY operator is used to compare a value with any value returned by a subquery.
• The subquery must return a single column of values.
• The comparison operator used with ANY must return true for at least one value in the subquery result set for the condition to be true.
• If the subquery returns no rows, the ANY condition will always be false.

SQL ALL is a powerful operator that allows you to compare a value with a set of values returned by a subquery. It is often used to filter data based on multiple criteria and to find values that match all the values in a set. By understanding how to use SQL ALL, you can write more complex and powerful SQL queries to retrieve the data you need from relational databases.