SQL Keyword - SELECT

SELECT Keyword

You can choose data from a database using the SELECT command. The information returned is kept in a result table known as the result set.

Syntax

SELECT <COLUMN_NAME1>, <COLUMN_NAME2>, <COLUMN_NAME_N> FROM <TABLE_NAME>;
OR
SELECT * FROM <TABLE_NAME>;

Example

SELECT Emp_id,Emp_Name,Emp_Gender From Employee
OR
SELECT * FROM Employee

SELECT DISTINCT

The SELECT DISTINCT statement is used for returning only distinct (different) values from a column.

Syntax

SELECT DISTINCT <COLUMNS> FROM <TABLE_NAME>;

Example 1

SELECT DISTINCT * FROM Employee;

In the above example, only the different/distinct row will be displayed.

Example 2

SELECT DISTINCT Emp_Name FROM Employee;

In above example only different names will be displayed.

SELECT TOP

The SELECT TOP is used to specify the number of rows to return.

Syntax

SELECT TOP <VALUE> * FROM <TABLE_NAME>

Example

SELECT TOP 5 * FROM Employee

In the above example, a query will return the first 5 records from the employee table.

SELECT INTO

The SELECT INTO statement is used to copy data from one table and insert it into a new table.

Syntax

SELECT <COLUMN_NAME1>, <COLUMN_NAME2>, <COLUMN_NAME_N> INTO <NEW_TABLE> FROM <MAIN_TABLE>;
OR
SELECT * INTO <NEW_TABLE> FROM <MAIN_TABLE>;

Example

SELECT Emp_id,Emp_Name,Emp_Gender INTO Emp_New FROM Employee;
OR
SELECT * INTO Emp_New FROM Employee;

Summary

The SELECT command is used to select data from a database.

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