WHERE (Transact-SQL)

Article
02/28/2023
2 minutes to read

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics Analytics Platform System (PDW)

Specifies the search condition for the rows returned by the query.

Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

[ WHERE <search_condition> ]

Note

To view Transact-SQL syntax for SQL Server 2014 and earlier, see Previous versions documentation.

Arguments

< search_condition > Defines the condition to be met for the rows to be returned. There is no limit to the number of predicates that can be included in a search condition. For more information about search conditions and predicates, see Search Condition (Transact-SQL).

Examples

The following examples show how to use some common search conditions in the WHERE clause.

A. Finding a row by using a simple equality

-- Uses AdventureWorksDW  
  
SELECT EmployeeKey, LastName  
FROM DimEmployee  
WHERE LastName = 'Smith' ;

B. Finding rows that contain a value as part of a string

-- Uses AdventureWorksDW  
  
SELECT EmployeeKey, LastName  
FROM DimEmployee  
WHERE LastName LIKE ('%Smi%');

C. Finding rows by using a comparison operator

-- Uses AdventureWorksDW  
  
SELECT EmployeeKey, LastName  
FROM DimEmployee  
WHERE EmployeeKey  <= 500;

D. Finding rows that meet any of three conditions

-- Uses AdventureWorksDW  
  
SELECT EmployeeKey, LastName  
FROM DimEmployee  
WHERE EmployeeKey = 1 OR EmployeeKey = 8 OR EmployeeKey = 12;

E. Finding rows that must meet several conditions

-- Uses AdventureWorksDW  
  
SELECT EmployeeKey, LastName  
FROM DimEmployee  
WHERE EmployeeKey <= 500 AND LastName LIKE '%Smi%' AND FirstName LIKE '%A%';

F. Finding rows that are in a list of values

-- Uses AdventureWorksDW  
  
SELECT EmployeeKey, LastName  
FROM DimEmployee  
WHERE LastName IN ('Smith', 'Godfrey', 'Johnson');

G. Finding rows that have a value between two values

-- Uses AdventureWorksDW  
  
SELECT EmployeeKey, LastName  
FROM DimEmployee  
WHERE EmployeeKey Between 100 AND 200;