Retrieving From the Entire Table

For this example, we will use a REPORT table, into which has been loaded reports submitted by all departments, by title, author, and reference filename. A three character department code is used, defined in long form in another DEPARTMENT table.

To retrieve the columns you want displayed, indicate the column names after the keyword SELECT. The order in which the column names appear after the SELECT clause is the order in which these columns will be displayed.

Example: Let's retrieve a list of all report titles.

If you enter the statement:

SELECT  TITLE
     FROM    REPORT ;

The result displayed on the screen will be:

TITLE
  Innovations in Disappearing Ink
  Disappearing Ink Promotional Campaign
  Advertising Budget for 4Q 92
  Improvements in Round Widgets
  Target Market for Colored Paperclips
  Ink Color Panorama
  Departmental Meeting Schedule

The column name is automatically used as the column heading.

The first line in the SELECT statement indicates the column name TITLE is to be displayed. The second line indicates that TITLE is found in the REPORT table.

Example: If you want to display report titles, authors, and department, you must specify that information in the SELECT clause.

If you enter the statement:

SELECT  TITLE, AUTHOR, DEPT
     FROM    REPORT ;

where each column name is separated from the next by a comma, and columns are displayed in the order you specify in the SELECT clause, the result displayed on the screen will be:

TITLE                                  AUTHOR            DEPT
  Innovations in Disappearing Ink        Jackson, Herbert  RND
  Disappearing Ink Promotional Campaign  Sanchez, Carla    MKT
  Advertising Budget for 4Q 92           Price, Stella     FIN
  Improvements in Round Widgets          Smith, Roberta    RND
  Target Market for Colored Paperclips   Aster, John A.    MKT
  Ink Color Panorama                     Jackson, Herbert  RND
  Departmental Meeting Schedule          Barrington, Kyle  MGT