SQLite Unions Clause

SQLite'sUNIONClause/operator is used to combine the results of two or more SELECT statements without returning any duplicate rows.

To use UNION, the number of columns selected in each SELECT must be the same, the same number of column expressions, the same data types, and ensure they are in the same order, but they do not have to be of the same length.

Syntax

UNIONThe basic syntax is as follows:

SELECT column1 [, column2 ]
FROM table1 [, table2 ]
[WHERE condition]

UNION

SELECT column1 [, column2 ]
FROM table1 [, table2 ]
[WHERE condition]

The conditions given here can be any expression as needed.

Examples

Suppose there are the following two tables: (1) The COMPANY table is as shown below:

sqlite> select * from COMPANY;
ID          NAME                  AGE         ADDRESS     SALARY
----------  --------------------  ----------  ----------  ----------
1           Paul                  32          California  20000.0
2           Allen                 25          Texas       15000.0
3           Teddy                 23          Norway      20000.0
4           Mark                  25          Rich-Mond   65000.0
5           David                 27          Texas       85000.0
6           Kim                   22          South-Hall  45000.0
7           James                 24          Houston     10000.0

(2) The other table is DEPARTMENT, as shown below:

ID          DEPT                  EMP_ID
----------  --------------------  ----------
1           IT Billing            1
2           Engineering           2
3           Finance               7
4           Engineering           3
5           Finance               4
6           Engineering           5
7           Finance               6

Now, let us use the SELECT statement and the UNION clause to join the two tables, as shown below:

sqlite> SELECT EMP_ID, NAME, DEPT FROM COMPANY INNER JOIN DEPARTMENT
        ON COMPANY.ID = DEPARTMENT.EMP_ID
   UNION
     SELECT EMP_ID, NAME, DEPT FROM COMPANY LEFT OUTER JOIN DEPARTMENT
        ON COMPANY.ID = DEPARTMENT.EMP_ID;

This will produce the following result:

EMP_ID      NAME                  DEPT
----------  --------------------  ----------
1           Paul                  IT Billing
2           Allen                 Engineerin
3           Teddy                 Engineerin
4           Mark                  Finance
5           David                 Engineerin
6           Kim                   Finance
7           James                 Finance

UNION ALL Clause

The UNION ALL operator is used to combine the results of two SELECT statements, including duplicate rows.

The rules that apply to UNION also apply to the UNION ALL operator.

Syntax

UNION ALLThe basic syntax is as follows:

SELECT column1 [, column2 ]
FROM table1 [, table2 ]
[WHERE condition]

UNION ALL

SELECT column1 [, column2 ]
FROM table1 [, table2 ]
[WHERE condition]

The conditions given here can be any expression as needed.

Examples

Now, let us use the SELECT statement and the UNION ALL clause to join the two tables, as shown below:

sqlite> SELECT EMP_ID, NAME, DEPT FROM COMPANY INNER JOIN DEPARTMENT
        ON COMPANY.ID = DEPARTMENT.EMP_ID
   UNION ALL
     SELECT EMP_ID, NAME, DEPT FROM COMPANY LEFT OUTER JOIN DEPARTMENT
        ON COMPANY.ID = DEPARTMENT.EMP_ID;

This will produce the following result:

EMP_ID      NAME                  DEPT
----------  --------------------  ----------
1           Paul                  IT Billing
2           Allen                 Engineerin
3           Teddy                 Engineerin
4           Mark                  Finance
5           David                 Engineerin
6           Kim                   Finance
7           James                 Finance
1           Paul                  IT Billing
2           Allen                 Engineerin
3           Teddy                 Engineerin
4           Mark                  Finance
5           David                 Engineerin
6           Kim                   Finance
7           James                 Finance
Other Extensions