doc/src/sgml/func/func-subquery.sgml - master - githubmirror/postgres

doc/src/sgml/func/func-subquery.sgml
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Tom Lane
Doc: improve user docs and code comments about EXISTS(SELECT * ...).
27 фев 2026, 23:20
27 фев 2026, 23:2065a3ff8
 <sect1 id="functions-subquery">
  <title>Subquery Expressions</title>

  <indexterm>
   <primary>EXISTS</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <indexterm>
   <primary>IN</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <indexterm>
   <primary>NOT IN</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <indexterm>
   <primary>ANY</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <indexterm>
   <primary>ALL</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <indexterm>
   <primary>SOME</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <indexterm>
   <primary>subquery</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <para>
   This section describes the <acronym>SQL</acronym>-compliant subquery
   expressions available in <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>.
   All of the expression forms documented in this section return
   Boolean (true/false) results.
  </para>

  <sect2 id="functions-subquery-exists">
   <title><literal>EXISTS</literal></title>

<synopsis>
EXISTS (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The argument of <token>EXISTS</token> is an arbitrary <command>SELECT</command> statement,
   or <firstterm>subquery</firstterm>.  The
   subquery is evaluated to determine whether it returns any rows.
   If it returns at least one row, the result of <token>EXISTS</token> is
   <quote>true</quote>; if the subquery returns no rows, the result of <token>EXISTS</token>
   is <quote>false</quote>.
  </para>

  <para>
   The subquery can refer to variables from the surrounding query,
   which will act as constants during any one evaluation of the subquery.
  </para>

  <para>
   The subquery will generally only be executed long enough to determine
   whether at least one row is returned, not all the way to completion.
   It is unwise to write a subquery that has side effects (such as
   calling sequence functions); whether the side effects occur
   might be unpredictable.
  </para>

  <para>
   Since the result depends only on whether any rows are returned,
   and not on the contents of those rows, the output list of the
   subquery is normally unimportant.  A common coding convention is
   to write all <literal>EXISTS</literal> tests in the form
   <literal>EXISTS(SELECT * FROM ... WHERE ...)</literal>, another common
   convention is to write <literal>EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM ... WHERE
   ...)</literal> or some other dummy constant.  These conventions are
   actually equivalent in <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>, which
   will optimize away evaluation of the subquery's output list altogether
   when it cannot affect the number of rows returned.  (An example
   that cannot be optimized away is an output list containing a
   set-returning function, since the function might return zero rows.)
  </para>

  <para>
   This simple example is like an inner join on <literal>col2</literal>, but
   it produces at most one output row for each <literal>tab1</literal> row,
   even if there are several matching <literal>tab2</literal> rows:
<screen>
SELECT col1
FROM tab1
WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM tab2 WHERE col2 = tab1.col2);
</screen>
  </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="functions-subquery-in">
   <title><literal>IN</literal></title>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>expression</replaceable> IN (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized
   subquery, which must return exactly one column.  The left-hand expression
   is evaluated and compared to each row of the subquery result.
   The result of <token>IN</token> is <quote>true</quote> if any equal subquery row is found.
   The result is <quote>false</quote> if no equal row is found (including the
   case where the subquery returns no rows).
  </para>

  <para>
   Note that if the left-hand expression yields null, or if there are
   no equal right-hand values and at least one right-hand row yields
   null, the result of the <token>IN</token> construct will be null, not false.
   This is in accordance with SQL's normal rules for Boolean combinations
   of null values.
  </para>

  <para>
   As with <token>EXISTS</token>, it's unwise to assume that the subquery will
   be evaluated completely.
  </para>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>row_constructor</replaceable> IN (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The left-hand side of this form of <token>IN</token> is a row constructor,
   as described in <xref linkend="sql-syntax-row-constructors"/>.
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized
   subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are
   expressions in the left-hand row.  The left-hand expressions are
   evaluated and compared row-wise to each row of the subquery result.
   The result of <token>IN</token> is <quote>true</quote> if any equal subquery row is found.
   The result is <quote>false</quote> if no equal row is found (including the
   case where the subquery returns no rows).
  </para>

  <para>
   As usual, null values in the rows are combined per
   the normal rules of SQL Boolean expressions.  Two rows are considered
   equal if all their corresponding members are non-null and equal; the rows
   are unequal if any corresponding members are non-null and unequal;
   otherwise the result of that row comparison is unknown (null).
   If all the per-row results are either unequal or null, with at least one
   null, then the result of <token>IN</token> is null.
  </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="functions-subquery-notin">
   <title><literal>NOT IN</literal></title>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>expression</replaceable> NOT IN (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized
   subquery, which must return exactly one column.  The left-hand expression
   is evaluated and compared to each row of the subquery result.
   The result of <token>NOT IN</token> is <quote>true</quote> if only unequal subquery rows
   are found (including the case where the subquery returns no rows).
   The result is <quote>false</quote> if any equal row is found.
  </para>

  <para>
   Note that if the left-hand expression yields null, or if there are
   no equal right-hand values and at least one right-hand row yields
   null, the result of the <token>NOT IN</token> construct will be null, not true.
   This is in accordance with SQL's normal rules for Boolean combinations
   of null values.
  </para>

  <para>
   As with <token>EXISTS</token>, it's unwise to assume that the subquery will
   be evaluated completely.
  </para>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>row_constructor</replaceable> NOT IN (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The left-hand side of this form of <token>NOT IN</token> is a row constructor,
   as described in <xref linkend="sql-syntax-row-constructors"/>.
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized
   subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are
   expressions in the left-hand row.  The left-hand expressions are
   evaluated and compared row-wise to each row of the subquery result.
   The result of <token>NOT IN</token> is <quote>true</quote> if only unequal subquery rows
   are found (including the case where the subquery returns no rows).
   The result is <quote>false</quote> if any equal row is found.
  </para>

  <para>
   As usual, null values in the rows are combined per
   the normal rules of SQL Boolean expressions.  Two rows are considered
   equal if all their corresponding members are non-null and equal; the rows
   are unequal if any corresponding members are non-null and unequal;
   otherwise the result of that row comparison is unknown (null).
   If all the per-row results are either unequal or null, with at least one
   null, then the result of <token>NOT IN</token> is null.
  </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="functions-subquery-any-some">
   <title><literal>ANY</literal>/<literal>SOME</literal></title>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>expression</replaceable> <replaceable>operator</replaceable> ANY (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
<replaceable>expression</replaceable> <replaceable>operator</replaceable> SOME (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized
   subquery, which must return exactly one column.  The left-hand expression
   is evaluated and compared to each row of the subquery result using the
   given <replaceable>operator</replaceable>, which must yield a Boolean
   result.
   The result of <token>ANY</token> is <quote>true</quote> if any true result is obtained.
   The result is <quote>false</quote> if no true result is found (including the
   case where the subquery returns no rows).
  </para>

  <para>
   <token>SOME</token> is a synonym for <token>ANY</token>.
   <token>IN</token> is equivalent to <literal>= ANY</literal>.
  </para>

  <para>
   Note that if there are no successes and at least one right-hand row yields
   null for the operator's result, the result of the <token>ANY</token> construct
   will be null, not false.
   This is in accordance with SQL's normal rules for Boolean combinations
   of null values.
  </para>

  <para>
   As with <token>EXISTS</token>, it's unwise to assume that the subquery will
   be evaluated completely.
  </para>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>row_constructor</replaceable> <replaceable>operator</replaceable> ANY (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
<replaceable>row_constructor</replaceable> <replaceable>operator</replaceable> SOME (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The left-hand side of this form of <token>ANY</token> is a row constructor,
   as described in <xref linkend="sql-syntax-row-constructors"/>.
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized
   subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are
   expressions in the left-hand row.  The left-hand expressions are
   evaluated and compared row-wise to each row of the subquery result,
   using the given <replaceable>operator</replaceable>.
   The result of <token>ANY</token> is <quote>true</quote> if the comparison
   returns true for any subquery row.
   The result is <quote>false</quote> if the comparison returns false for every
   subquery row (including the case where the subquery returns no
   rows).
   The result is NULL if no comparison with a subquery row returns true,
   and at least one comparison returns NULL.
  </para>

  <para>
   See <xref linkend="row-wise-comparison"/> for details about the meaning
   of a row constructor comparison.
  </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="functions-subquery-all">
   <title><literal>ALL</literal></title>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>expression</replaceable> <replaceable>operator</replaceable> ALL (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized
   subquery, which must return exactly one column.  The left-hand expression
   is evaluated and compared to each row of the subquery result using the
   given <replaceable>operator</replaceable>, which must yield a Boolean
   result.
   The result of <token>ALL</token> is <quote>true</quote> if all rows yield true
   (including the case where the subquery returns no rows).
   The result is <quote>false</quote> if any false result is found.
   The result is NULL if no comparison with a subquery row returns false,
   and at least one comparison returns NULL.
  </para>

  <para>
   <token>NOT IN</token> is equivalent to <literal>&lt;&gt; ALL</literal>.
  </para>

  <para>
   As with <token>EXISTS</token>, it's unwise to assume that the subquery will
   be evaluated completely.
  </para>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>row_constructor</replaceable> <replaceable>operator</replaceable> ALL (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The left-hand side of this form of <token>ALL</token> is a row constructor,
   as described in <xref linkend="sql-syntax-row-constructors"/>.
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized
   subquery, which must return exactly as many columns as there are
   expressions in the left-hand row.  The left-hand expressions are
   evaluated and compared row-wise to each row of the subquery result,
   using the given <replaceable>operator</replaceable>.
   The result of <token>ALL</token> is <quote>true</quote> if the comparison
   returns true for all subquery rows (including the
   case where the subquery returns no rows).
   The result is <quote>false</quote> if the comparison returns false for any
   subquery row.
   The result is NULL if no comparison with a subquery row returns false,
   and at least one comparison returns NULL.
  </para>

  <para>
   See <xref linkend="row-wise-comparison"/> for details about the meaning
   of a row constructor comparison.
  </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="functions-subquery-single-row-comp">
   <title>Single-Row Comparison</title>

   <indexterm zone="functions-subquery">
    <primary>comparison</primary>
    <secondary>subquery result row</secondary>
   </indexterm>

<synopsis>
<replaceable>row_constructor</replaceable> <replaceable>operator</replaceable> (<replaceable>subquery</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

  <para>
   The left-hand side is a row constructor,
   as described in <xref linkend="sql-syntax-row-constructors"/>.
   The right-hand side is a parenthesized subquery, which must return exactly
   as many columns as there are expressions in the left-hand row. Furthermore,
   the subquery cannot return more than one row.  (If it returns zero rows,
   the result is taken to be null.)  The left-hand side is evaluated and
   compared row-wise to the single subquery result row.
  </para>

  <para>
   See <xref linkend="row-wise-comparison"/> for details about the meaning
   of a row constructor comparison.
  </para>
  </sect2>
 </sect1>