Return NULL if no rows are found SQL

Question

newbie to SQL, please help. I only know basic syntax but know I can't accomplish what I want to with it:

Have two tables:

user_table:

id   name
1   george
2   harry
3   ralph

updown_table:

id  updown
1   up
3   down

My query:

select  
    u.id,
    u.name,
    up.updown
from    
    user_table u, updown_table up
where   
    u.id = up.id;

I'd like it to return id's 1, 2, 3 and put a NULL value in for 2. But obviously as the entry doesn't exist in updown, it will only return 1 and 3.

Any help, please?

See [this great explanation of joins](http://blog.codinghorror.com/a-visual-explanation-of-sql-joins/). And don't use this old implicit join syntax any more. — juergen d, May 27 '16 at 15:16
First thing to learn is explicit `JOIN` syntax instead of that old, comma separated, implicit join... — jarlh, May 27 '16 at 15:16
@juergend, when @namja knows the proper `INNER JOIN` syntax, it's so easy to take the next step to `LEFT JOIN`! — jarlh, May 27 '16 at 15:18
@juergend Thank you! LEFT JOIN is definitely getting me in the right direction. — namja, May 30 '16 at 22:53

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

2

Maybe try this?

Select  
    u.id,
    u.name,
    up.updown
From    
    user_table u left join updown_table up ON u.id=up.id;

edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

Community

answered May 27 '16 at 15:18

BenBen

thank you! This is definitely putting me on the right direction. – namja May 30 '16 at 22:54
@namja you can accept my reply as your final answer to close this question. thanks! – BenBen May 30 '16 at 23:01

1 Answers1