#### 20.3.4.2 Select Tables

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 You can use the `select()` method to query for and return records from a table in a database. The X DevAPI provides additional methods to use with the `select()` method to filter and sort the returned records.

 MySQL provides the following operators to specify search conditions: `OR` (`||`), `AND` (`&&`), `XOR`, `IS`, `NOT`, `BETWEEN`, `IN`, `LIKE`, `!=`, `<>`, `>`, `>=`, `<`, `<=`, `&`, `|`, `<<`, `>>`, `+`, `-`, `*`, `/`, `~`, and `%`.

##### Select All Records

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 To issue a query that returns all records from an existing table, use the `select()` method without specifying search conditions. The following example selects all records from the city table in the `world_x` database.

Note

 Limit the use of the empty `select()` method to interactive statements. Always use explicit column-name selections in your application code.

```
mysql-js> db.city.select()
+------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
| ID   | Name       | CountryCode | District   | Info                    |
+------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
|    1 | Kabul      | AFG         | Kabol      |{"Population": 1780000}  |
|    2 | Qandahar   | AFG         | Qandahar   |{"Population": 237500}   |
|    3 | Herat      | AFG         | Herat      |{"Population": 186800}   |
...    ...          ...           ...          ...
| 4079 | Rafah      | PSE         | Rafah      |{"Population": 92020}    |
+------+------- ----+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
4082 rows in set (0.01 sec)
```

 An empty set (no matching records) returns the following information:

```
Empty set (0.00 sec)

```

##### Filter Searches

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 To issue a query that returns a set of table columns, use the `select()` method and specify the columns to return between square brackets. This query returns the Name and CountryCode columns from the city table.

```
mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"])
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Kabul             | AFG         |
| Qandahar          | AFG         |
| Herat             | AFG         |
| Mazar-e-Sharif    | AFG         |
| Amsterdam         | NLD         |
...                 ...
| Rafah             | PSE         |
| Olympia           | USA         |
| Little Falls      | USA         |
| Happy Valley      | USA         |
+-------------------+-------------+
4082 rows in set (0.00 sec)
```

 To issue a query that returns rows matching specific search conditions, use the `where()` method to include those conditions. For example, the following example returns the names and country codes of the cities that start with the letter Z.

```
mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).where("Name like 'Z%'")
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Zaanstad          | NLD         |
| Zoetermeer        | NLD         |
| Zwolle            | NLD         |
| Zenica            | BIH         |
| Zagazig           | EGY         |
| Zaragoza          | ESP         |
| Zamboanga         | PHL         |
| Zahedan           | IRN         |
| Zanjan            | IRN         |
| Zabol             | IRN         |
| Zama              | JPN         |
| Zhezqazghan       | KAZ         |
| Zhengzhou         | CHN         |
...                 ...
| Zeleznogorsk      | RUS         |
+-------------------+-------------+
59 rows in set (0.00 sec)
```

 You can separate a value from the search condition by using the `bind()` method. For example, instead of using "Name = 'Z%' " as the condition, substitute a named placeholder consisting of a colon followed by a name that begins with a letter, such as *name*. Then include the placeholder and value in the `bind()` method as follows:

```
mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).
              where("Name like :name").bind("name", "Z%")
```

Tip

 Within a program, binding enables you to specify placeholders in your expressions, which are filled in with values before execution and can benefit from automatic escaping, as appropriate.

 Always use binding to sanitize input. Avoid introducing values in queries using string concatenation, which can produce invalid input and, in some cases, can cause security issues.

##### Project Results

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 To issue a query using the [`AND`](logical-operators.html#operator_and) operator, add the operator between search conditions in the `where()` method.

```
mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).where(
"Name like 'Z%' and CountryCode = 'CHN'")
+----------------+-------------+
| Name           | CountryCode |
+----------------+-------------+
| Zhengzhou      | CHN         |
| Zibo           | CHN         |
| Zhangjiakou    | CHN         |
| Zhuzhou        | CHN         |
| Zhangjiang     | CHN         |
| Zigong         | CHN         |
| Zaozhuang      | CHN         |
...              ...
| Zhangjiagang   | CHN         |
+----------------+-------------+
22 rows in set (0.01 sec)
```

 To specify multiple conditional operators, you can enclose the search conditions in parenthesis to change the operator precedence. The following example demonstrates the placement of [`AND`](logical-operators.html#operator_and) and [`OR`](logical-operators.html#operator_or) operators.

```
mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).
where("Name like 'Z%' and (CountryCode = 'CHN' or CountryCode = 'RUS')")
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Zhengzhou         | CHN         |
| Zibo              | CHN         |
| Zhangjiakou       | CHN         |
| Zhuzhou           | CHN         |
...                 ...
| Zeleznogorsk      | RUS         |
+-------------------+-------------+
29 rows in set (0.01 sec)
```

##### Limit, Order, and Offset Results

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 You can apply the `limit()`, `orderBy()`, and `offSet()` methods to manage the number and order of records returned by the `select()` method.

 To specify the number of records included in a result set, append the `limit()` method with a value to the `select()` method. For example, the following query returns the first five records in the country table.

```
mysql-js> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).limit(5)
+------+-------------+
| Code | Name        |
+------+-------------+
| ABW  | Aruba       |
| AFG  | Afghanistan |
| AGO  | Angola      |
| AIA  | Anguilla    |
| ALB  | Albania     |
+------+-------------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)
```

 To specify an order for the results, append the `orderBy()` method to the `select()` method. Pass to the `orderBy()` method a list of one or more columns to sort by and, optionally, the descending (`desc`) or ascending (`asc`) attribute as appropriate. Ascending order is the default order type.

 For example, the following query sorts all records by the Name column and then returns the first three records in descending order .

```
mysql-js> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).orderBy(["Name desc"]).limit(3)
+------+------------+
| Code | Name       |
+------+------------+
| ZWE  | Zimbabwe   |
| ZMB  | Zambia     |
| YUG  | Yugoslavia |
+------+------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
```

 By default, the `limit()` method starts from the first record in the table. You can use the `offset()` method to change the starting record. For example, to ignore the first record and return the next three records matching the condition, pass to the `offset()` method a value of 1.

```
mysql-js> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).orderBy(["Name desc"]).limit(3).offset(1)
+------+------------+
| Code | Name       |
+------+------------+
| ZMB  | Zambia     |
| YUG  | Yugoslavia |
| YEM  | Yemen      |
+------+------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
```

##### Related Information

* The [MySQL Reference Manual](functions.html) provides detailed documentation on functions and operators.

* See [TableSelectFunction](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/x-devapi-userguide/en/crud-ebnf-table-crud-functions.html#crud-ebnf-tableselectfunction) for the full syntax definition.

