sql left join for two tables using a CONCAT string as the argument
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13-12-2019 - |
Question
I need to get a title from table 2, table 2 has title and id column. Table 1 has some data and three of these columns concatenated together makeup the id that can be found in table 1.
I used CONCAT_WS() function and gave this column an alias name and need to use the Alias for the on argument(At least this is what I understood I needed to do)
I thought this could be a simple left join, yet it is not working for me.
This is my query
SELECT
table_openers.mail,
table_openers.f_name,
table_openers.l_name,
table_openers.Quality,
CONCAT_WS('-',
table_openers.esp,
table_openers.acc,
table_openers.group) as 't1aid',
table_groups.aid,
table_groups.group_name
FROM
lance_mailstats.table_openers
LEFT JOIN
lance_mailstats.table_groups ON table_groups.aid = t1aid;
I get results for mail, f_name, l_name, Quality and t1aid, but the aid and group_name columns of the second table return null.
Solution
I feel like you can't use an alias in the ON clause. Try doing
LEFT JOIN
lance_mailstats.table_groups ON table_groups.aid = CONCAT_WS('-',
table_openers.esp,
table_openers.acc,
table_openers.group);
"You can use the alias in GROUP BY, ORDER BY, or HAVING clauses to refer to the column" (from dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/problems-with-alias.html).
And "The conditional_expr used with ON is any conditional expression of the form that can be used in a WHERE clause" (from dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/join.html).
So as a logical inference you're not allowed to use aliases in ON clauses.
OTHER TIPS
try to use a subquery.. it goes like this.........
ex.
SELECT tbl1.mail, tbl1.f_name, tbl1.l_name,tbl1.Quality, tbl1.t1aid,table_groups.aid, table_groups.group_name
FROM
(SELECT
table_openers.mail,
table_openers.f_name,
table_openers.l_name,
table_openers.Quality,
CONCAT_WS('-',
table_openers.esp,
table_openers.acc,
table_openers.group) as 't1aid',
FROM
lance_mailstats.table_openers )tbl1
LEFT JOIN
lance_mailstats.table_groups ON table_groups.aid = tbl1.t1aid;