Ubuntu Unleashed 2013 Edition: Covering 12.10 and 13.04, Eighth Edition

Retrieving Data from a Database

Of course, the main reason for storing data in a database is so you can later look up, sort, and generate reports on that data. Basic data retrieval is done with the SELECT statement, which has the following syntax:

SELECT column1, column2, column3 FROM table_name WHERE search_criteria;

The first two parts of the statement—the SELECT and FROM parts—are required. The WHERE portion of the statement is optional. If it is omitted, all rows in the table table_name are returned.

The column1, column2, column3 syntax indicates the name of the columns you want to see. If you want to see all columns, you can also use the wildcard * to show all the columns that match the search criteria. For example, the following statement ...