Question

I am a total newb and never used case before, so please don’t laugh.

Why doesn’t this query work?

  SELECT * 
    FROM `cronjob_reloaded` 
   WHERE `carid` LIKE '%bmw%'
      OR `age` BETWEEN '10' AND '15'
ORDER BY 
  CASE WHEN `carid` LIKE '%bmw%' = 1 
       THEN 1 
  CASE WHEN `age` BETWEEN '10' AND '15' = 2 
       THEN 2

I get this error:

Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ‘CASE WHEN age BETWEEN ’10’ AND ’15’ =2 THEN 2

Answer 1

Your syntax is a little strange. You don’t need the = 1 in the LIKE case, the second condition has an invalid = 2, and since both are conditions of the same statement, don’t repeat CASE — instead begin the second condition with WHEN.

It is also recommended to put in an ELSE case to match all other rows deterministically. Below, I inserted ELSE 3, which sorts all other non-matched rows after the two matching conditions.

Finally, the whole construct should end with an END keyword.

SELECT * FROM `cronjob_reloaded` 
WHERE 
`carid` LIKE '%bmw%'
OR 
`age` BETWEEN '10' AND '15'
ORDER BY 
  CASE
    WHEN `carid` LIKE '%bmw%' THEN 1  
    WHEN `age` BETWEEN '10' AND '15'  THEN 2
    /* Advisable to add an ELSE condition to catch all other rows */
    ELSE 3
  END