Question

I am using PostgreSQLwith VB.NET/ODBC and have to construct a bit complex query string.
This is simplified version:

SELECT dtbl_id, idx, name, meas, code, year FROM mytable
WHERE name ILIKE ‘nemo%’ <- edited
AND (dtbl_id BETWEEN 1 AND 9999)
OR (dtbl_id BETWEEN 15000 AND 19999) ORDER BY name

I also try:

AND (dtbl_id BETWEEN 1 AND 9999)
AND (dtbl_id BETWEEN 15000 AND 19999) ORDER BY name

Where I try to get names starting with “nemo” but only if they have indexes between 1 and 9999 and indexes between 15000 AND 19999.
In both cases I dont get desired result (if any).

What is wrong with my query?

Answer 1

Try:

SELECT dtbl_id, idx, name, meas, code, year 
FROM mytable 
WHERE name ILIKE '%nemo'
AND ((dtbl_id BETWEEN 1 AND 9999)
     OR (dtbl_id BETWEEN 15000 AND 19999))
ORDER BY name

Details here.

The mistake – OR has lower priority then AND. So, your first WHERE clause reads like:

WHERE (name ILIKE '%nemo'  AND dtbl_id BETWEEN 1 AND 9999)
   OR (dtbl_id BETWEEN 15000 AND 19999)

Another mistake (as pointed out by Edmund) – to get names starting with nemo you need ILIKE 'nemo%'.