Question

I am working on my SQL, and I have the following statement:

1    SELECT c.credit_display, t.title, t.provider
2       FROM credits c
3           INNER JOIN title t 
4           ON c.vendor_id = t.vendor_id
5       WHERE c.position = 'Director' and t.provider = 'Premiere'
6           INTO OUTFILE '/var/tmp/file.csv'
7           FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','

I was wondering what the correct formatting would be with regards to tabs. What is the suggested practice for when to indent (for example, should the third line be two tabs or three?).

Answer 1

This is all highly subjective.

Since the INTO OUTFILE and FIELDS options belong to the entire SELECT statement, I probably wouldn’t indent them beneath the WHERE clause, but rather at the leftmost position (no indentation)

Since you have multiple WHERE conditions, you may indent each on a new line. I would apply the same to SELECT columns and FROM tables. The ON clause in the JOIN is indented beneath the JOINed table it applies to.

SELECT
   /* each column on its own line */
   /* unless it is only 1 column */
   c.credit_display, 
   t.title, 
   t.provider
FROM
   credits c
   INNER JOIN title t 
      /* ON clause indented beneath the join */
      ON c.vendor_id = t.vendor_id
WHERE 
   /* each condition on its own line */
   c.position = 'Director'
   AND t.provider = 'Premiere'
/* This apply to the entire statement so I would not indent them
INTO OUTFILE '/var/tmp/file.csv'
  /* You might indent this and other LINES TERMINATED BY options 
     beneath the OUTFILE line */
  FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','

Indentation is a very subjective matter, and the best thing to do is come to agreement with your team on how you are all indenting code.