Question

I have a table with several columns. Columns 1and 2 can contain any of four alpha values: set={A,B,C, D}.

I want to check if each column to see if they contain either of two values from the set. So I want to simplify this statement:

SELECT * FROM MUTATION-TABLE WHERE (COLUMN1 = "A") OR (COLUMN2 = "A") OR (COLUMN3 = "A")
 OR (COLUMN1 = "B") OR (COLUMN2 = "B") OR (COLUMN3 = "B").

Is there a way to simplify this statement. As I add more columns, there will be more mutations to check. I can see the SQL statement getting long/repetitive.

Answer 1

If you only have two values to but lots of columns, then switch to IN and check for your constant values in a set of columns:

SELECT *
FROM "MUTATION-TABLE"
WHERE 'A' IN (COLUMN1, COLUMN2, COLUMN3)
   OR 'B' IN (COLUMN1, COLUMN2, COLUMN3)

And with more columns:

SELECT *
FROM "MUTATION-TABLE"
WHERE 'A' IN (COLUMN1, COLUMN2, COLUMN3, COLUMN4, COLUMN5)
   OR 'B' IN (COLUMN1, COLUMN2, COLUMN3, COLUMN4, COLUMN5)

The queries should be the same as far as the database is concerned but this version might be more readable.