Question

I’d like to set up a sql query where I have a bunch of varchar values that correspond to a column of a specific database table. The result should give me all values that are not in the table column.

Something like this:

SELECT x.a 
FROM  ( SELECT ('1','2','3') AS a ) x 
WHERE  x not in  ( 
                    SELECT knr 
                    FROM table 
                 )

I didn’t get this to work because the inner select is treated as a single record I don’t know how to set it up right, or if this is even possible.

Can anyone give me a hint how to archive this?

Answer 1

SELECT x.a 
FROM
    ( SELECT '1' AS a 
    UNION ALL
      SELECT '2'
    UNION ALL 
      SELECT '3'
    ) x 
WHERE a NOT IN
      ( SELECT knr FROM table1 )

Postgres has implemented the Table Values Constructor syntax, so you can use this, too:

SELECT x.a 
FROM
    ( VALUES 
        ('1'), 
        ('2'),
        ('3')
    ) AS x(a) 
WHERE a NOT IN
      ( SELECT knr FROM table1 )