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CLASS="SECT1"
><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="FUNCTIONS-COMPARISON"
>9.2. Comparison Operators</A
></H1
><A
NAME="AEN6681"
></A
><P
> The usual comparison operators are available, shown in <A
HREF="functions-comparison.html#FUNCTIONS-COMPARISON-TABLE"
>Table 9-1</A
>.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="TABLE"
><A
NAME="FUNCTIONS-COMPARISON-TABLE"
></A
><P
><B
>Table 9-1. Comparison Operators</B
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="1"
CLASS="CALSTABLE"
><COL><COL><THEAD
><TR
><TH
>Operator</TH
><TH
>Description</TH
></TR
></THEAD
><TBODY
><TR
><TD
> <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><</TT
> </TD
><TD
>less than</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>></TT
> </TD
><TD
>greater than</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><=</TT
> </TD
><TD
>less than or equal to</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>>=</TT
> </TD
><TD
>greater than or equal to</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>=</TT
> </TD
><TD
>equal</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><></TT
> or <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>!=</TT
> </TD
><TD
>not equal</TD
></TR
></TBODY
></TABLE
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="NOTE"
><BLOCKQUOTE
CLASS="NOTE"
><P
><B
>Note: </B
> The <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>!=</TT
> operator is converted to
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><></TT
> in the parser stage. It is not
possible to implement <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>!=</TT
> and
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><></TT
> operators that do different things.
</P
></BLOCKQUOTE
></DIV
><P
> Comparison operators are available for all data types where this
makes sense. All comparison operators are binary operators that
return values of type <TT
CLASS="TYPE"
>boolean</TT
>; expressions like
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>1 < 2 < 3</TT
> are not valid (because there is
no <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><</TT
> operator to compare a Boolean value with
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>3</TT
>).
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="AEN6731"
></A
>
In addition to the comparison operators, the special
<TT
CLASS="TOKEN"
>BETWEEN</TT
> construct is available.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>a</I
></TT
> BETWEEN <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>x</I
></TT
> AND <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>y</I
></TT
></PRE
><P>
is equivalent to
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>a</I
></TT
> >= <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>x</I
></TT
> AND <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>a</I
></TT
> <= <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>y</I
></TT
></PRE
><P>
Similarly,
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>a</I
></TT
> NOT BETWEEN <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>x</I
></TT
> AND <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>y</I
></TT
></PRE
><P>
is equivalent to
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>a</I
></TT
> < <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>x</I
></TT
> OR <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>a</I
></TT
> > <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>y</I
></TT
></PRE
><P>
There is no difference between the two respective forms apart from
the <ACRONYM
CLASS="ACRONYM"
>CPU</ACRONYM
> cycles required to rewrite the first one
into the second one internally.
<A
NAME="AEN6753"
></A
>
<TT
CLASS="TOKEN"
>BETWEEN SYMMETRIC</TT
> is the same as <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>BETWEEN</TT
>
except there is no requirement that the argument to the left of <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>AND</TT
> be less than
or equal to the argument on the right; the proper range is automatically determined.
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="AEN6759"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6761"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6763"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6765"
></A
>
To check whether a value is or is not null, use the constructs
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS NULL
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS NOT NULL</PRE
><P>
or the equivalent, but nonstandard, constructs
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> ISNULL
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> NOTNULL</PRE
><P>
<A
NAME="AEN6773"
></A
>
</P
><P
> Do <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>not</I
></SPAN
> write
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> = NULL</TT
>
because <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>NULL</TT
> is not <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"equal to"</SPAN
>
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>NULL</TT
>. (The null value represents an unknown value,
and it is not known whether two unknown values are equal.) This
behavior conforms to the SQL standard.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="TIP"
><BLOCKQUOTE
CLASS="TIP"
><P
><B
>Tip: </B
> Some applications might expect that
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> = NULL</TT
>
returns true if <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> evaluates to
the null value. It is highly recommended that these applications
be modified to comply with the SQL standard. However, if that
cannot be done the <A
HREF="runtime-config-compatible.html#GUC-TRANSFORM-NULL-EQUALS"
>transform_null_equals</A
>
configuration variable is available. If it is enabled,
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> will convert <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>x =
NULL</TT
> clauses to <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>x IS NULL</TT
>. This was
the default behavior in <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>
releases 6.5 through 7.1.
</P
></BLOCKQUOTE
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="NOTE"
><BLOCKQUOTE
CLASS="NOTE"
><P
><B
>Note: </B
> If the <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> is row-valued, then
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS NULL</TT
> is true when the row expression itself is null
or when all the row's fields are null, while
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS NOT NULL</TT
> is true when the row expression itself is non-null
and all the row's fields are non-null.
This definition conforms to the SQL standard, and is a change from the
inconsistent behavior exhibited by <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>
versions prior to 8.2.
</P
></BLOCKQUOTE
></DIV
><P
> <A
NAME="AEN6800"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6802"
></A
>
The ordinary comparison operators yield null (signifying <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"unknown"</SPAN
>)
when either input is null. Another way to do comparisons is with the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS [<SPAN
CLASS="OPTIONAL"
> NOT </SPAN
>] DISTINCT FROM</TT
> construct:
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS DISTINCT FROM <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
>
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS NOT DISTINCT FROM <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
></PRE
><P>
For non-null inputs, <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS DISTINCT FROM</TT
> is
the same as the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><></TT
> operator. However, when both
inputs are null it will return false, and when just one input is
null it will return true. Similarly, <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS NOT DISTINCT
FROM</TT
> is identical to <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>=</TT
> for non-null
inputs, but it returns true when both inputs are null, and false when only
one input is null. Thus, these constructs effectively act as though null
were a normal data value, rather than <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"unknown"</SPAN
>.
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="AEN6818"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6820"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6822"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6824"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6826"
></A
>
<A
NAME="AEN6828"
></A
>
Boolean values can also be tested using the constructs
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS TRUE
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS NOT TRUE
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS FALSE
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS NOT FALSE
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS UNKNOWN
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>expression</I
></TT
> IS NOT UNKNOWN</PRE
><P>
These will always return true or false, never a null value, even when the
operand is null.
A null input is treated as the logical value <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"unknown"</SPAN
>.
Notice that <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS UNKNOWN</TT
> and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS NOT UNKNOWN</TT
> are
effectively the same as <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS NULL</TT
> and
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>IS NOT NULL</TT
>, respectively, except that the input
expression must be of Boolean type.
</P
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