The MySQL OR Operator
The WHERE clause can contain one or more OR operators.
The OR operator is used to filter records based on more than one condition.
Note: The
ORoperator displays a record if any of the conditions are TRUE.
The following SQL selects all customers where city is "Berlin" OR "Stuttgart":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City = 'Berlin'
OR City = 'Stuttgart';
The following SQL selects all customers where country is "Germany" OR "Spain":
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country = 'Germany'
OR Country = 'Spain';
OR Syntax
SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
WHERE condition1 OR condition2 OR condition3 ...;
Demo Database
Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:
| CustomerID | CustomerName | ContactName | Address | City | PostalCode | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfreds Futterkiste | Maria Anders | Obere Str. 57 | Berlin | 12209 | Germany |
| 2 | Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | Ana Trujillo | Avda. de la Constitución 2222 | México D.F. | 05021 | Mexico |
| 3 | Antonio Moreno Taquería | Antonio Moreno | Mataderos 2312 | México D.F. | 05023 | Mexico |
| 4 | Around the Horn | Thomas Hardy | 120 Hanover Sq. | London | WA1 1DP | UK |
| 5 | Berglunds snabbköp | Christina Berglund | Berguvsvägen 8 | Luleå | S-958 22 | Sweden |
AND vs. OR
Note: The
ANDoperator displays a record if all the conditions are TRUE. TheORoperator displays a record if any of the conditions are TRUE.
Combining AND and OR
You can also combine the AND and OR operators.
The following SQL selects all customers where country is "Germany" AND city must be "Berlin" OR "Stuttgart" (use parenthesis to form complex expressions):
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country = 'Germany'
AND (City = 'Berlin' OR City = 'Stuttgart');
