The previous section introduced one of the most important SQL
concepts, the WHERE
clause. In SQL, a WHERE
clause enables you to pick out specific rows in a table by specifying
a value that must be matched by the column in question. For example:
UPDATE bands SET lead_singer = 'Ian Anderson' WHERE band_name = 'Jethro Tull'
This UPDATE
specifies that you should change only
the lead_singer
column for the row where
band_name
is identical to
Jethro
Tull
. If the
band_name
column is not a unique index, that
WHERE
clause may match multiple rows. Many SQL
commands employ WHERE
clauses to help pick out the
rows on which you wish to operate. Because the columns in the
WHERE
clause are columns on which you search, you
should generally have indexes created around whatever combinations
you commonly use. We discuss the kinds of comparisons you can perform
in the WHERE
clause later in the chapter.