Database Reference
In-Depth Information
5
In this chapter, you learn how to use the
SELECT
statement's
ORDER BY
clause
to sort retrieved data as needed.
As you learned in Chapter 4, “Retrieving Data,” the following SQL statement
returns a single column from a database table. But look at the output. The data
appears to be displayed in no particular order at all.
▼
Input
SELECT prod_name
FROM products;
▼
Output
+----------------+
| prod_name |
+----------------+
| .5 ton anvil |
| 1 ton anvil |
| 2 ton anvil |
| Oil can |
| Fuses |
| Sling |
| TNT (1 stick) |
| TNT (5 sticks) |
| Bird seed |
| Carrots |
| Safe |
| Detonator |
| JetPack 1000 |
| JetPack 2000 |
+----------------+
Actually, the retrieved data is not displayed in a mere random order. If
unsorted, data is typically displayed in the order in which it appears in the
