BETWEEN in Oracle

What is BETWEEN Operator in Oracle?

The Oracle BETWEEN operator is nothing but a range based operator that works on range based condition and allows us to provide a range based condition to fetch the data which falls under the given range. In this topic, we are going to learn about BETWEEN in Oracle.

Points of Concentration:

• This operator is used to display rows based on a range of values.
• The declared range is inclusive.
• The lower limit should be declared first.
• The negation of this operator is NOT BETWEEN…AND….
• This operator can be applied in a SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE statement.
• This operator can be applied for NUMBER, CHARCTER or DATE data types.

Syntax for BETWEEN Operator in Oracle

The syntax is mentioned below:

Syntax:

SELECT Column_1, Column_2,..., Column_N FROM Table_Name WHERE Column_Name [NOT] BETWEEN Value1 AND Value2;

Description:

• Col_1/2/n: The column(s) or calculation as per your requirement.
• Table_Name: As per your requirement.
• WHERE: It’s mandatory to use this operator.
• Column_Name: The condition will be applied to the column to filter the data.
• Value1/2: These two values will create an inclusive range to compare the data in the Column_Name column.
• NOT: This is a negation of the BETWEEN operator. It excludes the records which fall under the range.

Example(with/without Negation)

Let us see with the help of examples:

Without Negation

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal FROM Emp WHERE Sal BETWEEN 1250 AND 2975;

Output:

With Negation

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal FROM Emp WHERE Sal NOT BETWEEN 1250 AND 2975;

Output:

Explanation: The above two examples (without and with negation) clearly shows how Oracle BETWEEN operator filters the data based on range condition.

Examples of BETWEEN Operator in Oracle

In this section, we’ll see the implementation of Oracle BETWEEN Operator and its behavior. For that, we will use the below sample table (Emp) with 14 records to understand the Oracle BETWEEN Operator behavior.

Query:

SQL> SELECT * from Emp;

Output:

Example #1 – with NUMBER data type

Code:

SQL > SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal FROM Emp WHERE Sal BETWEEN 1250 AND 2975;

Output:

In the above SELECT statement, the BETWEEN operator creates an inclusive range of the given values (1250, 2975) and searches for the values in the Sal column which falls in the range and fetches the records.

Code:

SQL > SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal FROM Emp WHERE Sal NOT BETWEEN 1250 AND 2975;

Output:

The above SELECT statement is just an opposite case of the previous example, as the BETWEEN operator creates an inclusive range of the given values (1250, 2975) and search for the values in the Sal column and fetch the records which fall in the range. But because of NOT keyword which is used with the BETWEEN operator, the records which fall in the range get excluded from the result and returns only records which are not in the range or outside of the range.

Example #2 – with DATE data type

Code:

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Hiredate FROM Emp WHERE Hiredate
BETWEEN '17-FEB-81' AND '23-JAN-82';

Output:

In the above SELECT statement, the BETWEEN operator works on the DATE data type which searches for the records (based on the date range) in the Hiredate column which is the date data type and returns the records which fall under the given date range (inclusive).

Code:

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Hiredate FROM Emp WHERE Hiredate
NOT BETWEEN '17-FEB-81' AND '23-JAN-82';

Output:

The above SELECT statement is the negation of the previous SELECT statement because NOT keyword that allows to fetch the records outside of the given date range and returns the records.

Tips:

• Values should be in the same format that the date data type column contains
• In case value(s) is/are in a different format then the format of the column data should be matched. For that To_date or To_char can be applied on the date data type column to match the format with the format of the value.

Example #3 – with VARCHAR data type

Code:

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal, Job FROM Emp WHERE Job
BETWEEN 'MANAGER' AND 'SALESMAN';

Output:

The BETWEEN operator creates an inclusive range of the given string values (‘MANAGER’ AND ‘SALESMAN’). But when it starts range based search for the records then it compares character-wise (like Dictionary words arrangement) and fetches the record(s). And the below SELECT statement is a negation of the above SELECT statement.

Code:

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal, Job FROM Emp WHERE Job
NOT BETWEEN 'MANAGER' AND 'SALESMAN';

Output:

Tips:

• The character functions (UPPER, LOWER, INITCAP, etc.) can be used to match the format of values with the column data format. See the example below.

Code:

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal, Job FROM Emp WHERE
'manager' AND LOWER ('PRESIDENT');

Output:

• If the format of values and column data in the BETWEEN operator doesn’t match, it will return a no row selected output. See the example below.

Code:

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal, Job FROM Emp WHERE
LOWER (Job) BETWEEN 'manager' AND 'PRESIDENT';

Output:

In this SELECT statement, the LOWER function converts job column data into the lower case but the BETWEEN operator contains one value (PRESIDENT) in the upper case which is not matching with the column data format.

Example #4 – DML operation (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE)

The BETWEEN operator can be applied for the data manipulation operation in the example mention below.

Before UPDATE

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal, Job FROM Emp WHERE
Job BETWEEN 'MANAGER' AND 'PRESIDENT';

Output:

UPDATE Query:

SQL> UPDATE Emp SET Sal= Sal*2 WHERE Job BETWEEN 'MANAGER' AND 'PRESIDENT';

After UPDATE

SQL> SELECT Ename, Deptno, Sal, Job FROM Emp WHERE
Job BETWEEN 'MANAGER' AND 'PRESIDENT';

Output:

Tips:

• The BETWEEN operator is very useful while performing NON-EQUI Join on range based condition.
• Take extra care about column data format and values format in the BETWEEN operator, both should be matched.
• The function can be used to match the column data format and values format with each other.

Conclusion

Oracle BETWEEN … AND … is an operator that allows us to make a range based search and fetch the record(s) which falls in the range. By using NOT keyword with this operator, records can be fetched which doesn’t fall in the range. In other words, by using NOT keyword with this operator, record(s) can be excluded from the result set which falls in the given range.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to BETWEEN in Oracle. Here we discuss the Implementation of Oracle BETWEEN operator with appropriate syntax and respective examples. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –

1. Oracle Operators
2. Oracle Aliases
3. Oracle Procedures
4. Oracle Cross Join
5. Guide to BETWEEN in SQL