[sql] MySQL Results as comma separated list

I need to run a query like:

SELECT p.id, p.name, 
       (SELECT name 
          FROM sites s 
         WHERE s.id = p.site_id) AS site_list
  FROM publications p

But I'd like the sub-select to return a comma separated list, instead of a column of data. Is this even possible, and if so, how?

In my case i have to concatenate all the account number of a person who's mobile number is unique. So i have used the following query to achieve that.

SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(AccountsNo) as Accounts FROM `tblaccounts` GROUP BY MobileNumber

Query Result is below:

Accounts
93348001,97530801,93348001,97530801
89663501
62630701
6227895144840002
60070021
60070020
60070019
60070018
60070017
60070016
60070015

Instead of using group concat() you can use just concat()

Select concat(Col1, ',', Col2) as Foo_Bar from Table1;

edit this only works in mySQL; Oracle concat only accepts two arguments. In oracle you can use something like select col1||','||col2||','||col3 as foobar from table1; in sql server you would use + instead of pipes.

Now only I came across this situation and found some more interesting features around GROUP_CONCAT. I hope these details will make you feel interesting.

simple GROUP_CONCAT

SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(TaskName) 
FROM Tasks;

Result:

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| GROUP_CONCAT(TaskName)                                           |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Do garden,Feed cats,Paint roof,Take dog for walk,Relax,Feed cats |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

GROUP_CONCAT with DISTINCT

SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(TaskName) 
FROM Tasks;

Result:

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| GROUP_CONCAT(TaskName)                                           |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Do garden,Feed cats,Paint roof,Take dog for walk,Relax,Feed cats |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

GROUP_CONCAT with DISTINCT and ORDER BY

SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT TaskName ORDER BY TaskName DESC) 
FROM Tasks;

Result:

+--------------------------------------------------------+
| GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT TaskName ORDER BY TaskName DESC) |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| Take dog for walk,Relax,Paint roof,Feed cats,Do garden |
+--------------------------------------------------------+

GROUP_CONCAT with DISTINCT and SEPARATOR

SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT TaskName SEPARATOR ' + ') 
FROM Tasks;

Result:

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT TaskName SEPARATOR ' + ')                |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Do garden + Feed cats + Paint roof + Relax + Take dog for walk |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

GROUP_CONCAT and Combining Columns

SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(TaskId, ') ', TaskName SEPARATOR ' ') 
FROM Tasks;

Result:

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| GROUP_CONCAT(TaskId, ') ', TaskName SEPARATOR ' ')                                 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1) Do garden 2) Feed cats 3) Paint roof 4) Take dog for walk 5) Relax 6) Feed cats |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

GROUP_CONCAT and Grouped Results Assume that the following are the results before using GROUP_CONCAT

+------------------------+--------------------------+
| ArtistName             | AlbumName                |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| Iron Maiden            | Powerslave               |
| AC/DC                  | Powerage                 |
| Jim Reeves             | Singing Down the Lane    |
| Devin Townsend         | Ziltoid the Omniscient   |
| Devin Townsend         | Casualties of Cool       |
| Devin Townsend         | Epicloud                 |
| Iron Maiden            | Somewhere in Time        |
| Iron Maiden            | Piece of Mind            |
| Iron Maiden            | Killers                  |
| Iron Maiden            | No Prayer for the Dying  |
| The Script             | No Sound Without Silence |
| Buddy Rich             | Big Swing Face           |
| Michael Learns to Rock | Blue Night               |
| Michael Learns to Rock | Eternity                 |
| Michael Learns to Rock | Scandinavia              |
| Tom Jones              | Long Lost Suitcase       |
| Tom Jones              | Praise and Blame         |
| Tom Jones              | Along Came Jones         |
| Allan Holdsworth       | All Night Wrong          |
| Allan Holdsworth       | The Sixteen Men of Tain  |
+------------------------+--------------------------+

USE Music;
SELECT ar.ArtistName,
    GROUP_CONCAT(al.AlbumName)
FROM Artists ar
INNER JOIN Albums al
ON ar.ArtistId = al.ArtistId
GROUP BY ArtistName;

Result:

+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ArtistName             | GROUP_CONCAT(al.AlbumName)                                                 |
+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| AC/DC                  | Powerage                                                                   |
| Allan Holdsworth       | All Night Wrong,The Sixteen Men of Tain                                    |
| Buddy Rich             | Big Swing Face                                                             |
| Devin Townsend         | Epicloud,Ziltoid the Omniscient,Casualties of Cool                         |
| Iron Maiden            | Somewhere in Time,Piece of Mind,Powerslave,Killers,No Prayer for the Dying |
| Jim Reeves             | Singing Down the Lane                                                      |
| Michael Learns to Rock | Eternity,Scandinavia,Blue Night                                            |
| The Script             | No Sound Without Silence                                                   |
| Tom Jones              | Long Lost Suitcase,Praise and Blame,Along Came Jones                       |
+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+