‭SET Operators in Oracle with Examples‬

‭ QL‬‭set‬‭operators‬‭allow‬‭combining‬‭results‬‭from‬‭two‬‭or‬‭more‬‭SELECT‬‭statements.‬‭At‬‭first‬‭sight,‬‭this‬‭looks‬‭similar‬‭to‬
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‭SQL‬ ‭joins‬ ‭although‬ ‭there‬‭is‬‭a‬‭big‬‭difference.‬‭SQL‬‭joins‬‭tends‬‭to‬‭combine‬‭columns‬‭i.e.‬‭with‬‭each‬‭additionally‬‭joined‬
‭table‬ ‭it‬ ‭is‬ ‭possible‬ ‭to‬ ‭select‬ ‭more‬ ‭and‬ ‭more‬ ‭columns.‬ ‭SQL‬ ‭set‬ ‭operators‬ ‭on‬ ‭the‬ ‭other‬ ‭hand‬ ‭combine‬ ‭rows‬ ‭from‬
‭different‬ ‭queries‬‭with‬‭strong‬‭preconditions‬‭–‬‭all‬‭involved‬‭SELECTS‬‭must.‬‭Joins‬‭we‬‭are‬‭collecting‬‭the‬‭data‬‭from‬‭two‬
‭tables when there is common data. But in set operators the data is not joined, in this, the data is merged‬
‭1.‬ ‭Retrieve the same number of columns and‬
‭2.‬ ‭The‬‭data‬‭types‬‭of‬‭corresponding‬‭columns‬‭in‬‭each‬‭involved‬‭SELECT‬‭must‬‭be‬‭compatible‬‭(either‬‭the‬‭same‬‭or‬
‭with possibility implicitly convert to the data types of the first SELECT statement).‬

‭Types of SET Operators in Oracle:‬

‭There are four types of SET Operators available in Oracle. They are as follows:‬
‭1.‬ ‭UNION‬‭: It Returns all distinct rows selected by either query‬
‭2.‬ ‭UNION ALL:‬‭It Returns all rows selected by either query, including all duplicates‬
‭3.‬ ‭INTERSECT‬‭: It Returns all distinct rows selected by both queries‬
‭4.‬ ‭MINUS‬‭: It Returns all distinct rows selected by the first query but not the second‬

‭ ou‬ ‭can‬ ‭combine‬ ‭multiple‬ ‭queries‬ ‭using‬ ‭the‬ ‭set‬ ‭operators‬ ‭UNION,‬ ‭UNION‬‭ALL,‬‭INTERSECT,‬‭and‬‭MINUS.‬‭All‬‭set‬
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‭operators‬ ‭have‬ ‭equal‬ ‭precedence.‬ ‭If‬ ‭a‬ ‭SQL‬ ‭statement‬ ‭contains‬ ‭multiple‬ ‭set‬ ‭operators,‬ ‭then‬ ‭Oracle‬ ‭Database‬
‭evaluates them from the left to right unless parentheses explicitly specify another order.‬
‭The‬ ‭corresponding‬ ‭expressions‬ ‭in‬ ‭the‬ ‭select‬ ‭lists‬ ‭of‬ ‭the‬ ‭component‬ ‭queries‬ ‭of‬ ‭a‬ ‭compound‬ ‭query‬ ‭must‬‭match‬‭in‬
‭number and must be in the same datatype group.‬

‭If component queries select character data, then the data type of the return values are determined as follows:‬
‭1.‬ ‭If‬ ‭both‬ ‭queries‬ ‭select‬ ‭values‬ ‭of‬ ‭datatype‬ ‭CHAR‬ ‭of‬ ‭equal‬ ‭length,‬ ‭then‬ ‭the‬ ‭returned‬ ‭values‬‭have‬‭datatype‬
‭CHAR‬‭of‬‭that‬‭length.‬‭If‬‭the‬‭queries‬‭select‬‭values‬‭of‬‭CHAR‬‭with‬‭different‬‭lengths,‬‭then‬‭the‬‭returned‬‭value‬‭is‬
‭VARCHAR2 with the length of the larger CHAR value.‬
‭2.‬ ‭If‬‭either‬‭or‬‭both‬‭of‬‭the‬‭queries‬‭select‬‭values‬‭of‬‭datatype‬‭VARCHAR2,‬‭then‬‭the‬‭returned‬‭values‬‭have‬‭datatype‬
‭VARCHAR2.‬
‭In‬‭queries‬‭using‬‭set‬‭operators,‬‭Oracle‬‭does‬‭not‬‭perform‬‭implicit‬‭conversion‬‭across‬‭datatype‬‭groups.‬‭Therefore,‬‭if‬‭the‬
‭corresponding‬‭expressions‬‭of‬‭component‬‭queries‬‭resolve‬‭to‬‭both‬‭character‬‭data‬‭and‬‭numeric‬‭data,‬‭Oracle‬‭returns‬‭an‬
‭error.‬

‭Set Operator Guidelines in Oracle:‬

‭1.‬ ‭In‬‭every‬‭result‬‭set‬‭the‬‭data‬‭type‬‭of‬‭each‬‭column‬‭must‬‭be‬‭compatible‬‭(well-matched)‬‭to‬‭the‬‭data‬‭type‬‭of‬‭its‬
‭ orresponding column in other result sets.‬
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‭2.‬ ‭The result sets of all queries must have the same number of columns.‬
‭3.‬ ‭Parentheses can be used to alter the sequence of execution.‬
‭ .‬ ‭In‬ ‭order‬ ‭to‬ ‭sort‬ ‭the‬ ‭result,‬ ‭an‬ ‭ORDER‬‭BY‬‭clause‬‭should‬‭be‬‭part‬‭of‬‭the‬‭last‬‭select‬‭statement.‬‭The‬‭column‬
4
‭names or aliases must be found out by the first select statement, or the positional notation‬
‭5.‬ ‭Column names from the first query appear in the result.‬
‭Advantage of SET operators in Oracle:‬
1‭ .‬ ‭ se a set operator to combine multiple queries into a single query‬
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‭2.‬ ‭These operators are used to combine the information of similar data types from one or more than one table.‬
‭Restrictions on the Set Operators:‬
‭The set operators are subject to the following restrictions:‬
‭1.‬ ‭The ORDER BY clause doesn’t recognize the column names of the second SELECT‬
‭2.‬ ‭The set operators are not valid on columns of type BLOB, CLOB, BFILE, VARRAY, or nested table.‬
‭3.‬ ‭The UNION, INTERSECT, and MINUS operators are not valid on LONG columns.‬
‭4.‬ ‭Set operations are not allowed on SELECT statements containing TABLE collection expressions.‬
‭5.‬ ‭SELECT statements involved in set operations can’t use the FOR UPDATE clause.‬
‭SQL‬‭statements‬‭containing‬‭these‬‭set‬‭operators‬‭are‬‭referred‬‭to‬‭as‬‭compound‬‭queries,‬‭and‬‭each‬‭SELECT‬‭statement‬‭in‬
‭a‬‭compound‬‭query‬‭is‬‭referred‬‭to‬‭as‬‭a‬‭component‬‭query.‬‭Two‬‭SELECTs‬‭can‬‭be‬‭combined‬‭into‬‭a‬‭compound‬‭query‬‭by‬‭a‬
‭set operation only if they satisfy the following two conditions:‬
‭1.‬ ‭The result sets of both the queries must have the same number of columns.‬
‭2.‬ ‭The‬‭data‬‭type‬‭of‬‭each‬‭column‬‭in‬‭the‬‭second‬‭result‬‭set‬‭must‬‭match‬‭the‬‭data‬‭type‬‭of‬‭its‬‭corresponding‬‭column‬
‭in the first result set.‬
‭Syntax of SET Operators in Oracle:‬
‭ he generic syntax of a query involving a set operation is:‬
T
‭<Component Query>‬
‭{UNION | UNION ALL | MINUS | INTERSECT}‬
‭<Component Query>‬
‭Examples to understand SET Operators in Oracle:‬
‭ e‬ ‭are‬ ‭going‬ ‭to‬ ‭use‬ ‭the‬ ‭following‬ ‭EmployeeUK‬ ‭and‬ ‭EmployeeUSA‬ ‭tables‬ ‭to‬ ‭understand‬ ‭the‬ ‭SET‬ ‭Operators‬ ‭in‬
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‭Oracle.‬

‭Please use the below SQL Script to create the EmployeeUK and EmployeeUSA tables with the required data.‬
‭ REATE‬‭TABLE‬‭EmployeeUK‬
C
‭(‬
‭EmployeeId‬‭INT‬‭,‬
‭FirstName‬‭VARCHAR‬‭(‬‭20‬‭),‬
‭LastName‬‭VARCHAR‬‭(‬‭20‬‭),‬
‭Gender‬‭VARCHAR‬‭(‭1 ‬ 0‬‭),‬
‭Department‬‭VARCHAR‬‭(‭2 ‬ 0‬‭)‬
‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUK‬‭VALUES‬‭(‬‭1‬‭,‬‭'Pranaya'‬‭,‬‭'Rout'‬‭,‬‭'Male'‬‭,‬‭'IT'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUK‬‭VALUES‬‭(‬‭2‬‭,‬‭'Priyanka'‬‭,‬‭'Dewangan'‬‭,‬‭'Female'‬‭,‭'‬IT'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUK‬‭VALUES‬‭(‬‭3‬‭,‬‭'Preety'‬‭,‬‭'Tiwary'‬‭,‬‭'Female'‬‭,‬‭'HR'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUK‬‭VALUES‬‭(‬‭4‬‭,‬‭'Subrat'‬‭,‬‭'Sahoo'‬‭,‬‭'Male'‬‭,‭'‬HR'‬‭);‬
I‭NSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUK‬‭VALUES‬‭(‬‭5‬‭,‬‭'Anurag'‬‭,‬‭'Mohanty'‬‭,‬‭'Male'‬‭,‬‭'IT'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUK‬‭VALUES‬‭(‬‭6‬‭,‬‭'Rajesh'‬‭,‬‭'Pradhan'‬‭,‬‭'Male'‬‭,‭'‬HR'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUK‬‭VALUES‬‭(‬‭7‬‭,‬‭'Hina'‬‭,‬‭'Sharma'‬‭,‬‭'Female'‬‭,‬‭'IT'‬‭);‬
‭CREATE‬‭TABLE‬‭EmployeeUSA‬
‭(‬
‭EmployeeId‬‭INT‬‭,‬
‭FirstName‬‭VARCHAR‬‭(‬‭20‬‭),‬
‭LastName‬‭VARCHAR‬‭(‬‭20‬‭),‬
‭Gender‬‭VARCHAR‬‭(‭1 ‬ 0‬‭),‬
‭Department‬‭VARCHAR‬‭(‭2 ‬ 0‬‭)‬
‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUSA‬‭VALUES‬‭(‭1 ‬ ‬‭,‬‭'James'‬‭,‬‭'Pattrick'‬‭,‬‭'Male'‬‭,‭'‬IT'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUSA‬‭VALUES‬‭(‭2 ‬ ‬‭,‬‭'Priyanka'‬‭,‬‭'Dewangan'‬‭,‬‭'Female'‬‭,‬‭'IT'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUSA‬‭VALUES‬‭(‭3 ‬ ‬‭,‬‭'Sara'‬‭,‬‭'Taylor'‬‭,‬‭'Female'‬‭,‬‭'HR'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUSA‬‭VALUES‬‭(‭4 ‬ ‬‭,‬‭'Subrat'‬‭,‬‭'Sahoo'‬‭,‬‭'Male'‬‭,‭'‬HR'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUSA‬‭VALUES‬‭(‭5 ‬ ‬‭,‬‭'Sushanta'‬‭,‬‭'Jena'‬‭,‬‭'Male'‬‭,‭'‬HR'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUSA‬‭VALUES‬‭(‭6‬ ‬‭,‬‭'Mahesh'‬‭,‬‭'Sindhey'‬‭,‬‭'Female'‬‭,‬‭'HR'‬‭);‬
‭INSERT‬‭INTO‬‭EmployeeUSA‬‭VALUES‬‭(‭7
‬ ‬‭,‬‭'Hina'‬‭,‬‭'Sharma'‬‭,‬‭'Female'‬‭,‭'‬IT'‬‭);‬

‭UNION Operator in Oracle‬

‭ he‬‭UNION‬‭operator‬‭is‬‭used‬‭to‬‭combine‬‭the‬‭result‬‭set‬‭of‬‭two‬‭or‬‭more‬‭SELECT‬‭statements‬‭into‬‭a‬‭single‬‭result‬‭set‬‭and‬
T
‭then‬‭eliminates‬‭any‬‭duplicate‬‭rows‬‭from‬‭the‬‭final‬‭result‬‭set.‬‭That‬‭means‬‭the‬‭UNION‬‭Operator‬‭selects‬‭only‬‭the‬‭distinct‬
‭values.‬

‭Following is the Syntax to use UNION Operator in Oracle.‬

‭UNION Operator Example in Oracle:‬

‭ he‬ ‭following‬ ‭SQL‬ ‭query‬ ‭combines‬ ‭two‬ ‭select‬ ‭statements‬ ‭using‬ ‭the‬ ‭UNION‬ ‭operator.‬ ‭In‬ ‭our‬ ‭example,‬ ‭both‬ ‭the‬
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‭EmployeeUK and EmployeeUSA tables have seven records.‬
‭SELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUK‬
‭ NION‬
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‭SELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUSA;‬

‭ he‬ ‭above‬ ‭statement‬ ‭combines‬ ‭the‬ ‭results‬ ‭of‬ ‭two‬ ‭queries‬ ‭with‬ ‭the‬ ‭UNION‬ ‭operator,‬ ‭which‬ ‭eliminates‬ ‭duplicate‬
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‭selected‬‭rows.‬‭Once‬‭you‬‭execute‬‭the‬‭above‬‭query,‬‭you‬‭will‬‭get‬‭the‬‭following‬‭result‬‭set.‬‭Please‬‭observe,‬‭here‬‭we‬‭don’t‬
‭have‬‭any‬‭duplicate‬‭data.‬‭Here,‬‭in‬‭the‬‭result‬‭set,‬‭we‬‭got‬‭a‬‭total‬‭of‬‭11‬‭rows‬‭out‬‭of‬‭14‬‭rows.‬‭This‬‭is‬‭because‬‭3‬‭rows‬‭are‬
‭present in both the result set.‬

‭UNION ALL Operator in Oracle‬

‭ he‬ ‭UNION‬‭ALL‬‭operator‬‭is‬‭used‬‭to‬‭combine‬‭the‬‭result‬‭set‬‭of‬‭two‬‭or‬‭more‬‭SELECT‬‭statements‬‭into‬‭a‬‭single‬‭result‬
T
‭including the duplicate values. Following is the pictorial representation of UNION ALL Operator.‬
‭Following is the Syntax to use UNION ALL Operator in Oracle.‬

‭UNION ALL Operator Example in Oracle:‬

‭ he‬‭following‬‭query‬‭combines‬‭the‬‭result‬‭sets‬‭of‬‭two‬‭select‬‭statements‬‭into‬‭a‬‭single‬‭result‬‭set‬‭using‬‭the‬‭UNION‬‭ALL‬
T
‭operator in Oracle.‬
‭ ELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUK‬
S
‭UNION‬‭ALL‬
‭SELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUSA;‬

‭ nce‬‭you‬‭execute‬‭the‬‭above‬‭UNION‬‭ALL‬‭query,‬‭you‬‭will‬‭get‬‭the‬‭following‬‭result‬‭set.‬‭Please‬‭observe,‬‭here‬‭we‬‭got‬‭all‬
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‭the 14 rows in the result set.‬

‭Differences between UNION and UNION ALL Operator in Oracle‬

‭ he‬‭UNION‬‭operator‬‭returns‬‭only‬‭distinct‬‭rows‬‭that‬‭appear‬‭in‬‭either‬‭result,‬‭while‬‭the‬‭UNION‬‭ALL‬‭operator‬‭returns‬‭all‬
T
‭rows.‬‭The‬‭UNION‬‭ALL‬‭operator‬‭does‬‭not‬‭eliminate‬‭duplicate‬‭selected‬‭rows. When‬‭we‬‭use‬‭a‬‭UNION‬‭operator,‬‭in‬‭order‬
‭to‬ ‭remove‬‭the‬‭duplicate‬‭rows‬‭from‬‭the‬‭result‬‭set,‬‭it‬‭has‬‭to‬‭do‬‭a‬‭distinct‬‭operation‬‭which‬‭is‬‭time-consuming.‬‭For‬‭this‬
‭reason, UNION ALL is much faster than UNION Operator in Oracle. ‬
‭UNION/UNION ALL with ORDER BY Clause in Oracle‬
‭ he‬ ‭UNION/UNION‬ ‭ALL‬ ‭Operator‬ ‭can‬ ‭be‬ ‭used‬ ‭with‬ ‭the‬ ‭ORDER‬ ‭BY‬ ‭clause‬ ‭to‬ ‭sort‬ ‭the‬ ‭result‬ ‭returned‬ ‭from‬ ‭the‬
T
‭query. Suppose‬‭we‬‭want‬‭to‬‭sort‬‭the‬‭employees‬‭by‬‭First‬‭Name‬‭column‬‭values.‬‭ORDER‬‭BY‬‭clause‬‭should‬‭be‬‭part‬‭of‬
‭the last select statement. The SQL statement will be:‬
‭ ELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUK‬
S
‭UNION‬
‭SELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUSA‬
‭ORDER BY‬‭FirstName;‬

‭ ow‬‭when‬‭you‬‭execute‬‭the‬‭above‬‭query‬‭and‬‭you‬‭will‬‭get‬‭the‬‭following‬‭output.‬‭Here‬‭you‬‭can‬‭see‬‭the‬‭employees‬‭are‬
N
‭sorted according to their FirstName column values.‬

‭INTERSECT Operator in Oracle‬

‭ he‬ ‭INTERSECT‬ ‭operator‬‭in‬‭Oracle‬‭is‬‭used‬‭to‬‭combine‬‭two‬‭result‬‭sets‬‭and‬‭returns‬‭the‬‭data‬‭which‬‭are‬‭common‬‭in‬
T
‭both‬‭the‬‭result‬‭set.‬‭That‬‭means‬‭the‬‭INTERSECT‬‭Operator‬‭returns‬‭only‬‭those‬‭rows‬‭that‬‭are‬‭common‬‭in‬‭both‬‭the‬‭result‬
‭sets. Following is the pictorial representation of INTERSECT Operator.‬
‭Following is the syntax of INTERSECT operator in Oracle.‬

‭INTERSECT operator Example in Oracle:‬

‭ he‬‭following‬‭query‬‭combines‬‭the‬‭result‬‭sets‬‭of‬‭two‬‭select‬‭statements‬‭into‬‭a‬‭single‬‭result‬‭set‬‭using‬‭the‬‭INTERSECT‬
T
‭operator in Oracle.‬
‭ ELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUK‬
S
‭INTERSECT‬
‭SELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUSA;‬

‭ he‬‭above‬‭statement‬‭combines‬‭the‬‭results‬‭with‬‭the‬‭INTERSECT‬‭operator,‬‭which‬‭returns‬‭only‬‭those‬‭rows‬‭returned‬‭by‬
T
‭both‬‭queries.‬‭Once‬‭you‬‭execute‬‭the‬‭above‬‭INTERSECT‬‭query,‬‭you‬‭will‬‭get‬‭the‬‭following‬‭result‬‭set.‬‭Please‬‭observe,‬
‭here we got only 3 rows in the result set which are common in both the result set.‬

‭MINUS Operator in Oracle‬

‭ he‬‭MINUS‬‭operator‬‭in‬‭Oracle‬‭is‬‭used‬‭to‬‭return‬‭unique‬‭rows‬‭from‬‭the‬‭left‬‭query‬‭which‬‭isn’t‬‭present‬‭in‬‭the‬‭right‬‭query’s‬
T
‭results.‬ ‭That‬ ‭means‬ ‭the‬‭MINUS‬‭Operator‬‭takes‬‭the‬‭result‬‭set‬‭of‬‭the‬‭first‬‭select‬‭statement‬‭and‬‭removes‬‭those‬‭rows‬
‭that are returned by a second select statement. Following is the pictorial representation of the MINUS Operator.‬
‭Following is the syntax of the MINUS operator in Oracle.‬

‭MINUS Operator Example in Oracle:‬

‭ he‬ ‭following‬ ‭SQL‬ ‭Query‬ ‭will‬ ‭return‬ ‭the‬ ‭unique‬ ‭rows‬ ‭from‬ ‭the‬ ‭left‬ ‭query‬ ‭(the‬ ‭select‬ ‭statement‬‭before‬‭the‬‭MINUS‬
T
‭operator) that is not present in the right query (the select statement after the MINUS operator).‬
‭ ELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUK‬
S
‭MINUS‬
‭SELECT‬‭FirstName, LastName, Gender, Department‬‭FROM‬‭EmployeeUSA;‬

‭ he‬‭above‬‭statement‬‭combines‬‭results‬‭with‬‭the‬‭MINUS‬‭operator,‬‭which‬‭returns‬‭only‬‭unique‬‭rows‬‭returned‬‭by‬‭the‬‭first‬
T
‭query‬ ‭but‬ ‭not‬ ‭by‬‭the‬‭second.‬‭Once‬‭you‬‭execute‬‭the‬‭above‬‭MINUS‬‭Operator‬‭query,‬‭you‬‭will‬‭get‬‭the‬‭following‬‭result‬
‭set.‬‭Please‬‭observe,‬‭here‬‭we‬‭got‬‭only‬‭4‬‭rows‬‭in‬‭the‬‭result‬‭set‬‭which‬‭are‬‭present‬‭in‬‭the‬‭first‬‭result‬‭set‬‭but‬‭not‬‭in‬‭the‬
‭second result set.‬
I‭n‬ ‭the‬ ‭next‬ ‭article,‬ ‭I‬ ‭am‬ ‭going‬ ‭to‬ ‭discuss ‭U
‬ NION‬‭‭O
‬ perator‬ ‭in‬ ‭Oracle‬‭with‬‭Examples‬‭.‬‭Here,‬‭in‬‭this‬‭article,‬‭I‬‭try‬‭to‬
‭explain ‬‭SET‬‭‭O ‬ perators‬‭in‬‭Oracle‬‭with‬‭Examples‬‭and‬‭I‬‭hope‬‭you‬‭enjoy‬‭this‬‭SET‬‭Operators‬‭in‬‭Oracle‬‭with‬‭Examples‬
‭article.‬‭If‬‭you‬‭have‬‭any‬‭queries‬‭regarding‬‭the‬‭Oracle‬‭SET‬‭Operators,‬‭then‬‭please‬‭let‬‭us‬‭know‬‭by‬‭putting‬‭your‬‭query‬‭in‬
‭the comment section.‬