Examples of statements using EXISTS and their equivalent alternatives follow. You've seen some of them before.
Here are two ways to find authors who live in the same city as a publisher:
A. SELECT au_lname, au_fname
FROM authors
WHERE city =ANY
(SELECT city
FROM publishers)
B. SELECT au_lname, au_fname
FROM authors
WHERE exists
(SELECT *
FROM publishers
WHERE authors.city = publishers.city)
au_lname au_fname
-------- --------
Carson Cheryl
Bennet Abraham
(2 row(s) affected)
The two queries find titles of books published by any publisher located in a city that begins with the letter B:
C. SELECT title
FROM titles
WHERE pub_id IN
(SELECT pub_id
FROM publishers
WHERE city LIKE 'B%')
D. SELECT title
FROM titles
WHERE EXISTS
(SELECT *
FROM publishers
WHERE pub_id = titles.pub_id
AND city LIKE 'B%')
title
----------------------------------------------------
The Busy Executive's Database Guide
Cooking with Computers: Surreptitious Balance Sheets
You Can Combat Computer Stress!
Straight Talk About Computers
But Is It User Friendly?
Secrets of Silicon Valley
Net Etiquette
Is Anger the Enemy?
Life Without Fear
Prolonged Data Deprivation: Four Case Studies
Emotional Security: A New Algorithm
(11 row(s) affected)