Why does MySQL report a syntax error on FULL OUTER JOIN?

SELECT airline, airports.icao_code, continent, country, province, city, website 

FROM airlines 
FULL OUTER JOIN airports ON airlines.iaco_code = airports.iaco_code
FULL OUTER JOIN cities ON airports.city_id = cities.city_id
FULL OUTER JOIN provinces ON cities.province_id = provinces.province_id
FULL OUTER JOIN countries ON cities.country_id = countries.country_id
FULL OUTER JOIN continents ON countries.continent_id = continents.continent_id

It says that

You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'outer join airports on airlines.iaco_code = airports.iaco_code full outer join' at line 4

The syntax looks right to me. I've never done a lot of joins before, but I need those columns in a table which is cross referenced by various id's.

Solution 1:

There is no FULL OUTER JOIN in MySQL. See 7.2.12. Outer Join Simplification and 12.2.8.1. JOIN Syntax:

You can emulate FULL OUTER JOIN using UNION (from MySQL 4.0.0 on):

with two tables t1, t2:

SELECT * FROM t1
LEFT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
UNION
SELECT * FROM t1
RIGHT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id

with three tables t1, t2, t3:

SELECT * FROM t1
LEFT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
LEFT JOIN t3 ON t2.id = t3.id
UNION
SELECT * FROM t1
RIGHT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
LEFT JOIN t3 ON t2.id = t3.id
UNION
SELECT * FROM t1
RIGHT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
RIGHT JOIN t3 ON t2.id = t3.id

Solution 2:

cletus's answer isn't quite right. UNION will remove duplicate records that a FULL OUTER JOIN would include. If you need duplicates using something like:

SELECT * FROM t1
LEFT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
LEFT JOIN t3 ON t2.id = t3.id
LEFT JOIN t4 ON t3.id = t4.id
UNION ALL
SELECT * FROM t1
RIGHT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
LEFT JOIN t3 ON t2.id = t3.id
LEFT JOIN t4 ON t3.id = t4.id
WHERE t1.id IS NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT * FROM t1
RIGHT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
RIGHT JOIN t3 ON t2.id = t3.id
LEFT JOIN t4 ON t3.id = t4.id
WHERE t2.id IS NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT * FROM t1
RIGHT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
RIGHT JOIN t3 ON t2.id = t3.id
RIGHT JOIN t4 ON t3.id = t4.id
WHERE t3.id IS NULL;

Solution 3:

Just supplement the case when you need to FULL OUTER JOIN three tables t1, t2, t3. You could make t1, t2, t3, in turn, left joins the rest two tables, then union.

SELECT * FROM t1
LEFT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
LEFT JOIN t3 ON t1.id = t3.id
UNION
SELECT * FROM t2
LEFT JOIN t1 ON t2.id = t1.id
LEFT JOIN t3 ON t2.id = t3.id
UNION
SELECT * FROM t3
LEFT JOIN t1 ON t3.id = t1.id
LEFT JOIN t2 ON t3.id = t2.id