Help me out with this MySql full outer join (or union)

Question

This is coming from converting MSSQL to MySql. The following is code I'm trying to get to work:

CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE PageIndex (
  IndexId int AUTO_INCREMENT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
  ItemId VARCHAR(64)
);

INSERT INTO PageIndex (ItemId)
SELECT Paths.PathId
  FROM Paths,
       ((SELECT Paths.PathId
           FROM AllUsers, Paths
          WHERE Paths.ApplicationId = @ApplicationId
            AND AllUsers.PathId = Paths.PathId
            AND (@Path IS NULL
                OR Paths.LoweredPath LIKE LOWER(@Path))) AS SharedDataPerPath
          UNION -- This used to be a FULL OUTER JOIN but MySQL doesnt support that.
        (SELECT DISTINCT Paths.PathId
           FROM PerUser, Paths
          WHERE Paths.ApplicationId = @ApplicationId
            AND PerUser.PathId = Paths.PathId
            AND (@Path IS NULL
                OR Paths.LoweredPath LIKE LOWER(@Path))) AS UserDataPerPath
             ON SharedDataPerPath.PathId = UserDataPerPath.PathId)
          WHERE Paths.PathId = SharedDataPerPath.PathId OR Paths.PathId = UserDataPerPath.PathId
          ORDER BY Paths.Path ASC;

Assume any variables exist already. Where this is breaking is on the 'As SharedDataPerPath' part, so I'm guessing that I aliasing a select statement so that you can access it like a table isn't supported in MySQL? If table schema would help, reply with a comment and I will add that to the question.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

A FULL OUTER JOIN can often be simulated with the UNION of both LEFT JOIN and RIGHT JOIN. i.e. it is all on the left and those on the right, matching where possible on the join criteria. It is usually extremely rarely used, in my experience. I have a large system where it is only used once.

What you seem to be wanting to do here because FULL OUTER JOIN is not available is to UNION two sets and set some JOIN criteria between the two subsets, which really isn't possible. The two sets that are UNIONed in your example cannot have aliases, nor can they have a WHERE clause which attempts to link them.

Answer 2

After reading my reply to Cade's comment I realized that I could just take what MSSQL does and break it down into temporary tables. Its a shame that MySql can't do this though. Here is my solution using MySql:

-- Assuming these are defined in my store procedure
DECLARE @ApplicationId VARCHAR(64);
DECLARE @Path VARCHAR(256);
SET @ApplicationId = NULL;
Set @Path = NULL;

CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE SharedDataPerPath
(
  PathId VARCHAR(256)
);

CREATE TABLE UserDataPerPath
(
  PathId VARCHAR(256)
);

-- Do this instead of aliasing a select statment 'AS SharedDataPerPath'
INSERT INTO SharedDataPerPath
SELECT Paths.PathId
  FROM aspnet_PersonalizationAllUsers AllUsers, aspnet_Paths Paths
 WHERE Paths.ApplicationId = @ApplicationId
   AND AllUsers.PathId = Paths.PathId
   AND (@Path IS NULL OR Paths.LoweredPath LIKE LOWER(@Path));

-- Do this instead of aliasing a select statement 'AS UserDataPerPath'
INSERT INTO UserDataPerPath
SELECT DISTINCT Paths.PathId
  FROM aspnet_PersonalizationPerUser PerUser, aspnet_Paths Paths
 WHERE Paths.ApplicationId = @ApplicationId
   AND PerUser.PathId = Paths.PathId
   AND (@Path IS NULL OR Paths.LoweredPath LIKE LOWER(@Path));

-- This is how I would do my 'FULL OUTER JOIN'
SELECT Paths.PathId
    FROM `wppi_net_db`.`aspnet_Paths` Paths,
         (SELECT *
            FROM SharedDataPerPath AS s
            LEFT OUTER JOIN UserDataPerPath AS u
              ON s.PathID = u.PathID
           UNION -- OR UNION ALL see: http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2006/05/26/how-to-write-full-outer-join-in-mysql/
          SELECT *
            FROM SharedDataPerPath AS s
           RIGHT OUTER JOIN UserDataPerPath AS u
              ON s.PathID = u.PathID) AS DataPerPaths
   WHERE Paths.PathId = DataPerPaths.PathId
   ORDER BY Paths.Path ASC;

-- At some point you need to drop your temp tables
DROP TEMPORARY TABLE SharedDataPerPath;
DROP TEMPORARY TABLE UserDataPerPath;