The Not Equal Operator

SQL supports the following symbols to denote the not equal operator: != and <>. The not equal operator will exclude the conditions where values are equal in the results.

Exercise 5.03: Using the != and <> Operators

The store manager realizes that the tomato sauce received has gone bad, so he does not want to present it in the list of available items. To write a query to display all the products except the tomato sauce, perform the following steps:

1. Enter the SELECT statement, using the WHERE clause and the != operator:

   SELECT ProductName,NetRetailPrice
   FROM Products
   WHERE ProductName != 'tomato sauce'
   ORDER BY NetRetailPrice;

2. Execute the query; you should see the following results:

   Figure 5.9: List of all products except tomato sauce after using the != operator

3. As an alternative, now replace the != symbol with the <> operator:

   SELECT ProductName,NetRetailPrice
   FROM Products
   WHERE ProductName <> 'tomato...