create table t1 (a int, b varchar(32)); insert into t1 values (4,'aaaa' ), (7,'bb'), (1,'ccc'), (4,'dd'); insert into t1 values (3,'eee'), (7,'bb'), (1,'fff'), (4,'ggg'); --ERROR ER_RECURSIVE_WITHOUT_ANCHORS with recursive a1(a,b) as (select * from t1 where t1.a>3 union select * from b1 where b1.a >3 union select * from c1 where c1.a>3), b1(a,b) as (select * from a1 where a1.b > 'ccc' union select * from c1 where c1.b > 'ddd'), c1(a,b) as (select * from a1 where a1.a<6 and a1.b< 'zz' union select * from b1 where b1.b > 'auu') select * from c1; drop table t1; --echo # WITH RECURSIVE vs just WITH create table t1 (a int); insert into t1 values (0), (1), (2), (3), (4); create table t2 (a int); insert into t2 values (1), (2), (3), (4), (5); --echo # just WITH : s refers to t defined after s --ERROR ER_NO_SUCH_TABLE with s(a) as (select t.a + 10 from t), t(a) as (select t1.a from t1) select * from s; --echo # WITH RECURSIVE: s refers to t defined after s with recursive s(a) as (select t.a + 10 from t), t(a) as (select t1.a from t1) select * from s; --echo # just WITH : defined t1 is non-recursive and uses base tables t1,t2 with t1 as ( select a from t2 where t2.a=3 union select t2.a from t1,t2 where t1.a+1=t2.a ) select * from t1; explain with t1 as ( select a from t2 where t2.a=3 union select t2.a from t1,t2 where t1.a+1=t2.a ) select * from t1; --echo #WITH RECURSIVE : defined t1 is recursive and uses only base table t2 with recursive t1 as ( select a from t2 where t2.a=3 union select t2.a from t1,t2 where t1.a+1=t2.a ) select * from t1; explain with recursive t1 as ( select a from t2 where t2.a=3 union select t2.a from t1,t2 where t1.a+1=t2.a ) select * from t1; --echo # just WITH : types of t1 columns are determined by all parts of union create view v1 as with t1 as ( select a from t2 where t2.a=3 union select t2.a+1 from t1,t2 where t1.a=t2.a ) select * from t1; show columns from v1; --echo # WITH RECURSIVE : types of t1 columns are determined by anchor parts create view v2 as with recursive t1 as ( select a from t2 where t2.a=3 union select t2.a+1 from t1,t2 where t1.a=t2.a ) select * from t1; show columns from v2; drop view v1,v2; drop table t1,t2; create table folks(id int, name char(32), dob date, father int, mother int); insert into folks values (100, 'Me', '2000-01-01', 20, 30), (20, 'Dad', '1970-02-02', 10, 9), (30, 'Mom', '1975-03-03', 8, 7), (10, 'Grandpa Bill', '1940-04-05', null, null), (9, 'Grandma Ann', '1941-10-15', null, null), (25, 'Uncle Jim', '1968-11-18', 8, 7), (98, 'Sister Amy', '2001-06-20', 20, 30), (7, 'Grandma Sally', '1943-08-23', null, 6), (8, 'Grandpa Ben', '1940-10-21', null, null), (6, 'Grandgrandma Martha', '1923-05-17', null, null), (67, 'Cousin Eddie', '1992-02-28', 25, 27), (27, 'Auntie Melinda', '1971-03-29', null, null); with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' and dob = '2000-01-01' union select p.id, p.name, p.dob, p.father, p.mother from folks as p, ancestors AS a where p.id = a.father or p.id = a.mother ) select * from ancestors; with recursive ancestors as ( select p.* from folks as p, ancestors AS a where p.id = a.father or p.id = a.mother union select * from folks where name = 'Me' and dob = '2000-01-01' ) select * from ancestors; with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Cousin Eddie' union select p.* from folks as p, ancestors as a where p.id = a.father or p.id = a.mother ) select * from ancestors; with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' or name='Sister Amy' union select p.* from folks as p, ancestors as a where p.id = a.father or p.id = a.mother ) select * from ancestors; with recursive prev_gen as ( select folks.* from folks, prev_gen where folks.id=prev_gen.father or folks.id=prev_gen.mother union select * from folks where name='Me' ), ancestors as ( select * from folks where name='Me' union select * from ancestors union select * from prev_gen ) select ancestors.name, ancestors.dob from ancestors; with recursive descendants as ( select * from folks where name = 'Grandpa Bill' union select folks.* from folks, descendants as d where d.id=folks.father or d.id=folks.mother ) select * from descendants; with recursive descendants as ( select * from folks where name = 'Grandma Sally' union select folks.* from folks, descendants as d where d.id=folks.father or d.id=folks.mother ) select * from descendants; with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' and dob = '2000-01-01' union select p.* from folks as p, ancestors AS a where p.id = a.father OR p.id = a.mother ) select * from ancestors t1, ancestors t2 where exists (select * from ancestors a where a.father=t1.id AND a.mother=t2.id); with ancestor_couples(husband, h_dob, wife, w_dob) as ( with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' union select p.* from folks as p, ancestors AS a where p.id = a.father OR p.id = a.mother ) select t1.name, t1.dob, t2.name, t2.dob from ancestors t1, ancestors t2 where exists (select * from ancestors a where a.father=t1.id AND a.mother=t2.id) ) select * from ancestor_couples; with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' union select p.* from folks as p, ancestors as fa where p.id = fa.father union select p.* from folks as p, ancestors as ma where p.id = ma.mother ) select * from ancestors; with recursive ancestor_couples(h_id, h_name, h_dob, h_father, h_mother, w_id, w_name, w_dob, w_father, w_mother) as ( select h.*, w.* from folks h, folks w, coupled_ancestors a where a.father = h.id AND a.mother = w.id union select h.*, w.* from folks v, folks h, folks w where v.name = 'Me' and (v.father = h.id AND v.mother= w.id) ), coupled_ancestors (id, name, dob, father, mother) as ( select h_id, h_name, h_dob, h_father, h_mother from ancestor_couples union select w_id, w_name, w_dob, w_father, w_mother from ancestor_couples ) select h_name, h_dob, w_name, w_dob from ancestor_couples; prepare stmt1 from " with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' and dob = '2000-01-01' union select p.id, p.name, p.dob, p.father, p.mother from folks as p, ancestors AS a where p.id = a.father or p.id = a.mother ) select * from ancestors; "; execute stmt1; execute stmt1; deallocate prepare stmt1; create view v1 as with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' and dob = '2000-01-01' union select p.id, p.name, p.dob, p.father, p.mother from folks as p, ancestors AS a where p.id = a.father or p.id = a.mother ) select * from ancestors; show create view v1; select * from v1; create view v2 as with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' union select p.* from folks as p, ancestors as fa where p.id = fa.father union select p.* from folks as p, ancestors as ma where p.id = ma.mother ) select * from ancestors; show create view v2; select * from v2; drop view v1,v2; explain extended with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' and dob = '2000-01-01' union select p.id, p.name, p.dob, p.father, p.mother from folks as p, ancestors AS a where p.id = a.father or p.id = a.mother ) select * from ancestors; with recursive ancestor_ids (id) as ( select father from folks where name = 'Me' union select mother from folks where name = 'Me' union select father from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id union select mother from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id ), ancestors as ( select p.* from folks as p, ancestor_ids as a where p.id = a.id ) select * from ancestors; with recursive ancestors as ( select * from folks where name = 'Me' union all select p.* from folks as p, ancestors as fa where p.id = fa.father union all select p.* from folks as p, ancestors as ma where p.id = ma.mother ) select * from ancestors; --ERROR ER_NOT_STANDARDS_COMPLIANT_RECURSIVE with recursive ancestor_ids (id, generation) as ( select father, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' and father is not null union all select mother, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' and mother is not null union all select father, fa.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids fa where folks.id = fa.id and (father not in (select id from ancestor_ids)) union all select mother, ma.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids ma where folks.id = ma.id and (mother not in (select id from ancestor_ids)) ) select generation, name from ancestor_ids a, folks where a.id = folks.id; set standards_compliant_cte=0; --ERROR ER_WITH_COL_WRONG_LIST with recursive ancestor_ids (id, generation) as ( select father from folks where name = 'Me' and father is not null union all select mother from folks where name = 'Me' and mother is not null union all select father, fa.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids fa where folks.id = fa.id and (father not in (select id from ancestor_ids)) union all select mother, ma.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids ma where folks.id = ma.id and (mother not in (select id from ancestor_ids)) ) select generation, name from ancestor_ids a, folks where a.id = folks.id; with recursive ancestor_ids (id, generation) as ( select father, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' and father is not null union all select mother, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' and mother is not null union all select father, fa.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids fa where folks.id = fa.id and father is not null and (father not in (select id from ancestor_ids)) union all select mother, ma.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids ma where folks.id = ma.id and mother is not null and (mother not in (select id from ancestor_ids)) ) select generation, name from ancestor_ids a, folks where a.id = folks.id; set standards_compliant_cte=1; --ERROR ER_NOT_STANDARDS_COMPLIANT_RECURSIVE with recursive coupled_ancestor_ids (id) as ( select father from folks where name = 'Me' and father is not null union select mother from folks where name = 'Me' and mother is not null union select n.father from folks, coupled_ancestor_ids fa, coupled_ancestor_ids ma, folks n where folks.father = fa.id and folks.mother = ma.id and (fa.id = n.id or ma.id = n.id) and n.father is not null and n.mother is not null union select n.mother from folks, coupled_ancestor_ids fa, coupled_ancestor_ids ma, folks n where folks.father = fa.id and folks.mother = ma.id and (fa.id = n.id or ma.id = n.id) and n.father is not null and n.mother is not null ) select p.* from coupled_ancestor_ids a, folks p where a.id = p.id; set statement standards_compliant_cte=0 for with recursive coupled_ancestor_ids (id) as ( select father from folks where name = 'Me' and father is not null union select mother from folks where name = 'Me' and mother is not null union select n.father from folks, coupled_ancestor_ids fa, coupled_ancestor_ids ma, folks n where folks.father = fa.id and folks.mother = ma.id and (fa.id = n.id or ma.id = n.id) and n.father is not null and n.mother is not null union select n.mother from folks, coupled_ancestor_ids fa, coupled_ancestor_ids ma, folks n where folks.father = fa.id and folks.mother = ma.id and (fa.id = n.id or ma.id = n.id) and n.father is not null and n.mother is not null ) select p.* from coupled_ancestor_ids a, folks p where a.id = p.id; --ERROR ER_NOT_STANDARDS_COMPLIANT_RECURSIVE with recursive ancestor_ids (id) as ( select father from folks where name = 'Me' union select mother from folks where name = 'Me' union select father from folks left join ancestor_ids a on folks.id = a.id union select mother from folks left join ancestor_ids a on folks.id = a.id ), ancestors as ( select p.* from folks as p, ancestor_ids as a where p.id = a.id ) select * from ancestors; set statement standards_compliant_cte=0 for with recursive ancestor_ids (id) as ( select father from folks where name = 'Me' union select mother from folks where name = 'Me' union select father from folks left join ancestor_ids a on folks.id = a.id union select mother from folks left join ancestor_ids a on folks.id = a.id ), ancestors as ( select p.* from folks as p, ancestor_ids as a where p.id = a.id ) select * from ancestors; with recursive ancestor_ids (id, generation) as ( select father, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' union select mother, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' union select father, a.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id union select mother, a.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id ), ancestors as ( select generation, name from folks as p, ancestor_ids as a where p.id = a.id ) select * from ancestors; --ERROR ER_NOT_STANDARDS_COMPLIANT_RECURSIVE with recursive ancestor_ids (id, generation) as ( select father, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' union select mother, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' union select max(father), max(a.generation)+1 from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id group by a.generation union select max(mother), max(a.generation)+1 from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id group by a.generation ), ancestors as ( select generation, name from folks as p, ancestor_ids as a where p.id = a.id ) select * from ancestors; set statement standards_compliant_cte=0 for with recursive ancestor_ids (id, generation) as ( select father, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' union select mother, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' union select max(father), a.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id group by a.generation union select max(mother), a.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id group by a.generation ), ancestors as ( select generation, name from folks as p, ancestor_ids as a where p.id = a.id ) select * from ancestors; set statement max_recursion_level=2 for with recursive ancestor_ids (id, generation) as ( select father, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' union select mother, 1 from folks where name = 'Me' union select father, a.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id union select mother, a.generation+1 from folks, ancestor_ids a where folks.id = a.id ), ancestors as ( select generation, name from folks as p, ancestor_ids as a where p.id = a.id ) select * from ancestors; drop table folks;