Please use the form below to provide your feedback. Because your feedback is valuable to us, the information you submit in this form is recorded in our issue tracking system (JIRA), which is publicly available. You can track the status of your feedback using the ticket number displayed in the dialog once you submit the form.

A newer version of this documentation is available.

View Latest

Comparison Operators

  • reference
March 23, 2025
+ 12

Comparison operators enable you to compare expressions.

The following tables describe each comparison operator and its return values.

Relational Operators

ebnf
ViewCopy
relational-expr ::= expr '=' expr |
                    expr '==' expr |
                    expr '!=' expr |
                    expr '<>' expr |
                    expr '>' expr |
                    expr '>=' expr |
                    expr '<' expr |
                    expr '<=' expr
Syntax diagram
Operator Description Returns

=

Equal to. Functionally equivalent to == for compatibility with other languages.

TRUE or FALSE

==

Equal to. Functionally equivalent to = for compatibility with other languages.

TRUE or FALSE

!=

Not equal to. Functionally equivalent to <> for compatibility with other languages.

TRUE or FALSE

<>

Not equal to. Functionally equivalent to != for compatibility with other languages.

TRUE or FALSE

>

Greater than.

TRUE or FALSE

>=

Greater than or equal to.

TRUE or FALSE

<

Less than.

TRUE or FALSE

<=

Less than or equal to.

TRUE or FALSE

BETWEEN

ebnf
ViewCopy
between-expr ::= expr 'NOT'? 'BETWEEN' start-expr 'AND' end-expr
Syntax diagram
Operator Description Returns

BETWEEN

Search criteria for a query where the value is between two values, including the end values specified in the range. Values can be numbers, text, or dates.

TRUE or FALSE

NOT BETWEEN

Search criteria for a query where the value is outside the range of two values, including the end values specified in the range. Values can be numbers, text, or dates.

TRUE or FALSE

LIKE

ebnf
ViewCopy
like-expr ::= expr 'NOT'? 'LIKE' expr
Syntax diagram
Operator Description Returns

LIKE

Match string with a wildcard expression. Use % for zero or more wildcards and _ to match any character at this place in a string.

The wildcard characters can be escaped by preceding them with a backslash (\). Backslash itself can also be escaped by preceding it with another backslash.

TRUE or FALSE

NOT LIKE

Inverse of LIKE. Return TRUE if string is not similar to given string.

TRUE or FALSE

IS

The IS family of operators lets you specify conditions based on the existence (or absence) of attributes in a data set.

ebnf
ViewCopy
is-expr ::= expr 'IS' 'NOT'? 'NULL' |
            expr 'IS' 'NOT'? 'MISSING' |
            expr 'IS' 'NOT'? 'VALUED'
Syntax diagram
Operator Description Returns

IS NULL

Field has value of NULL.

TRUE or FALSE

IS NOT NULL

Field has value or is missing.

TRUE or FALSE

IS MISSING

No value for field found.

TRUE or FALSE

IS NOT MISSING

Value for field found or value is NULL.

TRUE or FALSE

IS VALUED

Value for field found. Value is neither missing nor NULL

TRUE or FALSE

IS NOT VALUED

Value for field not found. Value is NULL.

TRUE or FALSE
Example 1. IS NULL
Query
n1ql
Copy
 SELECT fname, children
    FROM tutorial
       WHERE children IS NULL
Returns
json
Copy
{
  "results": [
    {
      "children": null,
      "fname": "Fred"
    }
  ]
}
Example 2. IS MISSING
Query
n1ql
Copy
    SELECT fname, children
       FROM tutorial
          WHERE children IS MISSING
Returns
json
Copy
    {
  "results": [
    {
      "fname": "Harry"
    },
    {
      "fname": "Jane"
    }
  ]
}

Comparison of Data Types

Strings

String comparison is done using a raw-byte collation of UTF-8 encoded strings — sometimes referred to as binary, C, or memcmp. This collation is case sensitive. Case-insensitive comparisons can be performed using the UPPER() or LOWER() functions. See String Functions for more information.

Arrays and Objects

Arrays are compared element-wise. Objects are first compared by length; objects of equal length are compared pairwise, with the pairs sorted by name.

NULL and MISSING

Except when using the IS family of operators, comparison of the MISSING or NULL data types produces the following results.

  • If either operand in a comparison is MISSING, the result is MISSING.

  • If either operand in a comparison is NULL, the result is NULL.

  • If either operand is MISSING or NULL, the result is MISSING or NULL.