---
title: "8: Tips when selecting records | SurrealDB University"
description: "Follow along with interactive SurrealDB lessons featuring hands-on exercises, code examples, and step-by-step instructions."
url: https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-08
---

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Course chapters

[Welcome to the Tour of SurrealDB!](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour) [1: Connecting to a database](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-01) [2: Creating records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-02) [3: Using the ONLY keyword](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-03) [4: Non-ASCII record IDs](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-04) [5: Parentheses, indexing, and accessing fields](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-05) [6: Deleting records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-06) [7: Field order in objects](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-07) [8: Tips when selecting records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-08) [9: Casting and aliases](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-09) [10: Affixes](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-10) [11: Updating records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-11) [12: Linking records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-12) [13: Viewing the database as a whole](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-13) [14: Schemafull and schemaless](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-14) [15: Viewing the schema](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-15) [16: Literal types and assertions](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-16) [17: INSERT and using JSON](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-17) [18: FOR loops](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-18) [19: Basic graph relations](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-19) [20: Creating graph edges](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-20) [21: Querying graph relations](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-21) [22: Graph relations at greater depth](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-22) [23: Adding and improving data](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-23) [24: Defining events](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-24) [25: Defining indexes](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-25) [26: Improving the schema](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-26) [27: Visualising graph paths](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-27) [28: Recursive queries: setup](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-28) [29: Recursive queries](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-29) [30: More on recursive queries](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-30) [31: AI vector search](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-31) [Done the tour!](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-32)

# 8: Tips when selecting records

Since we have a `place` record in the database with some fields, we can use a [`SELECT`](https://surrealdb.com/docs/reference/query-language/statements/select) statement to take a look at it. `SELECT` is followed by the fields to display and ends with `FROM` and the target. In this case the target is `place`, meaning all `place` records in the database.

```
SELECT name, address FROM place;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

The output is an array of the `address` and `name` fields of every `place` record in the database.

Response

```surql
[
  {
    address: '2025 Statement Street, Riverdale',
    name: 'Surreal Library'
  }
]
```

Instead of selecting all records from a table, you can add a `WHERE` clause to just select the ones that match a condition - or none at all, if no records match the condition.

```
-- Sumerian library was deleted so will return nothingSELECT name, address FROM place WHERE name = "𒂍𒁾𒁀𒀀";
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

Response

```surql
[]
```

## The star operator and refining what to select

Instead of typing out each field, you can use `*` to show all of them.

```
SELECT * FROM place;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

To select all fields minus a few, you can use `OMIT` after the star, followed by the unneeded field names.

```
-- Show every field except 'id'SELECT * OMIT id FROM place;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

## Using the `VALUE` and `ONLY` keywords

You can add `VALUE` right after the `SELECT` keyword if you only care about the value of a single field, and not its name.

```
SELECT VALUE name FROM place;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

Response

```surql
[
  'Surreal Library'
]
```

The `ONLY` keyword works in other statements too, such as `SELECT`. It will always work if you give it an exact record ID, because a record ID can only refer to one record.

```
SELECT id FROM ONLY place:surreal_library;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

Response

```surql
{
  id: place:surreal_library
}
```

However, if you follow it with just a table name, the database is no longer sure that only one record will be returned.

```
SELECT * FROM ONLY place;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

Response

```surql
'Expected a single result output when using the ONLY keyword'
```

You can use the `LIMIT` keyword here to guarantee a maximum number of records returned. If it is followed by 1, the database will know that no more than a single record will be returned and the `ONLY` keyword can be used.

```
SELECT * FROM ONLY place LIMIT 1;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

Response

```surql
{
  address: '2025 Statement Street, Riverdale',
  floors: 8,
  id: place:surreal_library,
  name: 'Surreal Library',
  place_type: 'library'
}
```

In this case, we should ensure that the single record returned is the one that we expect it to be. If we had used a random ID like `place:llsqrb50cm7rkvqli2sg` instead of `place:surreal_library`, we could use `WHERE` to make sure that 'Surreal Library' is the record returned.

```
SELECT * FROM ONLY placeWHERE name = 'Surreal Library'LIMIT 1;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

## Selecting from more than a single table name

A `SELECT` statement isn't just limited to a table's fields. You can create and name new fields as you see fit. They can be made from the values of existing fields, or just made up on the spot.

```
SELECT    name,    -- Use the data at 'name' for a new field    name + '!!!' AS excited_name,    -- Use the value 'true' for a new field    true AS is_coolFROM place;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

Response

```surql
[
  {
    excited_name: 'Surreal Library!!!',
    is_cool: true,
    name: 'Surreal Library'
  }
]
```

And the target after `FROM` doesn't need to be a table name either. You can select from raw data too.

```
SELECT     name,     addressFROM     [        { address: '10 Push to Main Street, Riverdale', name: 'Vector Park' },        { name: 'Riverdale City Hall' }    ];
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

Because the second object has no value for the field `address`, it will show up as `NONE`.

```surql
[
  {
    address: '10 Push to Main Street, Riverdale',
    name: 'Vector Park'
  },
  {
    address: NONE,
    name: 'Riverdale City Hall'
  }
]
```

You can even select from a combination of table name and raw data. Whatever SurrealDB sees after the `FROM` clause can be selected and used as output.

```
SELECT     name,     addressFROM     place,     { address: '10 Push to Main Street, Riverdale', name: 'Vector Park' }
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

Response

```surql
[
  {
    address: '2025 Statement Street, Riverdale',
    name: 'Surreal Library'
  },
  {
    address: '10 Push to Main Street, Riverdale',
    name: 'Vector Park'
  }
]
```

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