The WHERE clause

Use the WHERE clause to filter data based on fields, tags, and/or timestamps.

• Syntax
• Examples
• Common issues

Syntax

SELECT_clause FROM_clause WHERE <conditional_expression> [(AND|OR) <conditional_expression> [...]]

The WHERE clause supports conditional_expressions on fields, tags, and timestamps.

Note: InfluxDB does not support using OR in the WHERE clause to specify multiple time ranges. For example, InfluxDB returns an empty response for the following query:

SELECT * FROM "mydb" WHERE time = '2020-07-31T20:07:00Z' OR time = '2020-07-31T23:07:17Z'`

Fields

field_key <operator> ['string' | boolean | float | integer]

The WHERE clause supports comparisons against string, boolean, float, and integer field values.

Single quote string field values in the WHERE clause. Queries with unquoted string field values or double quoted string field values will not return any data and, in most cases, will not return an error.

Supported operators

InfluxQL also supports Regular Expressions.

Tags

tag_key <operator> ['tag_value']

Single quote tag values in the WHERE clause. Queries with unquoted tag values or double quoted tag values will not return any data and, in most cases, will not return an error.

Supported operators

Timestamps

For most SELECT statements, the default time range is between 1677-09-21 00:12:43.145224194 and 2262-04-11T23:47:16.854775806Z UTC. For SELECT statements with a GROUP BY time() clause, the default time range is between 1677-09-21 00:12:43.145224194 UTC and now().

See Time Syntax for information on how to specify alternative time ranges in the WHERE clause.

Examples

Select data with specific field key-values

SELECT * FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "water_level" > 9

Output:

Name: h2o_feet

The query returns data from the h2o_feet measurement with field values of water_level that are greater than nine. This is a partial data set.

Select data with a specific string field key-value

SELECT * FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "level description" = 'below 3 feet'

Output:

Name: h2o_feet

The query returns data from the h2o_feet measurement with field values of level description that equal the below 3 feet string. InfluxQL requires single quotes around string field values in the WHERE clause.

Select data with a specific field key-value and perform basic arithmetic

SELECT * FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "water_level" + 2 > 11.9

Output:

Name: h2o_feet

The query returns data from the h2o_feet measurement with field values of water_level plus two that are greater than 11.9. Note that InfluxDB follows the standard order of operations.

See Mathematical operators for more on supported operators.

Select data with a specific tag key-value

SELECT "water_level" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "location" = 'santa_monica'

Output:

Name: h2o_feet

The query returns data from the h2o_feet measurement where the tag key location is set to santa_monica. InfluxQL requires single quotes around tag values in the WHERE clause.

Select data with specific field key-values and tag key-valuest

SELECT "water_level" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "location" <> 'santa_monica' AND (water_level < -0.59 OR water_level > 9.95)

Output:

Name: h2o_feet

The query returns data from the h2o_feet measurement where the tag key location is not set to santa_monica and where the field values of water_level are either less than -0.59 or greater than 9.95. The WHERE clause supports the operators AND and OR, and supports separating logic with parentheses.

SELECT * FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE time > now() - 7d

The query returns data from the h2o_feet measurement with timestamps within the past seven days. See Time Syntax for more in-depth information on supported time syntax in the WHERE clause.

Common issues with the WHERE clause

A WHERE clause query unexpectedly returns no data

In most cases, this issue is the result of missing single quotes around tag values or string field values. Queries with unquoted or double quoted tag values or string field values will not return any data and, in most cases, will not return an error.

The first two queries in the code block below attempt to specify the tag value santa_monica without any quotes and with double quotes. Those queries return no results. The third query single quotes santa_monica (this is the supported syntax) and returns the expected results.

SELECT "water_level" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "location" = santa_monica
No results
SELECT "water_level" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "location" = "santa_monica"
No results
SELECT "water_level" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "location" = 'santa_monica'

Output:

Name: h2o_feet

The first two queries in the code block below attempt to specify the string field value at or greater than 9 feet without any quotes and with double quotes. The first query returns an error because the string field value includes white spaces. The second query returns no results. The third query single quotes at or greater than 9 feet (this is the supported syntax) and returns the expected results.

SELECT "level description" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "level description" = at or greater than 9 feet
ERR: 400 Bad Request: failed to parse query: found than, expected ; at line 1, char 86
SELECT "level description" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "level description" = "at or greater than 9 feet"
No results
SELECT "level description" FROM "h2o_feet" WHERE "level description" = 'at or greater than 9 feet'

Output:

Name: h2o_feet