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Postgres not returning data on array_agg query as below

6 votes
2 answers
2112 views
The problem arise when there are no data for books in specific library. Consider a following working scenario. Table library
--------------------------------
| id |    name     |    owner  |
--------------------------------
|  1 |     ABC     |     A     |
|  2 |     DEF     |     D     |
|  3 |     GHI     |     G     |
--------------------------------
Table books
--------------------------------
| id |    title    |  library  |
--------------------------------
|  a |     xxx     |     1     |
|  b |     yyy     |     1     |
|  c |     zzz     |     2     |
--------------------------------
Now when I do query like below:
SELECT library.name, array_agg(b.title) AS book_list FROM library, 
(SELECT title FROM books WHERE books.library = :library_no) as b 
WHERE library.id = :library_no GROUP BY library.id
The query generates output for library 1 & 2, but not for library 3. Why and how to solve this issue? (Generate an empty list on no library books) Required Output:
----------------------
| name |    book_list |
----------------------
|  GHI |      {}      |   # or {null}
-----------------------
I've even tried coalesce as below:
SELECT library.name, coalesce(array_agg(b.title), ARRAY[]::VARCHAR[]) AS book_list FROM library, 
(SELECT title FROM books WHERE books.library = :library_no) as b 
WHERE library.id = :library_no GROUP BY library.id
Postgres version: 12
Asked by PaxPrz (219 rep)
Jan 14, 2021, 03:01 AM
Last activity: Mar 15, 2025, 03:15 PM