SQL JOIN CROSS APPLY & LATERAL JOIN

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Example

A very interesting type of JOIN is the LATERAL JOIN (new in PostgreSQL 9.3+),
which is also known as CROSS APPLY/OUTER APPLY in SQL-Server & Oracle.

The basic idea is that a table-valued function (or inline subquery) gets applied for every row you join.

This makes it possible to, for example, only join the first matching entry in another table.
The difference between a normal and a lateral join lies in the fact that you can use a column that you previously joined in the subquery that you "CROSS APPLY".

Syntax:

PostgreSQL 9.3+

left | right | inner JOIN LATERAL

SQL-Server:

CROSS | OUTER APPLY

INNER JOIN LATERAL is the same as CROSS APPLY
and LEFT JOIN LATERAL is the same as OUTER APPLY

Example usage (PostgreSQL 9.3+):

SELECT * FROM T_Contacts 

--LEFT JOIN T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit ON MAP_CTCOU_CT_UID = T_Contacts.CT_UID AND MAP_CTCOU_SoftDeleteStatus = 1 
--WHERE T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit.MAP_CTCOU_UID IS NULL -- 989


LEFT JOIN LATERAL 
(
    SELECT 
         --MAP_CTCOU_UID    
         MAP_CTCOU_CT_UID   
        ,MAP_CTCOU_COU_UID  
        ,MAP_CTCOU_DateFrom 
        ,MAP_CTCOU_DateTo   
   FROM T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit 
   WHERE MAP_CTCOU_SoftDeleteStatus = 1 
   AND MAP_CTCOU_CT_UID = T_Contacts.CT_UID 

    /*  
    AND 
    ( 
        (__in_DateFrom <= T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit.MAP_KTKOE_DateTo) 
        AND 
        (__in_DateTo >= T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit.MAP_KTKOE_DateFrom) 
    ) 
    */
   ORDER BY MAP_CTCOU_DateFrom 
   LIMIT 1 
) AS FirstOE 

And for SQL-Server

SELECT * FROM T_Contacts 

--LEFT JOIN T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit ON MAP_CTCOU_CT_UID = T_Contacts.CT_UID AND MAP_CTCOU_SoftDeleteStatus = 1 
--WHERE T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit.MAP_CTCOU_UID IS NULL -- 989

-- CROSS APPLY -- = INNER JOIN 
OUTER APPLY    -- = LEFT JOIN 
(
    SELECT TOP 1 
         --MAP_CTCOU_UID    
         MAP_CTCOU_CT_UID   
        ,MAP_CTCOU_COU_UID  
        ,MAP_CTCOU_DateFrom 
        ,MAP_CTCOU_DateTo   
   FROM T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit 
   WHERE MAP_CTCOU_SoftDeleteStatus = 1 
   AND MAP_CTCOU_CT_UID = T_Contacts.CT_UID 

    /*  
    AND 
    ( 
        (@in_DateFrom <= T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit.MAP_KTKOE_DateTo) 
        AND 
        (@in_DateTo >= T_MAP_Contacts_Ref_OrganisationalUnit.MAP_KTKOE_DateFrom) 
    ) 
    */
   ORDER BY MAP_CTCOU_DateFrom 
) AS FirstOE 


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