MySQL XOR operator

XOR operator

MySQL XOR operator checks two operands (or expressions) and returns TRUE if one or the other but not both is TRUE.

Syntax:

XOR

MySQL Logical XOR returns a NULL when one of the operands is NULL. It returns 1 when one operand is NULL and an odd number of operands are nonzero and returns 0 when no operand is NULL and even number of operands are nonzero. The actual mathematical representation of a XOR equation "A XOR B" is "(A AND (NOT B)) OR ((NOT A) AND B)".

MySQL Version: 5.6

Example: MySQL XOR operator

In the following MySQL statement, both of the operands are true, so it returns FALSE.

Code:

SELECT 1 XOR 1;

Sample Output:

MySQL> SELECT 1 XOR 1;
+---------+
| 1 XOR 1 |
+---------+
|       0 | 
+---------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example of MySQL XOR operator with at least one true operand

In the above MySQL statement, one of the operands is true, so it returns TRUE.

Code:

SELECT 1 XOR 0;

Sample Output:

MySQL> SELECT 1 XOR 0;
+---------+
| 1 XOR 0 |
+---------+
|       1 | 
+---------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example of MySQL XOR operator with a NULL operand

In the following MySQL statement, one of the operands is NULL, so it returns NULL.

Code:

SELECT 1 XOR NULL;

Sample Output:

MySQL> SELECT 1 XOR NULL;
+------------+
| 1 XOR NULL |
+------------+
|       NULL | 
+------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

Example of more than one XOR operators

In the following MySQL statement, for 1 XOR 1, both of the operands are TRUE, so it returns FALSE; again, for the next XOR, one of the operands is TRUE, so it returns TRUE. So, the final output is TRUE.

Code:

SELECT 1 XOR 1 XOR 1;

Sample Output:

MySQL> SELECT 1 XOR 1 XOR 1;
+---------------+
| 1 XOR 1 XOR 1 |
+---------------+
|             1 | 
+---------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

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