Finding differences in queries using two criteria - sql

Question

I'm trying to find a way to find a way to compare two queries that use a combine sent of criteria. In this case we have Prefixes (Two letter code like DA) and Pack number 1234567. In the query I've created a field that combines these two things so it appears 1234567DA this is done with each of the queries from the separate tables they are pulled from. The idea is that if this is in one table and not the other it would show up as "False". I tried to use an Unmatched query but that doesn't seem to work. What I have currently is as follows:
SELECT
[1LagoTest].Prefix,
[1BigPicPackPref].BigPicPP,
IIf([BigPicPP]=[LagoPP],"True","False") AS Compare,
[1LagoTest].RETAIL,
[1LagoTest].MEDIA
FROM 1LagoTest
LEFT JOIN 1BigPicPackPref
ON [1LagoTest].[Prefix] = [1BigPicPackPref].[BigPicPP]
WHERE (((IIf([BigPicPP]=[LagoPP],"True","False")) Like "False")
AND (([1LagoTest].MEDIA) Not Like "*2019 FL*"))
ORDER BY [1LagoTest].RETAIL;
Right now it will show whats missing from LagoPP but doesn't give me anything from missing packs in BigPicPP. Any help in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!

Answer 1

This gets a little tricky in Access without FULL OUTER JOIN, but the general idea to is replicate a FULL OUTER JOIN using UNION ALL, then filter from that.
Something like this:
SELECT I.Prefix,
I.BigPicPP,
I.Compare,
I.Retail,
I.Media
FROM (SELECT L.Prefix,
B.BigPicPP,
IIf([BigPicPP]=[LagoPP],"True","False") as Compare,
L.Retail,
L.Media
FROM 1LagoTest L
JOIN 1BigPicPackPref B ON L.Prefix = B.BigPicPP
WHERE L.Media NOT LIKE "*2019 FL*"
UNION ALL
SELECT L.Prefix,
B.BigPicPP,
"False", --Missing records from 1BigPicPackPref
L.Retail,
L.Media
FROM 1LagoTest L
LEFT JOIN 1BigPicPackPref B ON L.Prefix = B.BigPicPP
AND L.Media NOT LIKE "*2019 FL*"
WHERE B.Prefix IS NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT B.Prefix,
B.BigPicPP,
"False", --Missing records from 1LagoTest
L.Retail,
L.Media
FROM 1LagoTest L
RIGHT JOIN 1BigPicPackPref B ON L.Prefix = B.BigPicPP
AND L.Media NOT LIKE "*2019 FL*"
WHERE L.Prefix IS NULL
) AS I
You only need IFF in the first part of the union because in the second two parts one side will always be NULL, so we know the compare will always fail and be False.
You shouldn't need this part of your current WHERE clause at all (((IIf([BigPicPP]=[LagoPP],"True","False")) Like "False"). But if you only want to see False records, just add WHERE I.Compare = "False" to the bottom of the outer select.

Answer 2

The reason the "Unmatched" query (assuming through the Wizard) does not work, is because you are attempting to see the values of two separate tables / queries that do not match either table / query. This is not how the "Unmatched" works. All that will give you is a single table / query that does not match another single table / query.
This can most likely be done any number of ways, but this would probably get you where you want to be (or close to it):
SELECT
a.Prefix,
b.BigPicPP,
IIf([BigPicPP]=[LagoPP],"True","False") AS Compare,
a.RETAIL,
a.MEDIA
FROM [1LagoTest] a
LEFT JOIN [1BigPicPackPref] b ON a.Prefix = b.BigPicPP
WHERE a.MEDIA Not Like "*2019 FL*"
AND b.BigPicPP IS NULL
ORDER BY a.RETAIL
UNION
SELECT
a.Prefix,
b.BigPicPP,
IIf([BigPicPP]=[LagoPP],"True","False") AS Compare,
a.RETAIL,
a.MEDIA
FROM [1LagoTest] a
RIGHT JOIN [1BigPicPackPref] b ON a.Prefix = b.BigPicPP
WHERE a.MEDIA Not Like "*2019 FL*"
AND a.Prefix IS NULL
ORDER BY a.RETAIL
NOTE: Depending on the data structure, the ORDER BY may cause some issues.

Answer 3

So the way I got this to finally work was to build two separate queries. One looking at what was missing from Lago and One that was looking at what was missing from BigPic. It was the only way I could get it to give me both sets of missing data. If I can find a better way to do it through one query I will report back as I'm still gonna play around with it.