<> (Not Equal To) (Transact-SQL)
SQL Server 2012
Compares two expressions (a comparison operator). When you compare nonnull expressions, the result is TRUE if the left operand is not equal to the right operand; otherwise, the result is FALSE. If either or both operands are NULL, see the topic SET ANSI_NULLS (Transact-SQL).
A. Using <> in a simple query
The following example returns all rows in the Production.ProductCategory table that do not have value in ProductCategoryID that is equal to the value 3 or the value 2.
USE AdventureWorks2012; GO SELECT ProductCategoryID, Name FROM Production.ProductCategory WHERE ProductCategoryID <> 3 AND ProductCategoryID <> 2;
Here is the result set.
ProductCategoryID Name ----------------- -------------------------------------------------- 1 Bikes 4 Accessories (2 row(s) affected)