title: how do i select data from multiple columns from two tables where there is a common column in both?
body: <p>seems like a cake walk, because of the common column thing, but i've looked and i've looked and can't find the answer anywhere.  there may be very similar things people are trying to do, but everyone always needs it slightly different than how i need it.  anyway here goes...</p>
  
  <p>jobs table</p>
  
  <pre><code>+----+--------+----+----+----+
  | id | userid | i1 | i2 | i3 |
  +----+--------+----+----+----+
  | 1  |   1    | a  | k  | t  |
  | 2  |   1    | b  | l  | u  |
  | 3  |   1    | c  | m  | v  |
  | 4  |   2    | d  | n  | w  |
  | 5  |   2    | f  | o  | x  |
  | 6  |   2    | g  | p  | y  |
  | 7  |   3    | h  | q  | z  |
  | 8  |   3    | i  | r  | a  |
  | 9  |   4    | j  | s  | b  |
  +----+--------+----+----+----+
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>user_table table</p>
  
  <pre><code>+--------+----+----+----+
  | userid | fn | ln | i4 |
  +--------+----+----+----+
  |   1    | a  | b  | w  |
  |   2    | c  | d  | x  |
  |   3    | e  | f  | y  |
  |   4    | g  | h  | z  |
  +--------+----+----+----+
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>i want to select multiple columns from one table and multiple columns from another table, and the amount of columns don't have the same amount.  so if i'm selecting id, i1, i2, and i3 from jobs table and selecting fn, ln, and i4 from user_table table, then that means i'm selecting 4 pieces of info from jobs table and 3 pieces of info from user_table table.</p>
  
  <p>so let's say i want to select a specific job and display the info for that job, but also i want to display the info of the user that belongs to the job then it might go something like this...</p>
  
  <p>job 1:</p>
  
  <p>id: 1, i1: a, i2: k, i3: t, fn: a, ln: b, i4: w</p>
  
  <p>for job 4 it would be:</p>
  
  <p>id: 4, i1: d, i2: n, i3: w, fn: c, ln: d, i4: x</p>
  
  <p>the jobs table and user_table table have the common column of userid.  so how do i write my query to do the above using this common column?</p>
  
  <p>i tried all sorts of things with SELECT and WHERE and AND and JOIN and UNION and AS and GROUP and BY and writing the table names separate from the column names and writing the table names and column names together with a period in between.  i just can't find the correct way to write this query.</p>
  
  <p>in these examples below that don't work i'm just trying to select one thing from the user_table table and everything from the jobs table that isn't the userid, but i will need the ability to select multiple things from the 2nd table if needed.  so i want to select everything from first table and just certain things from second table.</p>
  
  <p>doesn't work:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT id, i1, i2, i3, i4 FROM jobs, user_table WHERE jobs.id = $id GROUP BY id
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>doesn't work:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * from jobs where id = $id UNION SELECT i4 from user_table where userid = $userid
  </code></pre>