How do I run this MySQL JOIN query?

PROBLEM

---

The first table is a list of personas. A user can have many personas.

mysql> select id, user_id, name from personas_personas;
+----+---------+--------------+
| id | user_id | name         |
+----+---------+--------------+
|  8 |       1 | startup      |
|  9 |       1 | nerd         |
| 10 |       1 | close        |
| 12 |       2 | Nerd         |
| 13 |       2 | Startup      |
| 14 |       2 | Photographer |
+----+---------+--------------+
6 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Now, I have another table called "approvals".

mysql> select id, from_user_id, to_user_id, persona_id  from friends_approvals;
+----+--------------+------------+------------+
| id | from_user_id | to_user_id | persona_id |
+----+--------------+------------+------------+
|  2 |            1 |          2 |          8 |
|  3 |            1 |          2 |          9 |
+----+--------------+------------+------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)

If from_user wants to approve to_user to a persona, then a record is inserted.

I'm trying to do this query...

Given a user, find all its personas. Then, for each persona, determine if it's approved for a certainto_user. If so, return is_approved=1 in the result set. Otherwise, return is_approved=0 in the result set.

SOLUTION

---

 SELECT 
   pp.*,
   CASE
     WHEN exists (
         SELECT 
          * 
         FROM 
          friends_approvals fa  
         WHERE 
          fa.from_user_id = pp.user_id AND
          fa.persona_id = pp.id AND
          fa.to_user_id = 2
          )
      THEN 1
      ELSE 0
   END as is_approved

 FROM 
   personas_personas pp 
 WHERE 
   pp.user_id=1

Or, depending on your taste:

 SELECT 
   pp.*,
   CASE
     WHEN fa.from_user_id IS NOT NULL
      THEN 1
      ELSE 0
   END as is_approved

 FROM 
   personas_personas pp 
     LEFT OUTER JOIN friends_approvals fa ON
       pp.user_id = fa.from_user_id AND
       pp.id = fa.persona_id AND
       fa.to_user_id = 2
 WHERE 
   pp.user_id=1