Multiple left joins on multiple tables in one query

This kind of query should work - after rewriting with explicit JOIN syntax:

SELECT something
FROM   master      parent
JOIN   master      child ON child.parent_id = parent.id
LEFT   JOIN second parentdata ON parentdata.id = parent.secondary_id
LEFT   JOIN second childdata ON childdata.id = child.secondary_id
WHERE  parent.parent_id = 'rootID';

The tripping wire here is that an explicit JOIN binds before a comma (,), which is otherwise equivalent to CROSS JOIN. The manual here:

In any case JOIN binds more tightly than the commas separating FROM-list items.

After rewriting the first, all joins are applied left-to-right (logically - Postgres is free to rearrange tables in the query plan otherwise) and it works.

Just to make my point, this would work, too:

SELECT something
FROM   master parent
LEFT   JOIN second parentdata ON parentdata.id = parent.secondary_id
,      master child
LEFT   JOIN second childdata  ON childdata.id = child.secondary_id
WHERE  child.parent_id = parent.id
AND    parent.parent_id = 'rootID';

But explicit JOIN syntax is generally clearer.

And be aware that multiple (LEFT) JOIN can multiply rows:

• Two SQL LEFT JOINS produce incorrect result

The JOIN statements are also part of the FROM clause, more formally a join_type is used to combine two from_item's into one from_item, multiple one of which can then form a comma-separated list after the FROM. See http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/static/sql-select.html .

So the direct solution to your problem is:

SELECT something
FROM
    master as parent LEFT JOIN second as parentdata
        ON parent.secondary_id = parentdata.id,
    master as child LEFT JOIN second as childdata
        ON child.secondary_id = childdata.id
WHERE parent.id = child.parent_id AND parent.parent_id = 'rootID'

A better option would be to only use JOIN's, as it has already been suggested.

You can do like this

SELECT something
FROM
    (a LEFT JOIN b ON a.a_id = b.b_id) LEFT JOIN c on a.a_aid = c.c_id
WHERE a.parent_id = 'rootID'