การส่งคืนและจัดรูปผลลัพธ์ด้วย RETURN

Every read query that produces output ends with a RETURN clause. It defines exactly which values come back to you.

Think of RETURN as the projection step of your query.

Instead of whole nodes, you can return individual properties using dot notation. This keeps results lean.

Use AS to rename a returned column. This makes output clearer and is essential when returning computed values.

You can return the relationship variable too, not just nodes. This is useful when you need relationship properties.

RETURN can contain expressions: arithmetic, string functions, and more.

Add DISTINCT to remove duplicate rows from the output, just like in SQL.

You can return constant values and labels for readability or debugging.

A single RETURN can combine values from many matched variables, building rich rows.

Useful functions in RETURN include id(), labels(), type(), and toUpper().

Capture a path in a variable and return it to inspect the full chain of nodes and relationships.

Best practice: return only what you need. Returning entire nodes when you only use one property wastes bandwidth and clutters results.

You learned to shape query output with RETURN:

• Return whole nodes or specific properties
• Alias columns with AS
• Use DISTINCT to remove duplicates
• Include expressions and functions
• Return paths and relationships when needed