title: Is there an easy SELECT-Statement that creates an empty set?
body: <p>Is there an easy and simple way to create a result table that has specified columns but zero rows? In set theory this is called an empty set, but since relational databases use multidimensional sets the term doesn't fit perfectly. I have tried these two queries, but both deliver exactly one row and not zero rows:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>SELECT '' AS ID;</li>
  <li>SELECT null AS ID;</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>But what I want is the same result as this query:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>SELECT ID FROM sometable WHERE false;</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I'm searching for a more elegant way because I don't want to have a table involved, so the query is independent from any database scheme. Also a generic query might be a bit faster (not that it would matter for such a query).</p>