MySQL specify arbitrary order by id

Question

Is it possible to specify an arbitrary order for a MySQL SELECT statement? E.g.,

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE id IN (1, 3, 2, 9, 7) ORDER BY (         


        

Answer 1

FIND_IN_SET function will do the trick

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE id IN (1, 3, 2, 9, 7) ORDER BY FIND_IN_SET(id, '1,3,2,9,7');

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/string-functions.html#function_find-in-set

EDIT: Note the lack of spaces in the string argument of the find_in_set function.