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SQL syntax reference

This article details the SQL syntax used in Upsolver.
Transform with SQL has similar syntax to ANSI SQL:
query_statement:
query_expr
[ REPLACE ON DUPLICATE field_name [, ...] ]
​
query_expr:
{ select ( query_expr ) query_expr set_op query_expr }
select:
[ WITH { field_name IS expression | table_name AS ( query_expr ) } [, ...] ]
SELECT expression [ [ AS ] alias [ :data_type ] ] [, ...]
SELECT CAST(field_name AS data_type)
FROM from_table
[ [ { INNER | LEFT [ OUTER ] } ] JOIN [ LATEST ] from_table [ WAIT integer time_unit [ ALIGNED ] ]
{ ON bool_expression | USING ( field_name [, ...] ) } [...] ]
[ WHERE bool_expression ]
[ DELETE WHERE bool_expression ]
[ PARTITION_TIME (field_name , [partition_size]) ]
[ PARTITION_FIELD (field_name) ]
[ GROUP BY { expression | grouping } [, ...]
[ { WINDOW | MAX DELAY } integer time_unit ] [ APPEND ON DUPLICATE ] ]
[ PARTITION_TIME (field_name , [partition_size]) ]
[ PARTITION_FIELD (field_name) ]
[ HAVING bool_expression [ KEEP EXISTING ] ]
​
from_table:
{ table_name | ( query_expr ) } [ [ AS ] alias ]
​
time_unit:
{ MINUTE[S] HOUR[S] DAY[S] }
​
grouping:
{ ROLLUP CUBE GROUPING SETS } ( { expression ( expression [, ...] ) } [, ...] )
​
set_op:
UNION { ALL DISTINCT } INTERSECT DISTINCT EXCEPT DISTINCT

Notation:

  • Square brackets [ ] indicate optional clauses.
  • Parentheses ( ) indicate literal parentheses.
  • Curly braces { } enclose alternatives separated by pipes |.
  • Ellipsis [...] indicates the preceding item can repeat.
  • Comma then ellipsis [, ...] indicates repeating in a comma-separated list.

Terminology

When using Transform with SQL, the following terminology is used:
Window
Stream
A window is a sequence in time in which we require to bring data from.
The window can be defined in hours, minutes, and days.
A stream is an unbounded sequence of data.
The streamed data might be:
  • structured
  • semi-structured
  • unstructured

SQL statements

For the following examples, we will assume that three events stream into the data source Purchases over time:
{
"purchase_id": 1, "customer_id": 1,
"products":
[
{ "name": "Orange", "quantity": 3, "unit_price": 0.25 },
{ "name": "Banana", "quantity": 4, "price": 0.1 }
]
}
{
"purchase_id": 2, "customer_id": 1,
"products":
[
{ "name": "Apple", "quantity": 1, "unit_price": 0.5 }
]
}
{
"purchase_id": 1, "customer_id": 1,
"products":
[
{ "name": "Orange", "quantity": -2, "unit_price": 0.25 }
]
}

CREATE TABLE AS SELECT

Upsolver CREATE TABLE AS SELECT statements are designed to have the state of the table continue reflecting the result of the query as data streams in.
Rather than needing to worry about scheduling and updating, all you need to do is define the query you would like the table to represent and Upsolver will make sure it reflects the result of that query based on the latest data as it arrives.
If we define a table as:
SELECT customer_id,
SUM(products[].quantity * products[].unit_price) AS total_cost,
COUNT(DISTINCT purchase_id) number_of_purchases
FROM Purchases
GROUP BY customer_id
The resulting table will reflect that query as events stream in.
Note: Functions are scoped to their common containing record, so products[].quantity * products[].unit_price multiplies each product quantity by its corresponding unit_price.
The final table contains the data:
customer_id
total_cost
number_of_purchases
1
1.15
2
We can also use nested fields as part of the GROUP BY statement:
SELECT customer_id,
products[].name product_name,
products[].quantity * products[].unit_price total_cost
FROM Purchases
GROUP BY customer_id, products[].name
Result:
customer_id
product_name
total_cost
1
Orange
0.25
1
Banana
0.4
1
Apple
0.5

Hierarchical data

Since Upsolver allows creating queries on top of raw data, constructs to handle hierarchical data are required. Regular SQL handling of hierarchical data is cumbersome and does not allow high flexibility, so Upsolver uses a simpler mechanism.
We will demonstrate using the following data:
{
"tax": 1.1,
"charges":
[
{ "amount": 2.5 },
{ "amount": 3 }
]
}
Fields in nested records can be accessed using the dot syntax; if a field is in an array, we use square braces [] to denote it. For example, the amount field is accessed as charges[].amount.

Calculations on hierarchical data

When doing calculations on hierarchical data, the result is placed back in the nested hierarchy. This "target location" affects how an operation works when dealing with arrays.
For example:
SET charges[].amount_with_tax = charges[].amount * tax;
SET total_charges = SUM_VALUES(charges[].amount_with_tax);
SET amount_with_tax = charges[].amount * tax;
SET total_charges2 = SUM_VALUES(amount_with_tax[]);
SET number_of_charges = COUNT_VALUES(charges[].amount);
Results in the following data:
{
"tax": 1.1,
“total_charges”: 6.05,
“amount_with_tax”: [ 2.75, 3.3 ],
“total_charges2”: 6.05,
“number_of_charges”: 2,
"charges":
[
{ "amount": 2.5, “amount_with_tax”: 2.75 },
{ "amount": 3, “amount_with_tax”: 3.3 }
]
}
Note: amount_with_tax resulted in an array but number_of_charges didn't.
This is because some operations like COUNT_VALUES return a single value, regardless of how many inputs they have.
Inline operations use the deepest possible location in the nesting as their target location.

Query sections

WITH Statement

WITH { field_name IS expression | table_name AS ( query_expr ) } [, ...]
Upsolver's WITH statement allows you to either define common table expressions (CTEs) that can be used within the JOIN part of the query or define calculated fields that can then be used within the query.

Common Table Expressions (CTE)

table_name AS ( query_expr )
CTEs behave as they would in ANSI SQL. They are pre-calculated for the query, so using them can improve performance if they are referenced in multiple places within the same query.

Calculated Fields

field_name IS expression
Upsolver Calculated Fields are scoped to their target location.
For example, if we have the following data:
{
"purchase_id": 1, "customer_id": 1,
"products":
[
{ "name": "Orange", "quantity": 3, "unit_price": 0.25 },
{ "name": "Banana", "quantity": 4, "price": 0.1 }
]
}
{
"purchase_id": 2, "customer_id": 1,
"products":
[
{ "name": "Apple", "quantity": 1, "unit_price": 0.5 }
]
}
{
"purchase_id": 1, "customer_id": 1,
"products":
[
{ "name": "Orange", "quantity": -2, "unit_price": 0.25 }
]
}
With the following query:
WITH products[].total_price IS products[].unit_price * products[].quantity,
transaction_price IS SUM_VALUES(products[].total_price)
SELECT products[].name name,
products[].total_price total_price,
transaction_price
FROM Purchases
The total_price field is calculated per product, whereas transaction_price is the sum of all the products' total_price since it is not scoped to the products array.
Result of the query:
name
total_price
transaction_price
Orange
0.75
1.15
Banana
0.4
1.15
Apple
0.5
0.5
Orange
-0.5
-0.5

SELECT CAST statement

Structure

SELECT CAST(field_name AS data_type)
The SELECT CAST statement converts a field into the specified data type. No calculation is supported for this operation.
For example, the following is not supported:
SELECT CAST(field_name AS data_type) * 2

SELECT statement

Structure

SELECT expression [ [ AS ] alias [ :data_type ] ] [, ...]
The SELECT statement defines the fields returned by the query.
Aliases are optional and define the names of the columns in the table. Aliases must be valid column names for the output table type being written to. If an alias is not specified for a calculated field, the column names in the output table will be col1, col2, etc.
A data type can be optionally specified to define the data type of the columns in the output table (equivalent to a CAST on the expression).

FROM statement

Structure

FROM { table_name | ( query_expr ) } [ [ AS ] alias ]
The FROM statement specifies the data source or subquery to load data from. This can be aliased to differentiate fields coming from the main data source and fields coming from joined subqueries.

JOIN statement

Structure

[ { INNER | LEFT [ OUTER ] } ] JOIN [ LATEST ]
{ table_name | ( query_expr ) } [ [ AS ] alias ]
[ WAIT integer { MINUTE[S] HOUR[S] DAY[S] } [ ALIGNED ] ]
{ ON bool_expression | USING ( field_name [, ...] ) }
The JOIN statement allows you to combine data from a streaming data source with data arriving in other streams, historical aggregations, or reference data files.
The join table must be either a lookup table or reference data.
The ON statement must be in one of the following forms:
-- option 1
lookup_key_1 = expression AND lookup_key_2 = expression ...
​
-- option 2
lookup_key_1 IN (expression1, ...) AND lookup_key_2 IN (expression1, ...) ...
Each key in the lookup table must be mapped to one or more expressions using either = or IN.
See: Joining streams for examples of the JOIN statement as well as stream synchronization.
Since Upsolver is a streaming system, all joins are applied in stream time. In order to synchronize between streams, Upsolver supports the WAIT integer { MINUTE[S] HOUR[S] DAY[S] } [ ALIGNED ] syntax.
For example, if WAIT 5 MINUTES is specified, Upsolver ensures that the state of the joined lookup table is ready 5 minutes ahead of the data being processed. This will cause the output to be delayed by 5 minutes.
If the keyword ALIGNED is used, it will wait for the next aligned window. For example, with WAIT 5 MINUTES ALIGNED, data arriving after 08:35 and before 08:40 will wait until 08:40. The alignment is done using unix epoch time, so WAIT 1 DAY ALIGNED will wait until 00:00 UTC of the following day.
When running a query over historical data, Upsolver maintains the time relation between streams the same way it would when processing data that is up to date. The LATEST keyword is intended to handle situations where initial data is dumped into a lookup table after the source stream started running. This forces the query to use the state of the joined lookup table that exists when it is run for all historical data. Data that arrived after the query was run is not affected by LATEST.

WHERE statement

WHERE bool_expression
The WHERE statement is used to filter rows from the result based on a boolean expression. NOT, AND, and OR can be used to combine multiple expressions.
All standard SQL operators and functions are supported.

DELETE WHERE statement

DELETE WHERE bool_expression
The DELETE WHERE statement is used in conjunction with the REPLACE ON DUPLICATE field_name [, ...] clause; filtered rows are treated as deletes and will remove existing rows from the table with the same duplicate keys.
DELETE WHERE is not supported if REPLACE ON DUPLICATE is not specified.

GROUP BY statement

GROUP BY { expression |
{ ROLLUP CUBE GROUPING SETS } ( { expression ( expression [, ...] ) } [, ...] ) } [, ...]
[ { WINDOW | MAX DELAY } integer { MINUTE[S] HOUR[S] DAY[S] } ]
[ APPEND ON DUPLICATE ]
The GROUP BY statement causes the query to aggregate results according to the GROUP BY clauses. Non-aggregate functions in the select statement can only be used on fields in the GROUP BY statement.
The WINDOW clause optionally sets the amount of time until data is expired out of the result. For example, if it is set to 30 DAYS, data older than 30 days is removed from the output aggregations. This is a sliding window configuration that moves forwards every minute.
When setting MAX DELAY, the GROUP BY must include a date or timestamp field. This will filter out data that arrives delayed by more than the max delay.
The following two queries are identical, but using MAX DELAY will save storage on S3:
SELECT user_id, date(event_time) event_date, count(*) events
FROM events
GROUP BY user_id, date(event_time)
MAX DELAY 3 days
SELECT user_id, date(event_time) event_date, count(*) events
FROM events
WHERE $time - date(event_time) < 3 days
GROUP BY user_id, date(event_time)
To also output summaries for subsets of the GROUP BY clauses, grouping functions ROLLUP, CUBE, and GROUPING SETS can be used.
A good explanation of how they work can be found here.
For example, if we wish to create a table with the number of daily active users per country, we could use the following query:
SELECT country,
DATE(event_time) event_date,
COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) users
FROM events
GROUP BY country, DATE(event_time)
When using PARTITION_TIME or PARTITION_FIELD, this must be configured (copy-pasted) into the GROUP BY statement as well to ensure query consistency.

APPEND ON DUPLICATE

When a GROUP BY statement is used, Upsolver's default behavior is to replace an existing row in the table when its aggregation is updated. This allows queries to be defined the same as they would be in a non-streaming context.
By setting APPEND ON DUPLICATE, the table will instead be appended to, which will result in multiple rows with the same keys in the final table.

HAVING statement

HAVING bool_expression [ KEEP EXISTING ]
The HAVING statement filters rows after the GROUP BY statement is applied.
In the HAVING statement, only the following are allowed:
  • GROUP BY fields
  • functions based on GROUP BY fields
  • aggregations

KEEP EXISTING

The KEEP EXISTING modifier changes the default behavior of aggregated queries to not remove records whose HAVING clause has stopped applying.
For example:
SELECT customer_id, COUNT(*) number_of_transactions
FROM Purchases
GROUP BY customer_id
HAVING COUNT(*) < 3
KEEP EXISTING
By default, when the third transaction arrives, Upsolver will delete the customer's record from the table. In this case, since KEEP EXISTING is set, that transaction is simply filtered and will not affect the table.
The resulting table will be:
customer_id
number_of_transactions
1
2

REPLACE ON DUPLICATE field_name [, ...]

When using REPLACE ON DUPLICATE field_name [, ...], Upsolver will replace rows in the table with the newest row according to the fields list.
This should not be used in aggregate queries (queries that include a GROUP BY statement) since this is the default behavior (See: APPEND ON DUPLICATE). Rather, this can be used together with DELETE WHERE to delete rows that already exist in the table, but then arrive again in the stream and are filtered in the WHERE clause.
Note: This is only supported in selected outputs where upserts are supported. See: Data types and features​
For example, the following query keeps the latest update of a purchase and deletes purchases that were refunded from the table:
SELECT purchase_id,
SUM_VALUES(products[].quantity * products[].unit_price) total_cost
FROM Purchases
DELETE WHERE SUM_VALUES(products[].quantity * products[].unit_price) <= 0
REPLACE ON DUPLICATE purchase_id

PARTITION_TIME (field_name , [partition_size])

The statement PARTITION_TIME (field_name , [partition_size]), where field_name is in date format, partitions the data by time and must be used in the SELECT clause.
You can optionally enter a size limit in DAY, MONTH, YEAR, or HOUR for each partition. If a partition size is not provided, DAY will be used.
When a GROUP BY statement is configured and PARTITION_TIME is used, this must be configured (copy-pasted) into the GROUP BY statement as well to ensure query consistency.

PARTITION_FIELD (field_name)

This statement partitions the data by the specified field and must be used in the SELECT clause.
When a GROUP BY statement is configured and PARTITION_FIELD is used, this must be configured (copy-pasted) into the GROUP BY statement as well to ensure query consistency.

Add comments

You can add a comment to any line in the SQL statement by using -- at the end of the line.
Example:
SELECT your_Select_clause -- your comment
FROM your_table -- another comment
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Last modified 2yr ago