SQL Capabilities

DML allows you to update and query data stored in OmniSci.

See Using Geospatial Objects: Geospatial Functions for details on geospatial functions.

INSERT

INSERT INTO <table> VALUES (value, ...);

Use this statement for single-row ad hoc inserts. (When inserting many rows, use the more efficient COPY command.)

CREATE TABLE foo (a INT, b FLOAT, c TEXT, d TIMESTAMP);
INSERT INTO foo VALUES (NULL, 3.1415, 'xyz', '2015-05-11 211720`);

For array inserts, use the following syntax:

CREATE TABLE ar1 (ar INT[]);
INSERT INTO ar1 VALUES ({1,2,3});

SELECT

[ WITH <alias> AS <query>,... ]
SELECT [ALL|DISTINCT] <expr> [AS [<alias>]], ...
  FROM <table> [ <alias> ], ...
  [WHERE <expr>]
  [GROUP BY <expr>, ...]
  [HAVING <expr>]
  [ORDER BY <expr> [ ASC | DESC ] , ...] [ NULLS FIRST | NULLS LAST ]
  [LIMIT {<number>|ALL} [OFFSET <number> [ROWS]]]
  [ANY | ALL (subquery) ;

Usage Notes

ORDER BY

  • Sort order defaults to ascending (ASC).
  • Sorts null values after non-null values by default in an ascending sort, before non-null values in a descending sort. For any query, you can use NULLS FIRST to sort null values to the top of the results or NULLS LAST to sort null values to the bottom of the results.
  • Allows you to use a positional reference to choose the sort column. For example, the command SELECT colA,colB FROM table1 ORDER BY 2 sorts the results on colB because it is in position 2.
For more information, see SELECT.

UPDATE

[ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] with_query [, ...] ]
UPDATE [ ONLY ] table_name [ * ] [ [ AS ] alias ]
    SET { column_name = { expression | DEFAULT } |
          ( column_name [, ...] ) = [ ROW ] ( { expression | DEFAULT } [, ...] ) |
          ( column_name [, ...] ) = ( sub-SELECT )
        } [, ...]
    [ FROM from_list ]
    [ WHERE condition | WHERE CURRENT OF cursor_name ]
    [ RETURNING * | output_expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...] ]

UPDATE changes the values of the specified columns in all rows that satisfy the condition. For more information, see UPDATE.

DELETE

DELETE FROM table_name [ * ] [ [ AS ] alias ]
[ WHERE condition ]

DELETE deletes rows that satisfy the WHERE clause from the specified table. If the WHERE clause is absent, the effect is to delete all rows in the table. The result is a valid, but empty table. For more information, see DELETE.

EXPLAIN

Shows generated Intermediate Representation (IR) code, identifying whether it is executed on GPU or CPU. This is primarily used internally by OmniSci to monitor behavior.

EXPLAIN <STMT>;

For example, when you use the EXPLAIN command on a basic statement, the utility returns 90 lines of IR code that is not meant to be human readable. At the top of the listing, though, a heading indicates whether it is IR for the CPU or IR for the GPU, which can be useful to know in some situations.

EXPLAIN CALCITE

Returns a Relational Algebra tree describing the high-level plan to execute the statement.

EXPLAIN CALCITE <STMT>;

The table below lists the relational algebra classes used to describe the execution plan for a SQL statement.

MethodDescription
LogicalAggregate Relational operator that eliminates duplicates and computes totals
LogicalCalc Relational expression that computes project expressions and also filters
LogicalChi Relational operator that converts a stream to a relation
LogicalCorrelate Relational operator that performs nested-loop joins
LogicalDelta Relational operator that converts a relation to a stream
LogicalExchange Relational expression that imposes a particular distribution on its input without otherwise changing its content
LogicalFilter Relational expression that iterates over its input and returns elements for which a condition evaluates to true
LogicalIntersect Relational expression that returns the intersection of the rows of its inputs
LogicalJoin Relational expression that combines two relational expressions according to some condition
LogicalMatch Relational expression that represents a MATCH_RECOGNIZE node
LogicalMinus Relational expression that returns the rows of its first input minus any matching rows from its other inputs. Corresponds to the SQL EXCEPT operator
LogicalProject Relational expression that computes a set of ‘select expressions’ from its input relational expression
LogicalSort Relational expression that imposes a particular sort order on its input without otherwise changing its content
LogicalTableFunctionScan Relational expression that calls a table-valued function
LogicalTableModify Relational expression that modifies a table. It is similar to TableScan, but represents a request to modify a table rather than read from it
LogicalTableScan Reads all the rows from a RelOptTable
LogicalUnion Relational expression that returns the union of the rows of its inputs, optionally eliminating duplicates
LogicalValues Relational expression whose value is a sequence of zero or more literal row values
LogicalWindow Relational expression representing a set of window aggregates

For example, a SELECT statement is described as a table scan and projection.

mapdql> explain calcite (select * from movies);
Explanation
LogicalProject(movieId=[$0], title=[$1], genres=[$2])
   LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, MOVIES]])

If you add a sort order, the table projection is folded under a LogicalSort procedure.

mapdql> explain calcite (select * from movies order by title);
Explanation
LogicalSort(sort0=[$1], dir0=[ASC])
   LogicalProject(movieId=[$0], title=[$1], genres=[$2])
      LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, MOVIES]])

When the SQL statement is simple, the EXPLAIN CALCITE version is actually less “human readable.” EXPLAIN CALCITE is more useful when you work with more complex SQL statements, like the one that follows. This query performs a scan on the BOOK table before scanning the BOOK_ORDER table.

mapdql> explain calcite SELECT bc.firstname, bc.lastname, b.title, bo.orderdate, s.name
FROM book b, book_customer bc, book_order bo, shipper s
WHERE bo.cust_id = bc.cust_id AND b.book_id = bo.book_id AND bo.shipper_id = s.shipper_id
AND s.name = 'UPS';
Explanation
LogicalProject(firstname=[$5], lastname=[$6], title=[$2], orderdate=[$11], name=[$14])
    LogicalFilter(condition=[AND(=($9, $4), =($0, $8), =($10, $13), =($14, 'UPS'))])
        LogicalJoin(condition=[true], joinType=[inner])
            LogicalJoin(condition=[true], joinType=[inner])
                LogicalJoin(condition=[true], joinType=[inner])
                    LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, BOOK]])
                    LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, BOOK_CUSTOMER]])
                LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, BOOK_ORDER]])
            LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, SHIPPER]])

Revising the original SQL command results in a more natural selection order and a more performant query.

mapdql> explain calcite SELECT bc.firstname, bc.lastname, b.title, bo.orderdate, s.name
FROM book_order bo, book_customer bc, book b, shipper s
WHERE bo.cust_id = bc.cust_id AND bo.book_id = b.book_id AND bo.shipper_id = s.shipper_id
AND s.name = 'UPS';
Explanation
LogicalProject(firstname=[$10], lastname=[$11], title=[$7], orderdate=[$3], name=[$14])
    LogicalFilter(condition=[AND(=($1, $9), =($5, $0), =($2, $13), =($14, 'UPS'))])
        LogicalJoin(condition=[true], joinType=[inner])
            LogicalJoin(condition=[true], joinType=[inner])
                LogicalJoin(condition=[true], joinType=[inner])
                  LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, BOOK_ORDER]])
                  LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, BOOK_CUSTOMER]])
                LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, BOOK]])
            LogicalTableScan(table=[[CATALOG, mapd, SHIPPER]])

Table Expression and Join Support

<table> , <table> WHERE <column> = <column>
<table> [ LEFT ] JOIN <table> ON <column> = <column>

Usage Notes

  • If a join column name or alias is not unique, it must be prefixed by its table name.
  • You can use BIGINT, INTEGER, SMALLINT, DATE, or TEXT ENCODING DICT data types. TEXT ENCODING DICT is the most efficient because corresponding dictionary IDs are sequential and span a smaller range than, for example, the 65,535 values supported in a SMALLINT field. Depending on the number of values in your field, you can use TEXT ENCODING DICT(32) (up to 1,000,000,000 distinct values), TEXT ENCODING DICT(16) (up to 64,000 distinct values), or TEXT ENCODING DICT(8) (up to 255 distinct values). For more information, see Data Types and Fixed Encoding.
  • Data types of join columns must match exactly. For example, a SMALLINT column cannot be joined to a BIGINT column.
  • For all but the first table list in the from-list, the data values in the join column must be unique. In data warehouse terms, list the “fact” table first, followed by any number of “dimension” tables.

Logical Operator Support

Operator Description
AND Logical AND
NOT Negates value
OR Logical OR

Conditional Expression Support

Expression Description
CASE WHEN condition THEN result ELSE default END Case operator
COALESCE(val1, val2, ..) Returns the first non-null value in the list

Subquery Expression Support

Expression Description
expr IN (subquery or list of values) Evaluates whether expr equals any value of the IN list.
expr NOT IN (subquery or list of values) Evaluates whether expr does not equal any value of the IN list.

Usage Notes

  • You can use a subquery anywhere an expression can be used, subject to any runtime constraints of that expression. For example, a subquery in a CASE statement must return exactly one row, but a subquery can return multiple values to an IN expression.
  • You can use a subquery anywhere a table is allowed (for example, FROM subquery), using aliases to name any reference to the table and columns returned by the subquery.

Type Cast Support

Expression Example Description
CAST(expr AS type) CAST(1.25 AS FLOAT) Converts an expression to another data type

The following table shows cast type conversion support.

FROM/TO: TINYINT SMALLINT INTEGER BIGINT FLOAT DOUBLE DECIMAL TEXT BOOLEAN DATE TIME TIMESTAMP
TINYINT - Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No n/a
SMALLINT Yes - Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No n/a
INTEGER Yes Yes - Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
BIGINT Yes Yes Yes - Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
FLOAT Yes Yes Yes Yes - Yes No No No No No No
DOUBLE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - No No No No No n/a
DECIMAL Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - No No No No n/a
TEXT No No No No No No No - No No No No
BOOLEAN No No No No No No No No - n/a n/a n/a
DATE No No No No No No No No n/a - No Yes
TIME No No No No No No No No n/a No - n/a
TIMESTAMP No No No No No No No No n/a Yes No -

Array Support

Expression Description
SELECT <ArrayCol>[n] ... Query array elements n of column ArrayCol.
UNNEST(<ArrayCol>) ... Expand the array ArrayCol to a set of rows.
SELECT <some_column> FROM <your_table> WHERE <test> = ANY <array_column> ANY compares a scalar value with a single set of values (in the text array <array_column>), and returns TRUE when the result contains at least one item. ANY must be preceded by a comparison operator.
SELECT <some_column> FROM <your_table> WHERE <test> = ALL <array_column> ALL compares a scalar value with a single set of values (in the text array <array_column>), and returns TRUE when the result specified is TRUE for all items in the array. ALL must be preceded by a comparison operator.
ARRAYINDEX(row_index) Returns a value from a specific location in an array.

Note: As with many SQL-based services, OmniSci array indexes are 1-based.

LIKELY/UNLIKELY

Expression Description
LIKELY(X) Provides a hint to the query planner that argument X is a Boolean value that is usually true. The planner can prioritize filters on the value X earlier in the execution cycle and return results more efficiently.
UNLIKELY(X) Provides a hint to the query planner that argument X is a Boolean value that is usually not true. The planner can prioritize filters on the value X later in the execution cycle and return results more efficiently.

Usage Notes

SQL normally assumes that terms in the WHERE clause that cannot be used by indices are usually true. If this assumption is incorrect, it could lead to a suboptimal query plan. Use the LIKELY(X) and UNLIKELY(X) SQL functions to provide hints to the query planner about clause terms that are probably not true, which helps the query planner to select the best possible plan.

Use LIKELY/UNLIKELY to optimize evaluation of OR/AND logical expressions. LIKELY/UNLIKELY causes the left-hand side of an expression to be evaluated first. This allows the right-hand side of the query to be skipped when possible. For example, in the clause "UNLIKELY(A) AND B", if A evaluates to FALSE, there is no need to evaluate B.

Consider the following:

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM test WHERE UNLIKELY(x IN (7, 8, 9, 10)) AND y > 42;

If x is one of the values 7, 8, 9, or 10, the filter of y > 42 is applied. If x is not one of the values 7, 8, 9, or 10, the filter of y > 42 is not applied.