229 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
229 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
[role="xpack"]
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[testenv="basic"]
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[[sql-lexical-structure]]
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== Lexical Structure
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This section covers the major lexical structure of SQL, which for the most part, is going to resemble that of ANSI SQL itself hence why low-levels details are not discussed in depth.
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{es-sql} currently accepts only one _command_ at a time. A command is a sequence of _tokens_ terminated by the end of input stream.
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A token can be a __key word__, an _identifier_ (_quoted_ or _unquoted_), a _literal_ (or constant) or a special character symbol (typically a delimiter). Tokens are typically separated by whitespace (be it space, tab) though in some cases, where there is no ambiguity (typically due to a character symbol) this is not needed - however for readability purposes this should be avoided.
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[[sql-syntax-keywords]]
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[float]
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=== Key Words
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Take the following example:
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[source, sql]
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----
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SELECT * FROM table
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----
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This query has four tokens: `SELECT`, `*`, `FROM` and `table`. The first three, namely `SELECT`, `*` and `FROM` are __key words__ meaning words that have a fixed meaning in SQL. The token `table` is an _identifier_ meaning it identifies (by name) an entity inside SQL such as a table (in this case), a column, etc...
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As one can see, both key words and identifiers have the _same_ lexical structure and thus one cannot know whether a token is one or the other without knowing the SQL language; the complete list of key words is available in the <<sql-syntax-reserved, reserved appendix>>.
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Do note that key words are case-insensitive meaning the previous example can be written as:
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[source, sql]
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----
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select * fRoM table;
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----
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Identifiers however are not - as {es} is case sensitive, {es-sql} uses the received value verbatim.
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To help differentiate between the two, through-out the documentation the SQL key words are upper-cased a convention we find increases readability and thus recommend to others.
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[[sql-syntax-identifiers]]
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[float]
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=== Identifiers
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Identifiers can be of two types: __quoted__ and __unquoted__:
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[source, sql]
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----
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SELECT ip_address FROM "hosts-*"
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----
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This query has two identifiers, `ip_address` and `hosts-*` (an <<multi-index,index pattern>>). As `ip_address` does not clash with any key words it can be used verbatim, `hosts-*` on the other hand cannot as it clashes with `-` (minus operation) and `*` hence the double quotes.
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Another example:
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[source, sql]
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----
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SELECT "from" FROM "<logstash-{now/d}>"
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----
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The first identifier from needs to quoted as otherwise it clashes with the `FROM` key word (which is case insensitive as thus can be written as `from`) while the second identifier using {es} <<date-math-index-names>> would have otherwise confuse the parser.
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Hence why in general, *especially* when dealing with user input it is *highly* recommended to use quotes for identifiers. It adds minimal increase to your queries and in return offers clarity and disambiguation.
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[[sql-syntax-literals]]
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[float]
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=== Literals (Constants)
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{es-sql} supports two kind of __implicitly-typed__ literals: strings and numbers.
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[[sql-syntax-string-literals]]
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[float]
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==== String Literals
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A string literal is an arbitrary number of characters bounded by single quotes `'`: `'Giant Robot'`.
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To include a single quote in the string, escape it using another single quote: `'Captain EO''s Voyage'`.
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NOTE: An escaped single quote is *not* a double quote (`"`), but a single quote `'` _repeated_ (`''`).
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[sql-syntax-numeric-literals]
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[float]
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==== Numeric Literals
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Numeric literals are accepted both in decimal and scientific notation with exponent marker (`e` or `E`), starting either with a digit or decimal point `.`:
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[source, sql]
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----
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1969 -- integer notation
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3.14 -- decimal notation
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.1234 -- decimal notation starting with decimal point
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4E5 -- scientific notation (with exponent marker)
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1.2e-3 -- scientific notation with decimal point
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----
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Numeric literals that contain a decimal point are always interpreted as being of type `double`. Those without are considered `integer` if they fit otherwise their type is `long` (or `BIGINT` in ANSI SQL types).
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[[sql-syntax-generic-literals]]
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[float]
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==== Generic Literals
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When dealing with arbitrary type literal, one creates the object by casting, typically, the string representation to the desired type. This can be achieved through the dedicated <<sql-operators-cast, cast operator>> and <<sql-functions-type-conversion, functions>>:
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[source, sql]
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----
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123::LONG -- cast 123 to a LONG
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CAST('1969-05-13T12:34:56' AS TIMESTAMP) -- cast the given string to datetime
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CONVERT('10.0.0.1', IP) -- cast '10.0.0.1' to an IP
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----
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Do note that {es-sql} provides functions that out of the box return popular literals (like `E()`) or provide dedicated parsing for certain strings.
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[[sql-syntax-single-vs-double-quotes]]
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[float]
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=== Single vs Double Quotes
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It is worth pointing out that in SQL, single quotes `'` and double quotes `"` have different meaning and *cannot* be used interchangeably.
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Single quotes are used to declare a <<sql-syntax-string-literals, string literal>> while double quotes for <<sql-syntax-identifiers, identifiers>>.
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To wit:
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[source, sql]
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----
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SELECT "first_name" <1>
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FROM "musicians" <1>
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WHERE "last_name" <1>
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= 'Carroll' <2>
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----
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<1> Double quotes `"` used for column and table identifiers
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<2> Single quotes `'` used for a string literal
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[[sql-syntax-special-chars]]
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[float]
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=== Special characters
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A few characters that are not alphanumeric have a dedicated meaning different from that of an operator. For completeness these are specified below:
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[cols="^m,^15"]
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|===
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s|Char
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s|Description
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|* | The asterisk (or wildcard) is used in some contexts to denote all fields for a table. Can be also used as an argument to some aggregate functions.
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|, | Commas are used to enumerate the elements of a list.
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|. | Used in numeric constants or to separate identifiers qualifiers (catalog, table, column names, etc...).
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|()| Parentheses are used for specific SQL commands, function declarations or to enforce precedence.
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|===
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[[sql-syntax-operators]]
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[float]
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=== Operators
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Most operators in {es-sql} have the same precedence and are left-associative. As this is done at parsing time, parenthesis need to be used to enforce a different precedence.
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The following table indicates the supported operators and their precendence (highest to lowest);
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[cols="^2m,^,^3"]
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|===
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s|Operator/Element
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s|Associativity
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s|Description
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|left
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|qualifier separator
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|::
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|left
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|PostgreSQL-style type cast
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|+ -
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|right
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|unary plus and minus (numeric literal sign)
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|* / %
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|left
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|multiplication, division, modulo
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|+ -
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|left
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|addition, substraction
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|BETWEEN IN LIKE
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|range containment, string matching
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|< > <= >= = <=> <> !=
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|comparison
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|NOT
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|right
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|logical negation
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|AND
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|left
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|logical conjunction
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|OR
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|left
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|logical disjunction
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|===
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[[sql-syntax-comments]]
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[float]
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=== Comments
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{es-sql} allows comments which are sequence of characters ignored by the parsers.
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Two styles are supported:
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Single Line:: Comments start with a double dash `--` and continue until the end of the line.
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Multi line:: Comments that start with `/*` and end with `*/` (also known as C-style).
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[source, sql]
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----
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-- single line comment
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/* multi
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line
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comment
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that supports /* nested comments */
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*/
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----
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