Query syntax

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Query statements scan one or more tables or expressions and return the computed result rows. This topic describes the syntax for SQL queries in GoogleSQL for BigQuery.

SQL syntax notation rules

The GoogleSQL documentation commonly uses the following syntax notation rules:

• Square brackets [ ]: Optional clause.
• Curly braces with vertical bars { a | b | c }: Logical OR. Select one option.
• Ellipsis ...: Preceding item can repeat.
• Double quotes ": Syntax wrapped in double quotes ("") is required.

SQL syntax

query_statement:
  query_expr

query_expr:
  [ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] { non_recursive_cte | recursive_cte }[, ...] ]
  { select | ( query_expr ) | set_operation }
  [ ORDER BY expression [{ ASC | DESC }] [, ...] ]
  [ LIMIT count [ OFFSET skip_rows ] ]

select:
  SELECT
    [ WITH differential_privacy_clause ]
    [ { ALL | DISTINCT } ]
    [ AS { STRUCT | VALUE } ]
    select_list
  [ FROM from_clause[, ...] ]
  [ WHERE bool_expression ]
  [ GROUP BY group_by_specification ]
  [ HAVING bool_expression ]
  [ QUALIFY bool_expression ]
  [ WINDOW window_clause ]

SELECT statement

SELECT
  [ WITH differential_privacy_clause ]
  [ { ALL | DISTINCT } ]
  [ AS { STRUCT | VALUE } ]
  select_list

select_list:
  { select_all | select_expression } [, ...]

select_all:
  [ expression. ]*
  [ EXCEPT ( column_name [, ...] ) ]
  [ REPLACE ( expression AS column_name [, ...] ) ]

select_expression:
  expression [ [ AS ] alias ]

The SELECT list defines the columns that the query will return. Expressions in the SELECT list can refer to columns in any of the from_items in its corresponding FROM clause.

Each item in the SELECT list is one of:

• *
• expression
• expression.*

SELECT *

SELECT *, often referred to as select star, produces one output column for each column that's visible after executing the full query.

SELECT * FROM (SELECT "apple" AS fruit, "carrot" AS vegetable);

/*-------+-----------*
 | fruit | vegetable |
 +-------+-----------+
 | apple | carrot    |
 *-------+-----------*/

SELECT expression

Items in a SELECT list can be expressions. These expressions evaluate to a single value and produce one output column, with an optional explicit alias.

If the expression doesn't have an explicit alias, it receives an implicit alias according to the rules for implicit aliases, if possible. Otherwise, the column is anonymous and you can't refer to it by name elsewhere in the query.

SELECT expression.*

An item in a SELECT list can also take the form of expression.*. This produces one output column for each column or top-level field of expression. The expression must either be a table alias or evaluate to a single value of a data type with fields, such as a STRUCT.

The following query produces one output column for each column in the table groceries, aliased as g.

WITH groceries AS
  (SELECT "milk" AS dairy,
   "eggs" AS protein,
   "bread" AS grain)
SELECT g.*
FROM groceries AS g;

/*-------+---------+-------*
 | dairy | protein | grain |
 +-------+---------+-------+
 | milk  | eggs    | bread |
 *-------+---------+-------*/

More examples:

WITH locations AS
  (SELECT STRUCT("Seattle" AS city, "Washington" AS state) AS location
  UNION ALL
  SELECT STRUCT("Phoenix" AS city, "Arizona" AS state) AS location)
SELECT l.location.*
FROM locations l;

/*---------+------------*
 | city    | state      |
 +---------+------------+
 | Seattle | Washington |
 | Phoenix | Arizona    |
 *---------+------------*/

WITH locations AS
  (SELECT ARRAY<STRUCT<city STRING, state STRING>>[("Seattle", "Washington"),
    ("Phoenix", "Arizona")] AS location)
SELECT l.LOCATION[offset(0)].*
FROM locations l;

/*---------+------------*
 | city    | state      |
 +---------+------------+
 | Seattle | Washington |
 *---------+------------*/

SELECT * EXCEPT

A SELECT * EXCEPT statement specifies the names of one or more columns to exclude from the result. All matching column names are omitted from the output.

WITH orders AS
  (SELECT 5 as order_id,
  "sprocket" as item_name,
  200 as quantity)
SELECT * EXCEPT (order_id)
FROM orders;

/*-----------+----------*
 | item_name | quantity |
 +-----------+----------+
 | sprocket  | 200      |
 *-----------+----------*/

Note: SELECT * EXCEPT doesn't exclude columns that don't have names.

SELECT * REPLACE

A SELECT * REPLACE statement specifies one or more expression AS identifier clauses. Each identifier must match a column name from the SELECT * statement. In the output column list, the column that matches the identifier in a REPLACE clause is replaced by the expression in that REPLACE clause.

A SELECT * REPLACE statement doesn't change the names or order of columns. However, it can change the value and the value type.

WITH orders AS
  (SELECT 5 as order_id,
  "sprocket" as item_name,
  200 as quantity)
SELECT * REPLACE ("widget" AS item_name)
FROM orders;

/*----------+-----------+----------*
 | order_id | item_name | quantity |
 +----------+-----------+----------+
 | 5        | widget    | 200      |
 *----------+-----------+----------*/

WITH orders AS
  (SELECT 5 as order_id,
  "sprocket" as item_name,
  200 as quantity)
SELECT * REPLACE (quantity/2 AS quantity)
FROM orders;

/*----------+-----------+----------*
 | order_id | item_name | quantity |
 +----------+-----------+----------+
 | 5        | sprocket  | 100      |
 *----------+-----------+----------*/

Note: SELECT * REPLACE doesn't replace columns that don't have names.

SELECT DISTINCT

A SELECT DISTINCT statement discards duplicate rows and returns only the remaining rows. SELECT DISTINCT can't return columns of the following types:

In the following example, SELECT DISTINCT is used to produce distinct arrays:

WITH PlayerStats AS (
  SELECT ['Coolidge', 'Adams'] as Name, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT ['Adams', 'Buchanan'], 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT ['Coolidge', 'Adams'], 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT ['Kiran', 'Noam'], 1)
SELECT DISTINCT Name
FROM PlayerStats;

/*------------------+
 | Name             |
 +------------------+
 | [Coolidge,Adams] |
 | [Adams,Buchanan] |
 | [Kiran,Noam]     |
 +------------------*/

In the following example, SELECT DISTINCT is used to produce distinct structs:

WITH
  PlayerStats AS (
    SELECT
      STRUCT<last_name STRING, first_name STRING, age INT64>(
        'Adams', 'Noam', 20) AS Player,
      3 AS PointsScored UNION ALL
    SELECT ('Buchanan', 'Jie', 19), 0 UNION ALL
    SELECT ('Adams', 'Noam', 20), 4 UNION ALL
    SELECT ('Buchanan', 'Jie', 19), 13
  )
SELECT DISTINCT Player
FROM PlayerStats;

/*--------------------------+
 | player                   |
 +--------------------------+
 | {                        |
 |   last_name: "Adams",    |
 |   first_name: "Noam",    |
 |   age: 20                |
 |  }                       |
 +--------------------------+
 | {                        |
 |   last_name: "Buchanan", |
 |   first_name: "Jie",     |
 |   age: 19                |
 |  }                       |
 +---------------------------*/

SELECT ALL

A SELECT ALL statement returns all rows, including duplicate rows. SELECT ALL is the default behavior of SELECT.

SELECT AS STRUCT

SELECT AS STRUCT expr [[AS] struct_field_name1] [,...]

This produces a value table with a STRUCT row type, where the STRUCT field names and types match the column names and types produced in the SELECT list.

Example:

SELECT ARRAY(SELECT AS STRUCT 1 a, 2 b)

SELECT AS STRUCT can be used in a scalar or array subquery to produce a single STRUCT type grouping multiple values together. Scalar and array subqueries (see Subqueries) are normally not allowed to return multiple columns, but can return a single column with STRUCT type.

SELECT AS VALUE

SELECT AS VALUE produces a value table from any SELECT list that produces exactly one column. Instead of producing an output table with one column, possibly with a name, the output will be a value table where the row type is just the value type that was produced in the one SELECT column. Any alias the column had will be discarded in the value table.

Example:

SELECT AS VALUE STRUCT(1 AS a, 2 AS b) xyz

The query above produces a table with row type STRUCT<a int64, b int64>.

FROM clause

FROM from_clause[, ...]

from_clause:
  from_item
  [ { pivot_operator | unpivot_operator | match_recognize_clause } ]
  [ tablesample_operator ]

from_item:
  {
    table_name [ as_alias ] [ FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF timestamp_expression ] 
    | { join_operation | ( join_operation ) }
    | ( query_expr ) [ as_alias ]
    | field_path
    | unnest_operator
    | cte_name [ as_alias ]
  }

as_alias:
  [ AS ] alias

The FROM clause indicates the table or tables from which to retrieve rows, and specifies how to join those rows together to produce a single stream of rows for processing in the rest of the query.

pivot_operator

See PIVOT operator.

unpivot_operator

See UNPIVOT operator.

tablesample_operator

See TABLESAMPLE operator.

match_recognize_clause

See MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause.

table_name

The name (optionally qualified) of an existing table.

SELECT * FROM Roster;
SELECT * FROM dataset.Roster;
SELECT * FROM project.dataset.Roster;

FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF

FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF references the historical versions of the table definition and rows that were current at timestamp_expression.

Limitations:

The source table in the FROM clause containing FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF must not be any of the following:

• An array scan, including a flattened array or the output of the UNNEST operator.
• A common table expression defined by a WITH clause.
• The source table in a CREATE TABLE FUNCTION statement creating a new table-valued function

timestamp_expression must be a constant expression. It can't contain the following:

• Subqueries.
• Correlated references (references to columns of a table that appear at a higher level of the query statement, such as in the SELECT list).
• User-defined functions (UDFs).

The value of timestamp_expression can't fall into the following ranges:

• After the current timestamp (in the future).
• More than seven (7) days before the current timestamp.

A single query statement can't reference a single table at more than one point in time, including the current time. That is, a query can reference a table multiple times at the same timestamp, but not the current version and a historical version, or two different historical versions.

Note: DML statements always operate on the current version of the destination table, so if the destination table is used multiple times in the query, all of them must use the current version.

The default time zone for timestamp_expression in a FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF expression is America/Los_Angeles, even though the default time zone for timestamp literals is UTC.

Examples:

The following query returns a historical version of the table from one hour ago.

SELECT *
FROM t
  FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF TIMESTAMP_SUB(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(), INTERVAL 1 HOUR);

The following query returns a historical version of the table at an absolute point in time.

SELECT *
FROM t
  FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF '2017-01-01 10:00:00-07:00';

The following query returns an error because the timestamp_expression contains a correlated reference to a column in the containing query.

SELECT *
FROM t1
WHERE t1.a IN (SELECT t2.a
               FROM t2 FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF t1.timestamp_column);

The following operations show accessing a historical version of the table before table is replaced.

DECLARE before_replace_timestamp TIMESTAMP;

-- Create table books.
CREATE TABLE books AS
SELECT 'Hamlet' title, 'William Shakespeare' author;

-- Get current timestamp before table replacement.
SET before_replace_timestamp = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP();

-- Replace table with different schema(title and release_date).
CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE books AS
SELECT 'Hamlet' title, DATE '1603-01-01' release_date;

-- This query returns Hamlet, William Shakespeare as result.
SELECT * FROM books FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF before_replace_timestamp;

The following operations show accessing a historical version of the table before a DML job.

DECLARE JOB_START_TIMESTAMP TIMESTAMP;

-- Create table books.
CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE books AS
SELECT 'Hamlet' title, 'William Shakespeare' author;

-- Insert two rows into the books.
INSERT books (title, author)
VALUES('The Great Gatsby', 'F. Scott Fizgerald'),
      ('War and Peace', 'Leo Tolstoy');

SELECT * FROM books;

SET JOB_START_TIMESTAMP = (
  SELECT start_time
  FROM `region-us`.INFORMATION_SCHEMA.JOBS_BY_USER
  WHERE job_type="QUERY"
    AND statement_type="INSERT"
  ORDER BY start_time DESC
  LIMIT 1
 );

-- This query only returns Hamlet, William Shakespeare as result.
SELECT * FROM books FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF JOB_START_TIMESTAMP;

The following query returns an error because the DML operates on the current version of the table, and a historical version of the table from one day ago.

INSERT INTO t1
SELECT * FROM t1
  FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF TIMESTAMP_SUB(CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(), INTERVAL 1 DAY);

join_operation

See Join operation.

query_expr

( query_expr ) [ [ AS ] alias ] is a table subquery.

field_path

In the FROM clause, field_path is any path that resolves to a field within a data type. field_path can go arbitrarily deep into a nested data structure.

Some examples of valid field_path values include:

SELECT * FROM T1 t1, t1.array_column;

SELECT * FROM T1 t1, t1.struct_column.array_field;

SELECT (SELECT ARRAY_AGG(c) FROM t1.array_column c) FROM T1 t1;

SELECT a.struct_field1 FROM T1 t1, t1.array_of_structs a;

SELECT (SELECT STRING_AGG(a.struct_field1) FROM t1.array_of_structs a) FROM T1 t1;

Field paths in the FROM clause must end in an array field. In addition, field paths can't contain arrays before the end of the path. For example, the path array_column.some_array.some_array_field is invalid because it contains an array before the end of the path.

Note: If a path has only one name, it's interpreted as a table. To work around this, wrap the path using UNNEST, or use the fully-qualified path.

Note: If a path has more than one name, and it matches a field name, it's interpreted as a field name. To force the path to be interpreted as a table name, wrap the path using `.

unnest_operator

See UNNEST operator.

cte_name

Common table expressions (CTEs) in a WITH Clause act like temporary tables that you can reference anywhere in the FROM clause. In the example below, subQ1 and subQ2 are CTEs.

Example:

WITH
  subQ1 AS (SELECT * FROM Roster WHERE SchoolID = 52),
  subQ2 AS (SELECT SchoolID FROM subQ1)
SELECT DISTINCT * FROM subQ2;

The WITH clause hides any permanent tables with the same name for the duration of the query, unless you qualify the table name, for example:

dataset.Roster or project.dataset.Roster.

UNNEST operator

unnest_operator:
  {
    UNNEST( array ) [ as_alias ]
    | array_path [ as_alias ]
  }
  [ WITH OFFSET [ as_alias ] ]

array:
  { array_expression | array_path }

as_alias:
  [AS] alias

The UNNEST operator takes an array and returns a table with one row for each element in the array. The output of UNNEST is one value table column. For these ARRAY element types, SELECT * against the value table column returns multiple columns:

• STRUCT

Input values:

• array_expression: An expression that produces an array and that's not an array path.

• array_path: The path to an ARRAY type.

  • In an implicit UNNEST operation, the path must start with a range variable name.
  • In an explicit UNNEST operation, the path can optionally start with a range variable name.

  The UNNEST operation with any correlated array_path must be on the right side of a CROSS JOIN, LEFT JOIN, or INNER JOIN operation.

• as_alias: If specified, defines the explicit name of the value table column containing the array element values. It can be used to refer to the column elsewhere in the query.

• WITH OFFSET: UNNEST destroys the order of elements in the input array. Use this optional clause to return an additional column with the array element indexes, or offsets. Offset counting starts at zero for each row produced by the UNNEST operation. This column has an optional alias; If the optional alias isn't used, the default column name is offset.

  Example:

  SELECT * FROM UNNEST ([10,20,30]) as numbers WITH OFFSET;
  
  /*---------+--------*
   | numbers | offset |
   +---------+--------+
   | 10      | 0      |
   | 20      | 1      |
   | 30      | 2      |
   *---------+--------*/
  

You can also use UNNEST outside of the FROM clause with the IN operator.

For several ways to use UNNEST, including construction, flattening, and filtering, see Work with arrays.

To learn more about the ways you can use UNNEST explicitly and implicitly, see Explicit and implicit UNNEST.

UNNEST and structs

For an input array of structs, UNNEST returns a row for each struct, with a separate column for each field in the struct. The alias for each column is the name of the corresponding struct field.

Example:

SELECT *
FROM UNNEST(
  ARRAY<
    STRUCT<
      x INT64,
      y STRING,
      z STRUCT<a INT64, b INT64>>>[
        (1, 'foo', (10, 11)),
        (3, 'bar', (20, 21))]);

/*---+-----+----------*
 | x | y   | z        |
 +---+-----+----------+
 | 1 | foo | {10, 11} |
 | 3 | bar | {20, 21} |
 *---+-----+----------*/

Because the UNNEST operator returns a value table, you can alias UNNEST to define a range variable that you can reference elsewhere in the query. If you reference the range variable in the SELECT list, the query returns a struct containing all of the fields of the original struct in the input table.

Example:

SELECT *, struct_value
FROM UNNEST(
  ARRAY<
    STRUCT<
    x INT64,
    y STRING>>[
      (1, 'foo'),
      (3, 'bar')]) AS struct_value;

/*---+-----+--------------*
 | x | y   | struct_value |
 +---+-----+--------------+
 | 3 | bar | {3, bar}     |
 | 1 | foo | {1, foo}     |
 *---+-----+--------------*/

Explicit and implicit UNNEST

Array unnesting can be either explicit or implicit. To learn more, see the following sections.

Explicit unnesting

The UNNEST keyword is required in explicit unnesting. For example:

WITH Coordinates AS (SELECT [1,2] AS position)
SELECT results FROM Coordinates, UNNEST(Coordinates.position) AS results;

This example and the following examples use the array_path called Coordinates.position to illustrate unnesting.

Implicit unnesting

The UNNEST keyword isn't used in implicit unnesting.

For example:

WITH Coordinates AS (SELECT [1,2] AS position)
SELECT results FROM Coordinates, Coordinates.position AS results;

Tables and implicit unnesting

When you use array_path with implicit UNNEST, array_path must be prepended with the table. For example:

WITH Coordinates AS (SELECT [1,2] AS position)
SELECT results FROM Coordinates, Coordinates.position AS results;

UNNEST and NULL values

UNNEST treats NULL values as follows:

• NULL and empty arrays produce zero rows.
• An array containing NULL values produces rows containing NULL values.

PIVOT operator

FROM from_item[, ...] pivot_operator

pivot_operator:
  PIVOT(
    aggregate_function_call [as_alias][, ...]
    FOR input_column
    IN ( pivot_column [as_alias][, ...] )
  ) [AS alias]

as_alias:
  [AS] alias

The PIVOT operator rotates rows into columns, using aggregation. PIVOT is part of the FROM clause.

• PIVOT can be used to modify any table expression.
• Combining PIVOT with FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF isn't allowed, although users may use PIVOT against a subquery input which itself uses FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF.
• A WITH OFFSET clause immediately preceding the PIVOT operator isn't allowed.

Conceptual example:

-- Before PIVOT is used to rotate sales and quarter into Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 columns:
/*---------+-------+---------+------*
 | product | sales | quarter | year |
 +---------+-------+---------+------|
 | Kale    | 51    | Q1      | 2020 |
 | Kale    | 23    | Q2      | 2020 |
 | Kale    | 45    | Q3      | 2020 |
 | Kale    | 3     | Q4      | 2020 |
 | Kale    | 70    | Q1      | 2021 |
 | Kale    | 85    | Q2      | 2021 |
 | Apple   | 77    | Q1      | 2020 |
 | Apple   | 0     | Q2      | 2020 |
 | Apple   | 1     | Q1      | 2021 |
 *---------+-------+---------+------*/

-- After PIVOT is used to rotate sales and quarter into Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 columns:
/*---------+------+----+------+------+------*
 | product | year | Q1 | Q2   | Q3   | Q4   |
 +---------+------+----+------+------+------+
 | Apple   | 2020 | 77 | 0    | NULL | NULL |
 | Apple   | 2021 | 1  | NULL | NULL | NULL |
 | Kale    | 2020 | 51 | 23   | 45   | 3    |
 | Kale    | 2021 | 70 | 85   | NULL | NULL |
 *---------+------+----+------+------+------*/

Definitions

Top-level definitions:

• from_item: The table, subquery, or table-valued function (TVF) on which to perform a pivot operation. The from_item must follow these rules.
• pivot_operator: The pivot operation to perform on a from_item.
• alias: An alias to use for an item in the query.

pivot_operator definitions:

• aggregate_function_call: An aggregate function call that aggregates all input rows such that input_column matches a particular value in pivot_column. Each aggregation corresponding to a different pivot_column value produces a different column in the output. Follow these rules when creating an aggregate function call.
• input_column: Takes a column and retrieves the row values for the column, following these rules.
• pivot_column: A pivot column to create for each aggregate function call. If an alias isn't provided, a default alias is created. A pivot column value type must match the value type in input_column so that the values can be compared. It's possible to have a value in pivot_column that doesn't match a value in input_column. Must be a constant and follow these rules.

Rules

Rules for a from_item passed to PIVOT:

• The from_item may consist of any table, subquery, or table-valued function (TVF) result.
• The from_item may not produce a value table.
• The from_item may not be a subquery using SELECT AS STRUCT.

Rules for aggregate_function_call:

• Must be an aggregate function. For example, SUM.
• You may reference columns in a table passed to PIVOT, as well as correlated columns, but may not access columns defined by the PIVOT clause itself.
• A table passed to PIVOT may be accessed through its alias if one is provided.
• You can only use an aggregate function that takes one argument.
• Except for COUNT, you can only use aggregate functions that ignore NULL inputs.
• If you are using COUNT, you can use * as an argument.

Rules for input_column:

• May access columns from the input table, as well as correlated columns, not columns defined by the PIVOT clause, itself.
• Evaluated against each row in the input table; aggregate and window function calls are prohibited.
• Non-determinism is okay.
• The type must be groupable.
• The input table may be accessed through its alias if one is provided.

Rules for pivot_column:

• A pivot_column must be a constant.
• Named constants, such as variables, aren't supported.
• Query parameters aren't supported.
• If a name is desired for a named constant or query parameter, specify it explicitly with an alias.
• Corner cases exist where a distinct pivot_columns can end up with the same default column names. For example, an input column might contain both a NULL value and the string literal "NULL". When this happens, multiple pivot columns are created with the same name. To avoid this situation, use aliases for pivot column names.
• If a pivot_column doesn't specify an alias, a column name is constructed as follows:

From	To	Example
NULL	NULL	Input: NULL Output: "NULL"
INT64 NUMERIC BIGNUMERIC	The number in string format with the following rules: Positive numbers are preceded with _. Negative numbers are preceded with minus_. A decimal point is replaced with _point_.	Input: 1 Output: _1 Input: -1 Output: minus_1 Input: 1.0 Output: _1_point_0
BOOL	TRUE or FALSE.	Input: TRUE Output: TRUE Input: FALSE Output: FALSE
STRING	The string value.	Input: "PlayerName" Output: PlayerName
DATE	The date in _YYYY_MM_DD format.	Input: DATE '2013-11-25' Output: _2013_11_25
ENUM	The name of the enumeration constant.	Input: COLOR.RED Output: RED
STRUCT	A string formed by computing the pivot_column name for each field and joining the results together with an underscore. The following rules apply: If the field is named: <field_name>_<pivot_column_name_for_field_name>. If the field is unnamed: <pivot_column_name_for_field_name>. <pivot_column_name_for_field_name> is determined by applying the rules in this table, recursively. If no rule is available for any STRUCT field, the entire pivot column is unnamed. Due to implicit type coercion from the IN list values to the type of <value-expression>, field names must be present in input_column to have an effect on the names of the pivot columns.	Input: STRUCT("one", "two") Output: one_two Input: STRUCT("one" AS a, "two" AS b) Output: one_a_two_b
All other data types	Not supported. You must provide an alias.

Examples

The following examples reference a table called Produce that looks like this:

WITH Produce AS (
  SELECT 'Kale' as product, 51 as sales, 'Q1' as quarter, 2020 as year UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Kale', 23, 'Q2', 2020 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Kale', 45, 'Q3', 2020 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Kale', 3, 'Q4', 2020 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Kale', 70, 'Q1', 2021 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Kale', 85, 'Q2', 2021 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Apple', 77, 'Q1', 2020 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Apple', 0, 'Q2', 2020 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Apple', 1, 'Q1', 2021)
SELECT * FROM Produce

/*---------+-------+---------+------*
 | product | sales | quarter | year |
 +---------+-------+---------+------|
 | Kale    | 51    | Q1      | 2020 |
 | Kale    | 23    | Q2      | 2020 |
 | Kale    | 45    | Q3      | 2020 |
 | Kale    | 3     | Q4      | 2020 |
 | Kale    | 70    | Q1      | 2021 |
 | Kale    | 85    | Q2      | 2021 |
 | Apple   | 77    | Q1      | 2020 |
 | Apple   | 0     | Q2      | 2020 |
 | Apple   | 1     | Q1      | 2021 |
 *---------+-------+---------+------*/

With the PIVOT operator, the rows in the quarter column are rotated into these new columns: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4. The aggregate function SUM is implicitly grouped by all unaggregated columns other than the pivot_column: product and year.

SELECT * FROM
  Produce
  PIVOT(SUM(sales) FOR quarter IN ('Q1', 'Q2', 'Q3', 'Q4'))

/*---------+------+----+------+------+------*
 | product | year | Q1 | Q2   | Q3   | Q4   |
 +---------+------+----+------+------+------+
 | Apple   | 2020 | 77 | 0    | NULL | NULL |
 | Apple   | 2021 | 1  | NULL | NULL | NULL |
 | Kale    | 2020 | 51 | 23   | 45   | 3    |
 | Kale    | 2021 | 70 | 85   | NULL | NULL |
 *---------+------+----+------+------+------*/

If you don't include year, then SUM is grouped only by product.

SELECT * FROM
  (SELECT product, sales, quarter FROM Produce)
  PIVOT(SUM(sales) FOR quarter IN ('Q1', 'Q2', 'Q3', 'Q4'))

/*---------+-----+-----+------+------*
 | product | Q1  | Q2  | Q3   | Q4   |
 +---------+-----+-----+------+------+
 | Apple   | 78  | 0   | NULL | NULL |
 | Kale    | 121 | 108 | 45   | 3    |
 *---------+-----+-----+------+------*/

You can select a subset of values in the pivot_column:

SELECT * FROM
  (SELECT product, sales, quarter FROM Produce)
  PIVOT(SUM(sales) FOR quarter IN ('Q1', 'Q2', 'Q3'))

/*---------+-----+-----+------*
 | product | Q1  | Q2  | Q3   |
 +---------+-----+-----+------+
 | Apple   | 78  | 0   | NULL |
 | Kale    | 121 | 108 | 45   |
 *---------+-----+-----+------*/

SELECT * FROM
  (SELECT sales, quarter FROM Produce)
  PIVOT(SUM(sales) FOR quarter IN ('Q1', 'Q2', 'Q3'))

/*-----+-----+----*
 | Q1  | Q2  | Q3 |
 +-----+-----+----+
 | 199 | 108 | 45 |
 *-----+-----+----*/

You can include multiple aggregation functions in the PIVOT. In this case, you must specify an alias for each aggregation. These aliases are used to construct the column names in the resulting table.

SELECT * FROM
  (SELECT product, sales, quarter FROM Produce)
  PIVOT(SUM(sales) AS total_sales, COUNT(*) AS num_records FOR quarter IN ('Q1', 'Q2'))

/*--------+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------*
 |product | total_sales_Q1 | num_records_Q1 | total_sales_Q2 | num_records_Q2 |
 +--------+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
 | Kale   | 121            | 2              | 108            | 2              |
 | Apple  | 78             | 2              | 0              | 1              |
 *--------+----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------*/

UNPIVOT operator

FROM from_item[, ...] unpivot_operator

unpivot_operator:
  UNPIVOT [ { INCLUDE NULLS | EXCLUDE NULLS } ] (
    { single_column_unpivot | multi_column_unpivot }
  ) [unpivot_alias]

single_column_unpivot:
  values_column
  FOR name_column
  IN (columns_to_unpivot)

multi_column_unpivot:
  values_column_set
  FOR name_column
  IN (column_sets_to_unpivot)

values_column_set:
  (values_column[, ...])

columns_to_unpivot:
  unpivot_column [row_value_alias][, ...]

column_sets_to_unpivot:
  (unpivot_column [row_value_alias][, ...])

unpivot_alias and row_value_alias:
  [AS] alias

The UNPIVOT operator rotates columns into rows. UNPIVOT is part of the FROM clause.

• UNPIVOT can be used to modify any table expression.
• Combining UNPIVOT with FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF isn't allowed, although users may use UNPIVOT against a subquery input which itself uses FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF.
• A WITH OFFSET clause immediately preceding the UNPIVOT operator isn't allowed.
• PIVOT aggregations can't be reversed with UNPIVOT.

Conceptual example:

-- Before UNPIVOT is used to rotate Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 into sales and quarter columns:
/*---------+----+----+----+----*
 | product | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
 +---------+----+----+----+----+
 | Kale    | 51 | 23 | 45 | 3  |
 | Apple   | 77 | 0  | 25 | 2  |
 *---------+----+----+----+----*/

-- After UNPIVOT is used to rotate Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 into sales and quarter columns:
/*---------+-------+---------*
 | product | sales | quarter |
 +---------+-------+---------+
 | Kale    | 51    | Q1      |
 | Kale    | 23    | Q2      |
 | Kale    | 45    | Q3      |
 | Kale    | 3     | Q4      |
 | Apple   | 77    | Q1      |
 | Apple   | 0     | Q2      |
 | Apple   | 25    | Q3      |
 | Apple   | 2     | Q4      |
 *---------+-------+---------*/

Definitions

Top-level definitions:

• from_item: The table, subquery, or table-valued function (TVF) on which to perform a pivot operation. The from_item must follow these rules.
• unpivot_operator: The pivot operation to perform on a from_item.

unpivot_operator definitions:

• INCLUDE NULLS: Add rows with NULL values to the result.
• EXCLUDE NULLS: don't add rows with NULL values to the result. By default, UNPIVOT excludes rows with NULL values.
• single_column_unpivot: Rotates columns into one values_column and one name_column.
• multi_column_unpivot: Rotates columns into multiple values_columns and one name_column.
• unpivot_alias: An alias for the results of the UNPIVOT operation. This alias can be referenced elsewhere in the query.

single_column_unpivot definitions:

• values_column: A column to contain the row values from columns_to_unpivot. Follow these rules when creating a values column.
• name_column: A column to contain the column names from columns_to_unpivot. Follow these rules when creating a name column.
• columns_to_unpivot: The columns from the from_item to populate values_column and name_column. Follow these rules when creating an unpivot column.
  • row_value_alias: An optional alias for a column that's displayed for the column in name_column. If not specified, the string value of the column name is used. Follow these rules when creating a row value alias.

multi_column_unpivot definitions:

• values_column_set: A set of columns to contain the row values from columns_to_unpivot. Follow these rules when creating a values column.
• name_column: A set of columns to contain the column names from columns_to_unpivot. Follow these rules when creating a name column.
• column_sets_to_unpivot: The columns from the from_item to unpivot. Follow these rules when creating an unpivot column.
  • row_value_alias: An optional alias for a column set that's displayed for the column set in name_column. If not specified, a string value for the column set is used and each column in the string is separated with an underscore (_). For example, (col1, col2) outputs col1_col2. Follow these rules when creating a row value alias.

Rules

Rules for a from_item passed to UNPIVOT:

• The from_item may consist of any table, subquery, or table-valued function (TVF) result.
• The from_item may not produce a value table.
• Duplicate columns in a from_item can't be referenced in the UNPIVOT clause.

Rules for unpivot_operator:

• Expressions aren't permitted.
• Qualified names aren't permitted. For example, mytable.mycolumn isn't allowed.
• In the case where the UNPIVOT result has duplicate column names:
  • SELECT * is allowed.
  • SELECT values_column causes ambiguity.

Rules for values_column:

• It can't be a name used for a name_column or an unpivot_column.
• It can be the same name as a column from the from_item.

Rules for name_column:

• It can't be a name used for a values_column or an unpivot_column.
• It can be the same name as a column from the from_item.

Rules for unpivot_column:

• Must be a column name from the from_item.
• It can't reference duplicate from_item column names.
• All columns in a column set must have equivalent data types.
  • Data types can't be coerced to a common supertype.
  • If the data types are exact matches (for example, a struct with different field names), the data type of the first input is the data type of the output.
• You can't have the same name in the same column set. For example, (emp1, emp1) results in an error.
• You can have a the same name in different column sets. For example, (emp1, emp2), (emp1, emp3) is valid.

Rules for row_value_alias:

• This can be a string or an INT64 literal.
• The data type for all row_value_alias clauses must be the same.
• If the value is an INT64, the row_value_alias for each unpivot_column must be specified.

Examples

The following examples reference a table called Produce that looks like this:

WITH Produce AS (
  SELECT 'Kale' as product, 51 as Q1, 23 as Q2, 45 as Q3, 3 as Q4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Apple', 77, 0, 25, 2)
SELECT * FROM Produce

/*---------+----+----+----+----*
 | product | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
 +---------+----+----+----+----+
 | Kale    | 51 | 23 | 45 | 3  |
 | Apple   | 77 | 0  | 25 | 2  |
 *---------+----+----+----+----*/

With the UNPIVOT operator, the columns Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 are rotated. The values of these columns now populate a new column called Sales and the names of these columns now populate a new column called Quarter. This is a single-column unpivot operation.

SELECT * FROM Produce
UNPIVOT(sales FOR quarter IN (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4))

/*---------+-------+---------*
 | product | sales | quarter |
 +---------+-------+---------+
 | Kale    | 51    | Q1      |
 | Kale    | 23    | Q2      |
 | Kale    | 45    | Q3      |
 | Kale    | 3     | Q4      |
 | Apple   | 77    | Q1      |
 | Apple   | 0     | Q2      |
 | Apple   | 25    | Q3      |
 | Apple   | 2     | Q4      |
 *---------+-------+---------*/

In this example, we UNPIVOT four quarters into two semesters. This is a multi-column unpivot operation.

SELECT * FROM Produce
UNPIVOT(
  (first_half_sales, second_half_sales)
  FOR semesters
  IN ((Q1, Q2) AS 'semester_1', (Q3, Q4) AS 'semester_2'))

/*---------+------------------+-------------------+------------*
 | product | first_half_sales | second_half_sales | semesters  |
 +---------+------------------+-------------------+------------+
 | Kale    | 51               | 23                | semester_1 |
 | Kale    | 45               | 3                 | semester_2 |
 | Apple   | 77               | 0                 | semester_1 |
 | Apple   | 25               | 2                 | semester_2 |
 *---------+------------------+-------------------+------------*/

TABLESAMPLE operator

TABLESAMPLE SYSTEM ( percent PERCENT )

Description

You can use the TABLESAMPLE operator to select a random sample of a dataset. This operator is useful when you're working with tables that have large amounts of data and you don't need precise answers.

Sampling returns a variety of records while avoiding the costs associated with scanning and processing an entire table. Each execution of the query might return different results because each execution processes an independently computed sample. GoogleSQL doesn't cache the results of queries that include a TABLESAMPLE clause.

Replace percent with the percentage of the dataset that you want to include in the results. The value must be between 0 and 100. The value can be a literal value or a query parameter. It can't be a variable.

For more information, see Table sampling.

Example

The following query selects approximately 10% of a table's data:

SELECT * FROM dataset.my_table TABLESAMPLE SYSTEM (10 PERCENT)

MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause

Preview

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Note: To provide feedback or request support for this feature, send an email to [e-mail].

FROM from_item
MATCH_RECOGNIZE (
  [ PARTITION BY partition_expr [, ... ] ]
  ORDER BY order_expr [{ ASC | DESC }] [{ NULLS FIRST | NULLS LAST }] [, ...]
  MEASURES { measures_expr [AS] alias } [, ... ]
  [ AFTER MATCH SKIP { PAST LAST ROW | TO NEXT ROW } ]
  PATTERN (pattern)
  DEFINE symbol AS boolean_expr [, ... ]
  [ OPTIONS ( [ use_longest_match = { TRUE | FALSE } ] ) ]
)

Description

The MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause is an optional sub-clause of the FROM clause, used to filter and aggregate based on matches. A match is an ordered sequence of rows that match a pattern that you specify. Matching rows works similarly to matching with regular expressions, but instead of matching characters in a string, the MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause finds matches across rows in a table.

Definitions

• from_item: The data over which the MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause operates.
• partition_expr: An expression for how to partition the input. The expression can't contain floating point types, non-groupable types, constants, or window functions.
• order_expr: An orderable column or expression used to order the rows before matching.
• measures_expr: An aggregate expression that is evaluated per partition and match. The expression can reference columns and symbols.
• alias: The output column name for measures_expr.
• PAST LAST ROW: Don't allow overlapping matches. The next match must start from one or more rows past the last row in the previous match. The default value for AFTER MATCH SKIP is PAST LAST ROW.
• TO NEXT ROW: Allow overlapping matches. The next match can begin one row after the start of the previous match. Multiple matches that start at the same row aren't allowed.
• pattern: A sequence of symbols and pattern elements that defines a match.
• symbol: A name given to a boolean expression used to construct the pattern.
• boolean_expr: A boolean expression for a symbol that determines whether a row matches that symbol.
• use_longest_match: If true, then the chosen match starting from any given row is the match that includes the most rows. The default value is FALSE. For more information, see Match disambiguation rules.

Output

When you use the MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause, input data is transformed in the following way:

If the PARTITION BY clause is present, then the output is the following:

• There is one row for each match in each partition. Partitions with no matches don't generate any rows.
• There is one column for each expression in the PARTITION BY clause, and one column for each expression in the MEASURES clause.

If the PARTITION BY clause is omitted, then the output is the following:

• There is one row for each match.
• There is one column for each expression in the MEASURES clause.

PARTITION BY clause

The PARTITION BY clause specifies a list of expressions that are used to partition the input rows for pattern matching. Each partition is sorted according to the ORDER BY clause and matches must be entirely contained within a partition. If the PARTITION BY clause is omitted, then the entire input table belongs to a single partition.

You can't introduce an alias for a partition expression. If the expression is a single column name, then that name is used as the column name in the output. Otherwise, the output column for that partition is anonymous.

ORDER BY clause

The ORDER BY clause within a MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause orders the rows of the input for pattern matching and follows the same rules as the standard ORDER BY clause. The data type of each expression must be orderable. If all expressions in the ORDER BY clause are tied, then the rows may be ordered arbitrarily.

MEASURES clause

The MEASURES clause lists which aggregate expressions to compute for each match, subject to the following rules:

• You must provide an alias for each aggregate expression.
• Aggregate expressions must aggregate any columns that they reference, except for columns in the PARTITION BY clause, which are guaranteed to have the same value for every row in a match.
• To perform aggregation only on rows that matched a particular symbol, use the syntax symbol_name.column_name. You can't use a symbol without a column reference. You can't reference multiple symbols within the same aggregation function.
• A single row can match at most one symbol within a pattern. If a row satisfies the boolean expressions of multiple symbols in the DEFINE clause, only the symbol that that takes precedence can contribute to an aggregation expression. For more information about how to determine which symbol counts towards a match, see match disambiguation.

Order-sensitive aggregate functions

If an aggregate expression contains a function that depends on the order of input, such as ARRAY_AGG or STRING_AGG, the inputs are ordered according to the ORDER BY clause of the MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause, unless they include the keyword DISTINCT or an explicit ordering. If you explicitly specify an ordering within an aggregate function call, such as ARRAY_AGG(x ORDER BY x), then the function uses the order that you specified.

MEASURES clause functions

In addition to the standard aggregate functions, you can use the following functions in the MEASURES clause:

• FIRST(x): Returns the value of x in the first row of the match, or NULL if the match is empty.
• LAST(x): Returns the value of x in the last row of the match, or NULL if the match is empty.
• MATCH_NUMBER(): Returns the integer rank of the match, relative to other matches in the same partition, starting at 1. Matches are ranked according to the order of their starting rows using the ORDER BY clause. This function can be used with or without aggregation, because it returns the same value for every row in a match.
• MATCH_ROW_NUMBER(): Returns an integer specifying the row number of the current row, within the current match, starting at 1. The results of this function must be aggregated.
• CLASSIFIER(): Returns a STRING value for each row in the match that indicates the name of the symbol matched by the row. The results of this function must be aggregated.

The following SQL snippet references a table with columns called sales, sale_date, and customer, and shows examples of what is and isn't allowed in the MEASURES clause:

PARTITION BY customer
ORDER BY sale_date
MEASURES
  # Error. No alias.
  SUM(sales),

  # Correct. You don't need to aggregate a partition column.
  customer AS customer_name,

  # Error. You must aggregate all non-partition columns.
  sales AS customer_sales,

  # Correct. You can aggregate table columns.
  SUM(sales) AS total_sales,

  # Correct. Uses the symbol.column syntax.
  SUM(low_sales.sales) AS total_low_sales,

  # Correct. Multiple symbols appear in separate aggregations.
  SUM(low_sales.sales) + SUM(high_sales.sales) AS combined_low_high,

  # Error. Multiple symbols appear in a single aggregation.
  SUM(low_sales.sales + high_sales.sales) AS bad_combined_sales,

  # Error. A single aggregation can't combine symbol-qualified and
  # non-symbol-qualified terms.
  SUM(low_sales.sales + sales)
PATTERN (low_sales+ high_sales*)
DEFINE
  low_sales AS sales < 100,
  high_sales AS sales > 200

PATTERN clause

The PATTERN clause specifies a pattern to match. A pattern is a sequence of symbols and operators. Adjacent symbols within a pattern must be separated by a space or grouped separately using parentheses. Pattern matches are computed based on the order specified in the ORDER BY clause. Each pattern match must appear entirely within a partition. Patterns support the following elements, listed in order of precedence:

Element	Description
(<pattern>)	Matches <pattern>. Parentheses indicate grouping.
<symbol>	Matches a single row such that the associated expression in the DEFINE clause evaluates to TRUE for that row. See the DEFINE clause for details.
()	Matches an empty row sequence unconditionally.
^	Matches an empty row sequence, only before the first row of input.
$	Matches an empty row sequence, only after the last row of input.
<pattern>?	Matches <pattern> zero or one times; prefer once.
<pattern>??	Matches <pattern> zero or one times; prefer zero.
<pattern>*	Matches <pattern> zero or more times; prefer more.
<pattern>*?	Matches <pattern> zero or more times; prefer fewer.
<pattern>+	Matches <pattern> one or more times; prefer more.
<pattern>+?	Matches <pattern> one or more times; prefer fewer.
<pattern>{n}	Matches <pattern> exactly n times.
<pattern>{m,}	Matches <pattern> at least m times; prefer more.
<pattern>{m,}?	Matches <pattern> at least m times; prefer fewer.
<pattern>{,n}	Matches <pattern> at most n times; prefer more.
<pattern>{,n}?	Matches <pattern> at most n times; prefer fewer.
<pattern>{m,n}	Matches <pattern> between m and n times, inclusive; prefer more.
<pattern>{m,n}?	Matches <pattern> between m and n times, inclusive; prefer fewer.
<pattern1> <pattern2>	Matches <pattern1>, followed by <pattern2>.
<pattern1> | <pattern2>	Matches either <pattern1> or <pattern2>; prefer <pattern1>.
<pattern> |	Matches either <pattern> or an empty row sequence; prefer <pattern>. This is equivalent to <pattern>?.
| <pattern>	Matches either <pattern> or an empty row sequence; prefer the empty row sequence. This is equivalent to <pattern>??.

The values of m and n must be non-null integer literals or query parameters between 0 and 10,000. If a quantifier contains an upper and lower bound, such as {m,n}, then the upper bound can't be less than the lower bound.

DEFINE clause

The DEFINE clause lists all symbols used in the pattern. Each symbol is defined by a boolean expression. The symbol can match a row if the expression evaluates to TRUE for that row. Every symbol must appear at least once in the PATTERN clause.

A single row can match at most one symbol within a match, even if it satisfies the boolean expressions of multiple symbols in the DEFINE clause. Multiple matches can't start at the same row. For more information, see match disambiguation.

For example, you can use the following pattern and symbols in a MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause to match pairs of adjacent rows in which the value of sales is less than 100 in the first row and greater than 200 in the following row:

PATTERN (low_sales high_sales)
DEFINE
  low_sales AS sales < 100,
  high_sales AS sales > 200

The following example matches one or more rows with sales less than 100, followed by at most one row with sales greater than 200, followed by any number of rows with sales less than 100:

PATTERN (low_sales+ high_sales? low_sales*)
DEFINE
  low_sales AS sales < 100,
  high_sales AS sales > 200

Match disambiguation

When multiple matches exist with the same starting row, only one is selected according to the following rules:

1. Longest match mode.

   • If the OPTIONS clause is present and use_longest_match is TRUE, then the chosen match is the one that includes the most rows. In case of a tie, the chosen match is decided by operator preference.
   • If the OPTIONS clause is not present or use_longest_match is FALSE, then the match is chosen based on operator preference.

2. Operator preference.

   • The | operator gives preference to the left operand over the right operand.
   • Greedy quantifiers, which include ?, *, +, {m,}, {,n}, and {m,n}, give preference to matches that repeat the operand more times over matches that repeat it fewer times.
   • Reluctant quantifiers, which include ??, *?, {m,}?, {,n}?, and {m,n}?, give preference to matches that repeat the operand fewer times over matches that repeat it more times.

When operator preferences in different parts of the pattern conflict with each other, preferences that occur earlier in the match take priority over those that occur later in the match. For example, the pattern A* B+ first prioritizes increasing the number of rows that match the A symbol, even if that results in fewer rows that match the B symbol. In other words, AAB is chosen over ABB.

The pattern (A|B B)+ prioritizes starting the match with AB rather than BB, even if that results in fewer repetitions overall.

Examples

In the following example, pattern matches are single rows. The pattern matches the low symbol if x is less than or equal to 2. The pattern matches the high symbol if x is greater than or equal to 2. There are three matches, one for each row:

• The first row of input only satisfies the low symbol expression, so x = 1 contributes to the low_agg aggregation but not the high_agg aggregation.
• In the second row of input, x satisfies both symbol expressions, but the low symbol takes precedence because in the | operator, preference is given to the symbol on the left. Therefore, x = 2 contributes only to the low_agg aggregation.
• The third row of input only satisfies the high symbol expression, so x = 3 contributes to the high_agg aggregation but not the low_agg aggregation.

SELECT * FROM (
  SELECT 1 as x
  UNION ALL
  SELECT 2
  UNION ALL
  SELECT 3
)
MATCH_RECOGNIZE(
  ORDER BY x
  MEASURES
    ARRAY_AGG(high.x) AS high_agg,
    ARRAY_AGG(low.x) AS low_agg
  AFTER MATCH SKIP TO NEXT ROW
  PATTERN (low | high)
  DEFINE
    low AS x <= 2,
    high AS x >= 2
);

/*----------+---------+
 | high_agg | low_agg |
 +----------+---------+
 | NULL     | [1]     |
 | NULL     | [2]     |
 | [3]      | NULL    |
 +----------+---------*/

The following example is similar to the preceding example, except that the pattern is changed to low | high+ and the use_longest_match option is set to TRUE. There are three potential pattern matches that start at the second row of input:

1. Match the second row using the low symbol.
2. Match the second row using the high symbol.
3. Match the second row using the high symbol and the third row using the high symbol.

The third option is chosen because it's strictly longest. Since there is no tie for length, operator preference isn't considered.

SELECT * FROM (
  SELECT 1 as x
  UNION ALL
  SELECT 2
  UNION ALL
  SELECT 3
)
MATCH_RECOGNIZE(
  ORDER BY x
  MEASURES
    ARRAY_AGG(high.x) AS high_agg,
    ARRAY_AGG(low.x) AS low_agg
  AFTER MATCH SKIP TO NEXT ROW
  PATTERN (low | high+)
  DEFINE
    low AS x <= 2,
    high AS x >= 2
  OPTIONS (use_longest_match = TRUE)
);

/*----------+---------+
 | high_agg | low_agg |
 +----------+---------+
 | NULL     | [1]     |
 | [2,3]    | NULL    |
 | [3]      | NULL    |
 +----------+---------*/

The following examples reference a table called Sales:

WITH Sales AS (
  SELECT 'Daisy' AS customer, DATE '2024-01-03' AS sale_date, 'Electronics' AS product_category, 500 AS amount UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Daisy', DATE '2024-01-04', 'Software', 30 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Ian', DATE '2024-02-01', 'Books', 20 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Ian', DATE '2024-02-08', 'Clothing', 30 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Ian', DATE '2024-02-10', 'Clothing', 90 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Daisy', DATE '2024-03-15', 'Software', 40 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Ian', DATE '2024-03-15', 'Electronics', 300 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Ian', DATE '2024-03-15', 'Electronics', 400 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Ian', DATE '2024-03-21', 'Software', 30 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Ian', DATE '2024-04-07', 'Books', 50 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Daisy', DATE '2024-06-28', 'Electronics', 400 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Daisy', DATE '2024-06-29', 'Clothing', 100 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Daisy', DATE '2024-06-30', 'Software', 30 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Ian', DATE '2024-07-07', 'Clothing', 110
)
SELECT * FROM Sales;

/*----------+------------+------------------+--------+
 | customer | sale_date  | product_category | amount |
 +----------+------------+------------------+--------+
 | Daisy    | 2024-01-03 | Electronics      | 500    |
 | Daisy    | 2024-01-04 | Software         | 30     |
 | Ian      | 2024-02-01 | Books            | 20     |
 | Ian      | 2024-02-08 | Clothing         | 30     |
 | Ian      | 2024-02-10 | Clothing         | 90     |
 | Daisy    | 2024-03-15 | Software         | 40     |
 | Ian      | 2024-03-15 | Electronics      | 300    |
 | Ian      | 2024-03-15 | Electronics      | 400    |
 | Ian      | 2024-03-21 | Software         | 30     |
 | Ian      | 2024-04-07 | Books            | 50     |
 | Daisy    | 2024-06-28 | Electronics      | 400    |
 | Daisy    | 2024-06-29 | Clothing         | 100    |
 | Daisy    | 2024-06-30 | Software         | 30     |
 | Ian      | 2024-07-07 | Clothing         | 110    |
 +----------+------------+------------------+--------*/

The following example finds electronics purchases, followed by any number of other purchases of other types, followed by software purchases. The MEASURES clause aggregates the data in each match and computes total sales and software sales:

SELECT *
FROM
  Sales
MATCH_RECOGNIZE (
  PARTITION BY customer
  ORDER BY sale_date
  MEASURES
    ARRAY_AGG(STRUCT(sale_date, product_category, amount)) AS sales,
    SUM(amount) AS total_sale_amount,
    SUM(software.amount) AS software_sale_amount
  PATTERN (electronics+ any_category*? software+)
  DEFINE
    electronics AS product_category = 'Electronics',
    software AS product_category = 'Software',
    any_category AS TRUE
);

/*----------+-----------------+------------------------+--------------+-------------------+----------------------+
 | customer | sales.sale_date | sales.product_category | sales.amount | total_sale_amount | software_sale_amount |
 +----------+-----------------+------------------------+--------------+-------------------+----------------------+
 | Daisy    | 2024-01-03      | Electronics            | 500          | 570               | 70                   |
 |          | 2024-01-04      | Software               | 30           |                   |                      |
 |          | 2024-03-15      | Software               | 40           |                   |                      |
 | Daisy    | 2024-06-28      | Electronics            | 400          | 530               | 30                   |
 |          | 2024-06-29      | Clothing               | 100          |                   |                      |
 |          | 2024-06-30      | Software               | 30           |                   |                      |
 | Ian      | 2024-03-15      | Electronics            | 300          | 730               | 30                   |
 |          | 2024-03-15      | Electronics            | 400          |                   |                      |
 |          | 2024-03-21      | Software               | 30           |                   |                      |
 +----------+-----------------+------------------------+--------------+-------------------+----------------------*/

The following example, like the previous example, matches electronics purchases that were eventually followed by software purchases. The query uses the LAST and FIRST functions that are unique to the MEASURES clause to compute the number of days between the final electronics purchase in a match and the first following software purchase:

SELECT *
FROM
  Sales
MATCH_RECOGNIZE (
  PARTITION BY customer
  ORDER BY sale_date
  MEASURES
    LAST(electronics.sale_date) AS last_electronics_sale_date,
    FIRST(software.sale_date) AS first_software_sale_date,
    DATE_DIFF(FIRST(software.sale_date), LAST(electronics.sale_date), day) AS date_gap
  PATTERN (electronics+ any_category*? software+)
  DEFINE
    electronics AS product_category = 'Electronics',
    software AS product_category = 'Software',
    any_category AS TRUE
);

/*----------+----------------------------+--------------------------+----------+
 | customer | last_electronics_sale_date | first_software_sale_date | date_gap |
 +----------+----------------------------+--------------------------+----------+
 | Daisy    | 2024-01-03                 | 2024-01-04               | 1        |
 | Daisy    | 2024-06-28                 | 2024-06-30               | 2        |
 | Ian      | 2024-03-15                 | 2024-03-21               | 6        |
 +----------+----------------------------+--------------------------+----------*/

The following example matches a sequence of rows where amount is less than 50, followed by rows where amount is between 50 and 100, followed by rows where amount is greater than 100. The query uses the MATCH_NUMBER, MATCH_ROW_NUMBER, and CLASSIFIER functions in the MEASURES clause to identify matches and their symbols in the results.

SELECT *
FROM
  Sales
MATCH_RECOGNIZE (
  PARTITION BY customer
  ORDER BY sale_date
  MEASURES
    MATCH_NUMBER() AS match_number,
    ARRAY_AGG(STRUCT(MATCH_ROW_NUMBER() AS row,
                     CLASSIFIER() AS symbol,
                     sale_date,
                     product_category)) AS sales
  PATTERN (low+ mid+ high+)
  DEFINE
    low AS amount < 50,
    mid AS amount >= 50 AND amount <= 100,
    high AS amount > 100
);

/*----------+--------------+-----------+--------------+-----------------+------------------------+
 | customer | match_number | sales.row | sales.symbol | sales.sale_date | sales.product_category |
 +----------+--------------+-----------+--------------+-----------------+------------------------+
 | Ian      | 1            | 1         | low          | 2024-02-01      | Books                  |
 |          |              | 2         | low          | 2024-02-08      | Clothing               |
 |          |              | 3         | mid          | 2024-02-10      | Clothing               |
 |          |              | 4         | high         | 2024-03-15      | Electronics            |
 |          |              | 5         | high         | 2024-03-15      | Electronics            |
 | Ian      | 2            | 1         | low          | 2024-03-21      | Software               |
 |          |              | 2         | mid          | 2024-04-07      | Books                  |
 |          |              | 3         | high         | 2024-07-07      | Clothing               |
 +----------+--------------+-----------+--------------+-----------------+------------------------*/

The following example is similar to the previous one, except it allows overlapping matches:

SELECT *
FROM
  Sales
MATCH_RECOGNIZE (
  PARTITION BY customer
  ORDER BY sale_date
  MEASURES
    MATCH_NUMBER() AS match_number,
    ARRAY_AGG(STRUCT(MATCH_ROW_NUMBER() AS row,
                     CLASSIFIER() AS symbol,
                     sale_date,
                     product_category)) AS sales
  AFTER MATCH SKIP TO NEXT ROW
  PATTERN (low+ mid+ high+)
  DEFINE
    low AS amount < 50,
    mid AS amount >= 50 AND amount <= 100,
    high AS amount > 100
);

/*----------+--------------+-----------+--------------+-----------------+------------------------+
 | customer | match_number | sales.row | sales.symbol | sales.sale_date | sales.product_category |
 +----------+--------------+-----------+--------------+-----------------+------------------------+
 | Ian      | 1            | 1         | low          | 2024-02-01      | Books                  |
 |          |              | 2         | low          | 2024-02-08      | Clothing               |
 |          |              | 3         | mid          | 2024-02-10      | Clothing               |
 |          |              | 4         | high         | 2024-03-15      | Electronics            |
 |          |              | 5         | high         | 2024-03-15      | Electronics            |
 | Ian      | 2            | 1         | low          | 2024-02-08      | Clothing               |
 |          |              | 2         | mid          | 2024-02-10      | Clothing               |
 |          |              | 3         | high         | 2024-03-15      | Electronics            |
 |          |              | 4         | high         | 2024-03-15      | Electronics            |
 | Ian      | 3            | 1         | low          | 2024-03-21      | Software               |
 |          |              | 2         | mid          | 2024-04-07      | Books                  |
 |          |              | 3         | high         | 2024-07-07      | Clothing               |
 +----------+--------------+-----------+--------------+-----------------+------------------------*/

Best practices

To scale the performance of queries that contain the MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause, use the following best practices:

• Use the PARTITION BY clause.
  • Within each partition, rows are processed one at a time. Separate partitions can be processed in parallel, subject to slot availability.
  • The MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause generally runs faster when you use a larger number of smaller partitions, rather than fewer large partitions.
  • Individual partitions which are too large, typically exceeding 1 million rows, might cause an Out of memory error.
• Use simple patterns.
  • Avoid patterns with a large number of operators.
  • Avoid bounded quantifiers with large bound values. For example, matching the patterns A+ or A* is faster than matching A{,100}.
• Use the ORDER BY clause to guarantee the order in which the input rows are processed. Otherwise the MATCH_RECOGNIZE clause can produce non-deterministic results.

For more example queries, see the MATCH_RECOGNIZE notebook tutorial.

Join operation

join_operation:
  { cross_join_operation | condition_join_operation }

cross_join_operation:
  from_item cross_join_operator from_item

condition_join_operation:
  from_item condition_join_operator from_item join_condition

cross_join_operator:
  { CROSS JOIN | , }

condition_join_operator:
  {
    [INNER] JOIN
    | FULL [OUTER] JOIN
    | LEFT [OUTER] JOIN
    | RIGHT [OUTER] JOIN
  }

join_condition:
  { on_clause | using_clause }

on_clause:
  ON bool_expression

using_clause:
  USING ( column_list )

The JOIN operation merges two from_items so that the SELECT clause can query them as one source. The join operator and join condition specify how to combine and discard rows from the two from_items to form a single source.

[INNER] JOIN

An INNER JOIN, or simply JOIN, effectively calculates the Cartesian product of the two from_items and discards all rows that don't meet the join condition. Effectively means that it's possible to implement an INNER JOIN without actually calculating the Cartesian product.

FROM A INNER JOIN B ON A.w = B.y

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------+
| w | x |  *  | y | z |  =  | w | x | y | z |
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | k |     | 2 | b | 2 | k |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | m |     | 3 | c | 3 | m |
| 3 | c |     | 3 | n |     | 3 | c | 3 | n |
| 3 | d |     | 4 | p |     | 3 | d | 3 | m |
+-------+     +-------+     | 3 | d | 3 | n |
                            +---------------+
*/

FROM A INNER JOIN B USING (x)

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +-----------+
| x | y |  *  | x | z |  =  | x | y | z |
+-------+     +-------+     +-----------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | k |     | 2 | b | k |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | m |     | 3 | c | m |
| 3 | c |     | 3 | n |     | 3 | c | n |
| 3 | d |     | 4 | p |     | 3 | d | m |
+-------+     +-------+     | 3 | d | n |
                            +-----------+
*/

Example

This query performs an INNER JOIN on the Roster and TeamMascot tables.

SELECT Roster.LastName, TeamMascot.Mascot
FROM Roster JOIN TeamMascot ON Roster.SchoolID = TeamMascot.SchoolID;

/*---------------------------*
 | LastName   | Mascot       |
 +---------------------------+
 | Adams      | Jaguars      |
 | Buchanan   | Lakers       |
 | Coolidge   | Lakers       |
 | Davis      | Knights      |
 *---------------------------*/

You can use a correlated INNER JOIN to flatten an array into a set of rows. To learn more, see Convert elements in an array to rows in a table.

CROSS JOIN

CROSS JOIN returns the Cartesian product of the two from_items. In other words, it combines each row from the first from_item with each row from the second from_item.

If the rows of the two from_items are independent, then the result has M * N rows, given M rows in one from_item and N in the other. Note that this still holds for the case when either from_item has zero rows.

In a FROM clause, a CROSS JOIN can be written like this:

FROM A CROSS JOIN B

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------+
| w | x |  *  | y | z |  =  | w | x | y | z |
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | c |     | 1 | a | 2 | c |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | d |     | 1 | a | 3 | d |
+-------+     +-------+     | 2 | b | 2 | c |
                            | 2 | b | 3 | d |
                            +---------------+
*/

You can use a correlated cross join to convert or flatten an array into a set of rows, though the (equivalent) INNER JOIN is preferred over CROSS JOIN for this case. To learn more, see Convert elements in an array to rows in a table.

Examples

This query performs an CROSS JOIN on the Roster and TeamMascot tables.

SELECT Roster.LastName, TeamMascot.Mascot
FROM Roster CROSS JOIN TeamMascot;

/*---------------------------*
 | LastName   | Mascot       |
 +---------------------------+
 | Adams      | Jaguars      |
 | Adams      | Knights      |
 | Adams      | Lakers       |
 | Adams      | Mustangs     |
 | Buchanan   | Jaguars      |
 | Buchanan   | Knights      |
 | Buchanan   | Lakers       |
 | Buchanan   | Mustangs     |
 | ...                       |
 *---------------------------*/

Comma cross join (,)

CROSS JOINs can be written implicitly with a comma. This is called a comma cross join.

A comma cross join looks like this in a FROM clause:

FROM A, B

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------+
| w | x |  *  | y | z |  =  | w | x | y | z |
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | c |     | 1 | a | 2 | c |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | d |     | 1 | a | 3 | d |
+-------+     +-------+     | 2 | b | 2 | c |
                            | 2 | b | 3 | d |
                            +---------------+
*/

You can't write comma cross joins inside parentheses. To learn more, see Join operations in a sequence.

FROM (A, B)  // INVALID

You can use a correlated comma cross join to convert or flatten an array into a set of rows. To learn more, see Convert elements in an array to rows in a table.

Examples

This query performs a comma cross join on the Roster and TeamMascot tables.

SELECT Roster.LastName, TeamMascot.Mascot
FROM Roster, TeamMascot;

/*---------------------------*
 | LastName   | Mascot       |
 +---------------------------+
 | Adams      | Jaguars      |
 | Adams      | Knights      |
 | Adams      | Lakers       |
 | Adams      | Mustangs     |
 | Buchanan   | Jaguars      |
 | Buchanan   | Knights      |
 | Buchanan   | Lakers       |
 | Buchanan   | Mustangs     |
 | ...                       |
 *---------------------------*/

FULL [OUTER] JOIN

A FULL OUTER JOIN (or simply FULL JOIN) returns all fields for all matching rows in both from_items that meet the join condition. If a given row from one from_item doesn't join to any row in the other from_item, the row returns with NULL values for all columns from the other from_item.

FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B ON A.w = B.y

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------------------+
| w | x |  *  | y | z |  =  | w    | x    | y    | z    |
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | k |     | 1    | a    | NULL | NULL |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | m |     | 2    | b    | 2    | k    |
| 3 | c |     | 3 | n |     | 3    | c    | 3    | m    |
| 3 | d |     | 4 | p |     | 3    | c    | 3    | n    |
+-------+     +-------+     | 3    | d    | 3    | m    |
                            | 3    | d    | 3    | n    |
                            | NULL | NULL | 4    | p    |
                            +---------------------------+
*/

FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B USING (x)

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +--------------------+
| x | y |  *  | x | z |  =  | x    | y    | z    |
+-------+     +-------+     +--------------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | k |     | 1    | a    | NULL |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | m |     | 2    | b    | k    |
| 3 | c |     | 3 | n |     | 3    | c    | m    |
| 3 | d |     | 4 | p |     | 3    | c    | n    |
+-------+     +-------+     | 3    | d    | m    |
                            | 3    | d    | n    |
                            | 4    | NULL | p    |
                            +--------------------+
*/

Example

This query performs a FULL JOIN on the Roster and TeamMascot tables.

SELECT Roster.LastName, TeamMascot.Mascot
FROM Roster FULL JOIN TeamMascot ON Roster.SchoolID = TeamMascot.SchoolID;

/*---------------------------*
 | LastName   | Mascot       |
 +---------------------------+
 | Adams      | Jaguars      |
 | Buchanan   | Lakers       |
 | Coolidge   | Lakers       |
 | Davis      | Knights      |
 | Eisenhower | NULL         |
 | NULL       | Mustangs     |
 *---------------------------*/

LEFT [OUTER] JOIN

The result of a LEFT OUTER JOIN (or simply LEFT JOIN) for two from_items always retains all rows of the left from_item in the JOIN operation, even if no rows in the right from_item satisfy the join predicate.

All rows from the left from_item are retained; if a given row from the left from_item doesn't join to any row in the right from_item, the row will return with NULL values for all columns exclusively from the right from_item. Rows from the right from_item that don't join to any row in the left from_item are discarded.

FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B ON A.w = B.y

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------------------+
| w | x |  *  | y | z |  =  | w    | x    | y    | z    |
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | k |     | 1    | a    | NULL | NULL |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | m |     | 2    | b    | 2    | k    |
| 3 | c |     | 3 | n |     | 3    | c    | 3    | m    |
| 3 | d |     | 4 | p |     | 3    | c    | 3    | n    |
+-------+     +-------+     | 3    | d    | 3    | m    |
                            | 3    | d    | 3    | n    |
                            +---------------------------+
*/

FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B USING (x)

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +--------------------+
| x | y |  *  | x | z |  =  | x    | y    | z    |
+-------+     +-------+     +--------------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | k |     | 1    | a    | NULL |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | m |     | 2    | b    | k    |
| 3 | c |     | 3 | n |     | 3    | c    | m    |
| 3 | d |     | 4 | p |     | 3    | c    | n    |
+-------+     +-------+     | 3    | d    | m    |
                            | 3    | d    | n    |
                            +--------------------+
*/

Example

This query performs a LEFT JOIN on the Roster and TeamMascot tables.

SELECT Roster.LastName, TeamMascot.Mascot
FROM Roster LEFT JOIN TeamMascot ON Roster.SchoolID = TeamMascot.SchoolID;

/*---------------------------*
 | LastName   | Mascot       |
 +---------------------------+
 | Adams      | Jaguars      |
 | Buchanan   | Lakers       |
 | Coolidge   | Lakers       |
 | Davis      | Knights      |
 | Eisenhower | NULL         |
 *---------------------------*/

RIGHT [OUTER] JOIN

The result of a RIGHT OUTER JOIN (or simply RIGHT JOIN) for two from_items always retains all rows of the right from_item in the JOIN operation, even if no rows in the left from_item satisfy the join predicate.

All rows from the right from_item are returned; if a given row from the right from_item doesn't join to any row in the left from_item, the row will return with NULL values for all columns exclusively from the left from_item. Rows from the left from_item that don't join to any row in the right from_item are discarded.

FROM A RIGHT OUTER JOIN B ON A.w = B.y

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------------------+
| w | x |  *  | y | z |  =  | w    | x    | y    | z    |
+-------+     +-------+     +---------------------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | k |     | 2    | b    | 2    | k    |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | m |     | 3    | c    | 3    | m    |
| 3 | c |     | 3 | n |     | 3    | c    | 3    | n    |
| 3 | d |     | 4 | p |     | 3    | d    | 3    | m    |
+-------+     +-------+     | 3    | d    | 3    | n    |
                            | NULL | NULL | 4    | p    |
                            +---------------------------+
*/

FROM A RIGHT OUTER JOIN B USING (x)

/*
Table A       Table B       Result
+-------+     +-------+     +--------------------+
| x | y |  *  | x | z |  =  | x    | y    | z    |
+-------+     +-------+     +--------------------+
| 1 | a |     | 2 | k |     | 2    | b    | k    |
| 2 | b |     | 3 | m |     | 3    | c    | m    |
| 3 | c |     | 3 | n |     | 3    | c    | n    |
| 3 | d |     | 4 | p |     | 3    | d    | m    |
+-------+     +-------+     | 3    | d    | n    |
                            | 4    | NULL | p    |
                            +--------------------+
*/

Example

This query performs a RIGHT JOIN on the Roster and TeamMascot tables.

SELECT Roster.LastName, TeamMascot.Mascot
FROM Roster RIGHT JOIN TeamMascot ON Roster.SchoolID = TeamMascot.SchoolID;

/*---------------------------*
 | LastName   | Mascot       |
 +---------------------------+
 | Adams      | Jaguars      |
 | Buchanan   | Lakers       |
 | Coolidge   | Lakers       |
 | Davis      | Knights      |
 | NULL       | Mustangs     |
 *---------------------------*/

Join conditions

In a join operation, a join condition helps specify how to combine rows in two from_items to form a single source.

The two types of join conditions are the ON clause and USING clause. You must use a join condition when you perform a conditional join operation. You can't use a join condition when you perform a cross join operation.

ON clause

ON bool_expression

Description

Given a row from each table, if the ON clause evaluates to TRUE, the query generates a consolidated row with the result of combining the given rows.

Definitions:

• bool_expression: The boolean expression that specifies the condition for the join. This is frequently a comparison operation or logical combination of comparison operators.

Details:

Similarly to CROSS JOIN, ON produces a column once for each column in each input table.

A NULL join condition evaluation is equivalent to a FALSE evaluation.

If a column-order sensitive operation such as UNION or SELECT * is used with the ON join condition, the resulting table contains all of the columns from the left input in order, and then all of the columns from the right input in order.

Examples

The following examples show how to use the ON clause:

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4)
SELECT * FROM A INNER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4)
SELECT A.x, B.x FROM A INNER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

/*
Table A   Table B   Result (A.x, B.x)
+---+     +---+     +-------+
| x |  *  | x |  =  | x | x |
+---+     +---+     +-------+
| 1 |     | 2 |     | 2 | 2 |
| 2 |     | 3 |     | 3 | 3 |
| 3 |     | 4 |     +-------+
+---+     +---+
*/

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT * FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT A.x, B.x FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

/*
Table A    Table B   Result
+------+   +---+     +-------------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    | x    |
+------+   +---+     +-------------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 1    | NULL |
| 2    |   | 3 |     | 2    | 2    |
| 3    |   | 4 |     | 3    | 3    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | NULL | NULL |
+------+   +---+     +-------------+
*/

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT * FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT A.x, B.x FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

/*
Table A    Table B   Result
+------+   +---+     +-------------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    | x    |
+------+   +---+     +-------------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 1    | NULL |
| 2    |   | 3 |     | 2    | 2    |
| 3    |   | 4 |     | 3    | 3    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | NULL | NULL |
+------+   +---+     | NULL | 4    |
                     | NULL | 5    |
                     +-------------+
*/

USING clause

USING ( column_name_list )

column_name_list:
    column_name[, ...]

Description

When you are joining two tables, USING performs an equality comparison operation on the columns named in column_name_list. Each column name in column_name_list must appear in both input tables. For each pair of rows from the input tables, if the equality comparisons all evaluate to TRUE, one row is added to the resulting column.

Definitions:

• column_name_list: A list of columns to include in the join condition.
• column_name: The column that exists in both of the tables that you are joining.

Details:

A NULL join condition evaluation is equivalent to a FALSE evaluation.

If a column-order sensitive operation such as UNION or SELECT * is used with the USING join condition, the resulting table contains columns in this order:

• The columns from column_name_list in the order they appear in the USING clause.
• All other columns of the left input in the order they appear in the input.
• All other columns of the right input in the order they appear in the input.

A column name in the USING clause must not be qualified by a table name.

If the join is an INNER JOIN or a LEFT OUTER JOIN, the output columns are populated from the values in the first table. If the join is a RIGHT OUTER JOIN, the output columns are populated from the values in the second table. If the join is a FULL OUTER JOIN, the output columns are populated by coalescing the values from the left and right tables in that order.

Examples

The following example shows how to use the USING clause with one column name in the column name list:

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT * FROM A INNER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A    Table B   Result
+------+   +---+     +---+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x |
+------+   +---+     +---+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 2 |
| 2    |   | 9 |     | 9 |
| 9    |   | 9 |     | 9 |
| NULL |   | 5 |     +---+
+------+   +---+
*/

The following example shows how to use the USING clause with multiple column names in the column name list:

WITH
  A AS (
    SELECT 1 as x, 15 as y UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 10 UNION ALL
    SELECT 9, 16 UNION ALL
    SELECT NULL, 12),
  B AS (
    SELECT 2 as x, 10 as y UNION ALL
    SELECT 9, 17 UNION ALL
    SELECT 9, 16 UNION ALL
    SELECT 5, 15)
SELECT * FROM A INNER JOIN B USING (x, y);

/*
Table A         Table B        Result
+-----------+   +---------+     +---------+
| x    | y  | * | x  | y  |  =  | x  | y  |
+-----------+   +---------+     +---------+
| 1    | 15 |   | 2  | 10 |     | 2  | 10 |
| 2    | 10 |   | 9  | 17 |     | 9  | 16 |
| 9    | 16 |   | 9  | 16 |     +---------+
| NULL | 12 |   | 5  | 15 |
+-----------+   +---------+
*/

The following examples show additional ways in which to use the USING clause with one column name in the column name list:

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x, A.x, B.x FROM A INNER JOIN B USING (x)

/*
Table A    Table B   Result
+------+   +---+     +--------------------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    | A.x  | B.x  |
+------+   +---+     +--------------------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 2    | 2    | 2    |
| 2    |   | 9 |     | 9    | 9    | 9    |
| 9    |   | 9 |     | 9    | 9    | 9    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     +--------------------+
+------+   +---+
*/

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x, A.x, B.x FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B USING (x)

/*
Table A    Table B   Result
+------+   +---+     +--------------------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    | A.x  | B.x  |
+------+   +---+     +--------------------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 1    | 1    | NULL |
| 2    |   | 9 |     | 2    | 2    | 2    |
| 9    |   | 9 |     | 9    | 9    | 9    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | 9    | 9    | 9    |
+------+   +---+     | NULL | NULL | NULL |
                     +--------------------+
*/

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x, A.x, B.x FROM A RIGHT OUTER JOIN B USING (x)

/*
Table A    Table B   Result
+------+   +---+     +--------------------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    | A.x  | B.x  |
+------+   +---+     +--------------------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 2    | 2    | 2    |
| 2    |   | 9 |     | 2    | 2    | 2    |
| 2    |   | 9 |     | 9    | NULL | 9    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | 9    | NULL | 9    |
+------+   +---+     | 5    | NULL | 5    |
                     +--------------------+
*/

WITH
  A AS ( SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS ( SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 9 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x, A.x, B.x FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A    Table B   Result
+------+   +---+     +--------------------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    | A.x  | B.x  |
+------+   +---+     +--------------------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 1    | 1    | NULL |
| 2    |   | 9 |     | 2    | 2    | 2    |
| 2    |   | 9 |     | 2    | 2    | 2    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | NULL | NULL | NULL |
+------+   +---+     | 9    | NULL | 9    |
                     | 9    | NULL | 9    |
                     | 5    | NULL | 5    |
                     +--------------------+
*/

The following example shows how to use the USING clause with only some column names in the column name list.

WITH
  A AS (
    SELECT 1 as x, 15 as y UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 10 UNION ALL
    SELECT 9, 16 UNION ALL
    SELECT NULL, 12),
  B AS (
    SELECT 2 as x, 10 as y UNION ALL
    SELECT 9, 17 UNION ALL
    SELECT 9, 16 UNION ALL
    SELECT 5, 15)
SELECT * FROM A INNER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A         Table B         Result
+-----------+   +---------+     +-----------------+
| x    | y  | * | x  | y  |  =  | x   | A.y | B.y |
+-----------+   +---------+     +-----------------+
| 1    | 15 |   | 2  | 10 |     | 2   | 10  | 10  |
| 2    | 10 |   | 9  | 17 |     | 9   | 16  | 17  |
| 9    | 16 |   | 9  | 16 |     | 9   | 16  | 16  |
| NULL | 12 |   | 5  | 15 |     +-----------------+
+-----------+   +---------+
*/

The following query performs an INNER JOIN on the Roster and TeamMascot table. The query returns the rows from Roster and TeamMascot where Roster.SchoolID is the same as TeamMascot.SchoolID. The results include a single SchoolID column.

SELECT * FROM Roster INNER JOIN TeamMascot USING (SchoolID);

/*----------------------------------------*
 | SchoolID   | LastName   | Mascot       |
 +----------------------------------------+
 | 50         | Adams      | Jaguars      |
 | 52         | Buchanan   | Lakers       |
 | 52         | Coolidge   | Lakers       |
 | 51         | Davis      | Knights      |
 *----------------------------------------*/

ON and USING equivalency

The ON and USING join conditions aren't equivalent, but they share some rules and sometimes they can produce similar results.

In the following examples, observe what is returned when all rows are produced for inner and outer joins. Also, look at how each join condition handles NULL values.

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4)
SELECT * FROM A INNER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4)
SELECT * FROM A INNER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A   Table B   Result ON     Result USING
+---+     +---+     +-------+     +---+
| x |  *  | x |  =  | x | x |     | x |
+---+     +---+     +-------+     +---+
| 1 |     | 2 |     | 2 | 2 |     | 2 |
| 2 |     | 3 |     | 3 | 3 |     | 3 |
| 3 |     | 4 |     +-------+     +---+
+---+     +---+
*/

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT * FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT * FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A    Table B   Result ON           Result USING
+------+   +---+     +-------------+     +------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    | x    |     | x    |
+------+   +---+     +-------------+     +------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 1    | NULL |     | 1    |
| 2    |   | 3 |     | 2    | 2    |     | 2    |
| 3    |   | 4 |     | 3    | 3    |     | 3    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | NULL | NULL |     | NULL |
+------+   +---+     +-------------+     +------+
*/

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4)
SELECT * FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4)
SELECT * FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A   Table B   Result ON           Result USING
+---+     +---+     +-------------+     +---+
| x |  *  | x |  =  | x    | x    |     | x |
+---+     +---+     +-------------+     +---+
| 1 |     | 2 |     | 1    | NULL |     | 1 |
| 2 |     | 3 |     | 2    | 2    |     | 2 |
| 3 |     | 4 |     | 3    | 3    |     | 3 |
+---+     +---+     | NULL | 4    |     | 4 |
                    +-------------+     +---+
*/

Although ON and USING aren't equivalent, they can return the same results in some situations if you specify the columns you want to return.

In the following examples, observe what is returned when a specific row is produced for inner and outer joins. Also, look at how each join condition handles NULL values.

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT A.x FROM A INNER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x FROM A INNER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A    Table B   Result ON     Result USING
+------+   +---+     +---+         +---+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x |         | x |
+------+   +---+     +---+         +---+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 2 |         | 2 |
| 2    |   | 3 |     | 3 |         | 3 |
| 3    |   | 4 |     +---+         +---+
| NULL |   | 5 |
+------+   +---+
*/

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT A.x FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x FROM A LEFT OUTER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A    Table B   Result ON    Result USING
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    |     | x    |
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 1    |     | 1    |
| 2    |   | 3 |     | 2    |     | 2    |
| 3    |   | 4 |     | 3    |     | 3    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | NULL |     | NULL |
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
*/

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT A.x FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A    Table B   Result ON    Result USING
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    |     | x    |
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 1    |     | 1    |
| 2    |   | 3 |     | 2    |     | 2    |
| 3    |   | 4 |     | 3    |     | 3    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | NULL |     | NULL |
+------+   +---+     | NULL |     | 4    |
                     | NULL |     | 5    |
                     +------+     +------+
*/

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT B.x FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A    Table B   Result ON    Result USING
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    |     | x    |
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 2    |     | 1    |
| 2    |   | 3 |     | 3    |     | 2    |
| 3    |   | 4 |     | NULL |     | 3    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | NULL |     | NULL |
+------+   +---+     | 4    |     | 4    |
                     | 5    |     | 5    |
                     +------+     +------+
*/

In the following example, observe what is returned when COALESCE is used with the ON clause. It provides the same results as a query with the USING clause.

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT COALESCE(A.x, B.x) FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B ON A.x = B.x;

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 as x UNION ALL SELECT 2 UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT NULL),
  B AS (SELECT 2 as x UNION ALL SELECT 3 UNION ALL SELECT 4 UNION ALL SELECT 5)
SELECT x FROM A FULL OUTER JOIN B USING (x);

/*
Table A    Table B   Result ON    Result USING
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
| x    | * | x |  =  | x    |     | x    |
+------+   +---+     +------+     +------+
| 1    |   | 2 |     | 1    |     | 1    |
| 2    |   | 3 |     | 2    |     | 2    |
| 3    |   | 4 |     | 3    |     | 3    |
| NULL |   | 5 |     | NULL |     | NULL |
+------+   +---+     | 4    |     | 4    |
                     | 5    |     | 5    |
                     +------+     +------+
*/

Join operations in a sequence

The FROM clause can contain multiple JOIN operations in a sequence. JOINs are bound from left to right. For example:

FROM A JOIN B USING (x) JOIN C USING (x)

-- A JOIN B USING (x)        = result_1
-- result_1 JOIN C USING (x) = result_2
-- result_2                  = return value

You can also insert parentheses to group JOINs:

FROM ( (A JOIN B USING (x)) JOIN C USING (x) )

-- A JOIN B USING (x)        = result_1
-- result_1 JOIN C USING (x) = result_2
-- result_2                  = return value

With parentheses, you can group JOINs so that they are bound in a different order:

FROM ( A JOIN (B JOIN C USING (x)) USING (x) )

-- B JOIN C USING (x)       = result_1
-- A JOIN result_1          = result_2
-- result_2                 = return value

A FROM clause can have multiple joins. Provided there are no comma cross joins in the FROM clause, joins don't require parenthesis, though parenthesis can help readability:

FROM A JOIN B JOIN C JOIN D USING (w) ON B.x = C.y ON A.z = B.x

If your clause contains comma cross joins, you must use parentheses:

FROM A, B JOIN C JOIN D ON C.x = D.y ON B.z = C.x    // INVALID

FROM A, B JOIN (C JOIN D ON C.x = D.y) ON B.z = C.x  // VALID

When comma cross joins are present in a query with a sequence of JOINs, they group from left to right like other JOIN types:

FROM A JOIN B USING (x) JOIN C USING (x), D

-- A JOIN B USING (x)        = result_1
-- result_1 JOIN C USING (x) = result_2
-- result_2 CROSS JOIN D     = return value

There can't be a RIGHT JOIN or FULL JOIN after a comma cross join unless it's parenthesized:

FROM A, B RIGHT JOIN C ON TRUE // INVALID

FROM A, B FULL JOIN C ON TRUE  // INVALID

FROM A, B JOIN C ON TRUE       // VALID

FROM A, (B RIGHT JOIN C ON TRUE) // VALID

FROM A, (B FULL JOIN C ON TRUE)  // VALID

Correlated join operation

A join operation is correlated when the right from_item contains a reference to at least one range variable or column name introduced by the left from_item.

In a correlated join operation, rows from the right from_item are determined by a row from the left from_item. Consequently, RIGHT OUTER and FULL OUTER joins can't be correlated because right from_item rows can't be determined in the case when there is no row from the left from_item.

All correlated join operations must reference an array in the right from_item.

This is a conceptual example of a correlated join operation that includes a correlated subquery:

FROM A JOIN UNNEST(ARRAY(SELECT AS STRUCT * FROM B WHERE A.ID = B.ID)) AS C

• Left from_item: A
• Right from_item: UNNEST(...) AS C
• A correlated subquery: (SELECT AS STRUCT * FROM B WHERE A.ID = B.ID)

This is another conceptual example of a correlated join operation. array_of_IDs is part of the left from_item but is referenced in the right from_item.

FROM A JOIN UNNEST(A.array_of_IDs) AS C

The UNNEST operator can be explicit or implicit. These are both allowed:

FROM A JOIN UNNEST(A.array_of_IDs) AS IDs

FROM A JOIN A.array_of_IDs AS IDs

In a correlated join operation, the right from_item is re-evaluated against each distinct row from the left from_item. In the following conceptual example, the correlated join operation first evaluates A and B, then A and C:

FROM
  A
  JOIN
  UNNEST(ARRAY(SELECT AS STRUCT * FROM B WHERE A.ID = B.ID)) AS C
  ON A.Name = C.Name

Caveats

• In a correlated LEFT JOIN, when the input table on the right side is empty for some row from the left side, it's as if no rows from the right side satisfied the join condition in a regular LEFT JOIN. When there are no joining rows, a row with NULL values for all columns on the right side is generated to join with the row from the left side.
• In a correlated CROSS JOIN, when the input table on the right side is empty for some row from the left side, it's as if no rows from the right side satisfied the join condition in a regular correlated INNER JOIN. This means that the row is dropped from the results.

Examples

This is an example of a correlated join, using the Roster and PlayerStats tables:

SELECT *
FROM
  Roster
JOIN
  UNNEST(
    ARRAY(
      SELECT AS STRUCT *
      FROM PlayerStats
      WHERE PlayerStats.OpponentID = Roster.SchoolID
    )) AS PlayerMatches
  ON PlayerMatches.LastName = 'Buchanan'

/*------------+----------+----------+------------+--------------*
 | LastName   | SchoolID | LastName | OpponentID | PointsScored |
 +------------+----------+----------+------------+--------------+
 | Adams      | 50       | Buchanan | 50         | 13           |
 | Eisenhower | 77       | Buchanan | 77         | 0            |
 *------------+----------+----------+------------+--------------*/

A common pattern for a correlated LEFT JOIN is to have an UNNEST operation on the right side that references an array from some column introduced by input on the left side. For rows where that array is empty or NULL, the UNNEST operation produces no rows on the right input. In that case, a row with a NULL entry in each column of the right input is created to join with the row from the left input. For example:

SELECT A.name, item, ARRAY_LENGTH(A.items) item_count_for_name
FROM
  UNNEST(
    [
      STRUCT(
        'first' AS name,
        [1, 2, 3, 4] AS items),
      STRUCT(
        'second' AS name,
        [] AS items)]) AS A
LEFT JOIN
  A.items AS item;

/*--------+------+---------------------*
 | name   | item | item_count_for_name |
 +--------+------+---------------------+
 | first  | 1    | 4                   |
 | first  | 2    | 4                   |
 | first  | 3    | 4                   |
 | first  | 4    | 4                   |
 | second | NULL | 0                   |
 *--------+------+---------------------*/

In the case of a correlated INNER JOIN or CROSS JOIN, when the input on the right side is empty for some row from the left side, the final row is dropped from the results. For example:

SELECT A.name, item
FROM
  UNNEST(
    [
      STRUCT(
        'first' AS name,
        [1, 2, 3, 4] AS items),
      STRUCT(
        'second' AS name,
        [] AS items)]) AS A
INNER JOIN
  A.items AS item;

/*-------+------*
 | name  | item |
 +-------+------+
 | first | 1    |
 | first | 2    |
 | first | 3    |
 | first | 4    |
 *-------+------*/

WHERE clause

WHERE bool_expression

The WHERE clause filters the results of the FROM clause.

Only rows whose bool_expression evaluates to TRUE are included. Rows whose bool_expression evaluates to NULL or FALSE are discarded.

The evaluation of a query with a WHERE clause is typically completed in this order:

• FROM
• WHERE
• GROUP BY and aggregation
• HAVING
• WINDOW
• QUALIFY
• DISTINCT
• ORDER BY
• LIMIT

Evaluation order doesn't always match syntax order.

The WHERE clause only references columns available via the FROM clause; it can't reference SELECT list aliases.

Examples

This query returns returns all rows from the Roster table where the SchoolID column has the value 52:

SELECT * FROM Roster
WHERE SchoolID = 52;

The bool_expression can contain multiple sub-conditions:

SELECT * FROM Roster
WHERE STARTS_WITH(LastName, "Mc") OR STARTS_WITH(LastName, "Mac");

Expressions in an INNER JOIN have an equivalent expression in the WHERE clause. For example, a query using INNER JOIN and ON has an equivalent expression using CROSS JOIN and WHERE. For example, the following two queries are equivalent:

SELECT Roster.LastName, TeamMascot.Mascot
FROM Roster INNER JOIN TeamMascot
ON Roster.SchoolID = TeamMascot.SchoolID;

SELECT Roster.LastName, TeamMascot.Mascot
FROM Roster CROSS JOIN TeamMascot
WHERE Roster.SchoolID = TeamMascot.SchoolID;

GROUP BY clause

GROUP BY group_by_specification

group_by_specification:
  {
    groupable_items
    | ALL
    | grouping_sets_specification
    | rollup_specification
    | cube_specification
    | ()
  }

Description

The GROUP BY clause groups together rows in a table that share common values for certain columns. For a group of rows in the source table with non-distinct values, the GROUP BY clause aggregates them into a single combined row. This clause is commonly used when aggregate functions are present in the SELECT list, or to eliminate redundancy in the output.

Definitions

• groupable_items: Group rows in a table that share common values for certain columns. To learn more, see Group rows by groupable items.
• ALL: Automatically group rows. To learn more, see Group rows automatically.
• grouping_sets_specification: Group rows with the GROUP BY GROUPING SETS clause. To learn more, see Group rows by GROUPING SETS.
• rollup_specification: Group rows with the GROUP BY ROLLUP clause. To learn more, see Group rows by ROLLUP.
• cube_specification: Group rows with the GROUP BY CUBE clause. To learn more, see Group rows by CUBE.
• (): Group all rows and produce a grand total. Equivalent to no group_by_specification.

Group rows by groupable items

GROUP BY groupable_item[, ...]

groupable_item:
  {
    value
    | value_alias
    | column_ordinal
  }

Description

The GROUP BY clause can include groupable expressions and their ordinals.

Definitions

• value: An expression that represents a non-distinct, groupable value. To learn more, see Group rows by values.
• value_alias: An alias for value. To learn more, see Group rows by values.
• column_ordinal: An INT64 value that represents the ordinal assigned to a groupable expression in the SELECT list. To learn more, see Group rows by column ordinals.

Group rows by values

The GROUP BY clause can group rows in a table with non-distinct values in the GROUP BY clause. For example:

WITH PlayerStats AS (
  SELECT 'Adams' as LastName, 'Noam' as FirstName, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Coolidge', 'Kiran', 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Adams', 'Noam', 4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 13)
SELECT SUM(PointsScored) AS total_points, LastName
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY LastName;

/*--------------+----------+
 | total_points | LastName |
 +--------------+----------+
 | 7            | Adams    |
 | 13           | Buchanan |
 | 1            | Coolidge |
 +--------------+----------*/

GROUP BY clauses may also refer to aliases. If a query contains aliases in the SELECT clause, those aliases override names in the corresponding FROM clause. For example:

WITH PlayerStats AS (
  SELECT 'Adams' as LastName, 'Noam' as FirstName, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Coolidge', 'Kiran', 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Adams', 'Noam', 4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 13)
SELECT SUM(PointsScored) AS total_points, LastName AS last_name
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY last_name;

/*--------------+-----------+
 | total_points | last_name |
 +--------------+-----------+
 | 7            | Adams     |
 | 13           | Buchanan  |
 | 1            | Coolidge  |
 +--------------+-----------*/

You can use the GROUP BY clause with arrays. The following query executes because the array elements being grouped are the same length and group type:

WITH PlayerStats AS (
  SELECT ['Coolidge', 'Adams'] as Name, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT ['Adams', 'Buchanan'], 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT ['Coolidge', 'Adams'], 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT ['Kiran', 'Noam'], 1)
SELECT SUM(PointsScored) AS total_points, name
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY Name;

/*--------------+------------------+
 | total_points | name             |
 +--------------+------------------+
 | 4            | [Coolidge,Adams] |
 | 0            | [Adams,Buchanan] |
 | 1            | [Kiran,Noam]     |
 +--------------+------------------*/

You can use the GROUP BY clause with structs. The following query executes because the struct fields being grouped have the same group types:

WITH
  TeamStats AS (
    SELECT
      ARRAY<STRUCT<last_name STRING, first_name STRING, age INT64>>[
        ('Adams', 'Noam', 20), ('Buchanan', 'Jie', 19)] AS Team,
      3 AS PointsScored
    UNION ALL
    SELECT [('Coolidge', 'Kiran', 21), ('Yang', 'Jason', 22)], 4
    UNION ALL
    SELECT [('Adams', 'Noam', 20), ('Buchanan', 'Jie', 19)], 10
    UNION ALL
    SELECT [('Coolidge', 'Kiran', 21), ('Yang', 'Jason', 22)], 7
  )
SELECT
  SUM(PointsScored) AS total_points,
  Team
FROM TeamStats
GROUP BY Team;

/*--------------+--------------------------+
 | total_points | teams                    |
 +--------------+--------------------------+
 | 13           | [{                       |
 |              |    last_name: "Adams",   |
 |              |    first_name: "Noam",   |
 |              |    age: 20               |
 |              |  },{                     |
 |              |    last_name: "Buchanan",|
 |              |    first_name: "Jie",    |
 |              |    age: 19               |
 |              |  }]                      |
 +-----------------------------------------+
 | 11           | [{                       |
 |              |    last_name: "Coolidge",|
 |              |    first_name: "Kiran",  |
 |              |    age: 21               |
 |              |  },{                     |
 |              |    last_name: "Yang",    |
 |              |    first_name: "Jason",  |
 |              |    age: 22               |
 |              |  }]                      |
 +--------------+--------------------------*/

To learn more about the data types that are supported for values in the GROUP BY clause, see Groupable data types.

Group rows by column ordinals

The GROUP BY clause can refer to expression names in the SELECT list. The GROUP BY clause also allows ordinal references to expressions in the SELECT list, using integer values. 1 refers to the first value in the SELECT list, 2 the second, and so forth. The value list can combine ordinals and value names. The following queries are equivalent:

WITH PlayerStats AS (
  SELECT 'Adams' as LastName, 'Noam' as FirstName, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Coolidge', 'Kiran', 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Adams', 'Noam', 4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 13)
SELECT SUM(PointsScored) AS total_points, LastName, FirstName
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY LastName, FirstName;

/*--------------+----------+-----------+
 | total_points | LastName | FirstName |
 +--------------+----------+-----------+
 | 7            | Adams    | Noam      |
 | 13           | Buchanan | Jie       |
 | 1            | Coolidge | Kiran     |
 +--------------+----------+-----------*/

WITH PlayerStats AS (
  SELECT 'Adams' as LastName, 'Noam' as FirstName, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Coolidge', 'Kiran', 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Adams', 'Noam', 4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 13)
SELECT SUM(PointsScored) AS total_points, LastName, FirstName
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY 2, 3;

/*--------------+----------+-----------+
 | total_points | LastName | FirstName |
 +--------------+----------+-----------+
 | 7            | Adams    | Noam      |
 | 13           | Buchanan | Jie       |
 | 1            | Coolidge | Kiran     |
 +--------------+----------+-----------*/

Group rows by ALL

GROUP BY ALL

Description

The GROUP BY ALL clause groups rows by inferring grouping keys from the SELECT items.

The following SELECT items are excluded from the GROUP BY ALL clause:

• Expressions that include aggregate functions.
• Expressions that include window functions.
• Expressions that don't reference a name from the FROM clause. This includes:
  • Constants
  • Query parameters
  • Correlated column references
  • Expressions that only reference GROUP BY keys inferred from other SELECT items.

After exclusions are applied, an error is produced if any remaining SELECT item includes a volatile function or has a non-groupable type.

If the set of inferred grouping keys is empty after exclusions are applied, all input rows are considered a single group for aggregation. This behavior is equivalent to writing GROUP BY ().

Examples

In the following example, the query groups rows by first_name and last_name. total_points is excluded because it represents an aggregate function.

WITH PlayerStats AS (
  SELECT 'Adams' as LastName, 'Noam' as FirstName, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Coolidge', 'Kiran', 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Adams', 'Noam', 4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 13)
SELECT
  SUM(PointsScored) AS total_points,
  FirstName AS first_name,
  LastName AS last_name
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY ALL;

/*--------------+------------+-----------+
 | total_points | first_name | last_name |
 +--------------+------------+-----------+
 | 7            | Noam       | Adams     |
 | 13           | Jie        | Buchanan  |
 | 1            | Kiran      | Coolidge  |
 +--------------+------------+-----------*/

If the select list contains an analytic function, the query groups rows by first_name and last_name. total_people is excluded because it contains a window function.

WITH PlayerStats AS (
  SELECT 'Adams' as LastName, 'Noam' as FirstName, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Coolidge', 'Kiran', 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Adams', 'Noam', 4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 'Jie', 13)
SELECT
  COUNT(*) OVER () AS total_people,
  FirstName AS first_name,
  LastName AS last_name
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY ALL;

/*--------------+------------+-----------+
 | total_people | first_name | last_name |
 +--------------+------------+-----------+
 | 3            | Noam       | Adams     |
 | 3            | Jie        | Buchanan  |
 | 3            | Kiran      | Coolidge  |
 +--------------+------------+-----------*/

If multiple SELECT items reference the same FROM item, and any of them is a path expression prefix of another, only the prefix path is used for grouping. In the following example, coordinates is excluded because x_coordinate and y_coordinate have already referenced Values.x and Values.y in the FROM clause, and they are prefixes of the path expression used in x_coordinate:

WITH Values AS (
  SELECT 1 AS x, 2 AS y
  UNION ALL SELECT 1 AS x, 4 AS y
  UNION ALL SELECT 2 AS x, 5 AS y
)
SELECT
  Values.x AS x_coordinate,
  Values.y AS y_coordinate,
  [Values.x, Values.y] AS coordinates
FROM Values
GROUP BY ALL

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | x_coordinate | y_coordinate | coordinates |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | 1            | 4            | [1, 4]      |
 | 1            | 2            | [1, 2]      |
 | 2            | 5            | [2, 5]      |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

In the following example, the inferred set of grouping keys is empty. The query returns one row even when the input contains zero rows.

SELECT COUNT(*) AS num_rows
FROM UNNEST([])
GROUP BY ALL

/*----------+
 | num_rows |
 +----------+
 | 0        |
 +----------*/

Group rows by GROUPING SETS

GROUP BY GROUPING SETS ( grouping_list )

grouping_list:
  {
    rollup_specification
    | cube_specification
    | groupable_item
    | groupable_item_set
  }[, ...]

groupable_item_set:
  ( [ groupable_item[, ...] ] )

Description

The GROUP BY GROUPING SETS clause produces aggregated data for one or more grouping sets. A grouping set is a group of columns by which rows can be grouped together. This clause is helpful if you want to produce aggregated data for sets of data without using the UNION operation. For example, GROUP BY GROUPING SETS(x,y) is roughly equivalent to GROUP BY x UNION ALL GROUP BY y.

Definitions

• grouping_list: A list of items that you can add to the GROUPING SETS clause. Grouping sets are generated based upon what is in this list.
• rollup_specification: Group rows with the ROLLUP clause. Don't include GROUP BY if you use this inside the GROUPING SETS clause. To learn more, see Group rows by ROLLUP.
• cube_specification: Group rows with the CUBE clause. Don't include GROUP BY if you use this inside the GROUPING SETS clause. To learn more, see Group rows by CUBE.
• groupable_item: Group rows in a table that share common values for certain columns. To learn more, see Group rows by groupable items. Anonymous STRUCT values aren't allowed.
• groupable_item_set: Group rows by a set of groupable items. If the set contains no groupable items, group all rows and produce a grand total.

Details

GROUP BY GROUPING SETS works by taking a grouping list, generating grouping sets from it, and then producing a table as a union of queries grouped by each grouping set.

For example, GROUP BY GROUPING SETS (a, b, c) generates the following grouping sets from the grouping list, a, b, c, and then produces aggregated rows for each of them:

• (a)
• (b)
• (c)

Here is an example that includes groupable item sets in GROUP BY GROUPING SETS (a, (b, c), d):

Conceptual grouping sets	Actual grouping sets
(a)	(a)
((b, c))	(b, c)
(d)	(d)

GROUP BY GROUPING SETS can include ROLLUP and CUBE operations, which generate grouping sets. If ROLLUP is added, it generates rolled up grouping sets. If CUBE is added, it generates grouping set permutations.

The following grouping sets are generated for GROUP BY GROUPING SETS (a, ROLLUP(b, c), d).

Conceptual grouping sets	Actual grouping sets
(a)	(a)
((b, c))	(b, c)
((b))	(b)
(())	()
(d)	(d)

The following grouping sets are generated for GROUP BY GROUPING SETS (a, CUBE(b, c), d):

Conceptual grouping sets	Actual grouping sets
(a)	(a)
((b, c))	(b, c)
((b))	(b)
((c))	(c)
(())	()
(d)	(d)

When evaluating the results for a particular grouping set, expressions that aren't in the grouping set are aggregated and produce a NULL placeholder.

You can filter results for specific groupable items. To learn more, see the GROUPING function

GROUPING SETS allows up to 4096 groupable items.

Examples

The following queries produce the same results, but the first one uses GROUP BY GROUPING SETS and the second one doesn't:

-- GROUP BY with GROUPING SETS
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY GROUPING SETS (product_type, product_name)
ORDER BY product_name

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | product_type | product_name | product_sum |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | NULL         | jeans        | 6           |
 | NULL         | polo         | 25          |
 | NULL         | t-shirt      | 11          |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

-- GROUP BY without GROUPING SETS
-- (produces the same results as GROUPING SETS)
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, NULL, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY product_type
UNION ALL
SELECT NULL, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY product_name
ORDER BY product_name

You can include groupable item sets in a GROUP BY GROUPING SETS clause. In the example below, (product_type, product_name) is a groupable item set.

-- GROUP BY with GROUPING SETS and a groupable item set
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY GROUPING SETS (
  product_type,
  (product_type, product_name))
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | product_type | product_name | product_sum |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | jeans        | 6           |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | polo         | 25          |
 | shirt        | t-shirt      | 11          |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

-- GROUP BY with GROUPING SETS but without a groupable item set
-- (produces the same results as GROUPING SETS with a groupable item set)
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, NULL, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY product_type
UNION ALL
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY product_type, product_name
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

You can include ROLLUP in a GROUP BY GROUPING SETS clause. For example:

-- GROUP BY with GROUPING SETS and ROLLUP
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY GROUPING SETS (
  product_type,
  ROLLUP (product_type, product_name))
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | product_type | product_name | product_sum |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | NULL         | NULL         | 42          |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | jeans        | 6           |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | polo         | 25          |
 | shirt        | t-shirt      | 11          |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

-- GROUP BY with GROUPING SETS, but without ROLLUP
-- (produces the same results as GROUPING SETS with ROLLUP)
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY GROUPING SETS(
  product_type,
  (product_type, product_name),
  product_type,
  ())
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

You can include CUBE in a GROUP BY GROUPING SETS clause. For example:

-- GROUP BY with GROUPING SETS and CUBE
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY GROUPING SETS (
  product_type,
  CUBE (product_type, product_name))
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | product_type | product_name | product_sum |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | NULL         | NULL         | 42          |
 | NULL         | jeans        | 6           |
 | NULL         | polo         | 25          |
 | NULL         | t-shirt      | 11          |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | jeans        | 6           |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | polo         | 25          |
 | shirt        | t-shirt      | 11          |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

-- GROUP BY with GROUPING SETS, but without CUBE
-- (produces the same results as GROUPING SETS with CUBE)
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY GROUPING SETS(
  product_type,
  (product_type, product_name),
  product_type,
  product_name,
  ())
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

Group rows by ROLLUP

GROUP BY ROLLUP ( grouping_list )

grouping_list:
  { groupable_item | groupable_item_set }[, ...]

groupable_item_set:
  ( groupable_item[, ...] )

Description

The GROUP BY ROLLUP clause produces aggregated data for rolled up grouping sets. A grouping set is a group of columns by which rows can be grouped together. This clause is helpful if you need to roll up totals in a set of data.

Definitions

• grouping_list: A list of items that you can add to the GROUPING SETS clause. This is used to create a generated list of grouping sets when the query is run.
• groupable_item: Group rows in a table that share common values for certain columns. To learn more, see Group rows by groupable items.anonymous STRUCT values aren't allowed.
• groupable_item_set: Group rows by a subset of groupable items.

Details

GROUP BY ROLLUP works by taking a grouping list, generating grouping sets from the prefixes inside this list, and then producing a table as a union of queries grouped by each grouping set. The resulting grouping sets include an empty grouping set. In the empty grouping set, all rows are aggregated down to a single group.

For example, GROUP BY ROLLUP (a, b, c) generates the following grouping sets from the grouping list, a, b, c, and then produces aggregated rows for each of them:

• (a, b, c)
• (a, b)
• (a)
• ()

Here is an example that includes groupable item sets in GROUP BY ROLLUP (a, (b, c), d):

Conceptual grouping sets	Actual grouping sets
(a, (b, c), d)	(a, b, c, d)
(a, (b, c))	(a, b, c)
(a)	(a)
()	()

When evaluating the results for a particular grouping set, expressions that aren't in the grouping set are aggregated and produce a NULL placeholder.

You can filter results by specific groupable items. To learn more, see the GROUPING function

ROLLUP allows up to 4095 groupable items (equivalent to 4096 grouping sets).

Examples

The following queries produce the same subtotals and a grand total, but the first one uses GROUP BY with ROLLUP and the second one doesn't:

-- GROUP BY with ROLLUP
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY ROLLUP (product_type, product_name)
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | product_type | product_name | product_sum |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | NULL         | NULL         | 42          |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | jeans        | 6           |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | t-shirt      | 11          |
 | shirt        | polo         | 25          |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

-- GROUP BY without ROLLUP (produces the same results as ROLLUP)
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY product_type, product_name
UNION ALL
SELECT product_type, NULL, SUM(product_count)
FROM Products
GROUP BY product_type
UNION ALL
SELECT NULL, NULL, SUM(product_count) FROM Products
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

You can include groupable item sets in a GROUP BY ROLLUP clause. In the following example, (product_type, product_name) is a groupable item set.

WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY ROLLUP (product_type, (product_type, product_name))
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | product_type | product_name | product_sum |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | NULL         | NULL         | 42          |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | jeans        | 6           |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | polo         | 25          |
 | shirt        | t-shirt      | 11          |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

Group rows by CUBE

GROUP BY CUBE ( grouping_list )

grouping_list:
  { groupable_item | groupable_item_set }[, ...]

groupable_item_set:
  ( groupable_item[, ...] )

Description

The GROUP BY CUBE clause produces aggregated data for all grouping set permutations. A grouping set is a group of columns by which rows can be grouped together. This clause is helpful if you need to create a contingency table to find interrelationships between items in a set of data.

Definitions

• grouping_list: A list of items that you can add to the GROUPING SETS clause. This is used to create a generated list of grouping sets when the query is run.
• groupable_item: Group rows in a table that share common values for certain columns. To learn more, see Group rows by groupable items. Anonymous STRUCT values aren't allowed.
• groupable_item_set: Group rows by a set of groupable items.

Details

GROUP BY CUBE is similar to GROUP BY ROLLUP, except that it takes a grouping list and generates grouping sets from all permutations in this list, including an empty grouping set. In the empty grouping set, all rows are aggregated down to a single group.

For example, GROUP BY CUBE (a, b, c) generates the following grouping sets from the grouping list, a, b, c, and then produces aggregated rows for each of them:

• (a, b, c)
• (a, b)
• (a, c)
• (a)
• (b, c)
• (b)
• (c)
• ()

Here is an example that includes groupable item sets in GROUP BY CUBE (a, (b, c), d):

Conceptual grouping sets	Actual grouping sets
(a, (b, c), d)	(a, b, c, d)
(a, (b, c))	(a, b, c)
(a, d)	(a, d)
(a)	(a)
((b, c), d)	(b, c, d)
((b, c))	(b, c)
(d)	(d)
()	()

When evaluating the results for a particular grouping set, expressions that aren't in the grouping set are aggregated and produce a NULL placeholder.

You can filter results by specific groupable items. To learn more, see the GROUPING function

CUBE allows up to 12 groupable items (equivalent to 4096 grouping sets).

Examples

The following query groups rows by all combinations of product_type and product_name to produce a contingency table:

-- GROUP BY with CUBE
WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY CUBE (product_type, product_name)
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | product_type | product_name | product_sum |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | NULL         | NULL         | 42          |
 | NULL         | jeans        | 6           |
 | NULL         | polo         | 25          |
 | NULL         | t-shirt      | 11          |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | jeans        | 6           |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | polo         | 25          |
 | shirt        | t-shirt      | 11          |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

You can include groupable item sets in a GROUP BY CUBE clause. In the following example, (product_type, product_name) is a groupable item set.

WITH
  Products AS (
    SELECT 'shirt' AS product_type, 't-shirt' AS product_name, 3 AS product_count UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 't-shirt', 8 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'shirt', 'polo', 25 UNION ALL
    SELECT 'pants', 'jeans', 6
  )
SELECT product_type, product_name, SUM(product_count) AS product_sum
FROM Products
GROUP BY CUBE (product_type, (product_type, product_name))
ORDER BY product_type, product_name;

/*--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | product_type | product_name | product_sum |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------+
 | NULL         | NULL         | 42          |
 | pants        | NULL         | 6           |
 | pants        | jeans        | 6           |
 | pants        | jeans        | 6           |
 | shirt        | NULL         | 36          |
 | shirt        | polo         | 25          |
 | shirt        | polo         | 25          |
 | shirt        | t-shirt      | 11          |
 | shirt        | t-shirt      | 11          |
 +--------------+--------------+-------------*/

HAVING clause

HAVING bool_expression

The HAVING clause filters the results produced by GROUP BY or aggregation. GROUP BY or aggregation must be present in the query. If aggregation is present, the HAVING clause is evaluated once for every aggregated row in the result set.

Only rows whose bool_expression evaluates to TRUE are included. Rows whose bool_expression evaluates to NULL or FALSE are discarded.

The evaluation of a query with a HAVING clause is typically completed in this order:

• FROM
• WHERE
• GROUP BY and aggregation
• HAVING
• WINDOW
• QUALIFY
• DISTINCT
• ORDER BY
• LIMIT

Evaluation order doesn't always match syntax order.

The HAVING clause references columns available via the FROM clause, as well as SELECT list aliases. Expressions referenced in the HAVING clause must either appear in the GROUP BY clause or they must be the result of an aggregate function:

SELECT LastName
FROM Roster
GROUP BY LastName
HAVING SUM(PointsScored) > 15;

If a query contains aliases in the SELECT clause, those aliases override names in a FROM clause.

SELECT LastName, SUM(PointsScored) AS ps
FROM Roster
GROUP BY LastName
HAVING ps > 0;

Mandatory aggregation

Aggregation doesn't have to be present in the HAVING clause itself, but aggregation must be present in at least one of the following forms:

Aggregation function in the SELECT list.

SELECT LastName, SUM(PointsScored) AS total
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY LastName
HAVING total > 15;

Aggregation function in the HAVING clause.

SELECT LastName
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY LastName
HAVING SUM(PointsScored) > 15;

Aggregation in both the SELECT list and HAVING clause.

When aggregation functions are present in both the SELECT list and HAVING clause, the aggregation functions and the columns they reference don't need to be the same. In the example below, the two aggregation functions, COUNT() and SUM(), are different and also use different columns.

SELECT LastName, COUNT(*)
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY LastName
HAVING SUM(PointsScored) > 15;

ORDER BY clause

ORDER BY expression
  [{ ASC | DESC }]
  [{ NULLS FIRST | NULLS LAST }]
  [, ...]

The ORDER BY clause specifies a column or expression as the sort criterion for the result set. If an ORDER BY clause isn't present, the order of the results of a query isn't defined. Column aliases from a FROM clause or SELECT list are allowed. If a query contains aliases in the SELECT clause, those aliases override names in the corresponding FROM clause. The data type of expression must be orderable.

Optional Clauses

• NULLS FIRST | NULLS LAST:
  • NULLS FIRST: Sort null values before non-null values.
  • NULLS LAST. Sort null values after non-null values.
• ASC | DESC: Sort the results in ascending or descending order of expression values. ASC is the default value. If null ordering isn't specified with NULLS FIRST or NULLS LAST:
  • NULLS FIRST is applied by default if the sort order is ascending.
  • NULLS LAST is applied by default if the sort order is descending.

Examples

Use the default sort order (ascending).

SELECT x, y
FROM (SELECT 1 AS x, true AS y UNION ALL
      SELECT 9, true UNION ALL
      SELECT NULL, false)
ORDER BY x;

/*------+-------*
 | x    | y     |
 +------+-------+
 | NULL | false |
 | 1    | true  |
 | 9    | true  |
 *------+-------*/

Use the default sort order (ascending), but return null values last.

SELECT x, y
FROM (SELECT 1 AS x, true AS y UNION ALL
      SELECT 9, true UNION ALL
      SELECT NULL, false)
ORDER BY x NULLS LAST;

/*------+-------*
 | x    | y     |
 +------+-------+
 | 1    | true  |
 | 9    | true  |
 | NULL | false |
 *------+-------*/

Use descending sort order.

SELECT x, y
FROM (SELECT 1 AS x, true AS y UNION ALL
      SELECT 9, true UNION ALL
      SELECT NULL, false)
ORDER BY x DESC;

/*------+-------*
 | x    | y     |
 +------+-------+
 | 9    | true  |
 | 1    | true  |
 | NULL | false |
 *------+-------*/

Use descending sort order, but return null values first.

SELECT x, y
FROM (SELECT 1 AS x, true AS y UNION ALL
      SELECT 9, true UNION ALL
      SELECT NULL, false)
ORDER BY x DESC NULLS FIRST;

/*------+-------*
 | x    | y     |
 +------+-------+
 | NULL | false |
 | 9    | true  |
 | 1    | true  |
 *------+-------*/

It's possible to order by multiple columns. In the example below, the result set is ordered first by SchoolID and then by LastName:

SELECT LastName, PointsScored, OpponentID
FROM PlayerStats
ORDER BY SchoolID, LastName;

When used in conjunction with set operators, the ORDER BY clause applies to the result set of the entire query; it doesn't apply only to the closest SELECT statement. For this reason, it can be helpful (though it isn't required) to use parentheses to show the scope of the ORDER BY.

This query without parentheses:

SELECT * FROM Roster
UNION ALL
SELECT * FROM TeamMascot
ORDER BY SchoolID;

is equivalent to this query with parentheses:

( SELECT * FROM Roster
  UNION ALL
  SELECT * FROM TeamMascot )
ORDER BY SchoolID;

but isn't equivalent to this query, where the ORDER BY clause applies only to the second SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Roster
UNION ALL
( SELECT * FROM TeamMascot
  ORDER BY SchoolID );

You can also use integer literals as column references in ORDER BY clauses. An integer literal becomes an ordinal (for example, counting starts at 1) into the SELECT list.

Example - the following two queries are equivalent:

SELECT SUM(PointsScored), LastName
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY LastName
ORDER BY LastName;

SELECT SUM(PointsScored), LastName
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY 2
ORDER BY 2;

QUALIFY clause

QUALIFY bool_expression

The QUALIFY clause filters the results of window functions. A window function is required to be present in the QUALIFY clause or the SELECT list.

Only rows whose bool_expression evaluates to TRUE are included. Rows whose bool_expression evaluates to NULL or FALSE are discarded.

The evaluation of a query with a QUALIFY clause is typically completed in this order:

• FROM
• WHERE
• GROUP BY and aggregation
• HAVING
• WINDOW
• QUALIFY
• DISTINCT
• ORDER BY
• LIMIT

Evaluation order doesn't always match syntax order.

Examples

The following query returns the most popular vegetables in the Produce table and their rank.

SELECT
  item,
  RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY category ORDER BY purchases DESC) as rank
FROM Produce
WHERE Produce.category = 'vegetable'
QUALIFY rank <= 3

/*---------+------*
 | item    | rank |
 +---------+------+
 | kale    | 1    |
 | lettuce | 2    |
 | cabbage | 3    |
 *---------+------*/

You don't have to include a window function in the SELECT list to use QUALIFY. The following query returns the most popular vegetables in the Produce table.

SELECT item
FROM Produce
WHERE Produce.category = 'vegetable'
QUALIFY RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY category ORDER BY purchases DESC) <= 3

/*---------*
 | item    |
 +---------+
 | kale    |
 | lettuce |
 | cabbage |
 *---------*/

WINDOW clause

WINDOW named_window_expression [, ...]

named_window_expression:
  named_window AS { named_window | ( [ window_specification ] ) }

A WINDOW clause defines a list of named windows. A named window represents a group of rows in a table upon which to use a window function. A named window can be defined with a window specification or reference another named window. If another named window is referenced, the definition of the referenced window must precede the referencing window.

Examples

These examples reference a table called Produce. They all return the same result. Note the different ways you can combine named windows and use them in a window function's OVER clause.

SELECT item, purchases, category, LAST_VALUE(item)
  OVER (item_window) AS most_popular
FROM Produce
WINDOW item_window AS (
  PARTITION BY category
  ORDER BY purchases
  ROWS BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING AND 2 FOLLOWING)

SELECT item, purchases, category, LAST_VALUE(item)
  OVER (d) AS most_popular
FROM Produce
WINDOW
  a AS (PARTITION BY category),
  b AS (a ORDER BY purchases),
  c AS (b ROWS BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING AND 2 FOLLOWING),
  d AS (c)

SELECT item, purchases, category, LAST_VALUE(item)
  OVER (c ROWS BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING AND 2 FOLLOWING) AS most_popular
FROM Produce
WINDOW
  a AS (PARTITION BY category),
  b AS (a ORDER BY purchases),
  c AS b

Set operators

  query_expr
  [ { INNER | [ { FULL | LEFT } [ OUTER ] ] } ]
  {
    UNION { ALL | DISTINCT } |
    INTERSECT DISTINCT |
    EXCEPT DISTINCT
  }
  [ { BY NAME [ ON (column_list) ] | [ STRICT ] CORRESPONDING [ BY (column_list) ] } ]
  query_expr

Set operators combine or filter results from two or more input queries into a single result set.

Definitions

• query_expr: One of two input queries whose results are combined or filtered into a single result set.
• UNION: Returns the combined results of the left and right input queries. Values in columns that are matched by position are concatenated vertically.
• INTERSECT: Returns rows that are found in the results of both the left and right input queries.
• EXCEPT: Returns rows from the left input query that aren't present in the right input query.
• ALL: Executes the set operation on all rows.
• DISTINCT: Excludes duplicate rows in the set operation.
• BY NAME, CORRESPONDING: Matches columns by name instead of by position. The BY NAME modifier is equivalent to STRICT CORRESPONDING. For details, see BY NAME or CORRESPONDING.
• INNER, FULL | LEFT [OUTER], STRICT, ON, BY: Adjust how the BY NAME or CORRESPONDING modifier behaves when the column names don't match exactly. For details, see BY NAME or CORRESPONDING.

Positional column matching

By default, columns are matched positionally and follow these rules. If the BY NAME or CORRESPONDING modifier is used, columns are matched by name, as described in the next section.

• Columns from input queries are matched by their position in the queries. That is, the first column in the first input query is paired with the first column in the second input query and so on.
• The input queries on each side of the operator must return the same number of columns.

Name-based column matching

To make set operations match columns by name instead of by column position, use the BY NAME or CORRESPONDING modifier.

With BY NAME or STRICT CORRESPONDING, the same column names must exist in each input, but they can be in different orders. Additional modifiers can be used to handle cases where the columns don't exactly match.

The BY NAME modifier is equivalent to STRICT CORRESPONDING, but the BY NAME modifier is recommended because it's shorter and clearer.

Example:

SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
UNION ALL BY NAME
SELECT 20 AS two_digit, 2 AS one_digit;

-- Column values match by name and not position in query.
/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 1         | 10        |
 | 2         | 20        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

Other column-related rules

• For set operations other than UNION ALL, all column types must support equality comparison.
• The results of the set operation always use the column names from the first input query.
• The results of the set operation always use the supertypes of input types in corresponding columns, so paired columns must also have either the same data type or a common supertype.

Parenthesized set operators

• Parentheses must be used to separate different set operations. Set operations like UNION ALL and UNION DISTINCT are considered different.
• Parentheses are also used to group set operations and control order of operations. In EXCEPT set operations, for example, query results can vary depending on the operation grouping.

The following examples illustrate the use of parentheses with set operations:

-- Same set operations, no parentheses.
query1
UNION ALL
query2
UNION ALL
query3;

-- Different set operations, parentheses needed.
query1
UNION ALL
(
  query2
  UNION DISTINCT
  query3
);

-- Invalid
query1
UNION ALL
query2
UNION DISTINCT
query3;

-- Same set operations, no parentheses.
query1
EXCEPT DISTINCT
query2
EXCEPT DISTINCT
query3;

-- Equivalent query with optional parentheses, returns same results.
(
  query1
  EXCEPT DISTINCT
  query2
)
EXCEPT DISTINCT
query3;

-- Different execution order with a subquery, parentheses needed.
query1
EXCEPT DISTINCT
(
  query2
  EXCEPT DISTINCT
  query3
);

Set operator behavior with duplicate rows

Consider a given row R that appears exactly m times in the first input query and n times in the second input query, where m >= 0 and n >= 0:

• For UNION ALL, row R appears exactly m + n times in the result.
• For UNION DISTINCT, the DISTINCT is computed after the UNION is computed, so row R appears exactly one time.
• For INTERSECT DISTINCT, row R appears once in the output if m > 0 and n > 0.
• For EXCEPT DISTINCT, row R appears once in the output if m > 0 and n = 0.
• If more than two input queries are used, the above operations generalize and the output is the same as if the input queries were combined incrementally from left to right.

BY NAME or CORRESPONDING

Use the BY NAME or CORRESPONDING modifier with set operations to match columns by name instead of by position. The BY NAME modifier is equivalent to STRICT CORRESPONDING, but the BY NAME modifier is recommended because it's shorter and clearer. You can use mode prefixes to adjust how the BY NAME or CORRESPONDING modifier behaves when the column names don't match exactly.

• BY NAME: Matches columns by name instead of by position.
  • Both input queries must have the same set of column names, but column order can be different. If a column in one input query doesn't appear in the other query, an error is raised.
  • Input queries can't contain duplicate columns.
  • Input queries that produce value tables aren't supported.
• INNER: Adjusts the BY NAME modifier behavior so that columns that appear in both input queries are included in the query results and any other columns are excluded.
  • No error is raised for the excluded columns that appear in one input query but not in the other input query.
  • At least one column must be common in both left and right input queries.
• FULL [OUTER]: Adjusts the BY NAME modifier behavior so that all columns from both input queries are included in the query results, even if some columns aren't present in both queries.
  • Columns from the left input query are returned first, followed by unique columns from the right input query.
  • For columns in one input query that aren't present in the other query, a NULL value is added as its column value for the other query in the results.
• LEFT [OUTER]: Adjusts the BY NAME modifier so that all columns from the left input query are included in the results, even if some columns in the left query aren't present in the right query.
  • For columns in the left query that aren't in the right query, a NULL value is added as its column value for the right query in the results.
  • At least one column name must be common in both left and right input queries.
• OUTER: If used alone, equivalent to FULL OUTER.
• ON (column_list): Used after the BY NAME modifier to specify a comma-separated list of column names and the column order to return from the input queries.
  • If BY NAME ON (column_list) is used alone without mode prefixes like INNER or FULL | LEFT [OUTER], then both the left and right input queries must contain all the columns in the column_list.
  • If any mode prefixes are used, then any column names not in the column_list are excluded from the results according to the mode used.
• CORRESPONDING: Equivalent to INNER...BY NAME.
  • Supports FULL | LEFT [OUTER] modes the same way they're supported by the BY NAME modifier.
  • Supports INNER mode, but this mode has no effect. The INNER mode is used with the BY NAME modifier to exclude unmatched columns between input queries, which is the default behavior of the CORRESPONDING modifier. Therefore, using INNER...CORRESPONDING produces the same results as CORRESPONDING.
• STRICT: Adjusts the CORRESPONDING modifier to be equivalent to the default BY NAME modifier, where input queries must have the same set of column names.
• BY (column_list): Equivalent to ON (column_list) with BY NAME.

The following table shows the equivalent syntaxes between the BY NAME and CORRESPONDING modifiers, using the UNION ALL set operator as an example:

BY NAME syntax	Equivalent CORRESPONDING syntax
UNION ALL BY NAME	UNION ALL STRICT CORRESPONDING
INNER UNION ALL BY NAME	UNION ALL CORRESPONDING
{LEFT | FULL} [OUTER] UNION ALL BY NAME	{LEFT | FULL} [OUTER] UNION ALL CORRESPONDING
[FULL] OUTER UNION ALL BY NAME	[FULL] OUTER UNION ALL CORRESPONDING
UNION ALL BY NAME ON (col1, col2, ...)	UNION ALL STRICT CORRESPONDING BY (col1, col2, ...)

The following table shows the behavior of the mode prefixes for the BY NAME and CORRESPONDING modifiers when left and right input columns don't match:

Mode prefix and modifier	Behavior when left and right input columns don't match
BY NAME (no prefix) or STRICT CORRESPONDING	Error, all columns must match in both inputs.
INNER BY NAME or CORRESPONDING (no prefix)	Drop all unmatched columns in both inputs.
FULL [OUTER] BY NAME or FULL [OUTER] CORRESPONDING	Include all columns from both inputs. For column values that exist in one input but not in another, add NULL values.
LEFT [OUTER] BY NAME or LEFT [OUTER] CORRESPONDING	Include all columns from the left input. For column values that exist in the left input but not in the right input, add NULL values. Drop any columns from the right input that don't exist in the left input.

For example set operations with modifiers, see the sections for each set operator, such as UNION.

UNION

The UNION operator returns the combined results of the left and right input queries. Columns are matched according to the rules described previously and rows are concatenated vertically.

Examples

SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2, 3]) AS number
UNION ALL
SELECT 1;

/*--------+
 | number |
 +--------+
 | 1      |
 | 2      |
 | 3      |
 | 1      |
 +--------*/

SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2, 3]) AS number
UNION DISTINCT
SELECT 1;

/*--------+
 | number |
 +--------+
 | 1      |
 | 2      |
 | 3      |
 +--------*/

The following example shows multiple chained operators:

SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2, 3]) AS number
UNION DISTINCT
SELECT 1
UNION DISTINCT
SELECT 2;

/*--------+
 | number |
 +--------+
 | 1      |
 | 2      |
 | 3      |
 +--------*/

The following example shows input queries with multiple columns. Both queries specify the same column names but in different orders. As a result, the column values are matched by column position in the input query and the column names are ignored.

SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
UNION ALL
SELECT 20 AS two_digit, 2 AS one_digit;

-- Column values are matched by position and not column name.
/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 1         | 10        |
 | 20        | 2         |
 +-----------+-----------*/

To resolve this ordering issue, the following example uses the BY NAME modifier to match the columns by name instead of by position in the query results.

SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
UNION ALL BY NAME
SELECT 20 AS two_digit, 2 AS one_digit;

-- Column values now match.
/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 1         | 10        |
 | 2         | 20        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

The previous set operation with BY NAME is equivalent to using the STRICT CORRESPONDING modifier. The BY NAME modifier is recommended because it's shorter and clearer than the STRICT CORRESPONDING modifier.

SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
UNION ALL STRICT CORRESPONDING
SELECT 20 AS two_digit, 2 AS one_digit;

/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 1         | 10        |
 | 2         | 20        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

The following example adds a three_digit column to the left input query and a four_digit column to the right input query. Because these columns aren't present in both queries, the BY NAME modifier would trigger an error. Therefore, the example adds the INNER mode prefix so that the new columns are excluded from the results, executing the query successfully.

SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit, 100 AS three_digit
INNER UNION ALL BY NAME
SELECT 20 AS two_digit, 2 AS one_digit, 1000 AS four_digit;

/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 1         | 10        |
 | 2         | 20        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

To include the differing columns in the results, the following example uses the FULL OUTER mode prefix to populate NULL values for the missing column in each query.

SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit, 100 AS three_digit
FULL OUTER UNION ALL BY NAME
SELECT 20 AS two_digit, 2 AS one_digit, 1000 AS four_digit;

/*-----------+-----------+-------------+------------+
 | one_digit | two_digit | three_digit | four_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+-------------+------------+
 | 1         | 10        | 100         | NULL       |
 | 2         | 20        | NULL        | 1000       |
 +-----------+-----------+-------------+------------*/

Similarly, the following example uses the LEFT OUTER mode prefix to include the new column from only the left input query and populate a NULL value for the missing column in the right input query.

SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit, 100 AS three_digit
LEFT OUTER UNION ALL BY NAME
SELECT 20 AS two_digit, 2 AS one_digit, 1000 AS four_digit;

/*-----------+-----------+-------------+
 | one_digit | two_digit | three_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+-------------+
 | 1         | 10        | 100         |
 | 2         | 20        | NULL        |
 +-----------+-----------+-------------*/

The following example adds the modifier ON (column_list) to return only the specified columns in the specified order.

SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit, 100 AS three_digit
FULL OUTER UNION ALL BY NAME ON (three_digit, two_digit)
SELECT 20 AS two_digit, 2 AS one_digit, 1000 AS four_digit;

/*-------------+-----------+
 | three_digit | two_digit |
 +-------------+-----------+
 | 100         | 10        |
 | NULL        | 20        |
 +-----------+-------------*/

INTERSECT

The INTERSECT operator returns rows that are found in the results of both the left and right input queries.

Examples

SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2, 3, 3, 4]) AS number
INTERSECT DISTINCT
SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[2, 3, 3, 5]) AS number;

/*--------+
 | number |
 +--------+
 | 2      |
 | 3      |
 +--------*/

The following example shows multiple chained operations:

SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2, 3, 3, 4]) AS number
INTERSECT DISTINCT
SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[2, 3, 3, 5]) AS number
INTERSECT DISTINCT
SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[3, 3, 4, 5]) AS number;

/*--------+
 | number |
 +--------+
 | 3      |
 +--------*/

The following example shows input queries that specify multiple columns. Both queries specify the same column names but in different orders. As a result, the same columns in differing order are considered different columns, so the query doesn't detect any intersecting row values. Therefore, no results are returned.

WITH
  NumbersTable AS (
    SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 20
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 3, 30
  )
SELECT one_digit, two_digit FROM NumbersTable
INTERSECT DISTINCT
SELECT 10 AS two_digit, 1 AS one_digit;

-- No intersecting values detected because columns aren't recognized as the same.
/*-----------+-----------+

 +-----------+-----------*/

To resolve this ordering issue, the following example uses the BY NAME modifier to match the columns by name instead of by position in the query results.

WITH
  NumbersTable AS (
    SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 20
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 3, 30
  )
SELECT one_digit, two_digit FROM NumbersTable
INTERSECT DISTINCT BY NAME
SELECT 10 AS two_digit, 1 AS one_digit;

/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 1         | 10        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

The previous set operation with BY NAME is equivalent to using the STRICT CORRESPONDING modifier. The BY NAME modifier is recommended because it's shorter and clearer than the STRICT CORRESPONDING modifier.

WITH
  NumbersTable AS (
    SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 20
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 3, 30
  )
SELECT one_digit, two_digit FROM NumbersTable
INTERSECT DISTINCT STRICT CORRESPONDING
SELECT 10 AS two_digit, 1 AS one_digit;

/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 1         | 10        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

For more syntax examples with the BY NAME modifier, see the UNION set operator.

EXCEPT

The EXCEPT operator returns rows from the left input query that aren't present in the right input query.

Examples

SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2, 3, 3, 4]) AS number
EXCEPT DISTINCT
SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2]) AS number;

/*--------+
 | number |
 +--------+
 | 3      |
 | 4      |
 +--------*/

The following example shows multiple chained operations:

SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2, 3, 3, 4]) AS number
EXCEPT DISTINCT
SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2]) AS number
EXCEPT DISTINCT
SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 4]) AS number;

/*--------+
 | number |
 +--------+
 | 3      |
 +--------*/

The following example modifies the execution behavior of the set operations. The first input query is used against the result of the last two input queries instead of the values of the last two queries individually. In this example, the EXCEPT result of the last two input queries is 2. Therefore, the EXCEPT results of the entire query are any values other than 2 in the first input query.

SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2, 3, 3, 4]) AS number
EXCEPT DISTINCT
(
  SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 2]) AS number
  EXCEPT DISTINCT
  SELECT * FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<INT64>[1, 4]) AS number
);

/*--------+
 | number |
 +--------+
 | 1      |
 | 3      |
 | 4      |
 +--------*/

The following example shows input queries that specify multiple columns. Both queries specify the same column names but in different orders. As a result, the same columns in differing order are considered different columns, so the query doesn't detect any common rows that should be excluded. Therefore, all column values from the left input query are returned with no exclusions.

WITH
  NumbersTable AS (
    SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 20
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 3, 30
  )
SELECT one_digit, two_digit FROM NumbersTable
EXCEPT DISTINCT
SELECT 10 AS two_digit, 1 AS one_digit;

-- No values excluded because columns aren't recognized as the same.
/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 1         | 10        |
 | 2         | 20        |
 | 3         | 30        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

To resolve this ordering issue, the following example uses the BY NAME modifier to match the columns by name instead of by position in the query results.

WITH
  NumbersTable AS (
    SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 20
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 3, 30
  )
SELECT one_digit, two_digit FROM NumbersTable
EXCEPT DISTINCT BY NAME
SELECT 10 AS two_digit, 1 AS one_digit;

/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 2         | 20        |
 | 3         | 30        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

The previous set operation with BY NAME is equivalent to using the STRICT CORRESPONDING modifier. The BY NAME modifier is recommended because it's shorter and clearer than the STRICT CORRESPONDING modifier.

WITH
  NumbersTable AS (
    SELECT 1 AS one_digit, 10 AS two_digit
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 20
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 3, 30
  )
SELECT one_digit, two_digit FROM NumbersTable
EXCEPT DISTINCT STRICT CORRESPONDING
SELECT 10 AS two_digit, 1 AS one_digit;

/*-----------+-----------+
 | one_digit | two_digit |
 +-----------+-----------+
 | 2         | 20        |
 | 3         | 30        |
 +-----------+-----------*/

For more syntax examples with the BY NAME modifier, see the UNION set operator.

LIMIT and OFFSET clause

LIMIT count [ OFFSET skip_rows ]

Limits the number of rows to return in a query. Optionally includes the ability to skip over rows.

Definitions

• LIMIT: Limits the number of rows to produce.

  count is an INT64 constant expression that represents the non-negative, non-NULL limit. No more than count rows are produced. LIMIT 0 returns 0 rows.

  If there is a set operation, LIMIT is applied after the set operation is evaluated.

• OFFSET: Skips a specific number of rows before applying LIMIT.

  skip_rows is an INT64 constant expression that represents the non-negative, non-NULL number of rows to skip.

Details

The rows that are returned by LIMIT and OFFSET have undefined order unless these clauses are used after ORDER BY.

A constant expression can be represented by a general expression, literal, or parameter value.

Note: Although the LIMIT clause limits the rows that a query produces, it doesn't limit the amount of data processed by that query.

Examples

SELECT *
FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<STRING>['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']) AS letter
ORDER BY letter ASC LIMIT 2;

/*---------*
 | letter  |
 +---------+
 | a       |
 | b       |
 *---------*/

SELECT *
FROM UNNEST(ARRAY<STRING>['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']) AS letter
ORDER BY letter ASC LIMIT 3 OFFSET 1;

/*---------*
 | letter  |
 +---------+
 | b       |
 | c       |
 | d       |
 *---------*/

WITH clause

WITH [ RECURSIVE ] { non_recursive_cte | recursive_cte }[, ...]

A WITH clause contains one or more common table expressions (CTEs). A CTE acts like a temporary table that you can reference within a single query expression. Each CTE binds the results of a subquery to a table name, which can be used elsewhere in the same query expression, but rules apply.

CTEs can be non-recursive or recursive and you can include both of these in your WITH clause. A recursive CTE references itself, where a non-recursive CTE doesn't. If a recursive CTE is included in the WITH clause, the RECURSIVE keyword must also be included.

You can include the RECURSIVE keyword in a WITH clause even if no recursive CTEs are present. You can learn more about the RECURSIVE keyword here.

GoogleSQL only materializes the results of recursive CTEs, but doesn't materialize the results of non-recursive CTEs inside the WITH clause. If a non-recursive CTE is referenced in multiple places in a query, then the CTE is executed once for each reference. The WITH clause with non-recursive CTEs is useful primarily for readability.

RECURSIVE keyword

A WITH clause can optionally include the RECURSIVE keyword, which does two things:

• Enables recursion in the WITH clause. If this keyword isn't present, you can only include non-recursive common table expressions (CTEs). If this keyword is present, you can use both recursive and non-recursive CTEs.
• Changes the visibility of CTEs in the WITH clause. If this keyword isn't present, a CTE is only visible to CTEs defined after it in the WITH clause. If this keyword is present, a CTE is visible to all CTEs in the WITH clause where it was defined.

Non-recursive CTEs

non_recursive_cte:
  cte_name AS ( query_expr )

A non-recursive common table expression (CTE) contains a non-recursive subquery and a name associated with the CTE.

• A non-recursive CTE can't reference itself.
• A non-recursive CTE can be referenced by the query expression that contains the WITH clause, but rules apply.

Examples

In this example, a WITH clause defines two non-recursive CTEs that are referenced in the related set operation, where one CTE is referenced by each of the set operation's input query expressions:

WITH subQ1 AS (SELECT SchoolID FROM Roster),
     subQ2 AS (SELECT OpponentID FROM PlayerStats)
SELECT * FROM subQ1
UNION ALL
SELECT * FROM subQ2

You can break up more complex queries into a WITH clause and WITH SELECT statement instead of writing nested table subqueries. For example:

WITH q1 AS (my_query)
SELECT *
FROM
  (WITH q2 AS (SELECT * FROM q1) SELECT * FROM q2)

WITH q1 AS (my_query)
SELECT *
FROM
  (WITH q2 AS (SELECT * FROM q1),  # q1 resolves to my_query
        q3 AS (SELECT * FROM q1),  # q1 resolves to my_query
        q1 AS (SELECT * FROM q1),  # q1 (in the query) resolves to my_query
        q4 AS (SELECT * FROM q1)   # q1 resolves to the WITH subquery on the previous line.
    SELECT * FROM q1)              # q1 resolves to the third inner WITH subquery.

Recursive CTEs

recursive_cte:
  cte_name AS ( recursive_union_operation )

recursive_union_operation:
  base_term union_operator recursive_term

base_term:
  query_expr

recursive_term:
  query_expr

union_operator:
  UNION ALL

A recursive common table expression (CTE) contains a recursive subquery and a name associated with the CTE.

• A recursive CTE references itself.
• A recursive CTE can be referenced in the query expression that contains the WITH clause, but rules apply.
• When a recursive CTE is defined in a WITH clause, the RECURSIVE keyword must be present.

A recursive CTE is defined by a recursive union operation. The recursive union operation defines how input is recursively processed to produce the final CTE result. The recursive union operation has the following parts:

• base_term: Runs the first iteration of the recursive union operation. This term must follow the base term rules.
• union_operator: The UNION operator returns the rows that are from the union of the base term and recursive term. With UNION ALL, each row produced in iteration N becomes part of the final CTE result and input for iteration N+1. Iteration stops when an iteration produces no rows to move into the next iteration.
• recursive_term: Runs the remaining iterations. It must include one self-reference (recursive reference) to the recursive CTE. Only this term can include a self-reference. This term must follow the recursive term rules.

A recursive CTE looks like this:

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS ( (SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT n + 1 AS n FROM T1 WHERE n < 3) )
SELECT n FROM T1

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 2 |
 | 1 |
 | 3 |
 *---*/

The first iteration of a recursive union operation runs the base term. Then, each subsequent iteration runs the recursive term and produces new rows which are unioned with the previous iteration. The recursive union operation terminates when a recursive term iteration produces no new rows.

If recursion doesn't terminate, the query fails after reaching 500 iterations.

To learn more about recursive CTEs and troubleshooting iteration limit errors, see Work with recursive CTEs.

Examples of allowed recursive CTEs

This is a simple recursive CTE:

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS (
    (SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL
    (SELECT n + 2 FROM T1 WHERE n < 4))
SELECT * FROM T1 ORDER BY n

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 | 3 |
 | 5 |
 *---*/

Multiple subqueries in the same recursive CTE are okay, as long as each recursion has a cycle length of 1. It's also okay for recursive entries to depend on non-recursive entries and vice-versa:

WITH RECURSIVE
  T0 AS (SELECT 1 AS n),
  T1 AS ((SELECT * FROM T0) UNION ALL (SELECT n + 1 FROM T1 WHERE n < 4)),
  T2 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT n + 1 FROM T2 WHERE n < 4)),
  T3 AS (SELECT * FROM T1 INNER JOIN T2 USING (n))
SELECT * FROM T3 ORDER BY n

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 | 2 |
 | 3 |
 | 4 |
 *---*/

Aggregate functions can be invoked in subqueries, as long as they aren't aggregating on the table being defined:

WITH RECURSIVE
  T0 AS (SELECT * FROM UNNEST ([60, 20, 30])),
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT n + (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM T0) FROM T1 WHERE n < 4))
SELECT * FROM T1 ORDER BY n

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 | 4 |
 *---*/

INNER JOIN can be used inside subqueries:

WITH RECURSIVE
  T0 AS (SELECT 1 AS n),
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT n + 1 FROM T1 INNER JOIN T0 USING (n)))
SELECT * FROM T1 ORDER BY n

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 | 2 |
 *---*/

CROSS JOIN can be used inside subqueries:

WITH RECURSIVE
  T0 AS (SELECT 2 AS p),
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT T1.n + T0.p FROM T1 CROSS JOIN T0 WHERE T1.n < 4))
SELECT * FROM T1 CROSS JOIN T0 ORDER BY n

/*---+---*
 | n | p |
 +---+---+
 | 1 | 2 |
 | 3 | 2 |
 | 5 | 2 |
 *---+---*/

Recursive CTEs can be used inside CREATE TABLE AS SELECT statements. The following example creates a table named new_table in mydataset:

CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE `myproject.mydataset.new_table` AS
  WITH RECURSIVE
    T1 AS (SELECT 1 AS n UNION ALL SELECT n + 1 FROM T1 WHERE n < 3)
  SELECT * FROM T1

Recursive CTEs can be used inside CREATE VIEW AS SELECT statements. The following example creates a view named new_view in mydataset:

CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW `myproject.mydataset.new_view` AS
  WITH RECURSIVE
    T1 AS (SELECT 1 AS n UNION ALL SELECT n + 1 FROM T1 WHERE n < 3)
  SELECT * FROM T1

Recursive CTEs can be used inside INSERT statements. The following example demonstrates how to insert data into a table by using recursive CTEs:

-- create a temp table.
CREATE TEMP TABLE tmp_table (n INT64);

-- insert some values into the temp table by using recursive CTEs.
INSERT INTO tmp_table(n)
  WITH RECURSIVE
    T1 AS (SELECT 1 AS n UNION ALL SELECT n + 1 FROM T1 WHERE n < 3)
  SELECT * FROM T1

Examples of disallowed recursive CTEs

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because the self-reference doesn't include a set operator, base term, and recursive term.

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS (SELECT * FROM T1)
SELECT * FROM T1

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because the self-reference to T1 is in the base term. The self reference is only allowed in the recursive term.

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS ((SELECT * FROM T1) UNION ALL (SELECT 1))
SELECT * FROM T1

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because there are multiple self-references in the recursive term when there must only be one.

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL ((SELECT * FROM T1) UNION ALL (SELECT * FROM T1)))
SELECT * FROM T1

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because the self-reference is inside an expression subquery

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT (SELECT n FROM T1)))
SELECT * FROM T1

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because there is a self-reference as an argument to a table-valued function (TVF).

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS (
    (SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL
    (SELECT * FROM MY_TVF(T1)))
SELECT * FROM T1;

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because there is a self-reference as input to an outer join.

WITH RECURSIVE
  T0 AS (SELECT 1 AS n),
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT * FROM T1 FULL OUTER JOIN T0 USING (n)))
SELECT * FROM T1;

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because you can't use aggregation with a self-reference.

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS (
    (SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL
    (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM T1))
SELECT * FROM T1;

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because you can't use the window function OVER clause with a self-reference.

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS (
    (SELECT 1.0 AS n) UNION ALL
    SELECT 1 + AVG(n) OVER(ROWS between 2 PRECEDING and 0 FOLLOWING) FROM T1 WHERE n < 10)
SELECT n FROM T1;

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because you can't use a LIMIT clause with a self-reference.

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT n FROM T1 LIMIT 3))
SELECT * FROM T1;

-- Error

The following recursive CTEs are disallowed because you can't use an ORDER BY clause with a self-reference.

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (SELECT n + 1 FROM T1 ORDER BY n))
SELECT * FROM T1;

-- Error

The following recursive CTE is disallowed because table T1 can't be recursively referenced from inside an inner WITH clause

WITH RECURSIVE
  T1 AS ((SELECT 1 AS n) UNION ALL (WITH t AS (SELECT n FROM T1) SELECT * FROM t))
SELECT * FROM T1

-- Error

CTE rules and constraints

Common table expressions (CTEs) can be referenced inside the query expression that contains the WITH clause.

General rules

Here are some general rules and constraints to consider when working with CTEs:

• Each CTE in the same WITH clause must have a unique name.
• You must include the RECURSIVE keyword keyword if the WITH clause contains a recursive CTE.
• The RECURSIVE keyword in the WITH clause changes the visibility of CTEs to other CTEs in the same WITH clause. You can learn more here.
• WITH isn't allowed inside WITH RECURSIVE.
• WITH RECURSIVE is allowed in the SELECT statement.
• WITH RECURSIVE is only allowed at the top level of the query.
• WITH RECURSIVE isn't allowed in functions.
• WITH RECURSIVE isn't allowed in materialized views.
• WITH RECURSIVE isn't allowed in BigQuery ML.
• CREATE RECURSIVE VIEW isn't supported. To work around this, use the WITH RECURSIVE clause as the query_expression in the CREATE VIEW statement. For more information, see CREATE VIEW.
• A local CTE overrides an outer CTE or table with the same name.
• A CTE on a subquery may not reference correlated columns from the outer query.

Base term rules

The following rules apply to the base term in a recursive CTE:

• The base term is required to be non-recursive.
• The base term determines the names and types of all of the table columns.

Recursive term rules

The following rules apply to the recursive term in a recursive CTE:

• The recursive term must include exactly one reference to the recursively-defined table in the base term.
• The recursive term must contain the same number of columns as the base term, and the type of each column must be implicitly coercible to the type of the corresponding column in the base term.
• A recursive table reference can't be used as an operand to a FULL JOIN, a right operand to a LEFT JOIN, or a left operand to a RIGHT JOIN.
• A recursive table reference can't be used with the TABLESAMPLE operator.
• A recursive table reference can't be used as an operand to a table-valued function (TVF).
• Use of the IN and EXISTS expression subqueries is limited within the recursive term. For example:
  • [NOT] IN and [NOT] EXISTS aren't allowed in the SELECT clause.
  • NOT IN isn't allowed in the WHERE clause.

The following rules apply to a subquery inside a recursive term:

• A subquery with a recursive table reference must be a SELECT expression, not a set operation, such as UNION ALL.
• A subquery can't contain, directly or indirectly, a recursive table reference anywhere outside of its FROM clause.
• A subquery with a recursive table reference can't contain an ORDER BY or LIMIT clause.
• A subquery with a recursive table reference can't invoke aggregate functions.
• A subquery with a recursive table reference can't invoke window functions.
• A subquery with a recursive table reference can't contain the DISTINCT keyword or GROUP BY clause.

CTE visibility

The visibility of a common table expression (CTE) within a query expression is determined by whether or not you add the RECURSIVE keyword to the WITH clause where the CTE was defined. You can learn more about these differences in the following sections.

Visibility of CTEs in a WITH clause with the RECURSIVE keyword

When you include the RECURSIVE keyword, references between CTEs in the WITH clause can go backwards and forwards. Cycles aren't allowed.

This is what happens when you have two CTEs that reference themselves or each other in a WITH clause with the RECURSIVE keyword. Assume that A is the first CTE and B is the second CTE in the clause:

• A references A = Valid
• A references B = Valid
• B references A = Valid
• A references B references A = Invalid (cycles aren't allowed)

A can reference itself because self-references are supported:

WITH RECURSIVE
  A AS (SELECT 1 AS n UNION ALL (SELECT n + 1 FROM A WHERE n < 3))
SELECT * FROM A

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 | 2 |
 | 3 |
 *---*/

A can reference B because references between CTEs can go forwards:

WITH RECURSIVE
  A AS (SELECT * FROM B),
  B AS (SELECT 1 AS n)
SELECT * FROM B

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 *---*/

B can reference A because references between CTEs can go backwards:

WITH RECURSIVE
  A AS (SELECT 1 AS n),
  B AS (SELECT * FROM A)
SELECT * FROM B

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 *---*/

This produces an error. A and B reference each other, which creates a cycle:

WITH RECURSIVE
  A AS (SELECT * FROM B),
  B AS (SELECT * FROM A)
SELECT * FROM B

-- Error

Visibility of CTEs in a WITH clause without the RECURSIVE keyword

When you don't include the RECURSIVE keyword in the WITH clause, references between CTEs in the clause can go backward but not forward.

This is what happens when you have two CTEs that reference themselves or each other in a WITH clause without the RECURSIVE keyword. Assume that A is the first CTE and B is the second CTE in the clause:

• A references A = Invalid
• A references B = Invalid
• B references A = Valid
• A references B references A = Invalid (cycles aren't allowed)

This produces an error. A can't reference itself because self-references aren't supported:

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 AS n UNION ALL (SELECT n + 1 FROM A WHERE n < 3))
SELECT * FROM A

-- Error

This produces an error. A can't reference B because references between CTEs can go backwards but not forwards:

WITH
  A AS (SELECT * FROM B),
  B AS (SELECT 1 AS n)
SELECT * FROM B

-- Error

B can reference A because references between CTEs can go backwards:

WITH
  A AS (SELECT 1 AS n),
  B AS (SELECT * FROM A)
SELECT * FROM B

/*---*
 | n |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 *---*/

This produces an error. A and B reference each other, which creates a cycle:

WITH
  A AS (SELECT * FROM B),
  B AS (SELECT * FROM A)
SELECT * FROM B

-- Error

AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD clause

Syntax for an aggregation threshold analysis rule–enforced query:

WITH AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD OPTIONS (
  threshold = threshold_amount,
  privacy_unit_column = column_name
)

Syntax for an aggregation threshold analysis rule–enforced view:

WITH AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD [ OPTIONS (
  [ threshold = threshold_amount ],
  [ privacy_unit_column = column_name ]
) ]

Description

Use the AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD clause to enforce an aggregation threshold. This clause counts the number of distinct privacy units (represented by the privacy unit column) for each group, and only outputs the groups where the distinct privacy unit count satisfies the aggregation threshold. If you want to use an aggregation threshold analysis rule that you defined for a view, use the syntax for an analysis rule–enforced view. When querying a privacy-enforced view, the AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD clause does not need to include the OPTIONS clause.

Definitions:

• threshold: The minimum number of distinct privacy units (privacy unit column values) that need to contribute to each row in the query results. If a potential row doesn't satisfy this threshold, that row is omitted from the query results. threshold_amount must be a positive INT64 value.

  If you're using this query with an analysis rule–enforced view, you can optionally add this query parameter to override the threshold parameter for the view. The threshold for the query must be equal to or greater than the threshold for the view. If the threshold for the query is less than the threshold for the view, an error is produced.

• privacy_unit_column: The column that represents the privacy unit column. Replace column_name with the path expression for the column. The first identifier in the path can start with either a table name or a column name that's visible in the FROM clause.

  If you're using this query with an analysis rule–enforced view, you can optionally add this query parameter. However, it must match the value for privacy_unit_column on the view. If it doesn't, an error is produced.

Details

The following functions can be used on any column in a query with the AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD clause, including the commonly used COUNT, SUM, and AVG functions:

• APPROX_COUNT_DISTINCT
• AVG
• COUNT
• COUNTIF
• LOGICAL_AND
• LOGICAL_OR
• SUM
• COVAR_POP
• COVAR_SAMP
• STDDEV_POP
• STDDEV_SAMP
• VAR_POP
• VAR_SAMP

Example

In the following example, an aggregation threshold is enforced on a query. Notice that some privacy units are dropped because there aren't enough distinct instances.

WITH ExamTable AS (
  SELECT "Hansen" AS last_name, "P91" AS test_id, 510 AS test_score UNION ALL
  SELECT "Wang", "U25", 500 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Wang", "C83", 520 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Wang", "U25", 460 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Hansen", "C83", 420 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Hansen", "C83", 560 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Devi", "U25", 580 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Devi", "P91", 480 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Ivanov", "U25", 490 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Ivanov", "P91", 540 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Silva", "U25", 550)
SELECT WITH AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD
  OPTIONS(threshold=3, privacy_unit_column=last_name)
  test_id,
  COUNT(DISTINCT last_name) AS student_count,
  AVG(test_score) AS avg_test_score
FROM ExamTable
GROUP BY test_id;

/*---------+---------------+----------------*
 | test_id | student_count | avg_test_score |
 +---------+---------------+----------------+
 | P91     | 3             | 510.0          |
 | U25     | 4             | 516.0          |
 *---------+---------------+----------------*/

In the following example, an aggregation threshold analysis rule is enforced on a view with the same results:

-- Create a table.
CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE mydataset.ExamTable AS (
  SELECT "Hansen" AS last_name, "P91" AS test_id, 510 AS test_score UNION ALL
  SELECT "Wang", "U25", 500 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Wang", "C83", 520 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Wang", "U25", 460 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Hansen", "C83", 420 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Hansen", "C83", 560 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Devi", "U25", 580 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Devi", "P91", 480 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Ivanov", "U25", 490 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Ivanov", "P91", 540 UNION ALL
  SELECT "Silva", "U25", 550);

-- Create a view for the table.
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW mydataset.ExamView
OPTIONS(
  privacy_policy= '{"aggregation_threshold_policy": {"threshold": 3, "privacy_unit_column": "last_name"}}'
)
AS ( SELECT * FROM mydataset.ExamTable );

-- Query the aggregation threshold privacy-policy enforced view.
SELECT WITH AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD
  test_id,
  COUNT(DISTINCT last_name) AS student_count,
  AVG(test_score) AS avg_test_score
FROM mydataset.ExamView
GROUP BY test_id;

/*---------+---------------+----------------*
 | test_id | student_count | avg_test_score |
 +---------+---------------+----------------+
 | P91     | 3             | 510.0          |
 | U25     | 4             | 516.0          |
 *---------+---------------+----------------*/

In the following example, an aggregation threshold analysis rule is enforced on the previous view, but the threshold is adjusted from 3 in the view to 4 in the query:

SELECT WITH AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD
  OPTIONS(threshold=4)
  test_id,
  COUNT(DISTINCT last_name) AS student_count,
  AVG(test_score) AS avg_test_score
FROM mydataset.ExamView
GROUP BY test_id;

/*---------+---------------+----------------*
 | test_id | student_count | avg_test_score |
 +---------+---------------+----------------+
 | U25     | 4             | 516.0          |
 *---------+---------------+----------------*/

In the following example, an aggregation threshold analysis rule is enforced on the previous view, but the threshold is adjusted from 3 in the view to 5 in the query. While the analysis rule is satisfied, the query produces no data.

-- No data is produced.
SELECT WITH AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD
  OPTIONS(threshold=5)
  test_id,
  COUNT(DISTINCT last_name) AS student_count,
  AVG(test_score) AS avg_test_score
FROM mydataset.ExamView
GROUP BY test_id;

In the following example, an aggregation threshold analysis rule is enforced on the previous view, but the threshold is adjusted from 3 in the view to 2 in the query:

-- Error: Aggregation threshold is too low.
SELECT WITH AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD
  OPTIONS(threshold=2)
  test_id,
  COUNT(DISTINCT last_name) AS student_count,
  AVG(test_score) AS avg_test_score
FROM mydataset.ExamView
GROUP BY test_id;

In the following example, an aggregation threshold analysis rule is enforced on the previous view, but the threshold is adjusted from last_name in the view to test_id in the query:

-- Error: Can't override the privacy unit column set in view.
SELECT WITH AGGREGATION_THRESHOLD
  OPTIONS(privacy_unit_column=test_id)
  test_id,
  COUNT(DISTINCT last_name) AS student_count,
  AVG(test_score) AS avg_test_score
FROM mydataset.ExamView
GROUP BY test_id;

Differential privacy clause

WITH DIFFERENTIAL_PRIVACY OPTIONS( privacy_parameters )

privacy_parameters:
  epsilon = expression,
  delta = expression,
  [ max_groups_contributed = expression ],
  privacy_unit_column = column_name

Description

This clause lets you transform the results of a query with differentially private aggregations. To learn more about differential privacy, see Differential privacy.

You can use the following syntax to build a differential privacy clause:

• epsilon: Controls the amount of noise added to the results. A higher epsilon means less noise. expression must be a literal and return a FLOAT64.
• delta: The probability that any row in the result fails to be epsilon-differentially private. expression must be a literal and return a FLOAT64.
• max_groups_contributed: A positive integer identifying the limit on the number of groups that an entity is allowed to contribute to. This number is also used to scale the noise for each group. expression must be a literal and return an INT64.
• privacy_unit_column: The column that represents the privacy unit column. Replace column_name with the path expression for the column. The first identifier in the path can start with either a table name or a column name that's visible in the FROM clause.

If you want to use this syntax, add it after the SELECT keyword with one or more differentially private aggregate functions in the SELECT list. To learn more about the privacy parameters in this syntax, see Privacy parameters.

Privacy parameters

Privacy parameters control how the results of a query are transformed. Appropriate values for these settings can depend on many things such as the characteristics of your data, the exposure level, and the privacy level.

In this section, you can learn more about how you can use privacy parameters to control how the results are transformed.

epsilon

Noise is added primarily based on the specified epsilon differential privacy parameter. The higher the epsilon the less noise is added. More noise corresponding to smaller epsilons equals more privacy protection.

Noise can be eliminated by setting epsilon to 1e20, which can be useful during initial data exploration and experimentation with differential privacy. Extremely large epsilon values, such as 1e308, cause query failure.

GoogleSQL splits epsilon between the differentially private aggregates in the query. In addition to the explicit differentially private aggregate functions, the differential privacy process also injects an implicit differentially private aggregate into the plan for removing small groups that computes a noisy entity count per group. If you have n explicit differentially private aggregate functions in your query, then each aggregate individually gets epsilon/(n+1) for its computation. If used with max_groups_contributed, the effective epsilon per function per groups is further split by max_groups_contributed. Additionally, if implicit clamping is used for an aggregate differentially private function, then half of the function's epsilon is applied towards computing implicit bounds, and half of the function's epsilon is applied towards the differentially private aggregation itself.

delta

The delta differential privacy parameter represents the probability that any row fails to be epsilon-differentially private in the result of a differentially private query.

max_groups_contributed

The max_groups_contributed differential privacy parameter is a positive integer that, if specified, scales the noise and limits the number of groups that each entity can contribute to.

max_groups_contributed is set by default, even if you don't specify it. The default value is 1. If max_groups_contributed is set to NULL, then max_groups_contributed is unspecified and there is no limit to the number of groups that each entity can contribute to.

If max_groups_contributed is unspecified, the language can't guarantee that the results will be differentially private. We recommend that you specify max_groups_contributed. If you don't specify max_groups_contributed, the results might still be differentially private if certain preconditions are met. For example, if you know that the privacy unit column in a table or view is unique in the FROM clause, the entity can't contribute to more than one group and therefore the results will be the same regardless of whether max_groups_contributed is set.

privacy_unit_column

To learn about the privacy unit and how to define a privacy unit column, see Define a privacy unit column.

Differential privacy examples

This section contains examples that illustrate how to work with differential privacy in GoogleSQL.

Tables for examples

The examples in this section reference the following tables:

CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE professors AS (
  SELECT 101 AS id, "pencil" AS item, 24 AS quantity UNION ALL
  SELECT 123, "pen", 16 UNION ALL
  SELECT 123, "pencil", 10 UNION ALL
  SELECT 123, "pencil", 38 UNION ALL
  SELECT 101, "pen", 19 UNION ALL
  SELECT 101, "pen", 23 UNION ALL
  SELECT 130, "scissors", 8 UNION ALL
  SELECT 150, "pencil", 72);

CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE students AS (
  SELECT 1 AS id, "pencil" AS item, 5 AS quantity UNION ALL
  SELECT 1, "pen", 2 UNION ALL
  SELECT 2, "pen", 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT 3, "pen", 4);

Add noise

You can add noise to a differentially private query. Smaller groups might not be included. Smaller epsilons and more noise will provide greater privacy protection.

-- This gets the average number of items requested per professor and adds
-- noise to the results
SELECT
  WITH DIFFERENTIAL_PRIVACY
    OPTIONS(epsilon=10, delta=.01, max_groups_contributed=2, privacy_unit_column=id)
    item,
    AVG(quantity, contribution_bounds_per_group => (0,100)) AS average_quantity
FROM professors
GROUP BY item;

-- These results will change each time you run the query.
-- The scissors group was removed this time, but might not be
-- removed the next time.
/*----------+------------------*
 | item     | average_quantity |
 +----------+------------------+
 | pencil   | 38.5038356810269 |
 | pen      | 13.4725028762032 |
 *----------+------------------*/

Remove noise

Removing noise removes privacy protection. Only remove noise for testing queries on non-private data. When epsilon is high, noise is removed from the results.

-- This gets the average number of items requested per professor and removes
-- noise from the results
SELECT
  WITH DIFFERENTIAL_PRIVACY
    OPTIONS(epsilon=1e20, delta=.01, max_groups_contributed=2, privacy_unit_column=id)
    item,
    AVG(quantity, contribution_bounds_per_group => (0,100)) AS average_quantity
FROM professors
GROUP BY item;

/*----------+------------------*
 | item     | average_quantity |
 +----------+------------------+
 | pencil   | 40               |
 | pen      | 18.5             |
 | scissors | 8                |
 *----------+------------------*/

Limit the groups in which a privacy unit ID can exist

A privacy unit column can exist within multiple groups. For example, in the professors table, the privacy unit column 123 exists in the pencil and pen group. You can set max_groups_contributed to different values to limit how many groups each privacy unit column will be included in.

SELECT
  WITH DIFFERENTIAL_PRIVACY
    OPTIONS(epsilon=1e20, delta=.01, privacy_unit_column=id)
    item,
    AVG(quantity, contribution_bounds_per_group => (0,100)) AS average_quantity
FROM professors
GROUP BY item;

-- The privacy unit column 123 was only included in the pen group in this example.
-- Noise was removed from this query for demonstration purposes only.
/*----------+------------------*
 | item     | average_quantity |
 +----------+------------------+
 | pencil   | 40               |
 | pen      | 18.5             |
 | scissors | 8                |
 *----------+------------------*/

Using aliases

An alias is a temporary name given to a table, column, or expression present in a query. You can introduce explicit aliases in the SELECT list or FROM clause, or GoogleSQL infers an implicit alias for some expressions. Expressions with neither an explicit nor implicit alias are anonymous and the query can't reference them by name.

Explicit aliases

You can introduce explicit aliases in either the FROM clause or the SELECT list.

In a FROM clause, you can introduce explicit aliases for any item, including tables, arrays, subqueries, and UNNEST clauses, using [AS] alias. The AS keyword is optional.

Example:

SELECT s.FirstName, s2.SongName
FROM Singers AS s, (SELECT * FROM Songs) AS s2;

You can introduce explicit aliases for any expression in the SELECT list using [AS] alias. The AS keyword is optional.

Example:

SELECT s.FirstName AS name, LOWER(s.FirstName) AS lname
FROM Singers s;

Implicit aliases

In the SELECT list, if there is an expression that doesn't have an explicit alias, GoogleSQL assigns an implicit alias according to the following rules. There can be multiple columns with the same alias in the SELECT list.

• For identifiers, the alias is the identifier. For example, SELECT abc implies AS abc.
• For path expressions, the alias is the last identifier in the path. For example, SELECT abc.def.ghi implies AS ghi.
• For field access using the "dot" member field access operator, the alias is the field name. For example, SELECT (struct_function()).fname implies AS fname.

In all other cases, there is no implicit alias, so the column is anonymous and can't be referenced by name. The data from that column will still be returned and the displayed query results may have a generated label for that column, but the label can't be used like an alias.

In a FROM clause, from_items aren't required to have an alias. The following rules apply:

• If there is an expression that doesn't have an explicit alias, GoogleSQL assigns an implicit alias in these cases:
  • For identifiers, the alias is the identifier. For example, FROM abc implies AS abc.
  • For path expressions, the alias is the last identifier in the path. For example, FROM abc.def.ghi implies AS ghi
  • The column produced using WITH OFFSET has the implicit alias offset.
• Table subqueries don't have implicit aliases.
• FROM UNNEST(x) doesn't have an implicit alias.

Alias visibility

After you introduce an explicit alias in a query, there are restrictions on where else in the query you can reference that alias. These restrictions on alias visibility are the result of GoogleSQL name scoping rules.

Visibility in the FROM clause

GoogleSQL processes aliases in a FROM clause from left to right, and aliases are visible only to subsequent path expressions in a FROM clause.

Example:

Assume the Singers table had a Concerts column of ARRAY type.

SELECT FirstName
FROM Singers AS s, s.Concerts;

Invalid:

SELECT FirstName
FROM s.Concerts, Singers AS s;  // INVALID.

FROM clause aliases are not visible to subqueries in the same FROM clause. Subqueries in a FROM clause can't contain correlated references to other tables in the same FROM clause.

Invalid:

SELECT FirstName
FROM Singers AS s, (SELECT (2020 - ReleaseDate) FROM s)  // INVALID.

You can use any column name from a table in the FROM as an alias anywhere in the query, with or without qualification with the table name.

Example:

SELECT FirstName, s.ReleaseDate
FROM Singers s WHERE ReleaseDate = 1975;

If the FROM clause contains an explicit alias, you must use the explicit alias instead of the implicit alias for the remainder of the query (see Implicit Aliases). A table alias is useful for brevity or to eliminate ambiguity in cases such as self-joins, where the same table is scanned multiple times during query processing.

Example:

SELECT * FROM Singers as s, Songs as s2
ORDER BY s.LastName

Invalid — ORDER BY doesn't use the table alias:

SELECT * FROM Singers as s, Songs as s2
ORDER BY Singers.LastName;  // INVALID.

Visibility in the SELECT list

Aliases in the SELECT list are visible only to the following clauses:

• GROUP BY clause
• ORDER BY clause
• HAVING clause

Example:

SELECT LastName AS last, SingerID
FROM Singers
ORDER BY last;

Visibility in the GROUP BY, ORDER BY, and HAVING clauses

These three clauses, GROUP BY, ORDER BY, and HAVING, can refer to only the following values:

• Tables in the FROM clause and any of their columns.
• Aliases from the SELECT list.

GROUP BY and ORDER BY can also refer to a third group:

• Integer literals, which refer to items in the SELECT list. The integer 1 refers to the first item in the SELECT list, 2 refers to the second item, etc.

Example:

SELECT SingerID AS sid, COUNT(Songid) AS s2id
FROM Songs
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 2 DESC;

The previous query is equivalent to:

SELECT SingerID AS sid, COUNT(Songid) AS s2id
FROM Songs
GROUP BY sid
ORDER BY s2id DESC;

Duplicate aliases

A SELECT list or subquery containing multiple explicit or implicit aliases of the same name is allowed, as long as the alias name isn't referenced elsewhere in the query, since the reference would be ambiguous.

When a top-level SELECT list contains duplicate column names and no destination table is specified, all duplicate columns, except for the first one, are automatically renamed to make them unique. The renamed columns appear in the query result.

Example:

SELECT 1 AS a, 2 AS a;

/*---+-----*
 | a | a_1 |
 +---+-----+
 | 1 | 2   |
 *---+-----*/

Duplicate column names in a table or view definition aren't supported. These statements with queries that contain duplicate column names will fail:

-- This query fails.
CREATE TABLE my_dataset.my_table AS (SELECT 1 AS a, 2 AS a);

-- This query fails.
CREATE VIEW my_dataset.my_view AS (SELECT 1 AS a, 2 AS a);

Ambiguous aliases

GoogleSQL provides an error if accessing a name is ambiguous, meaning it can resolve to more than one unique object in the query or in a table schema, including the schema of a destination table.

The following query contains column names that conflict between tables, since both Singers and Songs have a column named SingerID:

SELECT SingerID
FROM Singers, Songs;

The following query contains aliases that are ambiguous in the GROUP BY clause because they are duplicated in the SELECT list:

SELECT FirstName AS name, LastName AS name,
FROM Singers
GROUP BY name;

The following query contains aliases that are ambiguous in the SELECT list and FROM clause because they share a column and field with same name.

• Assume the Person table has three columns: FirstName, LastName, and PrimaryContact.
• Assume the PrimaryContact column represents a struct with these fields: FirstName and LastName.

The alias P is ambiguous and will produce an error because P.FirstName in the GROUP BY clause could refer to either Person.FirstName or Person.PrimaryContact.FirstName.

SELECT FirstName, LastName, PrimaryContact AS P
FROM Person AS P
GROUP BY P.FirstName;

A name is not ambiguous in GROUP BY, ORDER BY or HAVING if it's both a column name and a SELECT list alias, as long as the name resolves to the same underlying object. In the following example, the alias BirthYear isn't ambiguous because it resolves to the same underlying column, Singers.BirthYear.

SELECT LastName, BirthYear AS BirthYear
FROM Singers
GROUP BY BirthYear;

Range variables

In GoogleSQL, a range variable is a table expression alias in the FROM clause. Sometimes a range variable is known as a table alias. A range variable lets you reference rows being scanned from a table expression. A table expression represents an item in the FROM clause that returns a table. Common items that this expression can represent include tables, value tables, subqueries, table-valued functions (TVFs), joins, and parenthesized joins.

In general, a range variable provides a reference to the rows of a table expression. A range variable can be used to qualify a column reference and unambiguously identify the related table, for example range_variable.column_1.

When referencing a range variable on its own without a specified column suffix, the result of a table expression is the row type of the related table. Value tables have explicit row types, so for range variables related to value tables, the result type is the value table's row type. Other tables don't have explicit row types, and for those tables, the range variable type is a dynamically defined struct that includes all of the columns in the table.

Examples

In these examples, the WITH clause is used to emulate a temporary table called Grid. This table has columns x and y. A range variable called Coordinate refers to the current row as the table is scanned. Coordinate can be used to access the entire row or columns in the row.

The following example selects column x from range variable Coordinate, which in effect selects column x from table Grid.

WITH Grid AS (SELECT 1 x, 2 y)
SELECT Coordinate.x FROM Grid AS Coordinate;

/*---*
 | x |
 +---+
 | 1 |
 *---*/

The following example selects all columns from range variable Coordinate, which in effect selects all columns from table Grid.

WITH Grid AS (SELECT 1 x, 2 y)
SELECT Coordinate.* FROM Grid AS Coordinate;

/*---+---*
 | x | y |
 +---+---+
 | 1 | 2 |
 *---+---*/

The following example selects the range variable Coordinate, which is a reference to rows in table Grid. Since Grid isn't a value table, the result type of Coordinate is a struct that contains all the columns from Grid.

WITH Grid AS (SELECT 1 x, 2 y)
SELECT Coordinate FROM Grid AS Coordinate;

/*--------------*
 | Coordinate   |
 +--------------+
 | {x: 1, y: 2} |
 *--------------*/

Value tables

In addition to standard SQL tables, GoogleSQL supports value tables. In a value table, rather than having rows made up of a list of columns, each row is a single value of type STRUCT, and there are no column names.

In the following example, a value table for a STRUCT is produced with the SELECT AS VALUE statement:

SELECT * FROM (SELECT AS VALUE STRUCT(123 AS a, FALSE AS b))

/*-----+-------*
 | a   | b     |
 +-----+-------+
 | 123 | FALSE |
 *-----+-------*/

Return query results as a value table

You can use GoogleSQL to return query results as a value table. This is useful when you want to store a query result with a STRUCT type as a table. To return a query result as a value table, use one of the following statements:

• SELECT AS STRUCT
• SELECT AS VALUE

Value tables can also occur as the output of the UNNEST operator or a subquery. The WITH clause introduces a value table if the subquery used produces a value table.

In contexts where a query with exactly one column is expected, a value table query can be used instead. For example, scalar and array subqueries normally require a single-column query, but in GoogleSQL, they also allow using a value table query.

Create a table with a value table

Value tables aren't supported as top-level queries in the CREATE TABLE statement, but they can be included in subqueries and UNNEST operations. For example, you can create a table from a value table with this query:

CREATE TABLE Reviews AS
SELECT * FROM (SELECT AS VALUE STRUCT(5 AS star_rating, FALSE AS up_down_rating))

Column Name	Data Type
star_rating	INT64
up_down_rating	BOOL

Use a set operation on a value table

You can't combine tables and value tables in a SET operation.

Table function calls

To call a TVF, use the function call in place of the table name in a FROM clause.

Appendix A: examples with sample data

These examples include statements which perform queries on the Roster and TeamMascot, and PlayerStats tables.

Sample tables

The following tables are used to illustrate the behavior of different query clauses in this reference.

Roster table

The Roster table includes a list of player names (LastName) and the unique ID assigned to their school (SchoolID). It looks like this:

/*-----------------------*
 | LastName   | SchoolID |
 +-----------------------+
 | Adams      | 50       |
 | Buchanan   | 52       |
 | Coolidge   | 52       |
 | Davis      | 51       |
 | Eisenhower | 77       |
 *-----------------------*/

You can use this WITH clause to emulate a temporary table name for the examples in this reference:

WITH Roster AS
 (SELECT 'Adams' as LastName, 50 as SchoolID UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 52 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Coolidge', 52 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Davis', 51 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Eisenhower', 77)
SELECT * FROM Roster

PlayerStats table

The PlayerStats table includes a list of player names (LastName) and the unique ID assigned to the opponent they played in a given game (OpponentID) and the number of points scored by the athlete in that game (PointsScored).

/*----------------------------------------*
 | LastName   | OpponentID | PointsScored |
 +----------------------------------------+
 | Adams      | 51         | 3            |
 | Buchanan   | 77         | 0            |
 | Coolidge   | 77         | 1            |
 | Adams      | 52         | 4            |
 | Buchanan   | 50         | 13           |
 *----------------------------------------*/

You can use this WITH clause to emulate a temporary table name for the examples in this reference:

WITH PlayerStats AS
 (SELECT 'Adams' as LastName, 51 as OpponentID, 3 as PointsScored UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 77, 0 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Coolidge', 77, 1 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Adams', 52, 4 UNION ALL
  SELECT 'Buchanan', 50, 13)
SELECT * FROM PlayerStats

TeamMascot table

The TeamMascot table includes a list of unique school IDs (SchoolID) and the mascot for that school (Mascot).

/*---------------------*
 | SchoolID | Mascot   |
 +---------------------+
 | 50       | Jaguars  |
 | 51       | Knights  |
 | 52       | Lakers   |
 | 53       | Mustangs |
 *---------------------*/

You can use this WITH clause to emulate a temporary table name for the examples in this reference:

WITH TeamMascot AS
 (SELECT 50 as SchoolID, 'Jaguars' as Mascot UNION ALL
  SELECT 51, 'Knights' UNION ALL
  SELECT 52, 'Lakers' UNION ALL
  SELECT 53, 'Mustangs')
SELECT * FROM TeamMascot

GROUP BY clause

Example:

SELECT LastName, SUM(PointsScored)
FROM PlayerStats
GROUP BY LastName;

LastName	SUM
Adams	7
Buchanan	13
Coolidge	1

UNION

The UNION operator combines the result sets of two or more SELECT statements by pairing columns from the result set of each SELECT statement and vertically concatenating them.

Example:

SELECT Mascot AS X, SchoolID AS Y
FROM TeamMascot
UNION ALL
SELECT LastName, PointsScored
FROM PlayerStats;

Results:

X	Y
Jaguars	50
Knights	51
Lakers	52
Mustangs	53
Adams	3
Buchanan	0
Coolidge	1
Adams	4
Buchanan	13

INTERSECT

This query returns the last names that are present in both Roster and PlayerStats.

SELECT LastName
FROM Roster
INTERSECT DISTINCT
SELECT LastName
FROM PlayerStats;

Results:

LastName
Adams
Coolidge
Buchanan

EXCEPT

The query below returns last names in Roster that are not present in PlayerStats.

SELECT LastName
FROM Roster
EXCEPT DISTINCT
SELECT LastName
FROM PlayerStats;

Results:

LastName
Eisenhower
Davis

Reversing the order of the SELECT statements will return last names in PlayerStats that are not present in Roster:

SELECT LastName
FROM PlayerStats
EXCEPT DISTINCT
SELECT LastName
FROM Roster;

Results:

(empty)