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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | |
3 | SQL::Abstract::Manual::Specification |
4 | |
5 | =head1 SYNOPSIS |
6 | |
7 | This discusses the specification for the AST provided by L<SQL::Abstract>. It is |
8 | meant to describe how the AST is structured, various components provided by |
9 | L<SQL::Abstract> for use with this AST, how to manipulate the AST, and various |
10 | uses for the AST once it is generated. |
11 | |
12 | =head1 MOTIVATIONS |
13 | |
14 | L<SQL::Abstract> has been in use for many years. Originally created to handle |
15 | the where-clause formation found in L<DBIx::Abstract>, it was generalized to |
16 | manage the creation of any SQL statement through the use of Perl structures. |
17 | Through the beating it received as the SQL generation syntax for L<DBIx::Class>, |
18 | various deficiencies were found and a generalized SQL AST was designed. This |
19 | document describes that AST. |
20 | |
21 | =head1 GOALS |
22 | |
23 | The goals for this AST are as follows: |
24 | |
25 | =head2 SQL-specific semantics |
26 | |
27 | Instead of attempting to be an AST to handle any form of query, this will |
28 | instead be specialized to manage SQL queries (and queries that map to SQL |
29 | queries). This means that there will be support for SQL-specific features, such |
30 | as placeholders. |
31 | |
32 | =head2 Perl-specific semantics |
33 | |
34 | This AST is meant to be used from within Perl5 only. So, it will take advantage |
35 | of as many Perl-specific features that make sense to use. No attempt whatosever |
36 | will be made to make this AST work within any other language, including Perl6. |
37 | |
38 | =head2 Whole-lifecycle management |
39 | |
40 | Whether a query is built out of whole cloth in one shot or cobbled together from |
41 | several snippets over the lifetime of a process, this AST will support any way |
42 | to construct the query. Queries can also be built from other queries, so an |
43 | UPDATE statement could be used as the basis for a SELECT statement, DELETE |
44 | statement, or even a DDL statement of some kind. |
45 | |
46 | =head2 Dialect-agnostic usage |
47 | |
48 | Even though SQL itself has several ANSI specifications (SQL-92 and SQL-99 among |
49 | them), this only serves as a basis for what a given RDBMS will expect. However, |
50 | every engine has its own specific extensions and specific ways of handling |
51 | common features. The API to the AST will provide ways of expressing common |
52 | functionality in a common language. The emitters (objects that follow the |
53 | Visitor pattern) will be responsible for converting that common language into |
54 | RDBMS-specific SQL. |
55 | |
56 | =head1 AST STRUCTURE |
57 | |
58 | The AST will be a HoA (hash of arrays). The keys to the hash will be the various |
59 | clauses of a SQL statement, plus some metadata keys. All metadata keys will be |
60 | identifiable as such by being prefixed with an underscore. All keys will be in |
61 | lowercase. |
62 | |
63 | =head2 Metadata keys |
64 | |
65 | These are the additional metadata keys that the AST provides for. |
66 | |
67 | =over 4 |
68 | |
69 | =item * _query |
70 | |
71 | This denotes what kind of query this AST should be interpreted as. |
72 | |
73 | =item * |
74 | |
75 | =back |
76 | |
77 | =head2 Structural units |
78 | |
79 | Structural units in the AST are supported by loaded components. L<SQL::Abstract> |
80 | provides for the following structural units by default: |
81 | |
82 | =head3 Identifier |
83 | |
84 | This is a (potentially) fully canonicalized identifier for a table or column. Is |
85 | is of the structure C< [schema][sep][table][sep]column > or |
86 | C< [schema][sep]table >. |
87 | |
88 | In the case of a two-element identifier which could be C< table[sep]column > or |
89 | C< schema[sep]table >, context will determine which it is. However, the AST |
90 | doesn't care which it is, only that it properly parses. |
91 | |
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92 | =head3 Value |
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93 | |
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94 | A Value is a Perl scalar. It may either be a: |
95 | |
96 | =over 4 |
97 | |
98 | =item * String |
99 | |
100 | A String is a quoted series of characters |
101 | |
102 | =item * Number |
103 | |
104 | A Number is an unquoted number in some numeric format |
105 | |
106 | =item * NULL |
107 | |
108 | NULL corresponds to Perl's C<undef> |
109 | |
110 | =item * BindParameter |
111 | |
112 | This corresponds to a value that will be passed in. This value is normally |
113 | quoted in such a fashion so as to protect against SQL injection attacks. (q.v. |
114 | L<DBI/quote()> for an example.) |
115 | |
116 | =back |
117 | |
118 | =head3 |
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119 | |
120 | =head3 Function |
121 | |
122 | A Function is anything of the form C< name( arglist ) > where C<name> is a |
123 | string and C<arglist> is a comma-separated list of Expressions. |
124 | |
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125 | Yes, a Subquery is legal as an argument for many functions. Some example |
126 | functions are: |
127 | |
128 | =over 4 |
129 | |
130 | =item * C<< IN >> |
131 | |
132 | =item * C<< MAX >> |
133 | |
134 | =item * C<< MIN >> |
135 | |
136 | =item * C<< SUM >> |
137 | |
138 | =back |
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139 | |
140 | =head3 Subquery |
141 | |
142 | A Subquery is another AST whose _query metadata parameter is set to "SELECT". |
143 | |
144 | Most places that a Subquery can be used would require a single value to be |
145 | returned (single column, single row), but that is not something that the AST can |
146 | easily enforce. The single-column restriction can possibly be enforced, but the |
147 | single-row restriction is much more difficult and, in most cases, probably |
148 | impossible. |
149 | |
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150 | Subqueries, when expressed in SQL, must bounded by parentheses. |
151 | |
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152 | =head3 Unary Operator |
153 | |
154 | A UnaryOperator takes a single argument on the RHS and is one of the following: |
155 | |
156 | =over 4 |
157 | |
158 | =item * C<< NOT >> |
159 | |
160 | =back |
161 | |
162 | =head3 BinaryOperator |
163 | |
164 | A BinaryOperator takes two arguments (one on the LHS and one on the RHS) and is |
165 | one of the following: |
166 | |
167 | =over 4 |
168 | |
169 | =item * C<< = >> |
170 | |
171 | =item * C<< != >> |
172 | |
173 | =item * C<< > >> |
174 | |
175 | =item * C<< < >> |
176 | |
177 | =item * C<< >= >> |
178 | |
179 | =item * C<< <= >> |
180 | |
181 | =item * C<< IS >> |
182 | |
183 | =item * C<< IS NOT >> |
184 | |
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185 | =back |
186 | |
187 | Note that an operator can comprise of what would be multiple tokens in a normal |
188 | parsing effort. |
189 | |
190 | =head3 Expression |
191 | |
192 | An expression can be any one of the following: |
193 | |
194 | =over 4 |
195 | |
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196 | =item * Value |
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197 | |
198 | =item * Function |
199 | |
200 | =item * Subquery |
201 | |
202 | =item * UnaryOperator Expression |
203 | |
204 | =item * Expression BinaryOperator Expression |
205 | |
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206 | =item * ( Expression ) |
207 | |
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208 | =back |
209 | |
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210 | Parentheses indicate precedence and, in some situations, are necessary for |
211 | certain operators. |
212 | |
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213 | =head2 SQL clauses |
214 | |
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215 | These are all the legal and acceptable clauses within the AST that would |
216 | correpsond to clauses in a SQL statement. Not all clauses are legal within a |
217 | given RDBMS engine's SQL dialect and some clauses may be required in one and |
218 | optional in another. Detecting and enforcing those engine-specific restrictions |
219 | is the responsibility of the Visitor object. |
220 | |
221 | The clauses are defined with a yacc-like syntax. The various parts are: |
222 | |
223 | =over 4 |
224 | |
225 | =item * := |
226 | |
227 | This means "defined" and is used to create a new term to be used below. |
228 | |
229 | =item * [] |
230 | |
231 | This means optional and indicates that the items within it are optional. |
232 | |
233 | =item * []* |
234 | |
235 | This means optional and repeating as many times as desired. |
236 | |
237 | =item * | |
238 | |
239 | This means alternation. It is a binary operator and indicates that either the |
240 | left or right hand sides may be used, but not both. |
241 | |
242 | =item * C<< <> >> |
243 | |
244 | This is a grouping construct. It means that all elements within this construct |
245 | are treated together for the purposes of optional, repeating, alternation, etc. |
246 | |
247 | =back |
248 | |
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249 | The expected clauses are (name and structure): |
250 | |
251 | =head3 select |
252 | |
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253 | This corresponds to the SELECT clause of a SELECT statement. |
254 | |
255 | A select clause is composed as follows: |
256 | |
257 | SelectComponent := Expression [ [ AS ] String ] |
258 | |
259 | SelectComponent |
260 | [ , SelectComponent ]* |
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261 | |
262 | =head3 tables |
263 | |
264 | This is a list of tables that this clause is affecting. It corresponds to the |
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265 | FROM clause in a SELECT statement and the INSERT INTO/UPDATE/DELETE clauses in |
266 | those respective statements. Depending on the _query metadata entry, the |
267 | appropriate clause name will be used. |
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268 | |
269 | The tables clause has several RDBMS-specific variations. The AST will support |
270 | all of them and it is up to the Visitor object constructing the actual SQL to |
271 | validate and/or use what is provided as appropriate. |
272 | |
273 | A table clause is composed as follows: |
274 | |
275 | TableIdentifier := Identifier [ [ AS ] String ] |
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276 | JoinType := < LEFT|RIGHT [ OUTER ] > | INNER | CROSS |
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277 | |
278 | TableIdentifier |
279 | [ |
280 | < , TableIdentifier > |
281 | | < |
282 | [ JoinType ] JOIN TableIdentifier |
283 | [ |
284 | < USING ( Identifier [ , Identifier ] ) > |
285 | | < ON [ ( ] Expression [ , Expression ] [ ) ] > |
286 | ] |
287 | > |
288 | ]* |
289 | |
290 | Additionally, where aliases are provided for in the TableIdentifier, those |
291 | aliases must be used as the tablename in subsequent Identifiers that identify a |
292 | column of that table. |
293 | |
294 | =head3 where |
295 | |
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296 | This corresponds to the WHERE clause in a SELECT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement. |
297 | |
298 | A where clause is composed as follows: |
299 | |
300 | WhereOperator := AND | OR |
301 | WhereExpression := Expression | Expression WhereOperator Expression |
302 | |
303 | WhereExpression |
304 | |
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305 | =head3 set |
306 | |
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307 | This corresponds to the SET clause in an INSERT or UPDATE statement. |
308 | |
309 | A set clause is composed as follows: |
310 | |
311 | SetComponent := Identifier = Expression |
312 | |
313 | SetComponent [ , SetComponent ]* |
314 | |
315 | =head3 columns |
316 | |
317 | This corresponds to the optional list of columns in an INSERT statement. |
318 | |
319 | A columns clause is composed as follows: |
320 | |
321 | ( Identifier [ , Identifier ]* ) |
322 | |
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323 | =head3 values |
324 | |
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325 | This corresponds to the VALUES clause in an INSERT statement. |
326 | |
327 | A values clause is composed as follows: |
328 | |
329 | ( Expression [ , Expression ]* ) |
330 | |
331 | If there is a columns clause, the number of entries in the values clause must be |
332 | equal to the number of entries in the columns clause. |
333 | |
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334 | =head3 orderby |
335 | |
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336 | This corresponds to the ORDER BY clause in a SELECT statement. |
337 | |
338 | An orderby clause is composed as follows: |
339 | |
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340 | OrderByComponent := XXX-TODO-XXX |
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341 | OrderByDirection := ASC | DESC |
342 | |
343 | OrderByComponent [ OrderByDirection ] |
344 | [ , OrderByComponent [ OrderByDirection ] ]* |
345 | |
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346 | =head3 groupby |
347 | |
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348 | This corresponds to the GROUP BY clause in a SELECT statement. |
349 | |
350 | An groupby clause is composed as follows: |
351 | |
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352 | GroupByComponent := XXX-TODO-XXX |
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353 | |
354 | GroupByComponent [ , GroupByComponent ]* |
355 | |
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356 | =head3 rows |
357 | |
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358 | This corresponds to the clause that is used in some RDBMS engines to limit the |
359 | number of rows returned by a query. In MySQL, this would be the LIMIT clause. |
360 | |
361 | A rows clause is composed as follows: |
362 | |
363 | Number [, Number ] |
364 | |
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365 | =head3 for |
366 | |
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367 | This corresponds to the clause that is used in some RDBMS engines to indicate |
368 | what locks are to be taken by this SELECT statement. |
369 | |
370 | A for clause is composed as follows: |
371 | |
372 | UPDATE | DELETE |
373 | |
374 | =head3 connectby |
375 | |
376 | This corresponds to the clause that is used in some RDBMS engines to provide for |
377 | an adjacency-list query. |
378 | |
379 | A connectby clause is composed as follows: |
380 | |
381 | Identifier, WhereExpression |
382 | |
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383 | =head1 AUTHORS |
384 | |
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385 | robkinyon: Rob Kinyon C<< <rkinyon@cpan.org> >> |
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386 | |
387 | =head1 LICENSE |
388 | |
389 | You may distribute this code under the same terms as Perl itself. |
390 | |
391 | =cut |