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SQL Clauses Supported

This section lists all the SQL clauses that HoneySQL supports out of the box, in the order that they are processed for formatting (except for some natural grouping of related clauses).

Clauses can be specified as keywords or symbols. Use - in the clause name where the formatted SQL would have a space (e.g., :left-join is formatted as LEFT JOIN).

Except as noted, these clauses apply to all the SQL dialects that HoneySQL supports. See also the section on database-specific hints and tips.

DDL clauses are listed first, followed by SQL clauses.

The examples herein assume:

(refer-clojure :exclude '[partition-by])
(require '[honey.sql :as sql]
         '[honey.sql.helpers :as h :refer [select from join-by left-join join
                                           where order-by over partition-by window]])

Every DDL and SQL clause has a corresponding helper function in honey.sql.helpers. In general, (helper :foo expr) will produce {:helper [:foo expr]} (with a few exceptions -- see the docstring of the helper function for details).

DDL Clauses

HoneySQL supports the following DDL clauses as a data DSL.

Several of these include column specifications and HoneySQL provides some special syntax (functions) to support that. See Column Descriptors in Special Syntax for more details.

Google BigQuery support: [:bigquery/array :string] as a column type produces ARRAY<STRING> and [:bigquery/struct col1-spec col2-spec] as a column type produces STRUCT<col1, col2> (where colN-spec is a vector specifying a named column).

alter-table, add-column, drop-column, alter-column, modify-column, rename-column

:alter-table can accept either a single table name or a sequence that begins with a table name and is followed by clauses that manipulate columns (or indices, see below).

If a single table name is provided, a single column (or index) operation can provided in the hash map DSL:

user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit
                    :add-column [:id :int [:not nil]]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit ADD COLUMN id INT NOT NULL"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit
                    :add-column [:id :int [:not nil] :if-not-exists]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS id INT NOT NULL"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit
                    :drop-column :ident})
["ALTER TABLE fruit DROP COLUMN ident"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit
                    :drop-column [:if-exists :ident]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS ident"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit
                    :alter-column [:id :int :unsigned nil]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit ALTER COLUMN id INT UNSIGNED NULL"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit
                    :rename-column [:look :appearance]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit RENAME COLUMN look TO appearance"]

If a sequence of a table name and various clauses is provided, the generated ALTER statement will have comma-separated clauses:

user=> (sql/format {:alter-table [:fruit
                                  {:add-column [:id :int [:not nil]]}
                                  {:drop-column :ident}]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit ADD COLUMN id INT NOT NULL, DROP COLUMN ident"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table [:fruit
                                  {:add-column [:id :int [:not nil]]}
                                  {:add-column [:name [:varchar 32]]}
                                  {:drop-column :ident}
                                  {:alter-column [:appearance :text]}]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit ADD COLUMN id INT NOT NULL, ADD COLUMN name VARCHAR(32), DROP COLUMN ident, ALTER COLUMN appearance TEXT"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table [:fruit
                                  {:add-column [:id :int [:not nil] :if-not-exists]}
                                  {:drop-column [:if-exists :ident]}]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS id INT NOT NULL, DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS ident"]

As can be seen above, :add-column and :alter-column both accept a column description (as a sequence of simple expressions); :drop-column accepts one or more column names optionally prefixed by :if-exists, and :rename-column accepts a sequence with two column names: the "from" and the "to" names.

Note: :modify-column is MySQL-specific and should be considered legacy and deprecated. :alter-column will produce MODIFY COLUMN when the MySQL dialect is selected.

add-index, drop-index

Used with :alter-table, :add-index accepts a single (function) expression that describes an index, and :drop-index accepts a single index name:

user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit
                    :add-index [:index :look :appearance]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit ADD INDEX look(appearance)"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit
                    :add-index [:unique nil :color :appearance]})
["ALTER TABLE fruit ADD UNIQUE(color, appearance)"]
user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit :drop-index :look})
["ALTER TABLE fruit DROP INDEX look"]

You can use :add-index to add a primary key to an existing table, as follows:

user=> (-> (h/alter-table :fruit)
           (h/add-index :primary-key :id)
           (sql/format))
["ALTER TABLE fruit ADD PRIMARY KEY(id)"]

rename-table

Used with :alter-table, :rename-table accepts a single table name:

user=> (sql/format {:alter-table :fruit :rename-table :vegetable})
["ALTER TABLE fruit RENAME TO vegetable"]

Note: this would be better as :rename-to since there is a RENAME TABLE old_name TO new_name SQL statement. [I may yet add a variant to support that specifically]

create-table, with-columns

:create-table can accept a single table name or a sequence containing a table name and a flag indicating the creation should be conditional (:if-not-exists or the symbol if-not-exists). :create-table should be used with :with-columns to specify the actual columns in the table:

user=> (sql/format {:create-table :fruit
                    :with-columns
                    [[:id :int [:not nil]]
                     [:name [:varchar 32] [:not nil]]
                     [:cost :float :null]]})
["CREATE TABLE fruit (id INT NOT NULL, name VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL, cost FLOAT NULL)"]

Any keywords (or symbols) preceding the table name will be turned into SQL keywords (this is true for all of the create-* DSL identifiers):

user=> (sql/format {:create-table [:my :fancy :fruit :if-not-exists]
                    :with-columns
                    [[:id :int [:not nil]]
                     [:name [:varchar 32] [:not nil]]
                     [:cost :float :null]]})
["CREATE MY FANCY TABLE IF NOT EXISTS fruit (id INT NOT NULL, name VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL, cost FLOAT NULL)"]

This lets you write SQL like CREATE TEMP TABLE foo ... etc.

The :with-columns clause is formatted as if {:inline true} was specified so nothing is parameterized. In addition, everything except the first element of a column description will be uppercased (mostly to give the appearance of separating the column name from the SQL keywords) -- except for keywords that start with ' which will be transcribed into the SQL exactly as-is, with no case or character conversion at all. This "escape hatch" is intended to allow for SQL dialects that are case sensitive and/or have other unusual syntax constraints.

Various function-like expressions can be specified, as shown in the example above, that allow things like CHECK for a constraint, FOREIGN KEY (with a column name), REFERENCES (with a pair of column names). See Column Descriptors in Special Syntax for more details.

For example:

user=> (-> {:create-table :foo
            :with-columns
            [[:a :int]
             [:b :int]
             [[:primary-key :a :b]]]}
           (sql/format))
["CREATE TABLE foo (a INT, b INT, PRIMARY KEY(a, b))"]

or:

user=> (-> {:create-table [:bar]
            :with-columns
            [[:a :integer]
             [:b :integer]
             [[:constraint :foo_natural_key] :unique [:composite :a :b]]]}
           (sql/format))
["CREATE TABLE bar (a INTEGER, b INTEGER, CONSTRAINT foo_natural_key UNIQUE (a, b))"]

or a mix of column constraints and table constraints:

user=> (-> '{create-table quux
             with-columns
             ((a integer (constraint a_pos) (check (> a 0)))
              (b integer)
              ((constraint a_bigger) (check (< b a))))}
           (sql/format {:pretty true}))
["
CREATE TABLE quux
(a INTEGER CONSTRAINT a_pos CHECK(a > 0), b INTEGER, CONSTRAINT a_bigger CHECK(b < a))
"]

create-table-as

:create-table-as can accept a single table name or a sequence that starts with a table name, optionally followed by a flag indicating the creation should be conditional (:if-not-exists or the symbol if-not-exists or, for BigQuery :or-replace or the symbol or-replace), optionally followed by a {:columns ..} clause to specify the columns to use in the created table, optionally followed by special syntax to specify TABLESPACE etc.

For example:

user=> (sql/format {:create-table-as [:metro :if-not-exists
                                      {:columns [:foo :bar :baz]}
                                      [:tablespace [:entity :quux]]],
                    :select [:*],
                    :from [:cities],
                    :where [:= :metroflag "y"],
                    :with-data false}
                   {:pretty true})
["
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS metro (foo, bar, baz) TABLESPACE quux AS
SELECT *
FROM cities
WHERE metroflag = ?
WITH NO DATA
" "y"]

Without the {:columns ..} clause, the table will be created based on the columns in the query that follows.

A more concise version of the above can use the TABLE clause:

user=> (sql/format {:create-table-as [:metro :or-replace
                                      {:columns [:foo :bar :baz]}
                                      [:tablespace [:entity :quux]]],
                    :table :cities,
                    :where [:= :metroflag "y"],
                    :with-data false}
                   {:pretty true})
["
CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE metro (foo, bar, baz) TABLESPACE quux AS
TABLE cities
WHERE metroflag = ?
WITH NO DATA
" "y"]

As above, any keywords (or symbols) preceding the table name will be turned into SQL keywords (this is true for all of the create-* DSL identifiers) so you can write:

{:create-table-as [:temp :metro :if-not-exists [..]] ..}

to produce CREATE TEMP TABLE IF NOT EXISTS metro .., or:

{:create-table-as [:temp :metro :or-replace [..]] ..}

to produce CREATE OR REPLACE TEMP TABLE metro ...

create-extension

:create-extension can accept a single extension name or a sequence of the extension name, followed by a flag indicating the creation should be conditional (:if-not-exists or the symbol if-not-exists). See the PostgreSQL section for examples.

create-view, create-materialized-view, refresh-materialized-view

:create-view, :create-materialized-view, and :refresh-materialized-view all accept a single view name or a sequence of optional modifiers, followed by the view name, followed by a flag indicating the creation should be conditional (:if-not-exists or the symbol if-not-exists):

user=> (sql/format {:create-view :products
                    :select [:*]
                    :from [:items]
                    :where [:= :category "product"]})
["CREATE VIEW products AS SELECT * FROM items WHERE category = ?" "product"]
user=> (sql/format {:create-view [:products :if-not-exists]
                    :select [:*]
                    :from [:items]
                    :where [:= :category "product"]})
["CREATE VIEW IF NOT EXISTS products AS SELECT * FROM items WHERE category = ?" "product"]
user=> (sql/format {:refresh-materialized-view [:concurrently :products]
                    :with-data false})
["REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW CONCURRENTLY products WITH NO DATA"]

PostgreSQL does not support IF NOT EXISTS on CREATE VIEW (it supports it on CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW!) so, as of 2.4.1066, HoneySQL also has :create-or-replace-view for this case:

user=> (sql/format {:create-or-replace-view [:products]
                    :select [:*]
                    :from [:items]
                    :where [:= :category "product"]})
["CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW products AS SELECT * FROM items WHERE category = ?" "product"]

drop-table, drop-extension, drop-view, drop-materialized-view

:drop-table et al can accept a single table (extension, view) name or a sequence of table (extension, view) names. If a sequence is provided and the first element is :if-exists (or the symbol if-exists) then that conditional clause is added before the table (extension, view) names:

user=> (sql/format '{drop-table (if-exists foo bar)})
["DROP TABLE IF EXISTS foo, bar"]
user=> (sql/format {:drop-table [:foo :bar]})
["DROP TABLE foo, bar"]

SQL Pseudo-Syntax Clauses

The following data DSL clauses are supported to let you modify how SQL clauses are generated, if the default generation is incorrect or unsupported.

See also the Extending HoneySQL section.

nest

This is pseudo-syntax that lets you wrap a substatement in an extra level of parentheses. It should rarely be needed and it is mostly present to provide the same functionality for clauses that [:nest ..] provides for expressions.

raw

This is pseudo-syntax that lets you insert a complete SQL clause as a string, if HoneySQL doesn't support some exotic SQL construct. It should rarely be needed and it is mostly present to provide the same functionality for clauses that [:raw ..] provides for expressions (which usage is likely to be more common).

SQL Clauses

HoneySQL supports the following SQL clauses as a data DSL. These are listed in precedence order (i.e., matching the order they would appear in a valid SQL statement).

with, with-recursive

These provide CTE support for several databases. In the most common form, the argument to :with (or :with-recursive) is a sequences of pairs, each of a result set name (or description) and either of; a basic SQL statement, a string, a keyword or a symbol. The result set can either be a SQL entity (a simple name) or a pair of a SQL entity and a set of column names.

user=> (sql/format '{with ((stuff {select (:*) from (foo)}),
                           (nonsense {select (:*) from (bar)}))
                     select (foo.id,bar.name)
                     from (stuff, nonsense)
                     where (= status 0)})
["WITH stuff AS (SELECT * FROM foo), nonsense AS (SELECT * FROM bar) SELECT foo.id, bar.name FROM stuff, nonsense WHERE status = ?" 0]

When the expression is a basic SQL statement in any of the pairs, the resulting syntax of the pair is WITH ident AS expr as shown above. However, when the expression is a string, a keyword or a symbol, the resulting syntax of the pair is of the form WITH expr AS ident like this:

user=> (sql/format '{with ((ts_upper_bound "2019-08-01 15:23:00"))
                     select :*
                     from (hits)
                     where (= EventDate ts_upper_bound)})
["WITH ? AS ts_upper_bound SELECT * FROM hits WHERE EventDate = ts_upper_bound" "2019-08-01 15:23:00"]

The syntax only varies for each pair and so you can use both SQL statements and keywords/strings/symbols in the same WITH clause like this:

user=> (sql/format '{with   ((ts_upper_bound "2019-08-01 15:23:00")
                             (review :awesome)
                             (stuff {select (:*) from (songs)}))
                     select :*
                     from   (hits, stuff)
                     where  (and (= EventDate ts_upper_bound)
                                 (= EventReview review))})
["WITH ? AS ts_upper_bound, awesome AS review, stuff AS (SELECT * FROM songs) SELECT * FROM hits, stuff WHERE (EventDate = ts_upper_bound) AND (EventReview = review)"
 "2019-08-01 15:23:00"]

You can specify a list of columns for the CTE like this:

user=> (sql/format {:with [[[:stuff {:columns [:id :name]}]
                            {:select [:*] :from [:foo]}]]
                    :select [:id :name]
                    :from [:stuff]
                    :where [:= :status 0]})
["WITH stuff (id, name) AS (SELECT * FROM foo) SELECT id, name FROM stuff WHERE status = ?" 0]

You can use a VALUES clause in the CTE:

user=> (sql/format {:with [[[:stuff {:columns [:id :name]}]
                            {:values [[1 "Sean"] [2 "Jay"]]}]]
                    :select [:id :name]
                    :from [:stuff]})
["WITH stuff (id, name) AS (VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?)) SELECT id, name FROM stuff" 1 "Sean" 2 "Jay"]

Note: you must use the vector-of-vectors format for :values here -- if you try to use the vector-of-maps format, VALUES will be preceded by the column names (keys from the maps) and the resultant SQL will be invalid.

:with-recursive follows the same rules as :with and produces WITH RECURSIVE instead of just WITH.

intersect, union, union-all, except, except-all

These all expect a sequence of SQL clauses, those clauses will be wrapped in parentheses, and the SQL keyword interspersed between those clauses.

user=> (sql/format '{union [{select (id,status) from (table-a)}
                            {select (id,(event status) from (table-b))}]})
["SELECT id, status FROM table_a UNION SELECT id, event AS status, from, table_b"]

Note: different databases have different precedence rules for these set operations when used in combination -- you may need to use :nest to add ( .. ) in order to combine these operations in a single SQL statement, if the natural order produced by HoneySQL does not work "as expected" for your database.

select, select-distinct, table

:select and :select-distinct expect a sequence of SQL entities (column names or expressions). Any of the SQL entities can be a pair of entity and alias. If you are selecting an expression, you would most often provide an alias for the expression, but it can be omitted as in the following:

user=> (sql/format '{select (id, ((* cost 2)), (event status))
                     from (table)})
["SELECT id, cost * ?, event AS status FROM table" 2]

Here, :select has a three expressions as its argument. The first is a simple column name. The second is an expression with no alias, which is why it is still double-nested. The third is a simple column name and its alias.

With an alias on the expression:

user=> (sql/format {:select [:id, [[:* :cost 2] :total], [:event :status]]
                    :from [:table]})
["SELECT id, cost * ? AS total, event AS status FROM table" 2]

Here, :select has a three expressions as its argument. The first is a simple column name. The second is an expression and its alias. The third is a simple column name and its alias.

An alias can be a simple name (a keyword or a symbol) or a string. An alias containing a dot (.) is treated as a single name for quoting purposes. Otherwise, a simple name will be formatted using table and column name rules (including - to _ translation). An alias specified as a string will not get the - to _ translation. There may be other contexts where you need to refer to an alias but don't want the table/column rules applied to it, e.g., in an :order-by clause. You can use the special syntax [:alias :some.thing] to tell HoneySQL to treat :some.thing as an alias instead of a table/column name reference.

:select-distinct works the same way but produces SELECT DISTINCT.

As of 2.5.1091, you can use metadata on the argument to :select to provide qualifiers for the SELECT clause:

user=> (sql/format {:select ^:distinct [:id :name] :from :table})
["SELECT DISTINCT id, name FROM table"]

The metadata can also be a map, with true values ignored (which is why ^:distinct produces just DISTINCT even though it is short for ^{:distinct true}):

user=> (sql/format {:select ^{:as :struct} [:id :name] :from :table})
["SELECT AS STRUCT id, name FROM table"]

As of 2.5.1103, HoneySQL ignores the following metadata: :file, :line, :column, :end-line, and :end-column (2.5.1091 only ignored :line and :column). You can ask HoneySQL to ignore other metadata by specifying the :ignored-metadata option to honey.sql/format.

Google BigQuery support: to provide SELECT * EXCEPT .. and SELECT * REPLACE .. syntax, HoneySQL supports a vector starting with :* or the symbol * followed by except columns and/or replace expressions as columns:

user=> (sql/format {:select [[:* :except [:a :b :c]]] :from [:table]})
["SELECT * EXCEPT (a, b, c) FROM table"]
user=> (sql/format {:select [[:* :replace [[[:* :a [:inline 100]] :b] [[:inline 2] :c]]]] :from [:table]})
["SELECT * REPLACE (a * 100 AS b, 2 AS c) FROM table"]
user=> (sql/format {:select [[:* :except [:a :b] :replace [[[:inline 2] :c]]]] :from [:table]})
["SELECT * EXCEPT (a, b) REPLACE (2 AS c) FROM table"]

The :table clause is equivalent to :select :* :from and accepts just a simple table name -- see :create-table-as above for an example.

Some databases support inheritance and you can SELECT .. FROM ONLY .. or .. JOIN ONLY .. to restrict the query to just the specified table. You can use function syntax for this [:only table] will produce ONLY(table). This is the ANSI SQL syntax (but PostgreSQL allows the parentheses to be omitted, if you are writing SQL by hand).

Some databases support temporal queries -- see the :for clause section of the FROM clause below.

select-distinct-on

Similar to :select-distinct above but the first element in the sequence should be a sequence of columns for the DISTINCT ON clause and the remaining elements are the columns to be selected:

user=> (sql/format '{select-distinct-on [[a b] c d]
                     from [table]})
["SELECT DISTINCT ON(a, b) c, d FROM table"]

select-top, select-distinct-top

:select-top and :select-distinct-top are variants of :select and :select-distinct, respectively, that provide support for MS SQL Server's TOP modifier on a SELECT statement.

They accept a sequence that starts with an expression to be used as the TOP limit value, followed by SQL entities as supported by :select above.

The TOP expression can either be a general SQL expression or a sequence whose first element is a general SQL expression, followed by qualifiers for :percent and/or :with-ties (or the symbols percent and/or with-ties).

user=> (sql/format {:select-top [[10 :percent :with-ties] :foo :baz] :from :bar :order-by [:quux]})
["SELECT TOP(?) PERCENT WITH TIES foo, baz FROM bar ORDER BY quux ASC" 10]

into

Used for selecting rows into a new table, optional in another database:

user=> (sql/format '{select * into newtable from mytable})
["SELECT * INTO newtable FROM mytable"]
user=> (sql/format '{select * into [newtable otherdb] from mytable})
["SELECT * INTO newtable IN otherdb FROM mytable"]

bulk-collect-into

Used for selecting rows into an array variable, with an optional limit:

user=> (sql/format '{select * bulk-collect-into arrv from mytable})
["SELECT * BULK COLLECT INTO arrv FROM mytable"]
user=> (sql/format '{select * bulk-collect-into [arrv 100] from mytable})
["SELECT * BULK COLLECT INTO arrv LIMIT ? FROM mytable" 100]

insert-into, replace-into

There are three use cases with :insert-into.

The first case takes just a table specifier (either a table name or a table/alias pair), and then you can optionally specify the columns (via a :columns clause, or via a :values clause using hash maps).

The second case takes a pair of a table specifier (either a table name or table/alias pair) and a sequence of column names (so you do not need to also use :columns).

The third case takes a pair of either a table specifier or a table/column specifier and a SQL query.

For the first and second cases, you'll use the :values clause to specify rows of values to insert. See values below for more detail on the :values clause.

:replace-into is only supported by MySQL and SQLite but is part of HoneySQL's "core" dialect anyway. It produces a REPLACE INTO statement but otherwise has identical syntax to :insert-into.

;; first case -- table specifier:
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :transport
                    :values [[1 "Car"] [2 "Boat"] [3 "Bike"]]})
["INSERT INTO transport VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?), (?, ?)" 1 "Car" 2 "Boat" 3 "Bike"]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :transport
                    :columns [:id :name]
                    :values [[1 "Car"] [2 "Boat"] [3 "Bike"]]})
["INSERT INTO transport (id, name) VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?), (?, ?)" 1 "Car" 2 "Boat" 3 "Bike"]
;; with an alias:
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into [:transport :t]
                    :values [[1 "Car"] [2 "Boat"] [3 "Bike"]]})
["INSERT INTO transport AS t VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?), (?, ?)" 1 "Car" 2 "Boat" 3 "Bike"]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into [:transport :t]
                    :columns [:id :name]
                    :values [[1 "Car"] [2 "Boat"] [3 "Bike"]]})
["INSERT INTO transport AS t (id, name) VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?), (?, ?)" 1 "Car" 2 "Boat" 3 "Bike"]
;; second case -- table specifier and columns:
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into [:transport [:id :name]]
                    :values [[1 "Car"] [2 "Boat"] [3 "Bike"]]})
["INSERT INTO transport (id, name) VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?), (?, ?)" 1 "Car" 2 "Boat" 3 "Bike"]
;; with an alias:
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into [[:transport :t] [:id :name]]
                    :values [[1 "Car"] [2 "Boat"] [3 "Bike"]]})
["INSERT INTO transport AS t (id, name) VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?), (?, ?)" 1 "Car" 2 "Boat" 3 "Bike"]
;; third case -- table/column specifier and query:
user=> (sql/format '{insert-into (transport {select (id, name) from (cars)})})
["INSERT INTO transport SELECT id, name FROM cars"]
;; with columns:
user=> (sql/format '{insert-into ((transport (id, name)) {select (*) from (cars)})})
["INSERT INTO transport (id, name) SELECT * FROM cars"]
;; with an alias:
user=> (sql/format '{insert-into ((transport t) {select (id, name) from (cars)})})
["INSERT INTO transport AS t SELECT id, name FROM cars"]
;; with an alias and columns:
user=> (sql/format '{insert-into (((transport t) (id, name)) {select (*) from (cars)})})
["INSERT INTO transport AS t (id, name) SELECT * FROM cars"]

Some databases do not let you override (insert) values that would override generated column values, unless your SQL specifies OVERRIDING SYSTEM VALUE or OVERRIDING USER VALUE. As of 2.4.1066, you can use :overriding-value as an option to :insert-into to specify this, with either :system or :user as the option's value. The options can be specified as a hash map in the first position of the :insert-into clause, prior to the table specifier.

user=> (sql/format {:insert-into [{:overriding-value :system}
                                  [:transport :t] [:id :name]]
                    :values [[1 "Car"] [2 "Boat"] [3 "Bike"]]}
                   {:pretty true})
["
INSERT INTO transport AS t (id, name) OVERRIDING SYSTEM VALUE
VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?), (?, ?)
" 1 "Car" 2 "Boat" 3 "Bike"]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into [{:overriding-value :user}
                                  [:transport :t] [:id :name]]
                    :values [[1 "Car"] [2 "Boat"] [3 "Bike"]]}
                   {:pretty true})
["
INSERT INTO transport AS t (id, name) OVERRIDING USER VALUE
VALUES (?, ?), (?, ?), (?, ?)
" 1 "Car" 2 "Boat" 3 "Bike"]

Note: as of 2.4.1066, if you specify :columns for an :insert-into that also includes column names, or with a :values clause based on hash maps (which imply column names), then an order of precedence is applied: the columns specified directly in :insert-into take precedence, then the :columns clause, then the implied column names from the :values clause. Prior to 2.4.1066, you would get invalid SQL generated.

update

:update expects either a simple SQL entity (table name) or a pair of the table name and an alias:

user=> (sql/format {:update :transport
                    :set {:name "Yacht"}
                    :where [:= :id 2]})
["UPDATE transport SET name = ? WHERE id = ?" "Yacht" 2]

You can also set columns to NULL or to their default values:

user=> (sql/format {:update :transport
                    :set {:owner nil, :date_built [:default]}
                    :where [:= :id 2]})
["UPDATE transport SET owner = NULL, date_built = DEFAULT WHERE id = ?"
 2]

delete, delete-from

:delete-from is the simple use case here, accepting just a SQL entity (table name). :delete allows for deleting from multiple tables, accepting a sequence of either table names or aliases:

user=> (sql/format '{delete-from transport where (= id 1)})
["DELETE FROM transport WHERE id = ?" 1]
user=> (sql/format {:delete [:order :item]
                    :from [:order]
                    :join [:item [:= :order.item-id :item.id]]
                    :where [:= :item.id 42]})
["DELETE order, item FROM order INNER JOIN item ON order.item_id = item.id WHERE item.id = ?" 42]

truncate

:truncate accepts a simple SQL entity (table name) or a table name followed by various options:

user=> (sql/format '{truncate transport})
["TRUNCATE TABLE transport"]
user=> (sql/format '{truncate (transport restart identity)})
["TRUNCATE TABLE transport RESTART IDENTITY"]

columns

Wherever you need just a list of column names :columns accepts a sequence of SQL entities (names). We saw an example above with :insert-into.

set (ANSI)

:set accepts a hash map of SQL entities and the values that they should be assigned. This precedence -- between :columns and :from -- corresponds to ANSI SQL which is correct for most databases. The MySQL dialect that HoneySQL 2.x supports has a different precedence (below).

user=> (sql/format {:update :order
                    :set {:line-count [:+ :line-count 1]}
                    :where [:= :item-id 42]})
["UPDATE order SET line_count = line_count + ? WHERE item_id = ?" 1 42]

from

:from accepts a single sequence argument that lists one or more SQL entities. Each entity can either be a simple table name (keyword or symbol) or a sequence of a table name, followed by an optional alias, followed by an optional temporal clause:

user=> (sql/format {:select [:username :name]
                    :from [:user :status]
                    :where [:and [:= :user.statusid :status.id]
                                 [:= :user.id 9]]})
["SELECT username, name FROM user, status WHERE (user.statusid = status.id) AND (user.id = ?)" 9]
user=> (sql/format {:select [:u.username :s.name]
                    :from [[:user :u] [:status :s]]
                    :where [:and [:= :u.statusid :s.id]
                                 [:= :u.id 9]]})
["SELECT u.username, s.name FROM user AS u, status AS s WHERE (u.statusid = s.id) AND (u.id = ?)" 9]

As of 2.4.1066, HoneySQL supports a temporal clause that starts with :for, followed by the time reference (e.g., :system-time or :business-time), followed by a temporal qualifier, one of:

  • :all
  • :as-of timestamp
  • :from timestamp1 :to timestamp2
  • :between timestamp1 :and timestamp2
user=> (sql/format {:select [:username]
                    :from [[:user :for :system-time :as-of [:inline "2019-08-01 15:23:00"]]]
                    :where [:= :id 9]})
["SELECT username FROM user FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF '2019-08-01 15:23:00' WHERE id = ?" 9]
user=> (sql/format {:select [:u.username]
                    :from [[:user :u :for :system-time :from [:inline "2019-08-01 15:23:00"] :to [:inline "2019-08-01 15:24:00"]]]
                    :where [:= :u.id 9]})
["SELECT u.username FROM user AS u FOR SYSTEM_TIME FROM '2019-08-01 15:23:00' TO '2019-08-01 15:24:00' WHERE u.id = ?" 9]

Note: the actual formatting of a :from clause is currently identical to the formatting of a :select clause.

If you are using inheritance, you can specify ONLY(table) as a function call: [:only :table].

using

:using accepts a single sequence argument that lists one or more SQL entities. Each entity can either be a simple table name (keyword or symbol) or a pair of a table name and an alias.

:using is intended to be used as a simple join, for example with a :delete-from clause (see PostgreSQL DELETE statement for more detail).

Note: the actual formatting of a :using clause is currently identical to the formatting of a :select clause.

join-by

This is a convenience that allows for an arbitrary sequence of JOIN operations to be performed in a specific order. It accepts either a sequence of alternating join operation name (keyword or symbol) and the clause that join would take, or a sequence of JOIN clauses as hash maps:

user=> (sql/format {:select [:t.ref :pp.code]
                    :from [[:transaction :t]]
                    :join-by [:left [[:paypal-tx :pp]
                                     [:using :id]]
                              :join [[:logtransaction :log]
                                     [:= :t.id :log.id]]]
                    :where [:= "settled" :pp.status]}
                    {:pretty true})
["
SELECT t.ref, pp.code
FROM transaction AS t
LEFT JOIN paypal_tx AS pp USING (id) INNER JOIN logtransaction AS log ON t.id = log.id
WHERE ? = pp.status
" "settled"]

;; or the equivalent using helpers:
user=> (sql/format (-> (select :t.ref :pp.code)
                       (from [:transaction :t])
                       (join-by (left-join [:paypal-tx :pp]
                                           [:using :id])
                                (join [:logtransaction :log]
                                      [:= :t.id :log.id]))
                       (where := "settled" :pp.status))
                   {:pretty true})
["
SELECT t.ref, pp.code
FROM transaction AS t
LEFT JOIN paypal_tx AS pp USING (id) INNER JOIN logtransaction AS log ON t.id = log.id
WHERE ? = pp.status
" "settled"]

Without :join-by, a :join would normally be generated before a :left-join. To avoid repetition, :join-by allows shorthand versions of the join clauses using a keyword (or symbol) without the -join suffix, as shown in this example.

join, left-join, right-join, inner-join, outer-join, full-join

All these join clauses have the same structure: they accept a sequence of alternating SQL entities (table names) and conditions that specify how to perform the join. The table names can either be simple names or a pair of a table name and an alias:

user=> (sql/format {:select [:u.username :s.name]
                    :from [[:user :u]]
                    :join [[:status :s] [:= :u.statusid :s.id]]
                    :where [:= :s.id 2]})
["SELECT u.username, s.name FROM user AS u INNER JOIN status AS s ON u.statusid = s.id WHERE s.id = ?" 2]

:join is shorthand for :inner-join.

An alternative to a join condition is a USING expression:

user=> (sql/format {:select [:t.ref :pp.code]
                    :from [[:transaction :t]]
                    :left-join [[:paypal-tx :pp]
                                [:using :id]]
                    :where [:= "settled" :pp.status]})
["SELECT t.ref, pp.code FROM transaction AS t LEFT JOIN paypal_tx AS pp USING (id) WHERE ? = pp.status" "settled"]

If you are using inheritance, you can specify ONLY(table) as a function call: [:only :table].

See also the :join special syntax for nested JOIN expressions.

cross-join

:cross-join accepts a single sequence argument that lists one or more SQL expressions. Each expression can either be a simple table name (keyword or symbol) or a pair of a table expression and an alias.

user=> (sql/format {:select [:foo.id [:x.id :x_id] :x.value]
                    :cross-join [[[:lateral
                                   [:jsonb_to_recordset :foo.json_value]]
                                  [[:raw "x(id text, value jsonb)"]]]]
                    :from [:foo]})
["SELECT foo.id, x.id AS x_id, x.value FROM foo CROSS JOIN LATERAL JSONB_TO_RECORDSET(foo.json_value) x(id text, value jsonb)"]

Here, :cross-join has a one expression as its argument, which is a table expression and an alias. The table expression is [:lateral ..] and the alias expression is double-nested so that it is read as a function call: an invocation of :raw.

Note: the actual formatting of a :cross-join clause is currently identical to the formatting of a :select clause.

set (MySQL)

This is the precedence of the :set clause for the MySQL dialect. It is otherwise identical to the :set clause described above.

where

The :where clause can have a single SQL expression, or a sequence of SQL expressions prefixed by either :and or :or. See examples of :where in various clauses above.

Sometimes it is convenient to construct a WHERE clause that tests several columns for equality, and you might have a Clojure hash map containing those values. honey.sql/map= exists to convert a hash map of values into a condition that you can use in a WHERE clause to match against those columns and values:

user=> (sql/format {:select :* :from :transaction :where (sql/map= {:type "sale" :productid 123})})
["SELECT * FROM transaction WHERE (type = ?) AND (productid = ?)" "sale" 123]

group-by

:group-by accepts a sequence of one or more SQL expressions.

user=> (sql/format '{select (*) from (table)
                     group-by (status, (year created-date))})
["SELECT * FROM table GROUP BY status, YEAR(created_date)"]

having

The :having clause works identically to :where above but is rendered into the SQL later in precedence order.

window, partition-by (and over)

:window accepts a pair of SQL entity (the window name) and the window "function" as a SQL clause (a hash map).

:partition-by accepts the same arguments as :select above (even though the allowable SQL generated is much more restrictive).

These are expected to be used with the :over expression (special syntax).

user=> (sql/format {:select [:id
                             [[:over
                               [[:avg :salary]
                                {:partition-by [:department]
                                 :order-by [:designation]}
                                :Average]
                               [[:max :salary]
                                :w
                                :MaxSalary]]]]
                    :from [:employee]
                    :window [:w {:partition-by [:department]}]}
                    {:pretty true})
["
SELECT id, AVG(salary) OVER (PARTITION BY department ORDER BY designation ASC) AS Average, MAX(salary) OVER w AS MaxSalary
FROM employee
WINDOW w AS (PARTITION BY department)
"]
;; easier to write with helpers (and easier to read!):
user=> (sql/format (-> (select :id
                               (over [[:avg :salary] (-> (partition-by :department) (order-by :designation)) :Average]
                                     [[:max :salary] :w :MaxSalary]))
                       (from :employee)
                       (window :w (partition-by :department)))
                   {:pretty true})
["
SELECT id, AVG(salary) OVER (PARTITION BY department ORDER BY designation ASC) AS Average, MAX(salary) OVER w AS MaxSalary
FROM employee
WINDOW w AS (PARTITION BY department)
"]

The window function in the :over expression may be {} or nil:

user=> (sql/format {:select [:id
                             [[:over
                               [[:avg :salary]
                                {}
                                :Average]
                               [[:max :salary]
                                nil
                                :MaxSalary]]]]
                    :from [:employee]})
["SELECT id, AVG(salary) OVER () AS Average, MAX(salary) OVER () AS MaxSalary FROM employee"]
;; easier to write with helpers (and easier to read!):
user=> (sql/format (-> (select :id
                               (over [[:avg :salary] {} :Average]
                                     [[:max :salary] nil :MaxSalary]))
                       (from :employee)))
["SELECT id, AVG(salary) OVER () AS Average, MAX(salary) OVER () AS MaxSalary FROM employee"]

distinct, expr

Related to the windowing clauses above, :distinct and :expr are intended to let you mix clauses with expressions, such as in BigQuery's ARRAY_AGG function:

user=> (sql/format {:select [[[:over
                               [[:array_agg {:distinct [:ignore-nulls :col] :order-by :x}]
                                {:partition-by :y}]]]]})
["SELECT ARRAY_AGG (DISTINCT col IGNORE NULLS ORDER BY x ASC) OVER (PARTITION BY y)"]

order-by

:order-by accepts a sequence of one or more ordering expressions. Each ordering expression is either a simple SQL entity or a pair of a SQL expression and a direction (which can be :asc, :desc, :nulls-first, :desc-null-last, etc -- or the symbol equivalent).

If you want to order by an expression, you should wrap it as a pair with a direction:

user=> (sql/format '{select (*) from table
                     ;; simple orderings:
                     order-by (status, created-date)})
["SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY status ASC, created_date ASC"]
user=> (sql/format '{select (*) from table
                     ;; explicit direction provided:
                     order-by ((status asc), ((year created-date) asc))})
["SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY status ASC, YEAR(created_date) ASC"]

The default direction is ascending and if you provide a wrapped expression you can omit the direction if you want:

user=> (sql/format {:select [:*] :from :table
                    ;; expression without direction is still wrapped:
                    :order-by [:status, [[:year :created-date]]]})
["SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY status ASC, YEAR(created_date) ASC"]
;; a more complex order by with case (and direction):
user=> (sql/format {:select [:*] :from :table
                    :order-by [[[:case [:< [:now] :expiry-date]
                                 :created-date :else :expiry-date]
                                :desc]]})
["SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY CASE WHEN NOW() < expiry_date THEN created_date ELSE expiry_date END DESC"]

You can ORDER BY column names (:col1), or table and column (:table.col1), or aliases (:some.alias). Since there is ambiguity between the formatting of those, you can use the special syntax [:alias :some.thing] to tell HoneySQL to treat :some.thing as an alias instead of a table/column name.

limit, offset, fetch

Some databases, including MySQL, support :limit and :offset for paginated queries, other databases support :offset and :fetch for that (which is ANSI-compliant and should be preferred if your database supports it). All three expect a single SQL expression:

user=> (sql/format {:select [:id :name]
                    :from [:table]
                    :limit 10 :offset 20})
["SELECT id, name FROM table LIMIT ? OFFSET ?" 10 20]
user=> (sql/format {:select [:id :name]
                    :from [:table]
                    :offset 20 :fetch 10})
["SELECT id, name FROM table OFFSET ? ROWS FETCH NEXT ? ROWS ONLY" 20 10]

All three are available in all dialects for HoneySQL so it is up to you to choose the correct pair for your database.

If you use :offset and :limit together, OFFSET will just have the number of rows. If you use :offset and :fetch together, OFFSET will have the number of rows and the ROWS keyword. If you use :offset on its own, it will have just the number of rows, unless you have the :sqlserver dialect selected, it which case it will have the ROWS keywords as well. This seemed to be the least risky change in 2.0.0 RC 5 to avoid introducing a breaking change.

If the number of rows is one, ROW will be used instead of ROWS. If :fetch is specified without :offset, FIRST will be used instead of NEXT.

for

The :for clause accepts either a single item -- the lock strength -- or a sequence of up to three items of which the first is the lock strength, followed by an optional table name (or sequence of table names), followed by how to deal with the lock:

user=> (sql/format '{select (*) from (table)
                     for update})
["SELECT * FROM table FOR UPDATE"]
user=> (sql/format '{select (*) from (table)
                     for no-key-update})
["SELECT * FROM table FOR NO KEY UPDATE"]
user=> (sql/format '{select (*) from (table)
                     for (key-share wait)})
["SELECT * FROM table FOR KEY SHARE WAIT"]
user=> (sql/format '{select (*) from (table)
                     for (update bar wait)})
["SELECT * FROM table FOR UPDATE OF bar WAIT"]
user=> (sql/format '{select (*) from (table)
                     for (update (bar quux) wait)})
["SELECT * FROM table FOR UPDATE OF bar, quux WAIT"]

The lock strength can be any SQL keyword or phrase represented as a Clojure keyword (or symbol), with spaces represented by -.

The three SQL keywords/phrases that are recognized as not being a table name in the second slot are NOWAIT, SKIP LOCKED, and WAIT.

However, in the case where a table name (or sequence of table names) is present, no check is made on the keyword or phrase in that third slot (although it is expected to be just one of those three mentioned above).

lock (MySQL)

The syntax accepted for MySQL's :lock is exactly the same as the :for clause above.

values

:values accepts either a sequence of hash maps representing row values or a sequence of sequences, also representing row values.

values with hash maps

If you provide a sequence of hash maps, the :values clause will generate a VALUES clause, and will also generate the column names as part of the INSERT INTO (or REPLACE INTO) statement.

If there is no INSERT INTO (or REPLACE INTO) statement in the context of the :values clause, the column names will be generated as a part of the VALUES clause itself.

user=> (sql/format {:values [{:col-a 1 :col-b 2}]})
["(col_a, col_b) VALUES (?, ?)" 1 2]

In addition, all of the rows are augmented to have either NULL or DEFAULT values for any missing keys (columns). By default, NULL is used but you can specify a set of columns to get DEFAULT values, via the :values-default-columns option. You can also be explicit and use [:default] as a value to generate DEFAULT.

values with sequences

If you provide a sequence of sequences, the :values clause will generate a VALUES clause with no column names and the row values following.

user=> (sql/format {:values [[1 2]]})
["VALUES (?, ?)" 1 2]

In addition, all of the rows are padded to the same length by adding nil values if needed (since :values does not know how or if column names are being used in this case).

values examples

user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :table
                    :values [[1 2] [2 3 4 5] [3 4 5]]})
["INSERT INTO table VALUES (?, ?, NULL, NULL), (?, ?, ?, ?), (?, ?, ?, NULL)" 1 2 2 3 4 5 3 4 5]
user=> (sql/format '{insert-into table
                     values ({id 1 name "Sean"}
                             {id 2}
                             {name "Extra"})})
["INSERT INTO table (id, name) VALUES (?, ?), (?, NULL), (NULL, ?)" 1 "Sean" 2 "Extra"]
user=> (sql/format '{insert-into table
                     values ({id 1 name "Sean"}
                             {id 2}
                             {name "Extra"})}
                   {:values-default-columns #{'id}})
["INSERT INTO table (id, name) VALUES (?, ?), (?, NULL), (DEFAULT, ?)" 1 "Sean" 2 "Extra"]

Note: the :values-default-columns option must match how the columns are specified, i.e., as symbols or keywords.

For databases that allow it, you can insert an entire row of default values, if appropriate, using one of the following syntaxes:

user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :table :values []})
["INSERT INTO table VALUES ()"]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :table :values :default})
["INSERT INTO table DEFAULT VALUES"]

Some databases support the empty VALUES clause, some support DEFAULT VALUES, some support neither. Consult your database's documentation to see which approach to use.

For databases that allow it, when specifying multiple rows you use :default in place of a row to insert default values for that row:

user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :table
                    :values [{:a 1 :b 2 :c 3}
                             :default
                             {:a 4 :b 5 :c 6}]})
["INSERT INTO table (a, b, c) VALUES (?, ?, ?), DEFAULT, (?, ?, ?)" 6 5 4]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :table
                    :values [[1 2 3] :default [4 5 6]]})
["INSERT INTO table VALUES (?, ?, ?), DEFAULT, (?, ?, ?)" 1 2 3 4 5 6]

on-conflict, on-constraint, do-nothing, do-update-set

These are grouped together because they are handled as if they are separate clauses but they will appear in pairs: ON ... DO ....

:on-conflict accepts a sequence of zero or more SQL expressions, optionally followed by a single SQL clause (hash map). It can also accept either a single SQL entity or a single SQL clause. The SQL expressions can be just column names or function calls etc, and the SQL clause can be an :on-constraint clause or a:where clause.

[For convenience of use with the on-conflict helper, this clause can also accept any of those arguments, wrapped in a sequence; it can also accept an empty sequence, and just produce ON CONFLICT, so that it can be combined with other clauses directly]

:on-constraint accepts a single SQL entity that identifies a constraint name.

Since :do-nothing is a SQL clause but has no associated data, it still has to have an arbitrary value because clauses are hash maps and that value will be ignored so :do-nothing true is a reasonable choices.

:do-update-set accepts either a single SQL entity (a keyword or symbol), or hash map of columns and values, like :set (above), or a hash map of fields (a sequence of SQL entities) and a where clause. For convenience of building clauses with helpers, it also accepts a sequence of one or more column names followed by an optional hash map: this is treated as an alternative form of the hash map with fields and a where clause. The single SQL entity and the list of fields produce SET clauses using EXCLUDED:

user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :companies
                    :values [{:name "Microsoft"}]
                    :on-conflict :name
                    :do-update-set :name})
["INSERT INTO companies (name) VALUES (?) ON CONFLICT (name) DO UPDATE SET name = EXCLUDED.name" "Microsoft"]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :companies
                    :values [{:name "Microsoft"}]
                    :on-conflict :name
                    :do-update-set {:name [:|| "was: " :EXCLUDED.name]}})
["INSERT INTO companies (name) VALUES (?) ON CONFLICT (name) DO UPDATE SET name = ? || EXCLUDED.name" "Microsoft" "was: "]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :companies
                    :values [{:name "Microsoft"}]
                    :on-conflict :name
                    :do-update-set {:fields [:name]
                                    :where [:<> :name nil]}})
["INSERT INTO companies (name) VALUES (?) ON CONFLICT (name) DO UPDATE SET name = EXCLUDED.name WHERE name IS NOT NULL" "Microsoft"]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :companies
                    :values [{:name "Microsoft"}]
                    :on-conflict :name
                    :do-update-set {:fields {:name [:+ :table.name 1]}
                                    :where [:<> :name nil]}})
["INSERT INTO companies (name) VALUES (?) ON CONFLICT (name) DO UPDATE SET name = table.name + ? WHERE name IS NOT NULL" "Microsoft" 1]
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :companies
                    :values [{:name "Microsoft"}]
                    :on-conflict {:on-constraint :name-idx}
                    :do-nothing true})
["INSERT INTO companies (name) VALUES (?) ON CONFLICT ON CONSTRAINT name_idx DO NOTHING" "Microsoft"]
;; empty :on-conflict combined with :on-constraint clause:
user=> (sql/format {:insert-into :companies
                    :values [{:name "Microsoft"}]
                    :on-conflict []
                    :on-constraint :name-idx
                    :do-nothing true})
["INSERT INTO companies (name) VALUES (?) ON CONFLICT ON CONSTRAINT name_idx DO NOTHING" "Microsoft"]

on-duplicate-key-update

This is the MySQL equivalent of on-update-set described above.

returning

:returning accepts a single sequence argument that lists one or more SQL entities. Each entity can either be a simple table name (keyword or symbol) or a pair of a table name and an alias.

Note: the actual formatting of a :returning clause is currently identical to the formatting of a :select clause.

with-data

:with-data accepts a single boolean argument and produces either WITH DATA, for a true argument, or WITH NO DATA, for a false argument.

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