WHERE keyword

WHERE clause filters data. Filter expressions are required to return boolean result.

info

QuestDB includes a JIT compiler for SQL queries which contain WHERE clauses. To find out more about this functionality with details on enabling its use, see the JIT compiler documentation.

Syntax

The general syntax is as follows. Specific filters have distinct syntaxes detailed thereafter.

Logical operators

QuestDB supports AND, OR, NOT as logical operators and can assemble conditions using brackets ().

Example

SELECT * FROM table

WHERE

a = 1 AND (b = 2 OR c = 3 AND NOT d);

Symbol and string

QuestDB can filter strings and symbols based on equality, inequality, and regular expression patterns.

Exact match

Evaluates match of a string or symbol.

Example

SELECT * FROM users

WHERE name = 'John';

name	age
John	31
John	45
...	...

Does NOT match

Evaluates mismatch of a string or symbol.

Example

SELECT * FROM users

WHERE name != 'John';

name	age
Tim	31
Tom	45
...	...

Regular expression match

Evaluates match against a regular expression defined using java.util.regex patterns.

Regex example

SELECT * FROM users WHERE name ~ 'Jo';

name	age
Joe	31
Jonathan	45
...	...

Regular expression does NOT match

Evaluates mismatch against a regular expression defined using java.util.regex patterns.

Example

SELECT * FROM users WHERE name !~ 'Jo';

name	age
Tim	31
Tom	45
...	...

List search

Evaluates match or mismatch against a list of elements.

List match

SELECT * FROM users WHERE name in('Tim', 'Tom');

name	age
Tim	31
Tom	45
...	...

List mismatch

SELECT * FROM users WHERE NOT name in('Tim', 'Tom');

name	age
Aaron	31
Amelie	45
...	...

Numeric

QuestDB can filter numeric values based on equality, inequality, comparison, and proximity

note

For timestamp filters, we recommend the timestamp search notation which is faster and less verbose.

Equality, inequality and comparison

Superior or equal to 23

SELECT * FROM users WHERE age >= 23;

Equal to 23

SELECT * FROM users WHERE age = 23;

NOT Equal to 23

SELECT * FROM users WHERE age != 23;

Proximity

Evaluates whether the column value is within a range of the target value. This is useful to simulate equality on double and float values.

Equal to 23 with 0.00001 precision

SELECT * FROM users WHERE eq(age, 23, 0.00001);

tip

When performing multiple equality checks of double values against integer constants, it may be preferable to store double values as long integers with a scaling factor.

Boolean

Using the columnName will return true values. To return false values, precede the column name with the NOT operator.

Example - true

SELECT * FROM users WHERE isActive;

userId	isActive
12532	true
38572	true
...	...

Example - false

SELECT * FROM users WHERE NOT isActive;

userId	isActive
876534	false
43234	false
...	...

Timestamp and date

QuestDB supports both its own timestamp search notation and standard search based on inequality. This section describes the use of the timestamp search notation which is efficient and fast but requires a designated timestamp.

If a table does not have a designated timestamp applied during table creation, one may be applied dynamically during a select operation.

Native timestamp format

QuestDB automatically recognizes strings formatted as ISO timestamp as a timestamp type. The following are valid examples of strings parsed as timestamp types:

Valid STRING Format	Resulting Timestamp
2010-01-12T12:35:26.123456+01:30	2010-01-12T14:05:26.123456Z
2010-01-12T12:35:26.123456+01	2010-01-12T13:35:26.123456Z
2010-01-12T12:35:26.123456Z	2010-01-12T12:35:26.123456Z
2010-01-12T12:35:26.12345	2010-01-12T12:35:26.123450Z
2010-01-12T12:35:26.1234	2010-01-12T12:35:26.123400Z
2010-01-12T12:35:26.123	2010-01-12T12:35:26.123000Z
2010-01-12T12:35:26.12	2010-01-12T12:35:26.120000Z
2010-01-12T12:35:26.1	2010-01-12T12:35:26.100000Z
2010-01-12T12:35:26	2010-01-12T12:35:26.000000Z
2010-01-12T12:35	2010-01-12T12:35:00.000000Z
2010-01-12T12	2010-01-12T12:00:00.000000Z
2010-01-12	2010-01-12T00:00:00.000000Z
2010-01	2010-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z
2010	2010-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z
2010-01-12 12:35:26.123456-02:00	2010-01-12T10:35:26.123456Z
2010-01-12 12:35:26.123456Z	2010-01-12T14:05:26.123456Z
2010-01-12 12:35:26.123	2010-01-12T12:35:26.123000Z
2010-01-12 12:35:26.12	2010-01-12T12:35:26.120000Z
2010-01-12 12:35:26.1	2010-01-12T12:35:26.100000Z
2010-01-12 12:35:26	2010-01-12T12:35:26.000000Z
2010-01-12 12:35	2010-01-12T12:35:00.000000Z

Exact timestamp

Syntax

Timestamp equals date

SELECT scores WHERE ts = '2010-01-12T00:02:26.000Z';

ts	score
2010-01-12T00:02:26.000Z	2.4
2010-01-12T00:02:26.000Z	3.1
...	...

Timestamp equals timestamp

SELECT scores WHERE ts = '2010-01-12T00:02:26.000000Z';

ts	score
2010-01-12T00:02:26.000000Z	2.4
2010-01-12T00:02:26.000000Z	3.1
...	...

Time range

Return results within a defined range

Syntax

Results in a given year

SELECT * FROM scores WHERE ts IN '2018';

ts	score
2018-01-01T00:0000.000000Z	123.4
...	...
2018-12-31T23:59:59.999999Z	115.8

Results in a given minute

SELECT * FROM scores WHERE ts IN '2018-05-23T12:15';

ts	score
2018-05-23T12:15:00.000000Z	123.4
...	...
2018-05-23T12:15:59.999999Z	115.8

Time range with modifier

You can apply a modifier to further customize the range. The algorithm will calculate the resulting range by modifying the upper bound of the original range by the modifier parameter.

Syntax

multiplier is a signed integer.

• A positive value extends the interval.
• A negative value reduces the interval.

Results in a given year and the first month of the next year

SELECT * FROM scores WHERE ts IN '2018;1M';

The range is 2018. The modifier extends the upper bound (originally 31 Dec 2018) by one month.

ts	score
2018-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z	123.4
...	...
2019-01-31T23:59:59.999999Z	115.8

Results in a given month excluding the last 3 days

SELECT * FROM scores WHERE ts IN '2018-01;-3d';

The range is Jan 2018. The modifier reduces the upper bound (originally 31 Dec 2018) by 3 days.

ts	score
2018-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z	123.4
...	...
2019-01-28T23:59:59.999999Z	115.8

IN with multiple arguments

Syntax

IN with more than 1 argument is treated as standard SQL IN. It is a shorthand of multiple OR conditions, i.e. the following query:

IN list

SELECT * FROM scores

WHERE ts IN ('2018-01-01', '2018-01-01T12:00', '2018-01-02');

is equivalent to:

IN list equivalent OR

SELECT * FROM scores

WHERE ts = '2018-01-01' or ts = '2018-01-01T12:00' or ts = '2018-01-02');

ts	value
2018-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z	123.4
2018-01-01T12:00:00.000000Z	589.1
2018-01-02T00:00:00.000000Z	131.5

BETWEEN

Syntax

For non-standard ranges, users can explicitly specify the target range using the BETWEEN operator. As with standard SQL, both upper and lower bounds of BETWEEN are inclusive, and the order of lower and upper bounds is not important so that BETWEEN X AND Y is equivalent to BETWEEN Y AND X.

Explicit range

SELECT * FROM scores

WHERE ts BETWEEN '2018-01-01T00:00:23.000000Z' AND '2018-01-01T00:00:23.500000Z';

ts	value
2018-01-01T00:00:23.000000Z	123.4
...	...
2018-01-01T00:00:23.500000Z	131.5

BETWEEN can accept non-constant bounds, for example, the following query will return all records older than one year before the current date:

One year before current date

SELECT * FROM scores

WHERE ts BETWEEN to_str(now(), 'yyyy-MM-dd')

AND dateadd('y', -1, to_str(now(), 'yyyy-MM-dd'));