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alancai98 edited this page Oct 15, 2025 · 11 revisions

Built-in Functions

This section provides documentation for all built-in functions available with the reference implementation. For each function the documentation provides

  1. A one sentence explanation of the functions intent.
  2. The function's signature that specifies data types and names for each input argument, and, the expected data type for the function's return value. A function signature consists of the function's name followed by a colon : then a space separated list of data types--one for each formal argument of the function--followed by an arrow -> followed by the function's return type, e.g., add: Integer Integer -> Integer is the signature for add which accepts 2 inputs both Integer's and returns one value of type Integer.
  3. The function's header that specifies names for each of the function's formal arguments. Any documentation following the header can refer to the function's formal arguments by name.
  4. The function's purpose statement that further expands on how the function behaves and specifies any pre- and/or post-conditions.
  5. A list of examples calling the function and their expected results.

Unknown (null and missing) propagation

Unless otherwise stated all functions listed below propagate null and missing argument values. Propagating null and missing values is defined as: if any function argument is either null or missing the function will return null, e.g.,

CHAR_LENGTH(null)    -- `null`
CHAR_LENGTH(missing) -- `null` (also returns `null`)

BIT_LENGTH -- since v0.10.0

Returns the number of bits in the input string.

Signature : BIT_LENGTH: String —> Int

Header : BIT_LENGTH(str)

Examples :

bit_length('jose') -- 32

CAST -- since v0.1.0

Given a value and a target data type, attempt to coerce the value to the target data type.

Signature : CAST: Any DataType -> DataType

Where DataType is one of

  • missing
  • null
  • integer
  • boolean
  • float
  • decimal
  • timestamp
  • symbol
  • string
  • list
  • struct
  • bag

Note for handling CAST Operation on +inf, -inf, and nan, see Special Float Value Handling below.

Header : CAST(exp AS dt)

Purpose : Given an expression, exp and the data type name, dt, evaluate expr to a value, v and alter the data type of v to DT(dt). If the conversion cannot be made the implementation signals an error.

The runtime support for casts is

  • Casting to null from
    • null is a no-op
    • missing returns null
    • else error
  • Casting to missing from
    • missing is a no-op
    • null returns missing
    • else error
  • Casting to integer from
    • Integer: is a no-op
    • Boolean: true returns 1, false returns 0
    • String or Symbol: attempt to parse the content as an Integer and return the Integer, else error.
    • Float or Decimal: gets narrowed to Integer
    • else error
  • Casting to boolean from
    • Boolean is a no-op
    • Integer or Decimal or Float: if v is a representation of the number 0 (e.g., 0 or -0 or 0e0 or 0d0 et.) then false else true
    • String or Symbol: true unless v matches--ignoring character case--the Ion string "false" or matches--ignoring character case-- the Ion symbol 'false' then return false
    • else error
  • Casting to float from
    • Float is a no-op
    • Boolean: false return 0.0, true returns 1.0
    • Integer or Decimal: convert to Float and return
    • String or Symbol: attempt to parse as Float and return the Float value, else error
    • else error
  • Casting to decimal from
    • Decimal is a no-op
    • Boolean: return 1d0 if true, 0d0 if false
    • String or Symbol: attemp to parse as Decimal and return Decimal value, else error
    • else error
  • Casting to timestamp from
    • Timestamp is a no-op
    • String or Symbol: attemp to parse as Timestamp and return the Timestamp value, else error
    • else error
  • Casting to symbol from
    • Symbol is a no-op
    • Integer or Float or Decimal: narrow to Integer and return the value as a Symbol, i.e, a Symbol with the same sequence of digits as characters
    • String: return the String as a Symbol, i.e., represent the same sequence of characters as a Symbol
    • Boolean: return 'true' for true and 'false' for false
    • Timestamp: return the Symbol representation of the Timestamp, i.e., represent the same sequence of digits and characters as a Symbol
    • else error
  • Casting to string from
    • String is a no-op
    • Integer or Float or Decimal: narrow to Integer and return the value as a String, i.e, a String with the same sequence of digits as characters
    • Symbol: return the String as a Symbol, i.e., represent the same sequence of characters as a String
    • Boolean: return "true" for true and "false" for false
    • Timestamp: return the String representation of the Timestamp, i.e., represent the same sequence of digits and characters as a String
    • else error
  • Casting to list from
    • List is a no-op
    • Bag: return a list with the same elements. The order of the elements in the resulting list is unspecified.
    • else error
  • Casting to struct from
    • Struct is a no-op
    • else error
  • Casting to bag from
    • Bag is a no-op
    • List: return a list with the same elements. The order of the elements in the resulting bag is unspecified.

Special Float Value Handling

The following table list explicitly on behavior of CAST Function when expression supplied is one of +inf, -inf, or nan.

target type can cast cast quality expected result/error
missing false N/A EVALUATOR_INVALID_CAST
null false N/A EVALUATOR_INVALID_CAST
integer false N/A EVALUATOR_CAST_FAILED
boolean true LOSSY true
float true LOSSLESS +inf, -inf, nan
decimal false N/A EVALUATOR_CAST_FAILED
timestamp false N/A EVALUATOR_INVALID_CAST
symbol true LOSSLESS 'Infinity', '-Infinity', 'NaN'
string true LOSSLESS "Infinity", "-Infinity", "NaN"
list false N/A EVALUATOR_INVALID_CAST
struct false N/A EVALUATOR_INVALID_CAST
bag false N/A EVALUATOR_INVALID_CAST

Examples :

-- Unknowns propagation 
CAST(null    AS null)    -- null 
CAST(missing AS null)    -- null 
CAST(missing AS missing) -- null
CAST(null    AS missing) -- null
CAST(null    AS boolean) -- null (null AS any data type name result to null)
CAST(missing AS boolean) -- null (missing AS any data type name result to null)

-- any value that is not an unknown cannot be cast to `null` or `missing`
CAST(true AS null)    -- error 
CAST(true AS missing) -- error
CAST(1    AS null)    -- error
CAST(1    AS missing) -- error

-- AS boolean 
CAST(true      AS boolean) -- true no-op
CAST(0         AS boolean) -- false
CAST(1         AS boolean) -- true
CAST(`1e0`     AS boolean) -- true (float)
CAST(`1d0`     AS boolean) -- true (decimal)
CAST('a'       AS boolean) -- false
CAST('true'    AS boolean) -- true (PartiQL string 'true')
CAST(`'true'`  AS boolean) -- true (Ion symbol `'true'`)
CAST(`'false'` AS boolean) -- false (Ion symbol `'false'`)

-- AS integer
CAST(true   AS integer) -- 1
CAST(false  AS integer) -- 0
CAST(1      AS integer) -- 1
CAST(`1d0`  AS integer) -- 1
CAST(`1d3`  AS integer) -- 1000
CAST(1.00   AS integer) -- 1
CAST('12'   AS integer) -- 12
CAST('aa'   AS integer) -- error
CAST(`'22'` AS integer) -- 22
CAST(`'x'`  AS integer) -- error

-- AS flaot
CAST(true   AS float) -- 1e0
CAST(false  AS float) -- 0e0
CAST(1      AS float) -- 1e0
CAST(`1d0`  AS float) -- 1e0
CAST(`1d3`  AS float) -- 1000e0
CAST(1.00   AS float) -- 1e0
CAST('12'   AS float) -- 12e0
CAST('aa'   AS float) -- error
CAST(`'22'` AS float) -- 22e0
CAST(`'x'`  AS float) -- error

-- AS decimal
CAST(true   AS decimal) -- 1.
CAST(false  AS decimal) -- 0.
CAST(1      AS decimal) -- 1.
CAST(`1d0`  AS decimal) -- 1. (REPL printer serialized to 1.)
CAST(`1d3`  AS decimal) -- 1d3
CAST(1.00   AS decimal) -- 1.00
CAST('12'   AS decimal) -- 12.
CAST('aa'   AS decimal) -- error
CAST(`'22'` AS decimal) -- 22.
CAST(`'x'`  AS decimal) -- error

-- AS timestamp
CAST(`2001T`                      AS timestamp) -- 2001T
CAST('2001-01-01T'                AS timestamp) -- 2001-01-01
CAST(`'2010-01-01T00:00:00.000Z'` AS timestamp) -- 2010-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
CAST(true                         AS timestamp) -- error
CAST(2001                         AS timestamp) -- error

-- AS symbol 
CAST(`'xx'`                     AS symbol) -- xx (`'xx'` is an Ion symbol)
CAST('xx'                       AS symbol) -- xx ('xx' is a string)
CAST(42                         AS symbol) -- '42'
CAST(`1e0`                      AS symbol) -- '1'
CAST(`1d0`                      AS symbol) -- '1'
CAST(true                       AS symbol) -- 'true'
CAST(false                      AS symbol) -- 'false'
CAST(`2001T`                    AS symbol) -- '2001T'
CAST(`2001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z` AS symbol) -- '2001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z`

-- AS string 
CAST(`'xx'`                     AS string) -- "xx" (`'xx'` is an Ion symbol)
CAST('xx'                       AS string) -- "xx" ('xx' is a string)
CAST(42                         AS string) -- "42"
CAST(`1e0`                      AS string) -- "1.0"
CAST(`1d0`                      AS string) -- "1"
CAST(true                       AS string) -- "true"
CAST(false                      AS string) -- "false"
CAST(`2001T`                    AS string) -- "2001T"
CAST(`2001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z` AS string) -- "2001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"

-- AS struct 
CAST(`{ a: 1 }` AS struct) -- { a:1 }
CAST(true       AS struct) -- err

-- AS list
CAST(`[1, 2, 3]`        AS list) -- [ 1, 2, 3 ] (REPL does not diplay the parens and commas)
CAST(<<'a', { 'b':2 }>> AS list) -- [ a, { 'b':2 } ] (REPL does not diplay the parens and commas)
CAST({ 'b':2 }          AS list) -- error

-- AS bag
CAST([1,2,3]      AS bag) -- <<1,2,3>> (REPL does not display << >> and commas)
CAST([1,[2],3]    AS bag) -- <<1,[2],3>> (REPL does not display << >> and commas)
CAST(<<'a', 'b'>> AS bag) -- <<'a', 'b'>> (REPL does not display << >> and commas)

CHAR_LENGTH, CHARACTER_LENGTH -- since v0.1.0

Counts the number of characters in the specified string, where 'character' is defined as a single unicode code point.

Note: CHAR_LENGTH and CHARACTER_LENGTH are synonyms.

Signature : CHAR_LENGTH: String -> Integer

Header : CHAR_LENGTH(str)

Signature : CHARACTER_LENGTH: String -> Integer

Header : CHARACTER_LENGTH(str)

Purpose : Given a String value str return the number of characters (code points) in str.

Examples :

CHAR_LENGTH('')          -- 0
CHAR_LENGTH('abcdefg')   -- 7
CHAR_LENGTH('😁😞😸😸') -- 4 (non-BMP unicode characters)
CHAR_LENGTH('eࠫ')         -- 2 (because 'eࠫ' is two codepoints: the letter 'e' and combining character U+032B)

COALESCE -- since v0.1.0

Evaluates the arguments in order and returns the first non unknown, i.e. first non-null or non-missing. This function does not propagate null and missing.

Signature : COALESCE: Any Any ... -> Any

Header : COALESCE(exp, [exp ...])

Purpose : Given a list of 1 or more arguments, evaluates the arguments left-to-right and returns the first value that is not an unknown (missing or null).

Examples :

COALESCE(1)                -- 1
COALESCE(null)             -- null
COALESCE(null, null)       -- null
COALESCE(missing)          -- null
COALESCE(missing, missing) -- null
COALESCE(1, null)          -- 1
COALESCE(null, null, 1)    -- 1
COALESCE(null, 'string')   -- 'string'
COALESCE(missing, 1)       -- 1

DATE_ADD -- since v0.1.0

Given a data part, a quantity and a timestamp, returns an updated timestamp by altering datetime part by quantity

Signature : DATE_ADD: DateTimePart Integer Timestamp -> Timestamp

Where DateTimePart is one of

  • year
  • month
  • day
  • hour
  • minute
  • second

Header : DATE_ADD(dp, q, timestamp)

Purpose : Given a data part dp, a quantity q, and, an Ion timestamp timestamp returns an updated timestamp by applying the value for q to the dp component of timestamp. Positive values for q add to the timestamp's dp, negative values subtract.

The value for timestamp as well as the return value from DATE_ADD must be a valid Ion Timestamp

Examples :

DATE_ADD(year, 5, `2010-01-01T`)                -- 2015-01-01 (equivalent to 2015-01-01T)
DATE_ADD(month, 1, `2010T`)                     -- 2010-02T (result will add precision as necessary)
DATE_ADD(month, 13, `2010T`)                    -- 2011-02T
DATE_ADD(day, -1, `2017-01-10T`)                -- 2017-01-09 (equivalent to 2017-01-09T)
DATE_ADD(hour, 1, `2017T`)                      -- 2017-01-01T01:00-00:00
DATE_ADD(hour, 1, `2017-01-02T03:04Z`)          -- 2017-01-02T04:04Z
DATE_ADD(minute, 1, `2017-01-02T03:04:05.006Z`) -- 2017-01-02T03:05:05.006Z
DATE_ADD(second, 1, `2017-01-02T03:04:05.006Z`) -- 2017-01-02T03:04:06.006Z

DATE_DIFF -- since v0.1.0

Given a datetime part and two valid timestamps returns the difference in datetime parts.

Signature : DATE_DIFF: DateTimePart Timestamp Timestamp -> Integer

See DATE_ADD for the definition of DateTimePart

Header : DATE_DIFF(dp, t1, t2)

Purpose : Given a datetime part dp and two timestamps t1 and t2 returns the difference in value for dp part of t1 with t2. The return value is a negative integer when the dp value of t1 is greater than the dp value of t2, and, a positive integer when the dp value of t1 is less than the dp value of t2.

Examples :

DATE_DIFF(year, `2010-01-01T`, `2011-01-01T`)            -- 1
DATE_DIFF(year, `2010T`, `2010-05T`)                     -- 4 (2010T is equivalent to 2010-01-01T00:00:00.000Z)
DATE_DIFF(month, `2010T`, `2011T`)                       -- 12
DATE_DIFF(month, `2011T`, `2010T`)                       -- -12
DATE_DIFF(day, `2010-01-01T23:00T`, `2010-01-02T01:00T`) -- 0 (need to be at least 24h apart to be 1 day apart)

EXISTS -- since v0.1.0

Given a PartiQL value returns true if and only if the value is a non-empty container(bag, sexp, list or struct), returns false otherwise.

Signature : EXISTS: Container -> Boolean

Header : EXISTS(val)

Purpose : Given a PartiQL value val, if val is

  1. a container with size > 0, EXISTS(val) returns true;
  2. a container with size = 0, EXISTS(val) returns false;
  3. not a container, EXISTS(val) throws an error.

Note:

  1. This function does not propagate null and missing.

Examples :

EXISTS(`[]`)        -- false (empty list)
EXISTS(`[1, 2, 3]`) -- true (non-empty list)
EXISTS(`[missing]`) -- true (non-empty list)
EXISTS(`{}`)        -- false (empty struct)
EXISTS(`{ a: 1 }`)  -- true (non-empty struct)
EXISTS(`()`)        -- false (empty s-expression)
EXISTS(`(+ 1 2)`)   -- true (non-empty s-expression)
EXISTS(`<<>>`)      -- false (empty bag)
EXISTS(`<<null>>`)  -- true (non-empty bag)
EXISTS(1)           -- error
EXISTS(`2017T`)     -- error
EXISTS(null)        -- error
EXISTS(missing)     -- error

EXTRACT -- since v0.1.0

Given a datetime part and a datetime type returns then datetime's datetime part value.

Signature : EXTRACT: ExtractDateTimePart DateTime -> Integer

where ExtractDateTimePart is one of

  • year
  • month
  • day
  • hour
  • minute
  • second
  • timezone_hour
  • timezone_minute

and DateTime type is one of

  • DATE
  • TIME
  • TIMESTAMP
  • INTERVAL_YM
  • INTERVAL_DT

Note that ExtractDateTimePart differs from DateTimePart in DATE_ADD.

Header : EXTRACT(edp FROM t)

Purpose : Given a datetime part, edp, and a datetime type t return t's value for edp. This function allows for t to be unknown (null or missing) but not edp. If t is unknown the function returns null.

Examples :

EXTRACT(YEAR FROM `2010-01-01T`)                           -- 2010
EXTRACT(MONTH FROM `2010T`)                                -- 1 (equivalent to 2010-01-01T00:00:00.000Z)
EXTRACT(MONTH FROM `2010-10T`)                             -- 10
EXTRACT(HOUR FROM `2017-01-02T03:04:05+07:08`)             -- 3
EXTRACT(MINUTE FROM `2017-01-02T03:04:05+07:08`)           -- 4
EXTRACT(TIMEZONE_HOUR FROM `2017-01-02T03:04:05+07:08`)    -- 7
EXTRACT(TIMEZONE_MINUTE FROM `2017-01-02T03:04:05+07:08`)  -- 8
EXTRACT(YEAR FROM DATE '2010-01-01')                       -- 2010
EXTRACT(MONTH FROM DATE '2010-01-01')                      -- 1
EXTRACT(DAY FROM DATE '2010-01-01')                        -- 1
EXTRACT(HOUR FROM DATE '2010-01-01')                       -- 0
EXTRACT(MINUTE FROM DATE '2010-01-01')                     -- 0
EXTRACT(SECOND FROM DATE '2010-01-01')                     -- 0
EXTRACT(HOUR FROM TIME '23:12:59')                         -- 23
EXTRACT(MINUTE FROM TIME '23:12:59')                       -- 12
EXTRACT(SECOND FROM TIME '23:12:59')                       -- 59
EXTRACT(SECOND FROM TIME (2) '23:12:59.128')               -- 59.13
EXTRACT(YEAR FROM INTERVAL '1-2' YEAR TO MONTH)            -- 1
EXTRACT(MONTH FROM INTERVAL '1-2' YEAR TO MONTH)           -- 2
EXTRACT(DAY FROM INTERVAL '3 4:5:6.789' DAY TO SECOND)     -- 3
EXTRACT(HOUR FROM INTERVAL '3 4:5:6.789' DAY TO SECOND)    -- 4
EXTRACT(MINUTE FROM INTERVAL '3 4:5:6.789' DAY TO SECOND)  -- 5
EXTRACT(SECOND FROM INTERVAL '3 4:5:6.789' DAY TO SECOND)           -- 6.789
EXTRACT(SECOND FROM INTERVAL '3 4:5:6.789' DAY TO SECOND(2))        -- 6.78
EXTRACT(TIMEZONE_HOUR FROM TIME WITH TIME ZONE '23:12:59-08:30')    -- -8
EXTRACT(TIMEZONE_MINUTE FROM TIME WITH TIME ZONE '23:12:59-08:30')  -- -30

Note that timezone_hour and timezone_minute are not supported for DATE and TIME (without time zone) types, as well as for INTERVAL types which do not have timezone information.

FILTER_DISTINCT -- from v0.7.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Signature : FILTER_DISTINCT: Container -> Bag|List

Header : FILTER_DISTINCT(c)

Purpose : Returns a bag or list of distinct values contained within a bag, list, sexp, or struct. If the container is a struct, the field names are not considered. A list will be returned if and only if the input is a list.

Examples :

FILTER_DISTINCT([0, 0, 1])                  -- [0, 1]
FILTER_DISTINCT(<<0, 0, 1>>)                -- <<0, 1>>
FILTER_DISTINCT(SEXP(0, 0, 1))              -- <<0, 1>>
FILTER_DISTINCT({'a': 0, 'b': 0, 'c': 1})   -- <<0, 1>>

LOWER -- since v0.1.0

Given a string convert all upper case characters to lower case characters.

Signature : LOWER: String -> String

Header : LOWER(s)

Purpose : Given a string, s, alter every upper case character in s to lower case. Any non-upper cased characters remain unchanged. This operation does rely on the locale specified by the runtime configuration. The implementation, currently, relies on Java's String.toLowerCase() documentation.

Examples :

LOWER('AbCdEfG!@#$') -- 'abcdefg!@#$'

MAKE_DATE -- from v0.7.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Given the integer values for the year, month and day returns the associated date.

Signature : MAKE_DATE: Year_Int Month_Int Day_Int -> Date

where Year_Int, Month_Int, Day_Int are the Integers representing year, month and day respectively for the date.

Header : MAKE_DATE(year, month, day)

Purpose : Given integer values for year, month and day, returns an associated Date. This function allows arguments to be unknowns i.e. (null or missing).

Examples :

MAKE_DATE(2021, 02, 28)                  -- 2021-02-28
MAKE_DATE(2020, 02, 29)                  -- 2020-02-29
MAKE_DATE(2021, 12, 31)                  -- 2021-12-31
MAKE_DATE(null, 02, 28)                  -- null
MAKE_DATE(2021, null, 28)                -- null
MAKE_DATE(2021, 02, null)                -- null
MAKE_DATE(missing, 02, 28)               -- null
MAKE_DATE(2021, missing, 28)             -- null
MAKE_DATE(2021, 02, missing)             -- null

MAKE_TIME -- from v0.7.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Given the values for the hour (int), minute (int), second (BigDecimal) and optionally for timezone minutes (int) returns the associated time.

Signature : MAKE_TIME: Hour_Int Minute_Int Second_BigDecimal (optional)TimezoneMinutes_Int -> Time

where Hour_Int, Minute_Int, TimezoneMinutes_Int are the Integers representing hour, minute and timezone minutes respectively for the time. Second_BigDecimal is the BigDecimal representing the second with fraction of the time.

Header : MAKE_TIME(hour, minute, second, timezoneMinutes?)

Purpose : Given values for hour (int), minute (int), second (BigDecimal) and optionally for timezone minutes (int), returns an associated Time. This function allows arguments to be unknowns i.e. (null or missing).

Examples :

MAKE_TIME(23, 59, 59.)                   -- 23:59:59
MAKE_TIME(23, 59, 59.12345, 330)         -- 23:59:59.12345+05:30
MAKE_TIME(23, 59, 59.12345, -330)        -- 23:59:59.12345-05:30
MAKE_TIME(null, 02, 28.)                 -- null
MAKE_TIME(12, null, 28.)                 -- null
MAKE_TIME(21, 02, null)                  -- null
MAKE_TIME(missing, 02, 28.)              -- null
MAKE_TIME(23, missing, 59.)              -- null
MAKE_TIME(21, 02, missing)               -- null
MAKE_TIME(21, 02, 28., null)             -- null
MAKE_TIME(21, 02, 28., missing)          -- null

SIZE -- from v0.1.0 to v0.9.0, CARDINALITY -- since v0.10.0

Given any container data type (i.e., list, structure or bag) return the number of elements in the container.

Signature : SIZE: Container -> Integer

Header : SIZE(c)

Signature : CARDINALITY: Container -> Integer

Header : CARDINALITY(c)

Purpose : Given a container, c, return the number of elements in the container. If the input to SIZE/CARDINALITY is not a container the implementation throws an error.

Examples :

SIZE(`[]`)                   -- 0
SIZE(`[null]`)               -- 1
SIZE(`[1,2,3]`)              -- 3
SIZE(<<'foo', 'bar'>>)       -- 2
SIZE(`{foo: bar}`)           -- 1 (number of key-value pairs)
SIZE(`[{foo: 1}, {foo: 2}]`) -- 2
SIZE(12)                     -- error

NULLIF -- since v0.1.0

Given two expressions return null if the two expressions evaluate to the same value, else, returns the result of evaluating the first expression

Signature : NULLIF: Any Any -> Any

Header : NULLIF(e1, e2)

Purpose : Given two expression, e1 and e2, evaluate both expression to get v1 and v2 respectively, and return null if and only if v1 equals v2, else, return v1. The implementation of NULLIF uses = for equality, i.e., v1 and v2 are considered equal by NULLIF if and only if v1 = v2 is true.

Note, NULLIF does not propagate unknowns (null and missing).

Examples :

NULLIF(1, 1)             -- null
NULLIF(1, 2)             -- 1
NULLIF(1.0, 1)           -- null
NULLIF(1, '1')           -- 1
NULLIF([1], [1])         -- null
NULLIF(1, NULL)          -- 1
NULLIF(NULL, 1)          -- null
NULLIF(null, null)       -- null
NULLIF(missing, null)    -- null
NULLIF(missing, missing) -- null

OCTET_LENGTH -- since v0.10.0

Returns the number of bytes in the input string.

Signature : OCTET_LENGTH: String —> Int

Header : OCTET_LENGTH(str)

Examples :

octet_length('jose') -- 4

OVERLAY -- since v0.10.0

OVERLAY modifies a string argument by replacing a given substring of the string, which is specified by a given numeric starting position and a given numeric length, with another string (called the replacement string). When the length of the substring is zero, nothing is removed from the original string and the string returned by the function is the result of inserting the replacement string into the original string at the starting position.

Signature : OVERLAY: String, String, Int —> String

Header : OVERLAY(str1 PLACING str2 FROM pos)

Signature : OVERLAY: String, String, Int, Int —> String

Header : OVERLAY(str1 PLACING str2 FROM pos FOR for)

Examples :

overlay('hello' placing '' from 1)              -- "hello
overlay('hello' placing '' from 2 for 3)         -- "ho
overlay('hello' placing '' from 2 for 4)        -- "h
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 1)            -- "XXllo
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 1 for 3)      -- "XXlo
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 1 for 1)      -- "XXello
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 1 for 100)    -- "XX
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 1 for 0)      -- "XXhello
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 7)            -- "helloXX
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 100 for 100)  -- "helloXX
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 2 for 1)      -- "hXXllo
overlay('hello' placing 'XX' from 2 for 3)      -- "hXXo

POSITION -- since v0.10.0

Position determines the first position (counting from 1), if any, at which one string, str1, occurs within another, str2. If str1 is of length zero, then it occurs at position 1 (one) for any value of str2. If str1 does not occur in str2, then zero is returned. The declared type of a is exact numeric

Signature : POSITION: String, String —> Int

Header : POSITION(str1 IN str2)

Header : POSITION(str1, str2)

Examples :

position('foo' in 'hello')     -- 0
position('' in 'hello')        -- 1
position('h' in 'hello')       -- 1
position('o' in 'hello')       -- 5
position('ll' in 'hello')      -- 3
position('lo' in 'hello')      -- 4
position('hello' in 'hello')   -- 1
position('xx' in 'xxyyxxyy')   -- 1
position('yy' in 'xxyyxxyy')   -- 3

SUBSTRING -- since v0.1.0

Given a string, a start index and optionally a length, returns the substring from the start index up to the end of the string, or, up to the length provided.

Signature : SUBSTRING: String Integer [ NNegInteger ] -> String

Where NNegInteger is a non-negative integer, i.e., 0 or greater.

Header : SUBSTRING(str, start [ , length ])

SUBSTRING(str FROM start [ FOR length ])

Purpose : Given a string, str, a start position, start and optionally a length, length, extract the characters (code points) starting at index start and ending at (start + length) - 1. If length is omitted, then proceed till the end of str.

The first character of str has index 1.

Examples :

SUBSTRING('123456789', 0)      -- '123456789'
SUBSTRING('123456789', 1)      -- '123456789'
SUBSTRING('123456789', 2)      -- '23456789'
SUBSTRING('123456789', -4)     -- '123456789'
SUBSTRING('123456789', 0, 999) -- '123456789"'
SUBSTRING('123456789', 0, 2)   -- '1'
SUBSTRING('123456789', 1, 999) -- '123456789'
SUBSTRING('123456789', 1, 2)   -- '12'
SUBSTRING('1', 1, 0)           -- ''
SUBSTRING('1', 1, 0)           -- ''
SUBSTRING('1', -4, 0)          -- ''
SUBSTRING('1234', 10, 10)      -- ''

TEXT_REPLACE -- from v0.10.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

In string, replaces all occurrences of substring from with another string to.

Signature : TEXT_REPLACE: String, String, String -> String

Header : TEXT_REPLACE(string, from, to)

Examples :

text_replace('abcdefabcdef', 'cd', 'XX')       -- 'abXXefabXXef'
text_replace('abcdefabcdef', 'xyz', 'XX')      -- 'abcdefabcdef'
text_replace('abcdefabcdef', 'defab', '')      -- 'abccdef'
text_replace('abcabcabcdef', 'abcabc', 'XXX')  -- 'XXXabcdef'
text_replace('abcabcabcdef', '', 'X')          -- 'XaXbXcXaXbXcXaXbXcXdXeXfX'
text_replace('', 'abc', 'XX')                  -- ''
text_replace('', '', 'XX')                     -- 'XX'

TO_STRING -- from v0.1.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Given a timestamp and a format pattern return a string representation of the timestamp in the given format.

Signature : TO_STRING: Timestamp TimeFormatPattern -> String

Where TimeFormatPattern is a String with the following special character interpretations

Format Example Description
yy 69 2-digit year
y 1969 4-digit year
yyyy 1969 Zero padded 4-digit year
M 1 Month of year
MM 01 Zero padded month of year
MMM Jan Abbreviated month year name
MMMM January Full month of year name
MMMMM J Month of year first letter (NOTE: not valid for use with to_timestamp function)
d 2 Day of month (1-31)
dd 02 Zero padded day of month (01-31)
a AM AM or PM of day
h 3 Hour of day (1-12)
hh 03 Zero padded hour of day (01-12)
H 3 Hour of day (0-23)
HH 03 Zero padded hour of day (00-23)
m 4 Minute of hour (0-59)
mm 04 Zero padded minute of hour (00-59)
s 5 Second of minute (0-59)
ss 05 Zero padded second of minute (00-59)
S 0 Fraction of second (precision: 0.1, range: 0.0-0.9)
SS 06 Fraction of second (precision: 0.01, range: 0.0-0.99)
SSS 060 Fraction of second (precision: 0.001, range: 0.0-0.999)
... ... ...
SSSSSSSSS 060000000 Fraction of second (maximum precision: 1 nanosecond, range: 0.0-0.999999999)
n 60000000 Nano of second
X +07 or Z Offset in hours or "Z" if the offset is 0
XX or XXXX +0700 or Z Offset in hours and minutes or "Z" if the offset is 0
XXX or XXXXX +07:00 or Z Offset in hours and minutes or "Z" if the offset is 0
x +07 Offset in hours
xx or xxxx +0700 Offset in hours and minutes
xxx or xxxxx +07:00 Offset in hours and minutes

Header : TO_STRING(t,f)

Purpose : Given a timestamp, t, and a format pattern, f, as a String, return a string representation of t in format f.

Examples :

TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18Z`,  'MMMM d, y')                    -- "July 20, 1969"
TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18Z`, 'MMM d, yyyy')                   -- "Jul 20, 1969"
TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18Z`, 'M-d-yy')                        -- "7-20-69"
TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18Z`, 'MM-d-y')                        -- "07-20-1969"
TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18Z`, 'MMMM d, y h:m a')               -- "July 20, 1969 8:18 PM"
TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18Z`, 'y-MM-dd''T''H:m:ssX')           -- "1969-07-20T20:18:00Z"
TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18+08:00Z`, 'y-MM-dd''T''H:m:ssX')     -- "1969-07-20T20:18:00Z"
TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18+08:00`, 'y-MM-dd''T''H:m:ssXXXX')   -- "1969-07-20T20:18:00+0800"
TO_STRING(`1969-07-20T20:18+08:00`, 'y-MM-dd''T''H:m:ssXXXXX')  -- "1969-07-20T20:18:00+08:00"

TO_TIMESTAMP -- from v0.1.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Given a string convert it to a timestamp. This is the inverse operation of TO_STRING

Signature : TO_TIMESTAMP: String [ TimeFormatPattern ] -> Timestamp

See definition of TimeFormatPattern in TO_STRING.

Header : TO_TIMESTAMP(str[ , f ])

Purpose : Given a string, str, and an optional format pattern, f, as a String return a timestamp whose values are extracted from str using f.

If the <format pattern> argument is omitted, <string> is assumed to be in the format of a standard Ion timestamp. This is the only recommended way to parse an Ion timestamp using this function.

Zero padding is optional when using a single format symbol (e.g. y, M, d, H, h, m, s) but required for their zero padded variants (e.g. yyyy, MM, dd, HH, hh, mm, ss).

Special treatment is given to 2-digit years (format symbol yy). 1900 is added to values greater than or equal to 70 and 2000 is added to values less than 70.

Month names and AM/PM specifiers are case-insensitive.

Examples :

Single argument parsing an Ion timestamp:

TO_TIMESTAMP('2007T')                         -- `2007T`
TO_TIMESTAMP('2007-02-23T12:14:33.079-08:00') -- `2007-02-23T12:14:33.079-08:00`
TO_TIMESTAMP('2016', 'y')                     -- `2016T`
TO_TIMESTAMP('2016', 'yyyy')                  -- `2016T`
TO_TIMESTAMP('02-2016', 'MM-yyyy')            -- `2016-02T`
TO_TIMESTAMP('Feb 2016', 'MMM yyyy')          -- `2016-02T`
TO_TIMESTAMP('Febrary 2016', 'MMMM yyyy')     -- `2016-02T`

Notes:

All issues for PartiQL's TO_TIMESTAMP function.

Internally, this is implemented with Java 8's java.time package. There are a few differences between Ion's timestamp and the java.time package that create a few hypothetically infrequently encountered caveats that do not really have good workarounds at this time.

  • The Ion specification allows for explicitly signifying an unknown timestamp with a negative zero offset (i.e. the -00:00 at the end of 2007-02-23T20:14:33.079-00:00) but Java 8's DateTimeFormatter doesn't recognize this. Hence, unknown offsets specified in this manner will be parsed as if they had an offset of +00:00, i.e. UTC. To avoid this issue when parsing Ion formatted timestamps, use the single argument variant of TO_TIMESTAMP. There is no workaround for custom format patterns at this time.
  • DateTimeFormatter is capable of parsing UTC offsets to the precision of seconds, but Ion Timestamp's precision for offsets is minutes. TimestampParser currently handles this by throwing an exception when an attempt is made to parse a timestamp with an offset that does does not land on a minute boundary. For example, parsing this timestamp would throw an exception: May 5, 2017 8:52pm +08:00:01 while May 5, 2017 8:52pm +08:00:00 would not.
  • Ion Java's Timestamp allows specification of offsets up to +/- 23:59, while an exception is thrown by DateTimeFormatter for any attempt to parse an offset greater than +/- 18:00. For example, attempting to parse: May 5, 2017 8:52pm +18:01 would cause and exception to be thrown. (Note: the Ion specification does indicate minimum and maximum allowable values for offsets.) In practice this will not be an issue for systems that do not abuse the offset portion of Timestamp because real-life offsets do not exceed +/- 12h.

TRIM -- since v0.1.0

Trims leading and/or trailing characters from a String.

Signature : TRIM: [ String ] String -> String

Header : TRIM([[LEADING|TRAILING|BOTH r] FROM] str)

Purpose : Given a string, str, and an optional set of characters to remove, r, specified as a string, return the string with any character from r found at the beginning or end of str removed.

If r is not provided it defaults to ' '.

Examples :

TRIM('       foobar         ')               -- 'foobar'
TRIM('      \tfoobar\t         ')            -- '\tfoobar\t'
TRIM(LEADING FROM '       foobar         ')  -- 'foobar         '
TRIM(TRAILING FROM '       foobar         ') -- '       foobar'
TRIM(BOTH FROM '       foobar         ')     -- 'foobar'
TRIM(BOTH '😁' FROM '😁😁foobar😁😁')         -- 'foobar'
TRIM(BOTH '12' FROM '1112211foobar22211122') -- 'foobar'

UPPER -- since v0.1.0

Given a string convert all lower case characters to upper case characters.

Signature : UPPER: String -> String

Header : UPPER(str)

Purpose : Given a string, str, alter every upper case character is str to lower case. Any non-lower cases characters remain unchanged. This operation does rely on the locale specified by the runtime configuration. The implementation, currently, relies on Java's String.toLowerCase() documentation.

Examples :

UPPER('AbCdEfG!@#$') -- 'ABCDEFG!@#$'

UTCNOW -- since v0.1.0

Returns the current time in UTC as a timestamp.

Signature : UTCNOW: -> Timestamp

Header : UTCNOW()

Purpose : Return the current time in UTC as a timestamp

Examples :

UTCNOW() -- 2017-10-13T16:02:11.123Z

UNIX_TIMESTAMP -- from v0.2.6 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

With no timestamp argument, returns the number of seconds since the last epoch ('1970-01-01 00:00:00' UTC).

With a timestamp argument, returns the number of seconds from the last epoch to the given timestamp (possibly negative).

Signature : UNIX_TIMESTAMP: [Timestamp] -> Integer|Decimal

Header : UNIX_TIMESTAMP([timestamp])

Purpose : UNIX_TIMESTAMP() called without a timestamp argument returns the number of whole seconds since the last epoch ('1970-01-01 00:00:00' UTC) as an Integer using UTCNOW.

UNIX_TIMESTAMP() called with a timestamp argument returns returns the number of seconds from the last epoch to the timestamp argument. If given a timestamp before the last epoch, UNIX_TIMESTAMP will return the number of seconds before the last epoch as a negative number. The return value will be a Decimal if and only if the given timestamp has a fractional seconds part.

Examples :

UNIX_TIMESTAMP()                            -- 1507910531 (if current time is `2017-10-13T16:02:11Z`; # of seconds since last epoch as an Integer)
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020T`)                     -- 1577836800 (seconds from 2020 to the last epoch as an Integer)
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020-01T`)                  -- ''
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020-01-01T`)               -- ''
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020-01-01T00:00Z`)         -- ''
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020-01-01T00:00:00Z`)      -- ''
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020-01-01T00:00:00.0Z`)    -- 1577836800. (seconds from 2020 to the last epoch as a Decimal)
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020-01-01T00:00:00.00Z`)   -- ''
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020-01-01T00:00:00.000Z`)  -- ''
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`2020-01-01T00:00:00.100Z`)  -- 1577836800.1
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(`1969T`)                     -- -31536000 (timestamp is before last epoch)

FROM_UNIXTIME -- from v0.2.6 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Converts the given unix epoch into a timestamp.

Signature : FROM_UNIXTIME: Integer|Decimal -> Timestamp

Header : FROM_UNIXTIME(unix_timestamp)

Purpose : When given a non-negative numeric value, returns a timestamp after the last epoch. When given a negative numeric value, returns a timestamp before the last epoch. The returned timestamp has fractional seconds depending on if the value is a decimal.

Examples :

FROM_UNIXTIME(-1)           -- `1969-12-31T23:59:59-00:00`      (negative unix_timestamp; returns timestamp before last epoch)
FROM_UNIXTIME(-0.1)         -- `1969-12-31T23:59:59.9-00:00`    (unix_timestamp is decimal so timestamp has fractional seconds)
FROM_UNIXTIME(0)            -- `1970-01-01T00:00:00.000-00:00`
FROM_UNIXTIME(0.001)        -- `1970-01-01T00:00:00.001-00:00`  (decimal precision to fractional second precision) 
FROM_UNIXTIME(0.01)         -- `1970-01-01T00:00:00.01-00:00`
FROM_UNIXTIME(0.1)          -- `1970-01-01T00:00:00.1-00:00`
FROM_UNIXTIME(1)            -- `1970-01-01T00:00:01-00:00`
FROM_UNIXTIME(1577836800)   -- `2020-01-01T00:00:00-00:00`      (unix_timestamp is Integer so no fractional seconds)

Math Functions

CEIL / CEILING -- from v0.7.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Returns the nearest integer greater than or equal to the input.

Signature : CEIL/CEILING: Numeric -> Numeric

Examples :

CEIL(1.1) = 2
CEIL(-42.8) = -42
CEIL(`+inf`) = `+inf` -- Float
CEIL(`-inf`) = `-inf` -- Float
CEIL(`nan`) = `nan` -- Float

FLOOR -- from v0.10.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Returns the nearest integer less than or equal to the input.

Signature : FLOOR: Numeric -> Numeric

Examples :

FLOOR(1.1) = 1
FLOOR(-42.8) = -43
FLOOR(`+inf`) = `+inf` -- Float
FLOOR(`-inf`) = `-inf` -- Float
FLOOR(`nan`) = `nan` -- Float

ABS -- since v0.10.0

Returns the absolute value of the given number or of the given datetime interval.

Note that abs(n) will throw an EVALUATOR_INTEGER_OVERFLOW when n is both of type INT and n = INT.MIN_VALUE.

Signature : ABS: Numeric -> Numeric

Number Type Result Type
INT INT
FLOAT FLOAT
DECIMAL DECIMAL
+inf, nan, -inf FLOAT

Examples :

abs(-4) = 4
abs(-4.0) = 4.0
abs(`-4e0`) = 4e0
abs(`-inf`) = `+inf`
abs(`nan`) = `nan`

MOD -- since v0.10.0

MOD operates on two exact numeric arguments with scale 0 (zero) and returns the modulus (remainder) of the first argument divided by the second argument as an exact numeric with scale 0 (zero).

If the second argument is zero, an EVALUATOR_ARITHMETIC_EXCEPTION will be thrown.

Signature : MOD: Int, Int -> Int

Examples :

mod(1, 1)      -- 0
mod(10, 1)     -- 0
mod(17, 1)     -- 0
mod(-17, 4)    -- -1
mod(17, -4)    -- 1
mod(10, 3)     -- 1
mod(17, 1)     -- 0
mod(17, 3)     -- 2

SQRT -- from v0.10.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Returns the square root of the given number.

The input number is required to be non-negative.

Signature : SQRT: Numeric -> Numeric

Number Type Result Type
INT FLOAT
FLOAT FLOAT
DECIMAL DECIMAL
+inf, nan FLOAT

Examples :

sqrt(4) = `2e0` 
sqrt(4.0) = 2.0000000000000000000000000000000000000 -- DECIMAL
sqrt(`+inf`) = `+inf`
sqrt(`nan`) = `nan`

LN -- from v0.10.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Returns the natural log of the given number.

Signature : LN: Numeric -> Numeric

The input number is required to be a positive number, otherwise an EVALUATOR_ARITHMETIC_EXCEPTION will be thrown.

Special cases:

ln(NaN) is NaN

ln(+Inf) is +Inf

Number Type Result Type
INT FLOAT
FLOAT FLOAT
DECIMAL DECIMAL
+inf, nan FLOAT

Examples :

ln(2) = `0.6931471805599453e0`
ln(2.0) = 0.69314718055994530941723212145817656808
ln(`+inf`) = `+inf`
ln(`nan`) = `nan`

EXP -- from v0.10.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

Returns e^x for a given x.

Signature : SQRT: Numeric -> Numeric

Special Case:

exp(NaN) is NaN

exp(+Inf) is +Inf

exp(-Inf) is 0.0

Number Type Result Type
INT FLOAT
FLOAT FLOAT
DECIMAL DECIMAL
+inf, nan, -inf FLOAT

Examples :

exp(1) = `2.718281828459045e0`
exp(1.0) = 2.7182818284590452353602874713526624978 -- DECIMAL
exp(`+inf`) = `inf` 
exp(`-inf`) = `0e0` 
exp(`nan`) = `nan`

POWER -- from v0.10.0 to v0.14.9; removed in v1

POW(x,y) return x^y.

Note that if x is a negative number, than y must be an integer value, (not necessarily integer type), otherwise an EVALUATOR_ARITHMETIC_EXCEPTION will be thrown.

Special Case:

pow(x, 0.0) is 1.0;

pow(x, 1.0) == x;

pow(x, NaN) is NaN;

pow(NaN, x) is NaN for x != 0.0;

pow(x, Inf) is NaN for abs(x) == 1.0

Signature : POWER: (Numeric, Numeric) -> Numeric

x Type y Type Result Type
INT INT FLOAT
INT FLOAT FLOAT
INT DECIMAL DECIMAL
FLOAT INT FLOAT
FLOAT FLOAT FLOAT
FLOAT DECIMAL DECIMAL
DECIMAL INT DECIMAL
DECIMAL FLOAT DECIMAL
DECIMAL DECIMAL DECIMAL
+inf or -inf or nan Numeric FLOAT
NUMERIC +inf or -inf or nan FLOAT

Examples :

pow(2,2) = `4e0`
pow(2,`2e0`) = `4e0`
pow(2, 2.0) = 4.0000000000000000000000000000000000000
pow(`2e0`, 2) =  `4e0`
pow(`2e0`, `2e0`) =  `4e0`
pow(`2e0`, 2.0) = 4.0000000000000000000000000000000000000
pow(2.0, 2) = 4.0000000000000000000000000000000000000
pow(2.0, `2e0`) = 4.0000000000000000000000000000000000000
pow(2.0, 2.0) = 4.0000000000000000000000000000000000000
-- special rule
pow(`+inf`, 0) = `1e0`
pow(`+inf`, 1) = `+inf`
pow(`+inf`, `nan`) = `nan`;  
pow(`nan`, 0) = `1e0`
pow(`nan`, 1) = `nan`
pow(1, `+inf`) = `nan`
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