Example SQL routines#

After learning about SQL routines from the introduction, the following sections show numerous examples of valid SQL routines. The routines are suitable as inline routines or catalog routines, after adjusting the name and adjusting the example invocations.

The examples combine numerous supported statements. Refer to the specific statement documentation for further details:

A very simple routine that returns a static value without requiring any input:

FUNCTION answer()
RETURNS BIGINT
RETURN 42

Inline and catalog routines#

A full example of this routine as inline routine and usage in a string concatenation with a cast:

WITH
  FUNCTION answer()
  RETURNS BIGINT
  RETURN 42
SELECT 'The answer is ' || CAST(answer() as varchar);
-- The answer is 42

Provided the catalog example supports routine storage in the default schema, you can use the following:

USE example.default;
CREATE FUNCTION example.default.answer()
  RETURNS BIGINT
  RETURN 42;

With the routine stored in the catalog, you can run the routine multiple times without repeated definition:

SELECT example.default.answer() + 1; -- 43
SELECT 'The answer is' || CAST(example.default.answer() as varchar); -- The answer is 42

Alternatively, you can configure the SQL environment in the Config properties to a catalog and schema that support SQL routine storage:

sql.default-function-catalog=example
sql.default-function-schema=default

Now you can manage SQL routines without the full path:

CREATE FUNCTION answer()
  RETURNS BIGINT
  RETURN 42;

SQL routine invocation works without the full path:

SELECT answer() + 5; -- 47

Declaration examples#

The result of calling the routine answer() is always identical, so you can declare it as deterministic, and add some other information:

FUNCTION answer()
LANGUAGE SQL
DETERMINISTIC
RETURNS BIGINT
COMMENT 'Provide the answer to the question about life, the universe, and everything.'
RETURN 42

The comment and other information about the routine is visible in the output of SHOW FUNCTIONS.

A simple routine that returns a greeting back to the input string fullname concatenating two strings and the input value:

FUNCTION hello(fullname VARCHAR)
RETURNS VARCHAR
RETURN 'Hello, ' || fullname || '!'

Following is an example invocation:

SELECT hello('Jane Doe'); -- Hello, Jane Doe!

A first example routine, that uses multiple statements in a BEGIN block. It calculates the result of a multiplication of the input integer with 99. The bigint data type is used for all variables and values. The value of integer 99 is cast to bigint in the default value assignment for the variable x.

FUNCTION times_ninety_nine(a bigint)
RETURNS bigint
BEGIN
  DECLARE x bigint DEFAULT CAST(99 AS bigint);
  RETURN x * a;
END

Following is an example invocation:

SELECT times_ninety_nine(CAST(2 as bigint)); -- 198

Conditional flows#

A first example of conditional flow control in a routine using the CASE statement. The simple bigint input value is compared to a number of values.

FUNCTION simple_case(a bigint)
RETURNS varchar
BEGIN
  CASE a
    WHEN 0 THEN RETURN 'zero';
    WHEN 1 THEN RETURN 'one';
    WHEN 10 THEN RETURN 'ten';
    WHEN 20 THEN RETURN 'twenty';
    ELSE RETURN 'other';
  END CASE;
  RETURN NULL;
END

Following are a couple of example invocations with result and explanation:

SELECT simple_case(0); -- zero
SELECT simple_case(1); -- one
SELECT simple_case(-1); -- other (from else clause)
SELECT simple_case(10); -- ten
SELECT simple_case(11); -- other (from else clause)
SELECT simple_case(20); -- twenty
SELECT simple_case(100); -- other (from else clause)
SELECT simple_case(null); -- null .. but really??

A second example of a routine with a CASE statement, this time with two parameters, showcasing the importance of the order of the conditions.

FUNCTION search_case(a bigint, b bigint)
RETURNS varchar
BEGIN
  CASE
    WHEN a = 0 THEN RETURN 'zero';
    WHEN b = 1 THEN RETURN 'one';
    WHEN a = DECIMAL '10.0' THEN RETURN 'ten';
    WHEN b = 20.0E0 THEN RETURN 'twenty';
    ELSE RETURN 'other';
  END CASE;
  RETURN NULL;
END

Following are a couple of example invocations with result and explanation:

SELECT search_case(0,0); -- zero
SELECT search_case(1,1); -- one
SELECT search_case(0,1); -- zero (not one since the second check is never reached)
SELECT search_case(10,1); -- one (not ten since the third check is never reached)
SELECT search_case(10,2); -- ten
SELECT search_case(10,20); -- ten (not twenty)
SELECT search_case(0,20); -- zero (not twenty)
SELECT search_case(3,20); -- twenty
SELECT search_case(3,21); -- other
SELECT simple_case(null,null); -- null .. but really??

Fibonacci example#

This routine calculates the n-th value in the Fibonacci series, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. The two initial values are set to 1 as the defaults for a and b. The routine uses an IF statement condition to return 1 for all input values of 2 or less. The WHILE block then starts to calculate each number in the series, starting with a=1 and b=1 and iterates until it reaches the n-th position. In each iteration is sets a and b for the preceding to values, so it can calculate the sum, and finally return it. Note that processing the routine takes longer and longer with higher n values, and the result is deterministic.

FUNCTION fib(n bigint)
RETURNS bigint
BEGIN
  DECLARE a, b bigint DEFAULT 1;
  DECLARE c bigint;
  IF n <= 2 THEN
    RETURN 1;
  END IF;
  WHILE n > 2 DO
    SET n = n - 1;
    SET c = a + b;
    SET a = b;
    SET b = c;
  END WHILE;
  RETURN c;
END

Following are a couple of example invocations with result and explanation:

SELECT fib(-1); -- 1
SELECT fib(0); -- 1
SELECT fib(1); -- 1
SELECT fib(2); -- 1
SELECT fib(3); -- 2
SELECT fib(4); -- 3
SELECT fib(5); -- 5
SELECT fib(6); -- 8
SELECT fib(7); -- 13
SELECT fib(8); -- 21

Labels and loops#

This routine uses the top label to name the WHILE block, and then controls the flow with conditional statements, ITERATE, and LEAVE. For the values of a=1 and a=2 in the first two iterations of the loop the ITERATE call moves the flow up to top before b is ever increased. Then b is increased for the values a=3, a=4, a=5, a=6, and a=7, resulting in b=5. The LEAVE call then causes the exit of the block before a is increased further to 10 and therefore the result of the routine is 5.

FUNCTION labels()
RETURNS bigint
BEGIN
  DECLARE a, b int DEFAULT 0;
  top: WHILE a < 10 DO
    SET a = a + 1;
    IF a < 3 THEN
      ITERATE top;
    END IF;
    SET b = b + 1;
    IF a > 6 THEN
      LEAVE top;
    END IF;
  END WHILE;
  RETURN b;
END

This routine implements calculating the n to the power of p by repeated multiplication and keeping track of the number of multiplications performed. Note that this routine does not return the correct 0 for p=0 since the top block is merely escaped and the value of n is returned. The same incorrect behavior happens for negative values of p:

FUNCTION power(n int, p int)
RETURNS int
  BEGIN
    DECLARE r int DEFAULT n;
    top: LOOP
      IF p <= 1 THEN
        LEAVE top;
      END IF;
      SET r = r * n;
      SET p = p - 1;
    END LOOP;
    RETURN r;
  END

Following are a couple of example invocations with result and explanation:

SELECT power(2, 2); -- 4
SELECT power(2, 8); -- 256
SELECT power(3, 3); -- 256
SELECT power(3, 0); -- 3, which is wrong
SELECT power(3, -2); -- 3, which is wrong

This routine returns 7 as a result of the increase of b in the loop from a=3 to a=10:

FUNCTION test_repeat_continue()
RETURNS bigint
BEGIN
  DECLARE a int DEFAULT 0;
  DECLARE b int DEFAULT 0;
  top: REPEAT
    SET a = a + 1;
    IF a <= 3 THEN
      ITERATE top;
    END IF;
    SET b = b + 1;
  UNTIL a >= 10
  END REPEAT;
  RETURN b;
END

This routine returns 2 and shows that labels can be repeated and label usage within a block refers to the label of that block:

FUNCTION test()
RETURNS int
BEGIN
  DECLARE r int DEFAULT 0;
  abc: LOOP
    SET r = r + 1;
    LEAVE abc;
  END LOOP;
  abc: LOOP
    SET r = r + 1;
    LEAVE abc;
  END LOOP;
  RETURN r;
END

Routines and built-in functions#

This routine show that multiple data types and built-in functions like length() and cardinality() can be used in a routine. The two nested BEGIN blocks also show how variable names are local within these blocks x, but the global r from the top-level block can be accessed in the nested blocks:

FUNCTION test()
RETURNS bigint
BEGIN
  DECLARE r bigint DEFAULT 0;
  BEGIN
    DECLARE x varchar DEFAULT 'hello';
    SET r = r + length(x);
  END;
  BEGIN
    DECLARE x array(int) DEFAULT array[1, 2, 3];
    SET r = r + cardinality(x);
  END;
  RETURN r;
END