--- title: Expressions description: A description of Couchbase SQL++ for Analytics expressions. pubDate: 2026-08-17T09:53:44.266Z antora: editUrl: https://github.com/couchbase/docs-analytics/edit/release/8.0/modules/analytics/pages/2_expr.adoc xref: xref:server:analytics:2_expr.adoc[] --- [Consult the llms.txt file for a full list of contents](/llms.txt) [View original HTML](/server/current/analytics/2_expr.html) # Expressions An expression is a language fragment that can be evaluated to return a value. For example, the expression 2 + 3 returns the value 5\. Expressions are the building blocks from which queries are constructed. SQL++ supports nearly all of the kinds of expressions in SQL, and adds some new kinds as well. SQL++ is an orthogonal language, which means that expressions can serve as operands of higher level expressions. By nesting expressions inside other expressions, complex queries can be built up. Any expression can be enclosed in parentheses to establish operator precedence. In this section, we'll discuss the various kinds of SQL++ expressions. ##### [](#expr)Expr ![Expr](_images/diagrams/Expr.png) ## [](#Operator%5Fexpressions)Operator Expressions Operators perform a specific operation on the input values or expressions. The syntax of an operator expression is as follows: ##### OperatorExpr ![OperatorExpr](_images/diagrams/OperatorExpr.png) The language provides a full set of operators that you can use within its statements. Here are the categories of operators: * [Arithmetic Operators](#Arithmetic%5Foperators), to perform basic mathematical operations; * [Collection Operators](#Collection%5Foperators), to evaluate expressions on collections or objects; * [Comparison Operators](#Comparison%5Foperators), to compare two expressions; * [Logical Operators](#Logical%5Foperators), to combine operators using Boolean logic. The following table summarizes the precedence order (from higher to lower) of the major unary and binary operators: | Operator | Operation | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | EXISTS, NOT EXISTS | Collection emptiness testing | | ^ | Exponentiation | | \*, /, DIV, MOD (%) | Multiplication, division, modulo | | +, - | Addition, subtraction | | \|| | String concatenation | | IS NULL, IS NOT NULL, IS MISSING, IS NOT MISSING,IS UNKNOWN, IS NOT UNKNOWN, IS VALUED, IS NOT VALUED | Unknown value comparison | | BETWEEN, NOT BETWEEN | Range comparison (inclusive on both sides) | | \=, !=, <>, <, >, <=, >=, LIKE, NOT LIKE, IN, NOT IN, IS DISTINCT FROM, IS NOT DISTINCT FROM | Comparison | | NOT | Logical negation | | AND | Conjunction | | OR | Disjunction | In general, if any operand evaluates to a `MISSING` value, the enclosing operator will return `MISSING`; if none of the operands evaluates to a `MISSING` value but there is an operand which evaluates to a `NULL` value, the enclosing operator will return `NULL`. However, there are a few exceptions listed in [comparison operators](#Comparison%5Foperators) and [logical operators](#Logical%5Foperators). ### [](#Arithmetic%5Foperators)Arithmetic Operators Arithmetic operators are used to exponentiate, add, subtract, multiply, and divide numeric values, or concatenate string values. | Operator | Purpose | Example | | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | +, - | As unary operators, they denote apositive or negative expression | SELECT VALUE -1; | | +, - | As binary operators, they add or subtract | SELECT VALUE 1 + 2; | | \* | Multiply | SELECT VALUE 4 \* 2; | | / | Divide (returns a value of type double if both operands are integers) | SELECT VALUE 5 / 2; | | DIV | Divide (returns an integer value if both operands are integers) | SELECT VALUE 5 DIV 2; | | MOD (%) | Modulo | SELECT VALUE 5 % 2; | | ^ | Exponentiation | SELECT VALUE 2^3; | | \|| | String concatenation | SELECT VALUE "ab"\||"c"||"d"; | ### [](#Collection%5Foperators)Collection Operators Collection operators are used for membership tests (IN, NOT IN) or empty collection tests (EXISTS, NOT EXISTS). | Operator | Purpose | Example | | ---------- | --------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | IN | Membership test | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.address.zipcode IN \["02340", "02115"\]SELECT \*; | | NOT IN | Non-membership test | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.address.zipcode NOT IN \["02340", "02115"\]SELECT \*; | | EXISTS | Check whether a collection is not empty | FROM orders AS oWHERE EXISTS o.itemsSELECT \*; | | NOT EXISTS | Check whether a collection is empty | FROM orders AS oWHERE NOT EXISTS o.itemsSELECT \*; | ### [](#Comparison%5Foperators)Comparison Operators Comparison operators are used to compare values. The comparison operators fall into one of two sub-categories: missing value comparisons and regular value comparisons. SQL++ (and JSON) has two ways of representing missing information in an object — the presence of the field with a NULL for its value (as in SQL), and the absence of the field (which JSON permits). For example, the first of the following objects represents Jack, whose friend is Jill. In the other examples, Jake is friendless à la SQL, with a friend field that is NULL, while Joe is friendless in a more natural (for JSON) way, i.e., by not having a friend field. Examples {"name": "Jack", "friend": "Jill"} {"name": "Jake", "friend": NULL} {"name": "Joe"} The following table enumerates all of the comparison operators available in SQL++. | Operator | Purpose | Example | | | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | IS NULL | Test if a value is NULL | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.name IS NULLSELECT \*; | | | IS NOT NULL | Test if a value is not NULL | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.name IS NOT NULLSELECT \*; | | | IS MISSING | Test if a value is MISSING | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.name IS MISSINGSELECT \*; | | | IS NOT MISSING | Test if a value is not MISSING | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.name IS NOT MISSINGSELECT \*; | | | IS UNKNOWN | Test if a value is NULL or MISSING | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.name IS UNKNOWNSELECT \*; | | | IS NOT UNKNOWN | Test if a value is neither NULL nor MISSING | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.name IS NOT UNKNOWNSELECT \*; | | | IS KNOWN (IS VALUED) | Test if a value is neither NULL nor MISSING | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.name IS KNOWNSELECT \*; | | | IS NOT KNOWN (IS NOT VALUED) | Test if a value is NULL or MISSING | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.name IS NOT KNOWNSELECT \*; | | | BETWEEN | Test if a value is between a start value and a end value. The comparison is inclusive of both the start and end values. | FROM customers AS c WHERE c.rating BETWEEN 600 AND 700 SELECT \*; | | | \= | Equality test | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.rating = 640SELECT \*; | | | != | Inequality test | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.rating != 640SELECT \*; | | | <> | Inequality test | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.rating <> 640SELECT \*; | | | < | Less than | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.rating < 640SELECT \*; | | | \> | Greater than | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.rating > 640SELECT \*; | | | <= | Less than or equal to | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.rating <= 640SELECT \*; | | | \>= | Greater than or equal to | FROM customers AS cWHERE c.rating >= 640SELECT \*; | | | LIKE | Test if the left side matches a pattern defined on the right side; in the pattern, "%" matches any string while "\_" matches any character. | FROM customers AS c WHERE c.name LIKE "%Dodge%" SELECT \*; | | | NOT LIKE | Test if the left side does not match a pattern defined on the right side; in the pattern, "%" matches any string while "\_" matches any character. | FROM customers AS c WHERE c.name NOT LIKE "%Dodge%" SELECT \*; | | | IS DISTINCT FROM | Inequality test that that treats NULL values as equal to each other and MISSING values as equal to each other | FROM orders AS oWHERE o.order\_date IS DISTINCT FROM o.ship\_dateSELECT \*; | | | IS NOT DISTINCT FROM | Equality test that treats NULL values as equal to each other and MISSING values as equal to each other | FROM orders AS oWHERE o.order\_date IS NOT DISTINCT FROM o.ship\_dateSELECT \*; | | The following table summarizes how the missing value comparison operators work. | Operator | Non-NULL/Non-MISSING value | NULL value | MISSING value | | ---------------------------- | -------------------------- | ---------- | ------------- | | IS NULL | FALSE | TRUE | MISSING | | IS NOT NULL | TRUE | FALSE | MISSING | | IS MISSING | FALSE | FALSE | TRUE | | IS NOT MISSING | TRUE | TRUE | FALSE | | IS UNKNOWN | FALSE | TRUE | TRUE | | IS NOT UNKNOWN | TRUE | FALSE | FALSE | | IS KNOWN (IS VALUED) | TRUE | FALSE | FALSE | | IS NOT KNOWN (IS NOT VALUED) | FALSE | TRUE | TRUE | ### [](#Logical%5Foperators)Logical Operators Logical operators perform logical `NOT`, `AND`, and `OR` operations over Boolean values (`TRUE` and `FALSE`) plus `NULL` and `MISSING`. | Operator | Purpose | Example | | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | NOT | Returns true if the following condition is false, otherwise returns false | SELECT VALUE NOT 1 = 1;Returns FALSE | | AND | Returns true if both branches are true, otherwise returns false | SELECT VALUE 1 = 2 AND 1 = 1;Returns FALSE | | OR | Returns true if one branch is true, otherwise returns false | SELECT VALUE 1 = 2 OR 1 = 1;Returns TRUE | The following table is the truth table for `AND` and `OR`. | A | B | A AND B | A OR B | | ------- | ------- | ------- | ------- | | TRUE | TRUE | TRUE | TRUE | | TRUE | FALSE | FALSE | TRUE | | TRUE | NULL | NULL | TRUE | | TRUE | MISSING | MISSING | TRUE | | FALSE | FALSE | FALSE | FALSE | | FALSE | NULL | FALSE | NULL | | FALSE | MISSING | FALSE | MISSING | | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | | NULL | MISSING | MISSING | NULL | | MISSING | MISSING | MISSING | MISSING | The following table demonstrates the results of `NOT` on all possible inputs. | A | NOT A | | ------- | ------- | | TRUE | FALSE | | FALSE | TRUE | | NULL | NULL | | MISSING | MISSING | ## [](#Quantified%5Fexpressions)Quantified Expressions ##### QuantifiedExpr ![QuantifiedExpr](_images/diagrams/QuantifiedExpr.png) Synonym for `SOME`: `ANY` Quantified expressions are used for expressing existential or universal predicates involving the elements of a collection. The following pair of examples illustrate the use of a quantified expression to test that every (or some) element in the set \[1, 2, 3\] of integers is less than three. The first example yields `FALSE` and second example yields `TRUE`. It is useful to note that if the set were instead the empty set, the first expression would yield `TRUE` ("every" value in an empty set satisfies the condition) while the second expression would yield `FALSE` (since there isn't "some" value, as there are no values in the set, that satisfies the condition). To express a universal predicate that yields `FALSE` with the empty set, we would use the quantifier `SOME AND EVERY` in lieu of `EVERY`. A quantified expression will return a `NULL` (or `MISSING`) if the first expression in it evaluates to `NULL` (or `MISSING`). Otherwise, a type error will be raised if the first expression in a quantified expression does not return a collection. Examples EVERY x IN [ 1, 2, 3 ] SATISFIES x < 3 **(1)** SOME x IN [ 1, 2, 3 ] SATISFIES x < 3 **(2)** | **1** | Returns FALSE | | ----- | ------------- | | **2** | Returns TRUE | ## [](#Path%5Fexpressions)Path Expressions ##### PathExpr ![PathExpr](_images/diagrams/PathExpr.png) Components of complex types in the data model are accessed via path expressions. Path access can be applied to the result of a query expression that yields an instance of a complex type, for example, an object or an array instance. For objects, path access is based on field names, and it accesses the field whose name was specified. For arrays, path access is based on (zero-based) array-style indexing. Array indices can be used to retrieve either a single element from an array, or a whole subset of an array. Accessing a single element is achieved by providing a single index argument (zero-based element position), while obtaining a subset of an array is achieved by providing the `start` and `end` (zero-based) index positions; the returned subset is from position `start` to position `end - 1`; the `end` position argument is optional. If a position argument is negative then the element position is counted from the end of the array (`-1` addresses the last element, `-2` next to last, and so on). Multisets have similar behavior to arrays, except for retrieving arbitrary items as the order of items is not fixed in multisets. Attempts to access non-existent fields or out-of-bound array elements produce the special value `MISSING`. Type errors will be raised for inappropriate use of a path expression, such as applying a field accessor to a numeric value. The following examples illustrate field access for an object, index-based element access or subset retrieval of an array, and also a composition thereof. Examples ({"name": "MyABCs", "array": [ "a", "b", "c"]}).array **(1)** (["a", "b", "c"])[2] **(2)** (["a", "b", "c"])[-1] **(3)** ({"name": "MyABCs", "array": [ "a", "b", "c"]}).array[2] **(4)** (["a", "b", "c"])[0:2] **(5)** (["a", "b", "c"])[0:] **(6)** (["a", "b", "c"])[-2:-1] **(7)** | **1** | Returns \[\["a", "b", "c"\]\] | | ----- | ----------------------------- | | **2** | Returns \["c"\] | | **3** | Returns \["c"\] | | **4** | Returns \["c"\] | | **5** | Returns \[\["a", "b"\]\] | | **6** | Returns \[\["a", "b", "c"\]\] | | **7** | Returns \[\["b"\]\] | ## [](#Primary%5Fexpressions)Primary Expressions ##### PrimaryExpr ![PrimaryExpr](_images/diagrams/PrimaryExpr.png) The most basic building block for any expression in SQL++ is Primary Expression. This can be a simple literal (constant) value, a reference to a query variable that is in scope, a parenthesized expression, a function call, or a newly constructed instance of the data model (such as a newly constructed object, array, or multiset of data model instances). ### [](#Literals)Literals ##### Literal ![Literal](_images/diagrams/Literal.png) The simplest kind of expression is a literal that directly represents a value in JSON format. Here are some examples: -42 "Hello" true false null Numeric literals may include a sign and an optional decimal point. They may also be written in exponential notation, like this: 5e2 -4.73E-2 String literals may be enclosed in either single quotes or double quotes. Inside a string literal, the delimiter character for that string must be "escaped" by a backward slash, as in these examples: "I read \"War and Peace\" today." 'I don\'t believe everything I read.' The table below shows how to escape characters in SQL++. | Character Name | Escape Method | | -------------- | ------------- | | Single Quote | \\' | | Double Quote | \\" | | Backslash | \\\\ | | Slash | \\/ | | Backspace | \\b | | Formfeed | \\f | | Newline | \\n | | CarriageReturn | \\r | | EscapeTab | \\t | ### [](#Variable%5Freferences)Identifiers and Variable References Like SQL, SQL++ makes use of a language construct called an _identifier_. An identifier starts with an alphabetic character or the underscore character \_ , and contains only case-sensitive alphabetic characters, numeric digits, or the special characters \_ and $. It is also possible for an identifier to include other special characters, or to be the same as a reserved word, by enclosing the identifier in back-ticks (it's then called a _delimited identifier_). Identifiers are used in variable names and in certain other places in SQL++ syntax, such as in path expressions, which we'll discuss soon. Here are some examples of identifiers: X customer_name `SELECT` `spaces in here` `@&#` A very simple kind of SQL++ expression is a variable, which is simply an identifier. As in SQL, a variable can be bound to a value, which may be an input dataset, some intermediate result during processing of a query, or the final result of a query. We'll learn more about variables when we discuss queries. Note that the SQL++ rules for delimiting strings and identifiers are different from the SQL rules. In SQL, strings are always enclosed in single quotes, and double quotes are used for delimited identifiers. ### [](#Parameter%5Freferences)Parameter References A parameter reference is an external variable. Its value is provided using the [statement execution API](../analytics-rest-service/index.html#post%5Fservice). Parameter references come in two forms, _Named Parameter References_ and _Positional Parameter References_. Named parameter references consist of the "$" symbol followed by an identifier or delimited identifier. Positional parameter references can be either a "$" symbol followed by one or more digits or a "?" symbol. If numbered, positional parameters start at 1\. "?" parameters are interpreted as $1 to $N based on the order in which they appear in the statement. Parameter references may appear as shown in the below examples: Examples $id $1 ? An error will be raised in the parameter is not bound at query execution time. ### [](#Parenthesized%5Fexpressions)Parenthesized Expressions ##### ParenthesizedExpr ![ParenthesizedExpr](_images/diagrams/ParenthesizedExpr.png) ##### Subquery ![Subquery](_images/diagrams/Subquery.png) An expression can be parenthesized to control the precedence order or otherwise clarify a query. A [subquery](3%5Fquery.html#Subqueries) (nested [selection](3%5Fquery.html#Union%5Fall)) may also be enclosed in parentheses. For more on these topics please see their respective sections. The following expression evaluates to the value 2. Example ( 1 + 1 ) ### [](#Function%5Fcall%5Fexpressions)Function Calls ##### FunctionCall ![FunctionCall](_images/diagrams/FunctionCall.png) ##### OrdinaryFunctionCall ![OrdinaryFunctionCall](_images/diagrams/OrdinaryFunctionCall.png) ##### AggregateFunctionCall ![AggregateFunctionCall](_images/diagrams/AggregateFunctionCall.png) ##### ScopeName ![ScopeName](_images/diagrams/ScopeName.png) Functions are included in SQL++, like most languages, as a way to package useful functionality or to componentize complicated or reusable computations. A function call is a legal query expression that represents the value resulting from the evaluation of its body expression with the given parameter bindings; the parameter value bindings can themselves be any expressions in SQL++. Note that Window functions, and aggregate functions used as window functions, have a more complex syntax. Window function calls are described in the section on [Window Queries](3%5Fquery.html#Over%5Fclauses). Also note that FILTER expressions can only be specified when calling [Aggregation Pseudo-Functions](3%5Fquery.html#Aggregation%5FPseudoFunctions). The following example is a function call expression whose value is 8. Example length('a string') ### [](#Case%5Fexpressions)Case Expressions ##### CaseExpr ![CaseExpr](_images/diagrams/CaseExpr.png) ##### SimpleCaseExpr ![SimpleCaseExpr](_images/diagrams/SimpleCaseExpr.png) ##### SearchedCaseExpr ![SearchedCaseExpr](_images/diagrams/SearchedCaseExpr.png) In a simple `CASE` expression, the query evaluator searches for the first `WHEN` …​ `THEN` pair in which the `WHEN` expression is equal to the expression following `CASE` and returns the expression following `THEN`. If none of the `WHEN` …​ `THEN` pairs meet this condition, and an `ELSE` branch exists, it returns the `ELSE` expression. Otherwise, `NULL` is returned. In a searched CASE expression, the query evaluator searches from left to right until it finds a `WHEN` expression that is evaluated to `TRUE`, and then returns its corresponding `THEN` expression. If no condition is found to be `TRUE`, and an `ELSE` branch exists, it returns the `ELSE` expression. Otherwise, it returns `NULL`. The following example illustrates the form of a case expression. Example CASE (2 < 3) WHEN true THEN "yes" ELSE "no" END ### [](#Constructors)Constructors ##### Constructor ![Constructor](_images/diagrams/Constructor.png) ##### ObjectConstructor ![ObjectConstructor](_images/diagrams/ObjectConstructor.png) ##### ArrayConstructor ![ArrayConstructor](_images/diagrams/ArrayConstructor.png) ##### ParenthesizedArrayConstructor ![ParenthesizedArrayConstructor](_images/diagrams/ParenthesizedArrayConstructor.png) ##### MultisetConstructor ![MultisetConstructor](_images/diagrams/MultisetConstructor.png) Structured JSON values can be represented by constructors, as in these examples: { "name": "Bill", "age": 42 } **(1)** [ 1, 2, "Hello", null ] **(2)** | **1** | An object | | ----- | --------- | | **2** | An array | In a constructed object, the names of the fields must be strings (either literal strings or computed strings), and an object may not contain any duplicate names. Of course, structured literals can be nested, as in this example: [ {"name": "Bill", "address": {"street": "25 Main St.", "city": "Cincinnati, OH" } }, {"name": "Mary", "address": {"street": "107 Market St.", "city": "St. Louis, MO" } } ] The array items in an array constructor, and the field-names and field-values in an object constructor, may be represented by expressions. For example, suppose that the variables firstname, lastname, salary, and bonus are bound to appropriate values. Then structured values might be constructed by the following expressions: An object: { "name": firstname || " " || lastname, "income": salary + bonus } An array: ["1984", lastname, salary + bonus, null] If only one expression is specified instead of the field-name/field-value pair in an object constructor then this expression is supposed to provide the field value. The field name is then automatically generated based on the kind of the value expression as in Q2.1: * If it is a variable reference expression then the generated field name is the name of that variable. * If it is a field access expression then the generated field name is the last identifier in that expression. * For all other cases, a compilation error will be raised. ##### Example (Q2.1) FROM customers AS c WHERE c.custid = "C47" SELECT VALUE {c.name, c.rating} This query outputs: [ { "name": "S. Logan", "rating": 625 } ]