Class StructuredType

  • All Implemented Interfaces:
    Serializable

    @PublicEvolving
    public final class StructuredType
    extends UserDefinedType
    Logical type of a user-defined object structured type. Structured types contain zero, one or more attributes. Each attribute consists of a name and a type. A type cannot be defined so that one of its attribute types (transitively) uses itself.

    There are two kinds of structured types. Types that are stored in a catalog and are identified by an ObjectIdentifier or anonymously defined, unregistered types (usually reflectively extracted) that are identified by an implementation Class.

    Logical properties

    A structured type can declare a super type and allows single inheritance for more complex type hierarchies, similar to JVM-based languages.

    A structured type can be declared final for preventing further inheritance (default behavior) or not final for allowing subtypes.

    A structured type can be declared not instantiable if a more specific type is required or instantiable if instances can be created from this type (default behavior).

    A structured type declares comparison properties of either none (no equality), equals (only equality and inequality), or full (greater, equals, less).

    NOTE: Compared to the SQL standard, this class is incomplete. We might add new features such as method declarations in the future. Also ordering is not supported yet.

    Physical properties

    A structured type can be defined fully logically (e.g. by using a CREATE TYPE DDL). The implementation class is optional and only used at the edges of the table ecosystem (e.g. when bridging to a function or connector). Serialization and equality (hashCode/equals) are handled by the runtime based on the logical type. In other words: hashCode/equals of an implementation class are not used. Custom equality, casting logic, and further overloaded operators will be supported once we allow defining methods on structured types.

    An implementation class must offer a default constructor with zero arguments or a full constructor that assigns all attributes. Other physical properties such as the conversion classes of attributes are defined by a DataType when a structured type is used.

    See Also:
    Serialized Form
    • Method Detail

      • isInstantiable

        public boolean isInstantiable()
      • getImplementationClass

        public Optional<Class<?>> getImplementationClass()
      • copy

        public LogicalType copy​(boolean isNullable)
        Description copied from class: LogicalType
        Returns a deep copy of this type with possibly different nullability.
        Specified by:
        copy in class LogicalType
        Parameters:
        isNullable - the intended nullability of the copied type
        Returns:
        a deep copy
      • asSummaryString

        public String asSummaryString()
        Description copied from class: LogicalType
        Returns a string that summarizes this type for printing to a console. An implementation might shorten long names or skips very specific properties.

        Use LogicalType.asSerializableString() for a type string that fully serializes this instance.

        Overrides:
        asSummaryString in class LogicalType
        Returns:
        summary string of this type for debugging purposes
      • supportsInputConversion

        public boolean supportsInputConversion​(Class<?> clazz)
        Description copied from class: LogicalType
        Returns whether an instance of the given class can be represented as a value of this logical type when entering the table ecosystem. This method helps for the interoperability between JVM-based languages and the relational type system.

        A supported conversion directly maps an input class to a logical type without loss of precision or type widening.

        For example, java.lang.Long or long can be used as input for BIGINT independent of the set nullability.

        Specified by:
        supportsInputConversion in class LogicalType
        Parameters:
        clazz - input class to be converted into this logical type
        Returns:
        flag that indicates if instances of this class can be used as input into the table ecosystem
        See Also:
        LogicalType.getDefaultConversion()
      • supportsOutputConversion

        public boolean supportsOutputConversion​(Class<?> clazz)
        Description copied from class: LogicalType
        Returns whether a value of this logical type can be represented as an instance of the given class when leaving the table ecosystem. This method helps for the interoperability between JVM-based languages and the relational type system.

        A supported conversion directly maps a logical type to an output class without loss of precision or type widening.

        For example, java.lang.Long or long can be used as output for BIGINT if the type is not nullable. If the type is nullable, only java.lang.Long can represent this.

        Specified by:
        supportsOutputConversion in class LogicalType
        Parameters:
        clazz - output class to be converted from this logical type
        Returns:
        flag that indicates if instances of this class can be used as output from the table ecosystem
        See Also:
        LogicalType.getDefaultConversion()