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  1. Application Development
  2. Table API & SQL
  3. SQL

SQL

SQL queries are specified with the sqlQuery() method of the TableEnvironment. The method returns the result of the SQL query as a Table. A Table can be used in subsequent SQL and Table API queries, be converted into a DataSet or DataStream, or written to a TableSink). SQL and Table API queries can be seamlessly mixed and are holistically optimized and translated into a single program.

In order to access a table in a SQL query, it must be registered in the TableEnvironment. A table can be registered from a TableSource, Table, DataStream, or DataSet. Alternatively, users can also register external catalogs in a TableEnvironment to specify the location of the data sources.

For convenience Table.toString() automatically registers the table under a unique name in its TableEnvironment and returns the name. Hence, Table objects can be directly inlined into SQL queries (by string concatenation) as shown in the examples below.

Note: Flink’s SQL support is not yet feature complete. Queries that include unsupported SQL features cause a TableException. The supported features of SQL on batch and streaming tables are listed in the following sections.

Specifying a Query

The following examples show how to specify a SQL queries on registered and inlined tables.

StreamExecutionEnvironment env = StreamExecutionEnvironment.getExecutionEnvironment();
StreamTableEnvironment tableEnv = StreamTableEnvironment.create(env);

// ingest a DataStream from an external source
DataStream<Tuple3<Long, String, Integer>> ds = env.addSource(...);

// SQL query with an inlined (unregistered) table
Table table = tableEnv.fromDataStream(ds, "user, product, amount");
Table result = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT SUM(amount) FROM " + table + " WHERE product LIKE '%Rubber%'");

// SQL query with a registered table
// register the DataStream as table "Orders"
tableEnv.registerDataStream("Orders", ds, "user, product, amount");
// run a SQL query on the Table and retrieve the result as a new Table
Table result2 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT product, amount FROM Orders WHERE product LIKE '%Rubber%'");

// SQL update with a registered table
// create and register a TableSink
TableSink csvSink = new CsvTableSink("/path/to/file", ...);
String[] fieldNames = {"product", "amount"};
TypeInformation[] fieldTypes = {Types.STRING, Types.INT};
tableEnv.registerTableSink("RubberOrders", fieldNames, fieldTypes, csvSink);
// run a SQL update query on the Table and emit the result to the TableSink
tableEnv.sqlUpdate(
  "INSERT INTO RubberOrders SELECT product, amount FROM Orders WHERE product LIKE '%Rubber%'");
val env = StreamExecutionEnvironment.getExecutionEnvironment
val tableEnv = StreamTableEnvironment.create(env)

// read a DataStream from an external source
val ds: DataStream[(Long, String, Integer)] = env.addSource(...)

// SQL query with an inlined (unregistered) table
val table = ds.toTable(tableEnv, 'user, 'product, 'amount)
val result = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  s"SELECT SUM(amount) FROM $table WHERE product LIKE '%Rubber%'")

// SQL query with a registered table
// register the DataStream under the name "Orders"
tableEnv.registerDataStream("Orders", ds, 'user, 'product, 'amount)
// run a SQL query on the Table and retrieve the result as a new Table
val result2 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT product, amount FROM Orders WHERE product LIKE '%Rubber%'")

// SQL update with a registered table
// create and register a TableSink
val csvSink: CsvTableSink = new CsvTableSink("/path/to/file", ...)
val fieldNames: Array[String] = Array("product", "amount")
val fieldTypes: Array[TypeInformation[_]] = Array(Types.STRING, Types.INT)
tableEnv.registerTableSink("RubberOrders", fieldNames, fieldTypes, csvSink)
// run a SQL update query on the Table and emit the result to the TableSink
tableEnv.sqlUpdate(
  "INSERT INTO RubberOrders SELECT product, amount FROM Orders WHERE product LIKE '%Rubber%'")

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Supported Syntax

Flink parses SQL using Apache Calcite, which supports standard ANSI SQL. DDL statements are not supported by Flink.

The following BNF-grammar describes the superset of supported SQL features in batch and streaming queries. The Operations section shows examples for the supported features and indicates which features are only supported for batch or streaming queries.

insert:
  INSERT INTO tableReference
  query
  
query:
  values
  | {
      select
      | selectWithoutFrom
      | query UNION [ ALL ] query
      | query EXCEPT query
      | query INTERSECT query
    }
    [ ORDER BY orderItem [, orderItem ]* ]
    [ LIMIT { count | ALL } ]
    [ OFFSET start { ROW | ROWS } ]
    [ FETCH { FIRST | NEXT } [ count ] { ROW | ROWS } ONLY]

orderItem:
  expression [ ASC | DESC ]

select:
  SELECT [ ALL | DISTINCT ]
  { * | projectItem [, projectItem ]* }
  FROM tableExpression
  [ WHERE booleanExpression ]
  [ GROUP BY { groupItem [, groupItem ]* } ]
  [ HAVING booleanExpression ]
  [ WINDOW windowName AS windowSpec [, windowName AS windowSpec ]* ]
  
selectWithoutFrom:
  SELECT [ ALL | DISTINCT ]
  { * | projectItem [, projectItem ]* }

projectItem:
  expression [ [ AS ] columnAlias ]
  | tableAlias . *

tableExpression:
  tableReference [, tableReference ]*
  | tableExpression [ NATURAL ] [ LEFT | RIGHT | FULL ] JOIN tableExpression [ joinCondition ]

joinCondition:
  ON booleanExpression
  | USING '(' column [, column ]* ')'

tableReference:
  tablePrimary
  [ matchRecognize ]
  [ [ AS ] alias [ '(' columnAlias [, columnAlias ]* ')' ] ]

tablePrimary:
  [ TABLE ] [ [ catalogName . ] schemaName . ] tableName
  | LATERAL TABLE '(' functionName '(' expression [, expression ]* ')' ')'
  | UNNEST '(' expression ')'

values:
  VALUES expression [, expression ]*

groupItem:
  expression
  | '(' ')'
  | '(' expression [, expression ]* ')'
  | CUBE '(' expression [, expression ]* ')'
  | ROLLUP '(' expression [, expression ]* ')'
  | GROUPING SETS '(' groupItem [, groupItem ]* ')'

windowRef:
    windowName
  | windowSpec

windowSpec:
    [ windowName ]
    '('
    [ ORDER BY orderItem [, orderItem ]* ]
    [ PARTITION BY expression [, expression ]* ]
    [
        RANGE numericOrIntervalExpression {PRECEDING}
      | ROWS numericExpression {PRECEDING}
    ]
    ')'

matchRecognize:
      MATCH_RECOGNIZE '('
      [ PARTITION BY expression [, expression ]* ]
      [ ORDER BY orderItem [, orderItem ]* ]
      [ MEASURES measureColumn [, measureColumn ]* ]
      [ ONE ROW PER MATCH ]
      [ AFTER MATCH
            ( SKIP TO NEXT ROW
            | SKIP PAST LAST ROW
            | SKIP TO FIRST variable
            | SKIP TO LAST variable
            | SKIP TO variable )
      ]
      PATTERN '(' pattern ')'
      [ WITHIN intervalLiteral ]
      DEFINE variable AS condition [, variable AS condition ]*
      ')'

measureColumn:
      expression AS alias

pattern:
      patternTerm [ '|' patternTerm ]*

patternTerm:
      patternFactor [ patternFactor ]*

patternFactor:
      variable [ patternQuantifier ]

patternQuantifier:
      '*'
  |   '*?'
  |   '+'
  |   '+?'
  |   '?'
  |   '??'
  |   '{' { [ minRepeat ], [ maxRepeat ] } '}' ['?']
  |   '{' repeat '}'

Flink SQL uses a lexical policy for identifier (table, attribute, function names) similar to Java:

  • The case of identifiers is preserved whether or not they are quoted.
  • After which, identifiers are matched case-sensitively.
  • Unlike Java, back-ticks allow identifiers to contain non-alphanumeric characters (e.g. "SELECT a AS `my field` FROM t").

String literals must be enclosed in single quotes (e.g., SELECT 'Hello World'). Duplicate a single quote for escaping (e.g., SELECT 'It''s me.'). Unicode characters are supported in string literals. If explicit unicode code points are required, use the following syntax:

  • Use the backslash (\) as escaping character (default): SELECT U&'\263A'
  • Use a custom escaping character: SELECT U&'#263A' UESCAPE '#'

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Operations

Scan, Projection, and Filter

Operation Description
Scan / Select / As
Batch Streaming 
SELECT * FROM Orders

SELECT a, c AS d FROM Orders
Where / Filter
Batch Streaming 
SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE b = 'red'

SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE a % 2 = 0
User-defined Scalar Functions (Scalar UDF)
Batch Streaming

UDFs must be registered in the TableEnvironment. See the UDF documentation for details on how to specify and register scalar UDFs.

SELECT PRETTY_PRINT(user) FROM Orders

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Aggregations

Operation Description
GroupBy Aggregation
Batch Streaming
Result Updating

Note: GroupBy on a streaming table produces an updating result. See the Dynamic Tables Streaming Concepts page for details. 

SELECT a, SUM(b) as d
FROM Orders
GROUP BY a
GroupBy Window Aggregation
Batch Streaming

Use a group window to compute a single result row per group. See Group Windows section for more details.

SELECT user, SUM(amount)
FROM Orders
GROUP BY TUMBLE(rowtime, INTERVAL '1' DAY), user
Over Window aggregation
Streaming

Note: All aggregates must be defined over the same window, i.e., same partitioning, sorting, and range. Currently, only windows with PRECEDING (UNBOUNDED and bounded) to CURRENT ROW range are supported. Ranges with FOLLOWING are not supported yet. ORDER BY must be specified on a single time attribute

SELECT COUNT(amount) OVER (
  PARTITION BY user
  ORDER BY proctime
  ROWS BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
FROM Orders

SELECT COUNT(amount) OVER w, SUM(amount) OVER w
FROM Orders 
WINDOW w AS (
  PARTITION BY user
  ORDER BY proctime
  ROWS BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
Distinct
Batch Streaming
Result Updating 
SELECT DISTINCT users FROM Orders

Note: For streaming queries the required state to compute the query result might grow infinitely depending on the number of distinct fields. Please provide a query configuration with valid retention interval to prevent excessive state size. See Query Configuration for details.
Grouping sets, Rollup, Cube
Batch 
SELECT SUM(amount)
FROM Orders
GROUP BY GROUPING SETS ((user), (product))
Having
Batch Streaming 
SELECT SUM(amount)
FROM Orders
GROUP BY users
HAVING SUM(amount) > 50
User-defined Aggregate Functions (UDAGG)
Batch Streaming

UDAGGs must be registered in the TableEnvironment. See the UDF documentation for details on how to specify and register UDAGGs.

SELECT MyAggregate(amount)
FROM Orders
GROUP BY users

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Joins

Operation Description
Inner Equi-join
Batch Streaming

Currently, only equi-joins are supported, i.e., joins that have at least one conjunctive condition with an equality predicate. Arbitrary cross or theta joins are not supported.

Note: The order of joins is not optimized. Tables are joined in the order in which they are specified in the FROM clause. Make sure to specify tables in an order that does not yield a cross join (Cartesian product) which are not supported and would cause a query to fail.

SELECT *
FROM Orders INNER JOIN Product ON Orders.productId = Product.id

Note: For streaming queries the required state to compute the query result might grow infinitely depending on the number of distinct input rows. Please provide a query configuration with valid retention interval to prevent excessive state size. See Query Configuration for details.
Outer Equi-join
Batch Streaming Result Updating

Currently, only equi-joins are supported, i.e., joins that have at least one conjunctive condition with an equality predicate. Arbitrary cross or theta joins are not supported.

Note: The order of joins is not optimized. Tables are joined in the order in which they are specified in the FROM clause. Make sure to specify tables in an order that does not yield a cross join (Cartesian product) which are not supported and would cause a query to fail.

SELECT *
FROM Orders LEFT JOIN Product ON Orders.productId = Product.id

SELECT *
FROM Orders RIGHT JOIN Product ON Orders.productId = Product.id

SELECT *
FROM Orders FULL OUTER JOIN Product ON Orders.productId = Product.id

Note: For streaming queries the required state to compute the query result might grow infinitely depending on the number of distinct input rows. Please provide a query configuration with valid retention interval to prevent excessive state size. See Query Configuration for details.
Time-windowed Join
Batch Streaming

Note: Time-windowed joins are a subset of regular joins that can be processed in a streaming fashion.

A time-windowed join requires at least one equi-join predicate and a join condition that bounds the time on both sides. Such a condition can be defined by two appropriate range predicates (<, <=, >=, >), a BETWEEN predicate, or a single equality predicate that compares time attributes of the same type (i.e., processing time or event time) of both input tables.

For example, the following predicates are valid window join conditions:

  • ltime = rtime
  • ltime >= rtime AND ltime < rtime + INTERVAL '10' MINUTE
  • ltime BETWEEN rtime - INTERVAL '10' SECOND AND rtime + INTERVAL '5' SECOND
SELECT *
FROM Orders o, Shipments s
WHERE o.id = s.orderId AND
      o.ordertime BETWEEN s.shiptime - INTERVAL '4' HOUR AND s.shiptime
The example above will join all orders with their corresponding shipments if the order was shipped four hours after the order was received.
Expanding arrays into a relation
Batch Streaming

Unnesting WITH ORDINALITY is not supported yet.

SELECT users, tag
FROM Orders CROSS JOIN UNNEST(tags) AS t (tag)
Join with Table Function
Batch Streaming

Joins a table with the results of a table function. Each row of the left (outer) table is joined with all rows produced by the corresponding call of the table function.

User-defined table functions (UDTFs) must be registered before. See the UDF documentation for details on how to specify and register UDTFs.

Inner Join

A row of the left (outer) table is dropped, if its table function call returns an empty result.

SELECT users, tag
FROM Orders, LATERAL TABLE(unnest_udtf(tags)) t AS tag

Left Outer Join

If a table function call returns an empty result, the corresponding outer row is preserved and the result padded with null values.

SELECT users, tag
FROM Orders LEFT JOIN LATERAL TABLE(unnest_udtf(tags)) t AS tag ON TRUE

Note: Currently, only literal TRUE is supported as predicate for a left outer join against a lateral table.
Join with Temporal Table
Streaming

Temporal tables are tables that track changes over time.

A Temporal table function provides access to the state of a temporal table at a specific point in time. The syntax to join a table with a temporal table function is the same as in Join with Table Function.

Note: Currently only inner joins with temporal tables are supported.

Assuming Rates is a temporal table function, the join can be expressed in SQL as follows:

SELECT
  o_amount, r_rate
FROM
  Orders,
  LATERAL TABLE (Rates(o_proctime))
WHERE
  r_currency = o_currency

For more information please check the more detailed temporal tables concept description.

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Set Operations

Operation Description
Union
Batch 
SELECT *
FROM (
    (SELECT user FROM Orders WHERE a % 2 = 0)
  UNION
    (SELECT user FROM Orders WHERE b = 0)
)
UnionAll
Batch Streaming 
SELECT *
FROM (
    (SELECT user FROM Orders WHERE a % 2 = 0)
  UNION ALL
    (SELECT user FROM Orders WHERE b = 0)
)
Intersect / Except
Batch 
SELECT *
FROM (
    (SELECT user FROM Orders WHERE a % 2 = 0)
  INTERSECT
    (SELECT user FROM Orders WHERE b = 0)
)
SELECT *
FROM (
    (SELECT user FROM Orders WHERE a % 2 = 0)
  EXCEPT
    (SELECT user FROM Orders WHERE b = 0)
)
In
Batch Streaming

Returns true if an expression exists in a given table sub-query. The sub-query table must consist of one column. This column must have the same data type as the expression.

SELECT user, amount
FROM Orders
WHERE product IN (
    SELECT product FROM NewProducts
)

Note: For streaming queries the operation is rewritten in a join and group operation. The required state to compute the query result might grow infinitely depending on the number of distinct input rows. Please provide a query configuration with valid retention interval to prevent excessive state size. See Query Configuration for details.
Exists
Batch Streaming

Returns true if the sub-query returns at least one row. Only supported if the operation can be rewritten in a join and group operation.

SELECT user, amount
FROM Orders
WHERE product EXISTS (
    SELECT product FROM NewProducts
)

Note: For streaming queries the operation is rewritten in a join and group operation. The required state to compute the query result might grow infinitely depending on the number of distinct input rows. Please provide a query configuration with valid retention interval to prevent excessive state size. See Query Configuration for details.

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OrderBy & Limit

Operation Description
Order By
Batch Streaming 		Note: The result of streaming queries must be primarily sorted on an ascending time attribute. Additional sorting attributes are supported. 
SELECT *
FROM Orders
ORDER BY orderTime
Limit
Batch 		Note: The LIMIT clause requires an ORDER BY clause. 
SELECT *
FROM Orders
ORDER BY orderTime
LIMIT 3

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Insert

Operation Description
Insert Into
Batch Streaming

Output tables must be registered in the TableEnvironment (see Register a TableSink). Moreover, the schema of the registered table must match the schema of the query.

INSERT INTO OutputTable
SELECT users, tag
FROM Orders

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Group Windows

Group windows are defined in the GROUP BY clause of a SQL query. Just like queries with regular GROUP BY clauses, queries with a GROUP BY clause that includes a group window function compute a single result row per group. The following group windows functions are supported for SQL on batch and streaming tables.

Group Window Function Description
TUMBLE(time_attr, interval) Defines a tumbling time window. A tumbling time window assigns rows to non-overlapping, continuous windows with a fixed duration (interval). For example, a tumbling window of 5 minutes groups rows in 5 minutes intervals. Tumbling windows can be defined on event-time (stream + batch) or processing-time (stream).
HOP(time_attr, interval, interval) Defines a hopping time window (called sliding window in the Table API). A hopping time window has a fixed duration (second interval parameter) and hops by a specified hop interval (first interval parameter). If the hop interval is smaller than the window size, hopping windows are overlapping. Thus, rows can be assigned to multiple windows. For example, a hopping window of 15 minutes size and 5 minute hop interval assigns each row to 3 different windows of 15 minute size, which are evaluated in an interval of 5 minutes. Hopping windows can be defined on event-time (stream + batch) or processing-time (stream).
SESSION(time_attr, interval) Defines a session time window. Session time windows do not have a fixed duration but their bounds are defined by a time interval of inactivity, i.e., a session window is closed if no event appears for a defined gap period. For example a session window with a 30 minute gap starts when a row is observed after 30 minutes inactivity (otherwise the row would be added to an existing window) and is closed if no row is added within 30 minutes. Session windows can work on event-time (stream + batch) or processing-time (stream).

Time Attributes

For SQL queries on streaming tables, the time_attr argument of the group window function must refer to a valid time attribute that specifies the processing time or event time of rows. See the documentation of time attributes to learn how to define time attributes.

For SQL on batch tables, the time_attr argument of the group window function must be an attribute of type TIMESTAMP.

Selecting Group Window Start and End Timestamps

The start and end timestamps of group windows as well as time attributes can be selected with the following auxiliary functions:

Auxiliary Function Description
TUMBLE_START(time_attr, interval)
HOP_START(time_attr, interval, interval)
SESSION_START(time_attr, interval)

Returns the timestamp of the inclusive lower bound of the corresponding tumbling, hopping, or session window.
TUMBLE_END(time_attr, interval)
HOP_END(time_attr, interval, interval)
SESSION_END(time_attr, interval)

Returns the timestamp of the exclusive upper bound of the corresponding tumbling, hopping, or session window.

Note: The exclusive upper bound timestamp cannot be used as a rowtime attribute in subsequent time-based operations, such as time-windowed joins and group window or over window aggregations.
TUMBLE_ROWTIME(time_attr, interval)
HOP_ROWTIME(time_attr, interval, interval)
SESSION_ROWTIME(time_attr, interval)

Returns the timestamp of the inclusive upper bound of the corresponding tumbling, hopping, or session window.

The resulting attribute is a rowtime attribute that can be used in subsequent time-based operations such as time-windowed joins and group window or over window aggregations.
TUMBLE_PROCTIME(time_attr, interval)
HOP_PROCTIME(time_attr, interval, interval)
SESSION_PROCTIME(time_attr, interval)

Returns a proctime attribute that can be used in subsequent time-based operations such as time-windowed joins and group window or over window aggregations.

Note: Auxiliary functions must be called with exactly same arguments as the group window function in the GROUP BY clause.

The following examples show how to specify SQL queries with group windows on streaming tables.

StreamExecutionEnvironment env = StreamExecutionEnvironment.getExecutionEnvironment();
StreamTableEnvironment tableEnv = StreamTableEnvironment.create(env);

// ingest a DataStream from an external source
DataStream<Tuple3<Long, String, Integer>> ds = env.addSource(...);
// register the DataStream as table "Orders"
tableEnv.registerDataStream("Orders", ds, "user, product, amount, proctime.proctime, rowtime.rowtime");

// compute SUM(amount) per day (in event-time)
Table result1 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT user, " +
  "  TUMBLE_START(rowtime, INTERVAL '1' DAY) as wStart,  " +
  "  SUM(amount) FROM Orders " +
  "GROUP BY TUMBLE(rowtime, INTERVAL '1' DAY), user");

// compute SUM(amount) per day (in processing-time)
Table result2 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT user, SUM(amount) FROM Orders GROUP BY TUMBLE(proctime, INTERVAL '1' DAY), user");

// compute every hour the SUM(amount) of the last 24 hours in event-time
Table result3 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT product, SUM(amount) FROM Orders GROUP BY HOP(rowtime, INTERVAL '1' HOUR, INTERVAL '1' DAY), product");

// compute SUM(amount) per session with 12 hour inactivity gap (in event-time)
Table result4 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT user, " +
  "  SESSION_START(rowtime, INTERVAL '12' HOUR) AS sStart, " +
  "  SESSION_ROWTIME(rowtime, INTERVAL '12' HOUR) AS snd, " +
  "  SUM(amount) " +
  "FROM Orders " +
  "GROUP BY SESSION(rowtime, INTERVAL '12' HOUR), user");
val env = StreamExecutionEnvironment.getExecutionEnvironment
val tableEnv = StreamTableEnvironment.create(env)

// read a DataStream from an external source
val ds: DataStream[(Long, String, Int)] = env.addSource(...)
// register the DataStream under the name "Orders"
tableEnv.registerDataStream("Orders", ds, 'user, 'product, 'amount, 'proctime.proctime, 'rowtime.rowtime)

// compute SUM(amount) per day (in event-time)
val result1 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
    """
      |SELECT
      |  user,
      |  TUMBLE_START(rowtime, INTERVAL '1' DAY) as wStart,
      |  SUM(amount)
      | FROM Orders
      | GROUP BY TUMBLE(rowtime, INTERVAL '1' DAY), user
    """.stripMargin)

// compute SUM(amount) per day (in processing-time)
val result2 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT user, SUM(amount) FROM Orders GROUP BY TUMBLE(proctime, INTERVAL '1' DAY), user")

// compute every hour the SUM(amount) of the last 24 hours in event-time
val result3 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
  "SELECT product, SUM(amount) FROM Orders GROUP BY HOP(rowtime, INTERVAL '1' HOUR, INTERVAL '1' DAY), product")

// compute SUM(amount) per session with 12 hour inactivity gap (in event-time)
val result4 = tableEnv.sqlQuery(
    """
      |SELECT
      |  user,
      |  SESSION_START(rowtime, INTERVAL '12' HOUR) AS sStart,
      |  SESSION_END(rowtime, INTERVAL '12' HOUR) AS sEnd,
      |  SUM(amount)
      | FROM Orders
      | GROUP BY SESSION(rowtime(), INTERVAL '12' HOUR), user
    """.stripMargin)

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Pattern Recognition

Operation Description
MATCH_RECOGNIZE
Streaming

Searches for a given pattern in a streaming table according to the MATCH_RECOGNIZE ISO standard. This makes it possible to express complex event processing (CEP) logic in SQL queries.

For a more detailed description, see the dedicated page for detecting patterns in tables.

SELECT T.aid, T.bid, T.cid
FROM MyTable
MATCH_RECOGNIZE (
  PARTITION BY userid
  ORDER BY proctime
  MEASURES
    A.id AS aid,
    B.id AS bid,
    C.id AS cid
  PATTERN (A B C)
  DEFINE
    A AS name = 'a',
    B AS name = 'b',
    C AS name = 'c'
) AS T

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Data Types

The SQL runtime is built on top of Flink’s DataSet and DataStream APIs. Internally, it also uses Flink’s TypeInformation to define data types. Fully supported types are listed in org.apache.flink.table.api.Types. The following table summarizes the relation between SQL Types, Table API types, and the resulting Java class.

Table API SQL Java type
Types.STRING VARCHAR java.lang.String
Types.BOOLEAN BOOLEAN java.lang.Boolean
Types.BYTE TINYINT java.lang.Byte
Types.SHORT SMALLINT java.lang.Short
Types.INT INTEGER, INT java.lang.Integer
Types.LONG BIGINT java.lang.Long
Types.FLOAT REAL, FLOAT java.lang.Float
Types.DOUBLE DOUBLE java.lang.Double
Types.DECIMAL DECIMAL java.math.BigDecimal
Types.SQL_DATE DATE java.sql.Date
Types.SQL_TIME TIME java.sql.Time
Types.SQL_TIMESTAMP TIMESTAMP(3) java.sql.Timestamp
Types.INTERVAL_MONTHS INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH java.lang.Integer
Types.INTERVAL_MILLIS INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND(3) java.lang.Long
Types.PRIMITIVE_ARRAY ARRAY e.g. int[]
Types.OBJECT_ARRAY ARRAY e.g. java.lang.Byte[]
Types.MAP MAP java.util.HashMap
Types.MULTISET MULTISET e.g. java.util.HashMap<String, Integer> for a multiset of String
Types.ROW ROW org.apache.flink.types.Row

Generic types and (nested) composite types (e.g., POJOs, tuples, rows, Scala case classes) can be fields of a row as well.

Fields of composite types with arbitrary nesting can be accessed with value access functions.

Generic types are treated as a black box and can be passed on or processed by user-defined functions.

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Reserved Keywords

Although not every SQL feature is implemented yet, some string combinations are already reserved as keywords for future use. If you want to use one of the following strings as a field name, make sure to surround them with backticks (e.g. `value`, `count`).

A, ABS, ABSOLUTE, ACTION, ADA, ADD, ADMIN, AFTER, ALL, ALLOCATE, ALLOW, ALTER, ALWAYS, AND, ANY, ARE, ARRAY, AS, ASC, ASENSITIVE, ASSERTION, ASSIGNMENT, ASYMMETRIC, AT, ATOMIC, ATTRIBUTE, ATTRIBUTES, AUTHORIZATION, AVG, BEFORE, BEGIN, BERNOULLI, BETWEEN, BIGINT, BINARY, BIT, BLOB, BOOLEAN, BOTH, BREADTH, BY, C, CALL, CALLED, CARDINALITY, CASCADE, CASCADED, CASE, CAST, CATALOG, CATALOG_NAME, CEIL, CEILING, CENTURY, CHAIN, CHAR, CHARACTER, CHARACTERISTICS, CHARACTERS, CHARACTER_LENGTH, CHARACTER_SET_CATALOG, CHARACTER_SET_NAME, CHARACTER_SET_SCHEMA, CHAR_LENGTH, CHECK, CLASS_ORIGIN, CLOB, CLOSE, COALESCE, COBOL, COLLATE, COLLATION, COLLATION_CATALOG, COLLATION_NAME, COLLATION_SCHEMA, COLLECT, COLUMN, COLUMN_NAME, COMMAND_FUNCTION, COMMAND_FUNCTION_CODE, COMMIT, COMMITTED, CONDITION, CONDITION_NUMBER, CONNECT, CONNECTION, CONNECTION_NAME, CONSTRAINT, CONSTRAINTS, CONSTRAINT_CATALOG, CONSTRAINT_NAME, CONSTRAINT_SCHEMA, CONSTRUCTOR, CONTAINS, CONTINUE, CONVERT, CORR, CORRESPONDING, COUNT, COVAR_POP, COVAR_SAMP, CREATE, CROSS, CUBE, CUME_DIST, CURRENT, CURRENT_CATALOG, CURRENT_DATE, CURRENT_DEFAULT_TRANSFORM_GROUP, CURRENT_PATH, CURRENT_ROLE, CURRENT_SCHEMA, CURRENT_TIME, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, CURRENT_TRANSFORM_GROUP_FOR_TYPE, CURRENT_USER, CURSOR, CURSOR_NAME, CYCLE, DATA, DATABASE, DATE, DATETIME_INTERVAL_CODE, DATETIME_INTERVAL_PRECISION, DAY, DEALLOCATE, DEC, DECADE, DECIMAL, DECLARE, DEFAULT, DEFAULTS, DEFERRABLE, DEFERRED, DEFINED, DEFINER, DEGREE, DELETE, DENSE_RANK, DEPTH, DEREF, DERIVED, DESC, DESCRIBE, DESCRIPTION, DESCRIPTOR, DETERMINISTIC, DIAGNOSTICS, DISALLOW, DISCONNECT, DISPATCH, DISTINCT, DOMAIN, DOUBLE, DOW, DOY, DROP, DYNAMIC, DYNAMIC_FUNCTION, DYNAMIC_FUNCTION_CODE, EACH, ELEMENT, ELSE, END, END-EXEC, EPOCH, EQUALS, ESCAPE, EVERY, EXCEPT, EXCEPTION, EXCLUDE, EXCLUDING, EXEC, EXECUTE, EXISTS, EXP, EXPLAIN, EXTEND, EXTERNAL, EXTRACT, FALSE, FETCH, FILTER, FINAL, FIRST, FIRST_VALUE, FLOAT, FLOOR, FOLLOWING, FOR, FOREIGN, FORTRAN, FOUND, FRAC_SECOND, FREE, FROM, FULL, FUNCTION, FUSION, G, GENERAL, GENERATED, GET, GLOBAL, GO, GOTO, GRANT, GRANTED, GROUP, GROUPING, HAVING, HIERARCHY, HOLD, HOUR, IDENTITY, IMMEDIATE, IMPLEMENTATION, IMPORT, IN, INCLUDING, INCREMENT, INDICATOR, INITIALLY, INNER, INOUT, INPUT, INSENSITIVE, INSERT, INSTANCE, INSTANTIABLE, INT, INTEGER, INTERSECT, INTERSECTION, INTERVAL, INTO, INVOKER, IS, ISOLATION, JAVA, JOIN, K, KEY, KEY_MEMBER, KEY_TYPE, LABEL, LANGUAGE, LARGE, LAST, LAST_VALUE, LATERAL, LEADING, LEFT, LENGTH, LEVEL, LIBRARY, LIKE, LIMIT, LN, LOCAL, LOCALTIME, LOCALTIMESTAMP, LOCATOR, LOWER, M, MAP, MATCH, MATCHED, MAX, MAXVALUE, MEMBER, MERGE, MESSAGE_LENGTH, MESSAGE_OCTET_LENGTH, MESSAGE_TEXT, METHOD, MICROSECOND, MILLENNIUM, MIN, MINUTE, MINVALUE, MOD, MODIFIES, MODULE, MONTH, MORE, MULTISET, MUMPS, NAME, NAMES, NATIONAL, NATURAL, NCHAR, NCLOB, NESTING, NEW, NEXT, NO, NONE, NORMALIZE, NORMALIZED, NOT, NULL, NULLABLE, NULLIF, NULLS, NUMBER, NUMERIC, OBJECT, OCTETS, OCTET_LENGTH, OF, OFFSET, OLD, ON, ONLY, OPEN, OPTION, OPTIONS, OR, ORDER, ORDERING, ORDINALITY, OTHERS, OUT, OUTER, OUTPUT, OVER, OVERLAPS, OVERLAY, OVERRIDING, PAD, PARAMETER, PARAMETER_MODE, PARAMETER_NAME, PARAMETER_ORDINAL_POSITION, PARAMETER_SPECIFIC_CATALOG, PARAMETER_SPECIFIC_NAME, PARAMETER_SPECIFIC_SCHEMA, PARTIAL, PARTITION, PASCAL, PASSTHROUGH, PATH, PERCENTILE_CONT, PERCENTILE_DISC, PERCENT_RANK, PLACING, PLAN, PLI, POSITION, POWER, PRECEDING, PRECISION, PREPARE, PRESERVE, PRIMARY, PRIOR, PRIVILEGES, PROCEDURE, PUBLIC, QUARTER, RANGE, RANK, READ, READS, REAL, RECURSIVE, REF, REFERENCES, REFERENCING, REGR_AVGX, REGR_AVGY, REGR_COUNT, REGR_INTERCEPT, REGR_R2, REGR_SLOPE, REGR_SXX, REGR_SXY, REGR_SYY, RELATIVE, RELEASE, REPEATABLE, RESET, RESTART, RESTRICT, RESULT, RETURN, RETURNED_CARDINALITY, RETURNED_LENGTH, RETURNED_OCTET_LENGTH, RETURNED_SQLSTATE, RETURNS, REVOKE, RIGHT, ROLE, ROLLBACK, ROLLUP, ROUTINE, ROUTINE_CATALOG, ROUTINE_NAME, ROUTINE_SCHEMA, ROW, ROWS, ROW_COUNT, ROW_NUMBER, SAVEPOINT, SCALE, SCHEMA, SCHEMA_NAME, SCOPE, SCOPE_CATALOGS, SCOPE_NAME, SCOPE_SCHEMA, SCROLL, SEARCH, SECOND, SECTION, SECURITY, SELECT, SELF, SENSITIVE, SEQUENCE, SERIALIZABLE, SERVER, SERVER_NAME, SESSION, SESSION_USER, SET, SETS, SIMILAR, SIMPLE, SIZE, SMALLINT, SOME, SOURCE, SPACE, SPECIFIC, SPECIFICTYPE, SPECIFIC_NAME, SQL, SQLEXCEPTION, SQLSTATE, SQLWARNING, SQL_TSI_DAY, SQL_TSI_FRAC_SECOND, SQL_TSI_HOUR, SQL_TSI_MICROSECOND, SQL_TSI_MINUTE, SQL_TSI_MONTH, SQL_TSI_QUARTER, SQL_TSI_SECOND, SQL_TSI_WEEK, SQL_TSI_YEAR, SQRT, START, STATE, STATEMENT, STATIC, STDDEV_POP, STDDEV_SAMP, STREAM, STRUCTURE, STYLE, SUBCLASS_ORIGIN, SUBMULTISET, SUBSTITUTE, SUBSTRING, SUM, SYMMETRIC, SYSTEM, SYSTEM_USER, TABLE, TABLESAMPLE, TABLE_NAME, TEMPORARY, THEN, TIES, TIME, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMPADD, TIMESTAMPDIFF, TIMEZONE_HOUR, TIMEZONE_MINUTE, TINYINT, TO, TOP_LEVEL_COUNT, TRAILING, TRANSACTION, TRANSACTIONS_ACTIVE, TRANSACTIONS_COMMITTED, TRANSACTIONS_ROLLED_BACK, TRANSFORM, TRANSFORMS, TRANSLATE, TRANSLATION, TREAT, TRIGGER, TRIGGER_CATALOG, TRIGGER_NAME, TRIGGER_SCHEMA, TRIM, TRUE, TYPE, UESCAPE, UNBOUNDED, UNCOMMITTED, UNDER, UNION, UNIQUE, UNKNOWN, UNNAMED, UNNEST, UPDATE, UPPER, UPSERT, USAGE, USER, USER_DEFINED_TYPE_CATALOG, USER_DEFINED_TYPE_CODE, USER_DEFINED_TYPE_NAME, USER_DEFINED_TYPE_SCHEMA, USING, VALUE, VALUES, VARBINARY, VARCHAR, VARYING, VAR_POP, VAR_SAMP, VERSION, VIEW, WEEK, WHEN, WHENEVER, WHERE, WIDTH_BUCKET, WINDOW, WITH, WITHIN, WITHOUT, WORK, WRAPPER, WRITE, XML, YEAR, ZONE

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