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SQL reference

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The SQL the VAST Query Engine accepts in VAST Cluster 5.5, one page per statement. Start with Overview for how statements reach the engine, then SELECT; check What the VAST Query Engine doesn't support before you write joins or GROUP BY.

  • Overview: The SQL the VAST Query Engine accepts over ADBC: object names, how statements run, what errors look like, and each statement.
  • CREATE SCHEMA: Create a schema in a database bucket, or inside another schema, with the VAST Query Engine, with rules, errors and an example.
  • DROP SCHEMA: Drop a schema in the VAST Query Engine: syntax, rules, what happens on the cluster, errors and the Trino and Spark equivalents.
  • SHOW SCHEMAS and SHOW TABLES: List a database's schemas or a schema's tables with SHOW in the VAST Query Engine, or a table's columns as DESCRIBE does.
  • CREATE TABLE: Create a regular, sorted or vector-indexed table in the VAST Query Engine, with syntax, rules, errors and Trino and Spark equivalents.
  • ALTER TABLE: Rename a table, add, rename and drop columns, and add a sort key with ALTER TABLE in the VAST Query Engine.
  • DROP TABLE: Drop a table and its data in the VAST Query Engine, with syntax, rules, cluster effects, errors and Trino and Spark equivalents.
  • DESCRIBE: Show a table's columns and their types in the VAST Query Engine, with syntax, rules, errors and the Trino and Spark equivalents.
  • SELECT: Query one table, a snapshot or an Event Broker topic, with rules for where filters run, IN lists, aggregates and rowid.
  • INSERT: Insert rows as values or from a SELECT in the VAST Query Engine, with syntax, rules, errors and Trino and Spark equivalents.
  • Import Parquet files with INSERT: Import Parquet files already in a cluster bucket into a table with INSERT, so the data never passes through your client.
  • UPDATE: Change column values in rows matching a condition with UPDATE in the Query Engine, with rules, errors and Trino and Spark equivalents.
  • DELETE and TRUNCATE: Delete rows matching a condition with DELETE, or every row while keeping the table with TRUNCATE, in the VAST Query Engine.
  • EXPLAIN: Show the Query Engine's plan without running a statement, to see which conditions VAST DataBase evaluates and which step fails.
  • Data types in SQL: SQL type names for VAST Query Engine statements, the VAST DataBase type each creates, and the types the Query Engine can't read.
  • Vector search SQL: A short index of vector search SQL and distance functions, whose full reference lives in the VAST Vector Search section.
  • What the VAST Query Engine doesn't support: SQL the VAST Query Engine refuses, such as joins, GROUP BY, subqueries and upserts, with each error and what to do instead.
  • Query Engine, Trino, Spark and the SDK compared: Compare what the VAST Query Engine, Trino, Spark and the Python SDK can each do on the same VAST DataBase tables.
  • Functions: The functions and operators the VAST Query Engine evaluates, by group. Read Overview first to see why a function on a column runs after the scan, then Operators and predicates; the other pages list each group's functions and what isn't available.
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