TQL is the ThoughtSpot language for entering SQL commands. This reference lists TQL commands you can use to do things like creating a schema or verifying a data load.
TQL commands
You can use TQL either through the ThoughtSpot application’s web interface or the command line interface in the Linux shell.
You can use TQL to view and modify schemas and data in tables. Remember to add a semicolon after each command. Commands are not case sensitive but are capitalized here for readability.
When referring to objects using fully qualified object names, the syntax is:
"database"."schema"."table"
As a best practice, you should enclose object names (database, schema, table, and column) in double quotes, and column values in single quotes.
Basic commands
| Syntax | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
help
|
Displays command help. |
TQL> help
|
View schemas and data
| Syntax | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
SHOW DATABASES
|
Lists all available databases. |
TQL> SHOW DATABASES;
|
USE <database>
|
Switches the context to the specified database. This is required if queries do not use fully qualified names (database.schema.table) for specifying tables. |
TQL> USE "fruit_database";
|
SHOW SCHEMAS
|
Lists all schemas within the current database. |
TQL> SHOW SCHEMAS;
|
SHOW TABLES
|
Lists all tables within the current database by schema. |
TQL> SHOW TABLES;
|
SHOW TABLE <table>
|
Lists all the columns for a table. |
TQL> SHOW TABLE
"locations";
|
SCRIPT SERVER
|
Generates the TQL schema for all tables in all databases on the server. |
TQL> SCRIPT SERVER;
|
SCRIPT DATABASE
<database>
|
Generates the TQL schema for all tables in a database. |
TQL> SCRIPT DATABASE
"fruit_database";
|
SCRIPT TABLE <table>
|
Generates the TQL schema for a table. |
TQL> SCRIPT TABLE
"vendor";
|
SELECT
<cols_or_expr>
FROM <table_list>
[WHERE <predicates>]
[GROUP BY <expr>]
[ORDER BY <expr>]
|
Shows specified set of table data.
If you do not specify the TOP number of rows to select, the top 50 rows will be returned by default. The number of rows to return can be set using the TQL command line flag:
You can use the following aggregation functions:
You can use the following date functions:
|
TQL> SELECT
TOP 10 "quantity"
FROM "sales_fact";
TQL> SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM "vendor";
TQL> SELECT "vendor",
SUM("quantity")
FROM "sales_fact"
GROUP BY "vendor";
TQL> SELECT "vendor",
SUM("amount")
FROM "vendor",
"sales_fact"
WHERE
"sales_fact"."vendorid"
= "vendor"."vendorid"
AND "amount" > 100
GROUP BY "vendor"
ORDER BY "amount" DESC;
TQL> SELECT "vendor",
SUM("quantity")
FROM "sales_fact"
GROUP BY "vendor"
LIMIT 10;
|
Schema creation
| Syntax | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
CREATE DATABASE
<database>
|
Creates a database. |
TQL> CREATE DATABASE
"fruit_database";
|
CREATE SCHEMA
<schema>
|
Creates a schema within the current database. |
TQL> CREATE SCHEMA
"fruit_schema";
|
CREATE TABLE <table>
(<column_definitions>
[<constraints>])
[PARTITION BY HASH
(<number>)
[KEY ("<column>")]])
|
Creates a table with the specified column definitions and constraints.
Use PARTITION BY HASH to shard a table across all nodes. If no KEY is specified, the table will be randomly sharded. Note that you can specify relationship constraints (FOREIGN KEY or RELATIONSHIP) in the CREATE TABLE statement. But it is recommended to define these using ALTER TABLE statements at the end of your TQL script, after creating your tables. This works better in scripts, because it guarantees that tables are created before they are referenced in the constraint definitions. |
TQL> CREATE TABLE "vendor"
("vendorid" int,
"name" varchar(255));
TQL> CREATE TABLE "sales_fact"
("saleid" int,
"locationid" int,
"vendorid" int,
"quantity" int,
"sale_amount" double,
"fruitid" int,
CONSTRAINT
PRIMARY KEY("saleid"))
PARTITION BY HASH(96)
KEY ("saleid");
|
Schema modification
| Syntax | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
DROP DATABASE
<database>
|
Drops a database and all of its schemas and tables. |
TQL> DROP DATABASE
"fruit_database";
|
DROP SCHEMA
<schema>
|
Drops a schema within the current database, and drops all of the tables in the schema. |
TQL> DROP SCHEMA
"fruit_schema";
|
DROP TABLE <table>
|
Drops a table. |
TQL> DROP TABLE "location";
|
ALTER TABLE <table>
ADD|DROP|RENAME
COLUMN <column>
|
Alters a table to add, drop, or rename a column.
When you add a column to an existing table, you must provide a default value to use for existing rows. |
TQL> ALTER TABLE "cart"
ADD COLUMN
"nickname" varchar(255)
DEFAULT 'no nickname';
TQL> ALTER TABLE "cart"
DROP COLUMN "nickname";
TQL> ALTER TABLE "cart"
RENAME COLUMN "nickname"
TO "shortname";
|
TRUNCATE TABLE
<table>
|
Removes all data from a table, but preserves its metadata, including all
GUIDs, relationships, etc. This can be used to force a new schema for a table
without losing the metadata.
However, this operation removes all existing data from the table and must be used with caution. You must reload the data following a TRUNCATE, or all dependent objects (worksheets and pinboards) in ThoughtSpot will become invalid. |
TQL> TRUNCATE TABLE
"location";
|
ALTER TABLE <table>
DROP CONSTRAINT
PRIMARY KEY;
|
Drops the primary key from a table.
Note that if you then add a new primary key, the same upsert behavior will be applied as with adding any primary key. This can result in data deletion, so make sure you understand how the upsert will affect your data ahead of time. |
TQL> ALTER TABLE "sales"
DROP CONSTRAINT
PRIMARY KEY;
TQL> ALTER TABLE "sales"
ADD CONSTRAINT
PRIMARY KEY ("PO_number");
|
ALTER TABLE <table>
DROP CONSTRAINT [FOREIGN KEY|
RELATIONSHIP]
<name>;
|
Drops the named foreign key or relationship between two tables. |
TQL> ALTER TABLE
"sales_fact"
DROP CONSTRAINT FOREIGN KEY
"FK_PO_number";
TQL> ALTER TABLE "fruit_dim"
DROP RELATIONSHIP "REL_dates";
|
ALTER TABLE <table>
DROP [CONSTRAINT
FOREIGN KEY
[<table_name>]
| RELATIONSHIP [WITH
<table_name>];
|
You must use this syntax when dropping relationships between tables created
before ThoughtSpot version 3.2. This is because relationships could not be named
in older versions.
Drops the foreign key or relationship between two tables
where you cannot reference it by relationship name. If the relationship was
created without a name, use:
If you drop a foreign key without specifying the referenced table, all foreign keys from the table you are altering will be dropped. |
TQL> ALTER TABLE "shipments"
DROP CONSTRAINT
FOREIGN KEY "orders";
TQL> ALTER TABLE "wholesale_buys"
DROP RELATIONSHIP
WITH "retail_sales";
/* Drops all relationships
that have wholesale_buys
as a source.
*/
TQL> ALTER TABLE "wholesale_buys"
DROP RELATIONSHIP;
/* Drops all foreign keys
from wholesale_buys.
*/
TQL> ALTER TABLE "wholesale_buys"
DROP CONSTRAINT
FOREIGN KEY;
|
ALTER TABLE <table>
[SET DIMENSION |
SET FACT
[PARTITION BY HASH
[(<shards>)]
[KEY(<column>)]]]
|
Changes the partitioning on a table by doing one of:
By default, ThoughtSpot does not shard dimension tables. To change the partitioning on a table, or to change a dimension table to a sharded table, use ALTER TABLE...SET FACT PARTITION BY HASH...; To make a sharded table into a dimension table (replicated on every node), use
|
TQL> ALTER TABLE
"sales_fact"
SET FACT
PARTITION BY HASH (96)
KEY ("PO_number");
TQL> ALTER TABLE "fruit_dim"
SET DIMENSION;
|
ALTER TABLE <table>
MODIFY COLUMN <column>
<new_data_type>;
|
Changes the data type of a column. This can have implications on sharding and primary key behavior. See About data type conversion. |
TQL> ALTER TABLE fact100
MODIFY COLUMN product_id int;
|
Modify Schema
| Syntax | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
INSERT INTO
<table>
VALUES ...
|
Inserts values into a table. Only use this for testing. Do not use INSERT on a production system. |
TQL> INSERT INTO "vendor"
VALUES ('helen rose',
'jacob norse',
'eileen ruff',
'manny gates');
|
UPDATE <table>
... SET ...
[WHERE ...]
|
Updates rows in a table that match optionally provided predicates. Predicates have the form column = value connected by the AND keyword. Sets the column values to the specified values. |
TQL> UPDATE "location"
SET "borough" =
'staten island',
"city" = 'new york'
WHERE "borough" =
'staten isl'
AND city = 'NY';
|
DELETE FROM
<table> [WHERE...]
|
Deletes rows from a table that match optionally provided predicates. Predicates have the form column = value connected by the AND keyword. |
TQL> DELETE FROM "vendor"
WHERE
"name" = 'Joey Smith'
AND
"vendorid" = '19463';
|
Constraints and relationships
Constraints and relationships in ThoughtSpot are used to define the relationships between tables (i.e. how they can be joined). However, constraints are not enforced, as they would be in a transactional database. You can define the following constraints when creating a table with CREATE TABLE, or add them to an existing table using the ADD CONSTRAINT syntax:
| Syntax | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY KEY |
Designates a unique, non-null value as the primary key for a table. This can
be one column or a combination of columns.
If values are not unique, an upsert will be performed if a row includes a primary key that is already present in the data. |
CREATE TABLE "schools" (
"schoolID" varchar(15),
"schoolName" varchar(255),
"schoolCity" varchar(55),
"schoolState" varchar(55),
"schoolNick" varchar(55),
CONSTRAINT
PRIMARY KEY ("schoolID")
) ;
TQL> ALTER TABLE "cart"
ADD CONSTRAINT
PRIMARY KEY ("cart_id");
TQL> ALTER TABLE "cart"
DROP CONSTRAINT
PRIMARY KEY "cart_id";
|
| FOREIGN KEY |
Defines a relationship where the value(s) in the table are used to join to a
second table. Uses an equality operator. The foreign key must match the primary
key of the table that is referenced in number, column type, and order of
columns.
When creating a foreign key, give it a name. You can reference the foreign key name later, if you want to remove it. |
TQL> ALTER TABLE "batting"
ADD CONSTRAINT "FK_player"
FOREIGN KEY ("playerID")
REFERENCES "players" ("playerID");
TQL> ALTER TABLE "batting"
ADD CONSTRAINT "FK_lg_team"
FOREIGN KEY ("lgID" ,"teamID")
REFERENCES "teams"
("lgID" ,"teamID");
TQL> ALTER TABLE "shipment"
ADD CONSTRAINT
"FK_PO_vendor"
FOREIGN KEY ("po_number",
"vendor")
REFERENCES "orders"
("po_number", "vendor");
TQL> ALTER TABLE "shipment"
DROP CONSTRAINT "FK_PO_vendor";
|
| RELATIONSHIP |
Defines a relationship where the value(s) in the table can be used to join to
a second table, using an equality condition (required) and one or more range
conditions (optional). These conditions act like a WHERE clause when the two
tables are joined. They are applied using AND logic, such that all conditions must
be met for a row to be included.
You may add multiple relationships between tables. When creating a relationship, give it a name. You can reference the relationship name later, if you want to remove it. |
TQL> ALTER TABLE "wholesale_buys"
ADD RELATIONSHIP "REL_fruit"
WITH "retail_sales"
AS "wholesale_buys"."fruit"
= "retail_sales"."fruit"
AND
("wholesale_buys"."date_order"
< "retail_sales"."date_sold"
AND
"retail_sales"."date_sold" <
"wholesale_buys"."expire_date");
TQL> ALTER TABLE "wholesale_buys"
DROP RELATIONSHIP "REL_fruit";
|
Flags
The --query_results_apply_top_row_count <number> flag can be used with TQL to limit the number of result rows returned by a query. For example:
$ tql --query_results_apply_top_row_count 100
Data types
ThoughtSpot supports a simplified list of data types:
| Syntax | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Character |
|
Specify the maximum number of characters, as in VARCHAR(255). The size limit is 1GB for VARCHAR values. |
| Floating point |
|
DOUBLE is recommended. |
| Boolean |
|
Can be true or false. |
| Integer |
|
INT holds 32 bits.
BIGINT holds 64 bits. |
| Date or time |
|
DATETIME, TIMESTAMP, and TIME are stored at the granularity of seconds.
TIMESTAMP is identical to DATETIME, but is included for syntax compatibility. |