Array Functions in Standard SQL

ARRAY

ARRAY(subquery)

Description

The ARRAY function returns an ARRAY with one element for each row in a subquery.

If subquery produces a SQL table, the table must have exactly one column. Each element in the output ARRAY is the value of the single column of a row in the table.

If subquery produces a value table, then each element in the output ARRAY is the entire corresponding row of the value table.

Constraints

  • Subqueries are unordered, so the elements of the output ARRAY are not guaranteed to preserve any order in the source table for the subquery. However, if the subquery includes an ORDER BY clause, the ARRAY function will return an ARRAY that honors that clause.
  • If the subquery returns more than one column, the ARRAY function returns an error.
  • If the subquery returns an ARRAY typed column or ARRAY typed rows, the ARRAY function returns an error: BigQuery does not support ARRAYs with elements of type ARRAY.
  • If the subquery returns zero rows, the ARRAY function returns an empty ARRAY. It never returns a NULL ARRAY.

Return type

ARRAY

Examples

SELECT ARRAY
  (SELECT 1 UNION ALL
   SELECT 2 UNION ALL
   SELECT 3) AS new_array;

+-----------+
| new_array |
+-----------+
| [1, 2, 3] |
+-----------+

To construct an ARRAY from a subquery that contains multiple columns, change the subquery to use SELECT AS STRUCT. Now the ARRAY function will return an ARRAY of STRUCTs. The ARRAY will contain one STRUCT for each row in the subquery, and each of these STRUCTs will contain a field for each column in that row.

SELECT
  ARRAY
    (SELECT AS STRUCT 1, 2, 3
     UNION ALL SELECT AS STRUCT 4, 5, 6) AS new_array;

+------------------------+
| new_array              |
+------------------------+
| [{1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}] |
+------------------------+

Similarly, to construct an ARRAY from a subquery that contains one or more ARRAYs, change the subquery to use SELECT AS STRUCT.

SELECT ARRAY
  (SELECT AS STRUCT [1, 2, 3] UNION ALL
   SELECT AS STRUCT [4, 5, 6]) AS new_array;

+----------------------------+
| new_array                  |
+----------------------------+
| [{[1, 2, 3]}, {[4, 5, 6]}] |
+----------------------------+

ARRAY_CONCAT

ARRAY_CONCAT(array_expression_1 [, array_expression_n])

Description

Concatenates one or more arrays with the same element type into a single array.

Return type

ARRAY

Examples

SELECT ARRAY_CONCAT([1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]) as count_to_six;

+--------------------------------------------------+
| count_to_six                                     |
+--------------------------------------------------+
| [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]                               |
+--------------------------------------------------+

ARRAY_LENGTH

ARRAY_LENGTH(array_expression)

Description

Returns the size of the array. Returns 0 for an empty array. Returns NULL if the array_expression is NULL.

Return type

INT64

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT ["coffee", NULL, "milk" ] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["cake", "pie"] as list)

SELECT list, ARRAY_LENGTH(list) AS size
FROM items
ORDER BY size DESC;

+---------------------------------+------+
| list                            | size |
+---------------------------------+------+
| [coffee, NULL, milk]            | 3    |
| [cake, pie]                     | 2    |
+---------------------------------+------+

ARRAY_TO_STRING

ARRAY_TO_STRING(array_expression, delimiter[, null_text])

Description

Returns a concatenation of the elements in array_expression as a STRING. The value for array_expression can either be an array of STRING or BYTES data types.

If the null_text parameter is used, the function replaces any NULL values in the array with the value of null_text.

If the null_text parameter is not used, the function omits the NULL value and its preceding delimiter.

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT ["coffee", "tea", "milk" ] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["cake", "pie", NULL] as list)

SELECT ARRAY_TO_STRING(list, '--') AS text
FROM items;

+--------------------------------+
| text                           |
+--------------------------------+
| coffee--tea--milk              |
| cake--pie                      |
+--------------------------------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT ["coffee", "tea", "milk" ] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["cake", "pie", NULL] as list)

SELECT ARRAY_TO_STRING(list, '--', 'MISSING') AS text
FROM items;

+--------------------------------+
| text                           |
+--------------------------------+
| coffee--tea--milk              |
| cake--pie--MISSING             |
+--------------------------------+

GENERATE_ARRAY

GENERATE_ARRAY(start_expression, end_expression[, step_expression])

Description

Returns an array of values. The start_expression and end_expression parameters determine the inclusive start and end of the array.

The GENERATE_ARRAY function accepts the following data types as inputs:

  • INT64
  • NUMERIC
  • FLOAT64

The step_expression parameter determines the increment used to generate array values. The default value for this parameter is 1.

This function returns an error if step_expression is set to 0, or if any input is NaN.

If any argument is NULL, the function will return a NULL array.

Return Data Type

ARRAY

Examples

The following returns an array of integers, with a default step of 1.

SELECT GENERATE_ARRAY(1, 5) AS example_array;

+-----------------+
| example_array   |
+-----------------+
| [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] |
+-----------------+

The following returns an array using a user-specified step size.

SELECT GENERATE_ARRAY(0, 10, 3) AS example_array;

+---------------+
| example_array |
+---------------+
| [0, 3, 6, 9]  |
+---------------+

The following returns an array using a negative value, -3 for its step size.

SELECT GENERATE_ARRAY(10, 0, -3) AS example_array;

+---------------+
| example_array |
+---------------+
| [10, 7, 4, 1] |
+---------------+

The following returns an array using the same value for the start_expression and end_expression.

SELECT GENERATE_ARRAY(4, 4, 10) AS example_array;

+---------------+
| example_array |
+---------------+
| [4]           |
+---------------+

The following returns an empty array, because the start_expression is greater than the end_expression, and the step_expression value is positive.

SELECT GENERATE_ARRAY(10, 0, 3) AS example_array;

+---------------+
| example_array |
+---------------+
| []            |
+---------------+

The following returns a NULL array because end_expression is NULL.

SELECT GENERATE_ARRAY(5, NULL, 1) AS example_array;

+---------------+
| example_array |
+---------------+
| NULL          |
+---------------+

The following returns multiple arrays.

SELECT GENERATE_ARRAY(start, 5) AS example_array
FROM UNNEST([3, 4, 5]) AS start;

+---------------+
| example_array |
+---------------+
| [3, 4, 5]     |
| [4, 5]        |
| [5]           |
+---------------+

GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY

GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY(start_date, end_date[, INTERVAL INT64_expr date_part])

Description

Returns an array of dates. The start_date and end_date parameters determine the inclusive start and end of the array.

The GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY function accepts the following data types as inputs:

  • start_date must be a DATE
  • end_date must be a DATE
  • INT64_expr must be an INT64
  • date_part must be either DAY, WEEK, MONTH, QUARTER, or YEAR.

The INT64_expr parameter determines the increment used to generate dates. The default value for this parameter is 1 day.

This function returns an error if INT64_expr is set to 0.

Return Data Type

An ARRAY containing 0 or more DATE values.

Examples

The following returns an array of dates, with a default step of 1.

SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY('2016-10-05', '2016-10-08') AS example;

+--------------------------------------------------+
| example                                          |
+--------------------------------------------------+
| [2016-10-05, 2016-10-06, 2016-10-07, 2016-10-08] |
+--------------------------------------------------+

The following returns an array using a user-specified step size.

SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY(
 '2016-10-05', '2016-10-09', INTERVAL 2 DAY) AS example;

+--------------------------------------+
| example                              |
+--------------------------------------+
| [2016-10-05, 2016-10-07, 2016-10-09] |
+--------------------------------------+

The following returns an array using a negative value, -3 for its step size.

SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY('2016-10-05',
  '2016-10-01', INTERVAL -3 DAY) AS example;


+--------------------------+
| example                  |
+--------------------------+
| [2016-10-05, 2016-10-02] |
+--------------------------+

The following returns an array using the same value for the start_dateand end_date.

SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY('2016-10-05',
  '2016-10-05', INTERVAL 8 DAY) AS example;

+--------------+
| example      |
+--------------+
| [2016-10-05] |
+--------------+

The following returns an empty array, because the start_date is greater than the end_date, and the step value is positive.

SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY('2016-10-05',
  '2016-10-01', INTERVAL 1 DAY) AS example;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| []      |
+---------+

The following returns a NULL array, because one of its inputs is NULL.

SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY('2016-10-05', NULL) AS example;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| NULL    |
+---------+

The following returns an array of dates, using MONTH as the date_part interval:

SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY('2016-01-01',
  '2016-12-31', INTERVAL 2 MONTH) AS example;

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| example                                                                  |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [2016-01-01, 2016-03-01, 2016-05-01, 2016-07-01, 2016-09-01, 2016-11-01] |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The following uses non-constant dates to generate an array.

SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY(date_start, date_end, INTERVAL 1 WEEK) AS date_range
FROM (
  SELECT DATE '2016-01-01' AS date_start, DATE '2016-01-31' AS date_end
  UNION ALL SELECT DATE "2016-04-01", DATE "2016-04-30"
  UNION ALL SELECT DATE "2016-07-01", DATE "2016-07-31"
  UNION ALL SELECT DATE "2016-10-01", DATE "2016-10-31"
) AS items;

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| date_range                                                   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| [2016-01-01, 2016-01-08, 2016-01-15, 2016-01-22, 2016-01-29] |
| [2016-04-01, 2016-04-08, 2016-04-15, 2016-04-22, 2016-04-29] |
| [2016-07-01, 2016-07-08, 2016-07-15, 2016-07-22, 2016-07-29] |
| [2016-10-01, 2016-10-08, 2016-10-15, 2016-10-22, 2016-10-29] |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY

GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY(start_timestamp, end_timestamp,
                         INTERVAL step_expression date_part)

Description

Returns an ARRAY of TIMESTAMPS separated by a given interval. The start_timestamp and end_timestamp parameters determine the inclusive lower and upper bounds of the ARRAY.

The GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY function accepts the following data types as inputs:

  • start_timestamp: TIMESTAMP
  • end_timestamp: TIMESTAMP
  • step_expression: INT64

  • Allowed date_part values are

    MICROSECOND, MILLISECOND,

    SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, or DAY.

The step_expression parameter determines the increment used to generate timestamps.

Return Data Type

An ARRAY containing 0 or more TIMESTAMP values.

Examples

The following example returns an ARRAY of TIMESTAMPs at intervals of 1 second.

SELECT GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY('2016-10-05 00:00:00', '2016-10-05 00:00:02',
                                INTERVAL 1 SECOND) AS timestamp_array;

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| timestamp_array                                                          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [2016-10-05 00:00:00+00, 2016-10-05 00:00:01+00, 2016-10-05 00:00:02+00] |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The following example returns an ARRAY of TIMESTAMPS with a negative interval.

SELECT GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY('2016-10-06 00:00:00', '2016-10-01 00:00:00',
                                INTERVAL -2 DAY) AS timestamp_array;

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| timestamp_array                                                          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [2016-10-06 00:00:00+00, 2016-10-04 00:00:00+00, 2016-10-02 00:00:00+00] |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The following example returns an ARRAY with a single element, because start_timestamp and end_timestamp have the same value.

SELECT GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY('2016-10-05 00:00:00', '2016-10-05 00:00:00',
                                INTERVAL 1 HOUR) AS timestamp_array;

+--------------------------+
| timestamp_array          |
+--------------------------+
| [2016-10-05 00:00:00+00] |
+--------------------------+

The following example returns an empty ARRAY, because start_timestamp is later than end_timestamp.

SELECT GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY('2016-10-06 00:00:00', '2016-10-05 00:00:00',
                                INTERVAL 1 HOUR) AS timestamp_array;

+-----------------+
| timestamp_array |
+-----------------+
| []              |
+-----------------+

The following example returns a null ARRAY, because one of the inputs is NULL.

SELECT GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY('2016-10-05 00:00:00', NULL, INTERVAL 1 HOUR)
  AS timestamp_array;

+-----------------+
| timestamp_array |
+-----------------+
| NULL            |
+-----------------+

The following example generates ARRAYs of TIMESTAMPs from columns containing values for start_timestamp and end_timestamp.

SELECT GENERATE_TIMESTAMP_ARRAY(start_timestamp, end_timestamp, INTERVAL 1 HOUR)
  AS timestamp_array
FROM
  (SELECT
    TIMESTAMP '2016-10-05 00:00:00' AS start_timestamp,
    TIMESTAMP '2016-10-05 02:00:00' AS end_timestamp
   UNION ALL
   SELECT
    TIMESTAMP '2016-10-05 12:00:00' AS start_timestamp,
    TIMESTAMP '2016-10-05 14:00:00' AS end_timestamp
   UNION ALL
   SELECT
    TIMESTAMP '2016-10-05 23:59:00' AS start_timestamp,
    TIMESTAMP '2016-10-06 01:59:00' AS end_timestamp);

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| timestamp_array                                                          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [2016-10-05 00:00:00+00, 2016-10-05 01:00:00+00, 2016-10-05 02:00:00+00] |
| [2016-10-05 12:00:00+00, 2016-10-05 13:00:00+00, 2016-10-05 14:00:00+00] |
| [2016-10-05 23:59:00+00, 2016-10-06 00:59:00+00, 2016-10-06 01:59:00+00] |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

OFFSET and ORDINAL

array_expression[OFFSET(zero_based_offset)]
array_expression[ORDINAL(one_based_offset)]

Description

Accesses an ARRAY element by position and returns the element. OFFSET means that the numbering starts at zero, ORDINAL means that the numbering starts at one.

A given array can be interpreted as either 0-based or 1-based. When accessing an array element, you must preface the array position with OFFSET or ORDINAL, respectively; there is no default behavior.

Both OFFSET and ORDINAL generate an error if the index is out of range.

Return type

Varies depending on the elements in the ARRAY.

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT ["apples", "bananas", "pears", "grapes"] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["coffee", "tea", "milk" ] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["cake", "pie"] as list)

SELECT list, list[OFFSET(1)] as offset_1, list[ORDINAL(1)] as ordinal_1
FROM items;

+----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| list                             | offset_1  | ordinal_1 |
+----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| [apples, bananas, pears, grapes] | bananas   | apples    |
| [coffee, tea, milk]              | tea       | coffee    |
| [cake, pie]                      | pie       | cake      |
+----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+

ARRAY_REVERSE

ARRAY_REVERSE(value)

Description

Returns the input ARRAY with elements in reverse order.

Return type

ARRAY

Examples

WITH example AS (
  SELECT [1, 2, 3] AS arr UNION ALL
  SELECT [4, 5] AS arr UNION ALL
  SELECT [] AS arr
)
SELECT
  arr,
  ARRAY_REVERSE(arr) AS reverse_arr
FROM example;

+-----------+-------------+
| arr       | reverse_arr |
+-----------+-------------+
| [1, 2, 3] | [3, 2, 1]   |
| [4, 5]    | [5, 4]      |
| []        | []          |
+-----------+-------------+

SAFE_OFFSET and SAFE_ORDINAL

array_expression[SAFE_OFFSET(zero_based_offset)]
array_expression[SAFE_ORDINAL(one_based_offset)]

Description

Identical to OFFSET and ORDINAL, except returns NULL if the index is out of range.

Return type

Varies depending on the elements in the ARRAY.

Example

WITH items AS
  (SELECT ["apples", "bananas", "pears", "grapes"] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["coffee", "tea", "milk" ] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["cake", "pie"] as list)

SELECT list,
  list[SAFE_OFFSET(3)] as safe_offset_3,
  list[SAFE_ORDINAL(3)] as safe_ordinal_3
FROM items;

+----------------------------------+---------------+----------------+
| list                             | safe_offset_3 | safe_ordinal_3 |
+----------------------------------+---------------+----------------+
| [apples, bananas, pears, grapes] | grapes        | pears          |
| [coffee, tea, milk]              | NULL          | milk           |
| [cake, pie]                      | NULL          | NULL           |
+----------------------------------+---------------+----------------+
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