Standard SQL Functions & Operators

This page explains BigQuery expressions, including functions and operators.

Function call rules

The following rules apply to all functions unless explicitly indicated otherwise in the function description:

  • For functions that accept numeric types, if one operand is a floating point operand and the other operand is another numeric type, both operands are converted to FLOAT64 before the function is evaluated.

  • If an operand is NULL, the result is NULL, with the exception of the IS operator.

  • For functions that are time zone sensitive (as indicated in the function description), the default time zone, UTC, is used if a time zone is not specified.

SAFE. prefix

Syntax:

SAFE.function_name()

Description

If you begin a function with the SAFE. prefix, it will return NULL instead of an error. The SAFE. prefix only prevents errors from the prefixed function itself: it does not prevent errors that occur while evaluating argument expressions. The SAFE. prefix only prevents errors that occur because of the value of the function inputs, such as "value out of range" errors; other errors, such as internal or system errors, may still occur. If the function does not return an error, SAFE. has no effect on the output. If the function never returns an error, like RAND, then SAFE. has no effect.

Operators, such as + and =, do not support the SAFE. prefix. To prevent errors from a division operation, use SAFE_DIVIDE. Some operators, such as IN, ARRAY, and UNNEST, resemble functions, but do not support the SAFE. prefix. The CAST and EXTRACT functions also do not support the SAFE. prefix. To prevent errors from casting, use SAFE_CAST.

Example

In the following example, the first use of the SUBSTR function would normally return an error, because the function does not support length arguments with negative values. However, the SAFE. prefix causes the function to return NULL instead. The second use of the SUBSTR function provides the expected output: the SAFE. prefix has no effect.

SELECT SAFE.SUBSTR('foo', 0, -2) AS safe_output UNION ALL
SELECT SAFE.SUBSTR('bar', 0, 2) AS safe_output;

+-------------+
| safe_output |
+-------------+
| NULL        |
| ba          |
+-------------+

Supported functions

BigQuery supports the use of the SAFE. prefix with most scalar functions that can raise errors, including STRING functions, math functions, DATE functions, DATETIME functions, and TIMESTAMP functions. BigQuery does not support the use of the SAFE. prefix with aggregate, analytic, or user-defined functions.

Conversion rules

"Conversion" includes, but is not limited to, casting and coercion.

  • Casting is explicit conversion and uses the CAST() function.
  • Coercion is implicit conversion, which BigQuery performs automatically under the conditions described below.
  • There is a third group of conversion functions that have their own function names, such as UNIX_DATE().

The table below summarizes all possible CAST and coercion possibilities for BigQuery data types. "Coercion To" applies to all expressions of a given data type (e.g. a column) , but literals and parameters can also be coerced. See Literal Coercion and Parameter Coercion for details.

From Type CAST to Coercion To
INT64 BOOL
INT64
NUMERIC
FLOAT64
STRING
 FLOAT64
NUMERIC
NUMERIC INT64
NUMERIC
FLOAT64
STRING
 FLOAT64
FLOAT64 INT64
NUMERIC
FLOAT64
STRING
  
BOOL BOOL
INT64
STRING
  
STRING BOOL
INT64
NUMERIC
FLOAT64
STRING
BYTES
DATE
DATETIME
TIME
TIMESTAMP
  
BYTES BYTES
STRING
  
DATE DATE
DATETIME
STRING
TIMESTAMP
  
DATETIME DATE
DATETIME
STRING
TIME
TIMESTAMP
  
TIME STRING
TIME
  
TIMESTAMP DATE
DATETIME
STRING
TIME
TIMESTAMP
  
ARRAY ARRAY  
STRUCT STRUCT  

Casting

Syntax:

CAST(expr AS typename)

Cast syntax is used in a query to indicate that the result type of an expression should be converted to some other type.

Example:

CAST(x=1 AS STRING)

This results in "true" if x is 1, "false" for any other non-NULL value, and NULL if x is NULL.

Casts between supported types that do not successfully map from the original value to the target domain produce runtime errors. For example, casting BYTES to STRING where the byte sequence is not valid UTF-8 results in a runtime error.

When casting an expression x of the following types, these rules apply:

From To Rule(s) when casting x
INT64 FLOAT64 Returns a close but potentially not exact FLOAT64 value.
INT64 BOOL Returns FALSE if x is 0, TRUE otherwise.
NUMERIC Floating Point NUMERIC will convert to the closest floating point number with a possible loss of precision.
FLOAT64 INT64 Returns the closest INT64 value.
Halfway cases such as 1.5 or -0.5 round away from zero.
FLOAT64 STRING Returns an approximate string representation.
FLOAT64 NUMERIC If the floating point number has more than nine digits after the decimal point, it will round half away from zero. Casting a NaN, +inf or -inf will return an error. Casting a value outside the range of NUMERIC will return an overflow error.
BOOL INT64 Returns 1 if x is TRUE, 0 otherwise.
BOOL STRING Returns "true" if x is TRUE, "false" otherwise.
STRING FLOAT64 Returns x as a FLOAT64 value, interpreting it as having the same form as a valid FLOAT64 literal.
Also supports casts from "inf", "+inf", "-inf", and "nan".
Conversions are case-insensitive.
STRING NUMERIC The numeric literal contained in the STRING must not exceed the maximum precision or range of the NUMERIC type, or an error will occur. If the number of digits after the decimal point exceeds nine, then the resulting NUMERIC value will round half away from zero to have nine digits after the decimal point.
STRING BOOL Returns TRUE if x is "true" and FALSE if x is "false"
All other values of x are invalid and throw an error instead of casting to BOOL.
STRINGs are case-insensitive when converting to BOOL.
STRING BYTES STRINGs are cast to BYTES using UTF-8 encoding. For example, the STRING "©", when cast to BYTES, would become a 2-byte sequence with the hex values C2 and A9.
BYTES STRING Returns x interpreted as a UTF-8 STRING.
For example, the BYTES literal b'\xc2\xa9', when cast to STRING, is interpreted as UTF-8 and becomes the unicode character "©".
An error occurs if x is not valid UTF-8.
ARRAY ARRAY Must be the exact same ARRAY type.
STRUCT STRUCT Allowed if the following conditions are met:
  1. The two STRUCTs have the same number of fields.
  2. The original STRUCT field types can be explicitly cast to the corresponding target STRUCT field types (as defined by field order, not field name).

Safe casting

When using CAST, a query can fail if BigQuery is unable to perform the cast. For example, the following query generates an error:

SELECT CAST("apple" AS INT64) AS not_a_number;

If you want to protect your queries from these types of errors, you can use SAFE_CAST. SAFE_CAST is identical to CAST, except it returns NULL instead of raising an error.

SELECT SAFE_CAST("apple" AS INT64) AS not_a_number;

+--------------+
| not_a_number |
+--------------+
| NULL         |
+--------------+

If you are casting from bytes to strings, you can also use the function, SAFE_CONVERT_BYTES_TO_STRING. Any invalid UTF-8 characters are replaced with the unicode replacement character, U+FFFD. See SAFE_CONVERT_BYTES_TO_STRING for more information.

Casting hex strings to integers

If you are working with hex strings (0x123), you can cast those strings as integers:

SELECT '0x123' as hex_value, CAST('0x123' as INT64) as hex_to_int;

+-----------+------------+
| hex_value | hex_to_int |
+-----------+------------+
| 0x123     | 291        |
+-----------+------------+

SELECT '0x123' as hex_value, CAST('-0x123' as INT64) as hex_to_int;

+-----------+------------+
| hex_value | hex_to_int |
+-----------+------------+
| 0x123     | -291       |
+-----------+------------+

Casting date types

BigQuery supports casting date types to/from strings as follows:

CAST(date_expression AS STRING)
CAST(string_expression AS DATE)

Casting from a date type to a string is independent of time zone and is of the form YYYY-MM-DD. When casting from string to date, the string must conform to the supported date literal format, and is independent of time zone. If the string expression is invalid or represents a date that is outside of the supported min/max range, then an error is produced.

Casting timestamp types

BigQuery supports casting timestamp types to/from strings as follows:

CAST(timestamp_expression AS STRING)
CAST(string_expression AS TIMESTAMP)

When casting from timestamp types to string, the timestamp is interpreted using the default time zone, UTC. The number of subsecond digits produced depends on the number of trailing zeroes in the subsecond part: the CAST function will truncate zero, three, or six digits.

When casting from string to a timestamp, string_expression must conform to the supported timestamp literal formats, or else a runtime error occurs. The string_expression may itself contain a time_zone—see time zones. If there is a time zone in the string_expression, that time zone is used for conversion, otherwise the default time zone, UTC, is used. If the string has fewer than six digits, then it is implicitly widened.

An error is produced if the string_expression is invalid, has more than six subsecond digits (i.e. precision greater than microseconds), or represents a time outside of the supported timestamp range.

Casting between date and timestamp types

BigQuery supports casting between date and timestamp types as follows:

CAST(date_expression AS TIMESTAMP)
CAST(timestamp_expression AS DATE)

Casting from a date to a timestamp interprets date_expression as of midnight (start of the day) in the default time zone, UTC. Casting from a timestamp to date effectively truncates the timestamp as of the default time zone.

Coercion

BigQuery coerces the result type of an expression to another type if needed to match function signatures. For example, if function func() is defined to take a single argument of type INT64 and an expression is used as an argument that has a result type of FLOAT64, then the result of the expression will be coerced to INT64 type before func() is computed.

Literal coercion

BigQuery supports the following literal coercions:

Input Data Type Result Data Type Notes
STRING literal DATE
TIMESTAMP

Literal coercion is needed when the actual literal type is different from the type expected by the function in question. For example, if function func() takes a DATE argument, then the expression func("2014-09-27") is valid because the STRING literal "2014-09-27" is coerced to DATE.

Literal conversion is evaluated at analysis time, and gives an error if the input literal cannot be converted successfully to the target type.

Note: String literals do not coerce to numeric types.

Parameter coercion

BigQuery supports the following parameter coercions:

Input Data Type Result Data Type
STRING parameter

If the parameter value cannot be coerced successfully to the target type, an error is provided.

Additional conversion functions

BigQuery provides the following additional conversion functions:

Aggregate functions

An aggregate function is a function that performs a calculation on a set of values. COUNT, MIN and MAX are examples of aggregate functions.

SELECT COUNT(*) as total_count, COUNT(fruit) as non_null_count,
       MIN(fruit) as min, MAX(fruit) as max
FROM UNNEST([NULL, "apple", "pear", "orange"]) as fruit;
+-------------+----------------+-------+------+
| total_count | non_null_count | min   | max  |
+-------------+----------------+-------+------+
| 4           | 3              | apple | pear |
+-------------+----------------+-------+------+

The following sections describe the aggregate functions that BigQuery supports.

ANY_VALUE

ANY_VALUE(expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns any value from the input or NULL if there are zero input rows. The value returned is non-deterministic, which means you might receive a different result each time you use this function.

Supported Argument Types

Any

Optional Clause

OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

Returned Data Types

Matches the input data type.

Examples

SELECT ANY_VALUE(fruit) as any_value
FROM UNNEST(["apple", "banana", "pear"]) as fruit;

+-----------+
| any_value |
+-----------+
| apple     |
+-----------+

SELECT
  fruit,
  ANY_VALUE(fruit) OVER (ORDER BY LENGTH(fruit) ROWS BETWEEN 1 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) AS any_value
FROM UNNEST(["apple", "banana", "pear"]) as fruit;

+--------+-----------+
| fruit  | any_value |
+--------+-----------+
| pear   | pear      |
| apple  | pear      |
| banana | apple     |
+--------+-----------+

ARRAY_AGG

ARRAY_AGG([DISTINCT] expression [{IGNORE|RESPECT} NULLS]
          [ORDER BY key [{ASC|DESC}] [, ... ]]  [LIMIT n])
[OVER (...)]

Description

Returns an ARRAY of expression values.

Supported Argument Types

All data types except ARRAY.

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions. This clause is currently incompatible with all other clauses within ARRAY_AGG().

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

  3. IGNORE NULLS or RESPECT NULLS: If IGNORE NULLS is specified, the NULL values are excluded from the result. If RESPECT NULLS is specified or if neither is specified, the NULL values are included in the result (an error is raised, however, if an array in the final query result contains a NULL element).

  4. ORDER BY: Specifies the order of the values.

    • For each sort key, the default sort direction is ASC.
    • NULLs: In the context of the ORDER BY clause, NULLs are the minimum possible value; that is, NULLs appear first in ASC sorts and last in DESC sorts.
    • Floating point data types: see Floating Point Semantics on ordering and grouping.
    • If DISTINCT is also specified, then the sort key must be the same as expression.
    • If ORDER BY is not specified, the order of the elements in the output array is non-deterministic, which means you might receive a different result each time you use this function.

  5. LIMIT: Specifies the maximum number of expression inputs in the result. The limit n must be a constant INT64.

Returned Data Types

ARRAY

If there are zero input rows, this function returns NULL.

Examples

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_AGG(x)) AS array_agg
FROM UNNEST([NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2, 1, NULL]) AS x;

+-------------------------------+
| array_agg                     |
+-------------------------------+
| [NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2, 1, NULL] |
+-------------------------------+

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_AGG(DISTINCT x)) AS array_agg
FROM UNNEST([NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2, 1, NULL]) AS x;

+------------------+
| array_agg        |
+------------------+
| [1, 3, -2, NULL] |
+------------------+

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_AGG(x IGNORE NULLS)) AS array_agg
FROM UNNEST([NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2, 1, NULL]) AS x;

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

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_AGG(x ORDER BY ABS(x))) AS array_agg
FROM UNNEST([NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2, 1, NULL]) AS x;
+-------------------------------+
| array_agg                     |
+-------------------------------+
| [NULL, NULL, 1, 1, -2, -2, 3] |
+-------------------------------+

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_AGG(x LIMIT 5)) AS array_agg
FROM UNNEST([NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2, 1, NULL]) AS x;

+----------------------+
| array_agg            |
+----------------------+
| [NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2] |
+----------------------+

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_AGG(DISTINCT x IGNORE NULLS ORDER BY x LIMIT 2)) AS array_agg
FROM UNNEST([NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2, 1, NULL]) AS x;

+-----------+
| array_agg |
+-----------+
| [-2, 1]   |
+-----------+

SELECT
  x,
  FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_AGG(x) OVER (ORDER BY ABS(x))) AS array_agg
FROM UNNEST([NULL, 1, -2, 3, -2, 1, NULL]) AS x;

+------+-------------------------------+
| x    | array_agg                     |
+------+-------------------------------+
| NULL | [NULL, NULL]                  |
| NULL | [NULL, NULL]                  |
| 1    | [NULL, NULL, 1, 1]            |
| 1    | [NULL, NULL, 1, 1]            |
| -2   | [NULL, NULL, 1, 1, -2, -2]    |
| -2   | [NULL, NULL, 1, 1, -2, -2]    |
| 3    | [NULL, NULL, 1, 1, -2, -2, 3] |
+------+-------------------------------+

ARRAY_CONCAT_AGG

ARRAY_CONCAT_AGG(expression  [ORDER BY key [{ASC|DESC}] [, ... ]]  [LIMIT n])

Description

Concatenates elements from expression of type ARRAY, returning a single ARRAY as a result. This function ignores NULL input arrays, but respects the NULL elements in non-NULL input arrays (an error is raised, however, if an array in the final query result contains a NULL element).

Supported Argument Types

ARRAY

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. ORDER BY: Specifies the order of the values.

    • For each sort key, the default sort direction is ASC.
    • Array ordering is not supported, and thus the sort key cannot be the same as expression.
    • NULLs: In the context of the ORDER BY clause, NULLs are the minimum possible value; that is, NULLs appear first in ASC sorts and last in DESC sorts.
    • Floating point data types: see Floating Point Semantics on ordering and grouping.
    • If ORDER BY is not specified, the order of the elements in the output array is non-deterministic, which means you might receive a different result each time you use this function.

  2. LIMIT: Specifies the maximum number of expression inputs in the result. The limit applies to the number of input arrays, not the number of elements in the arrays. An empty array counts as 1. A NULL array is not counted. The limit n must be a constant INT64.

Returned Data Types

ARRAY

Returns NULL if there are zero input rows or expression evaluates to NULL for all rows.

Examples

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_CONCAT_AGG(x)) AS array_concat_agg FROM (
  SELECT [NULL, 1, 2, 3, 4] AS x
  UNION ALL SELECT NULL
  UNION ALL SELECT [5, 6]
  UNION ALL SELECT [7, 8, 9]
);

+-----------------------------------+
| array_concat_agg                  |
+-----------------------------------+
| [NULL, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] |
+-----------------------------------+

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_CONCAT_AGG(x ORDER BY ARRAY_LENGTH(x))) AS array_concat_agg FROM (
  SELECT [NULL, 1, 2, 3, 4] AS x
  UNION ALL SELECT NULL
  UNION ALL SELECT [5, 6]
  UNION ALL SELECT [7, 8, 9]
);

+-----------------------------------+
| array_concat_agg                  |
+-----------------------------------+
| [5, 6, 7, 8, 9, NULL, 1, 2, 3, 4] |
+-----------------------------------+

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_CONCAT_AGG(x LIMIT 2)) AS array_concat_agg FROM (
  SELECT [NULL, 1, 2, 3, 4] AS x
  UNION ALL SELECT NULL
  UNION ALL SELECT [5, 6]
  UNION ALL SELECT [7, 8, 9]
);

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

SELECT FORMAT("%T", ARRAY_CONCAT_AGG(x ORDER BY ARRAY_LENGTH(x) LIMIT 2)) AS array_concat_agg FROM (
  SELECT [NULL, 1, 2, 3, 4] AS x
  UNION ALL SELECT NULL
  UNION ALL SELECT [5, 6]
  UNION ALL SELECT [7, 8, 9]
);

+------------------+
| array_concat_agg |
+------------------+
| [5, 6, 7, 8, 9]  |
+------------------+

AVG

AVG([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the average of non-NULL input values, or NaN if the input contains a NaN.

Supported Argument Types

Any numeric input type, such as INT64. Note that, for floating point input types, the return result is non-deterministic, which means you might receive a different result each time you use this function.

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions. This clause is currently incompatible with all other clauses within AVG().

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

Returned Data Types

  • NUMERIC if the input type is NUMERIC.
  • FLOAT64

Examples

SELECT AVG(x) as avg
FROM UNNEST([0, 2, NULL, 4, 4, 5]) as x;

+-----+
| avg |
+-----+
| 3   |
+-----+

SELECT AVG(DISTINCT x) AS avg
FROM UNNEST([0, 2, NULL, 4, 4, 5]) AS x;

+------+
| avg  |
+------+
| 2.75 |
+------+

SELECT
  x,
  AVG(x) OVER (ORDER BY x ROWS BETWEEN 1 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) AS avg
FROM UNNEST([0, 2, NULL, 4, 4, 5]) AS x;

+------+------+
| x    | avg  |
+------+------+
| NULL | NULL |
| 0    | 0    |
| 2    | 1    |
| 4    | 3    |
| 4    | 4    |
| 5    | 4.5  |
+------+------+

BIT_AND

BIT_AND(expression)

Description

Performs a bitwise AND operation on expression and returns the result.

Supported Argument Types

INT64

Returned Data Types

INT64

Examples

SELECT BIT_AND(x) as bit_and FROM UNNEST([0xF001, 0x00A1]) as x;

+---------+
| bit_and |
+---------+
| 1       |
+---------+

BIT_OR

BIT_OR(expression)

Description

Performs a bitwise OR operation on expression and returns the result.

Supported Argument Types

INT64

Returned Data Types

INT64

Examples

SELECT BIT_OR(x) as bit_or FROM UNNEST([0xF001, 0x00A1]) as x;

+--------+
| bit_or |
+--------+
| 61601  |
+--------+

BIT_XOR

BIT_XOR([DISTINCT] expression)

Description

Performs a bitwise XOR operation on expression and returns the result.

Supported Argument Types

INT64

Optional Clause

DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

Returned Data Types

INT64

Examples

SELECT BIT_XOR(x) AS bit_xor FROM UNNEST([5678, 1234]) AS x;

+---------+
| bit_xor |
+---------+
| 4860    |
+---------+

SELECT BIT_XOR(x) AS bit_xor FROM UNNEST([1234, 5678, 1234]) AS x;
+---------+
| bit_xor |
+---------+
| 5678    |
+---------+

SELECT BIT_XOR(DISTINCT x) AS bit_xor FROM UNNEST([1234, 5678, 1234]) AS x;

+---------+
| bit_xor |
+---------+
| 4860    |
+---------+

COUNT

1.

COUNT(*)  [OVER (...)]

2.

COUNT([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

  1. Returns the number of rows in the input.
  2. Returns the number of rows with expression evaluated to any value other than NULL.

Supported Argument Types

expression can be any data type.

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

Return Data Types

INT64

Examples

SELECT
  COUNT(*) AS count_star,
  COUNT(x) AS count_x,
  COUNT(DISTINCT x) AS count_dist_x
FROM UNNEST([1, 4, NULL, 4, 5]) AS x;

+------------+---------+--------------+
| count_star | count_x | count_dist_x |
+------------+---------+--------------+
| 5          | 4       | 3            |
+------------+---------+--------------+

SELECT
  x,
  COUNT(*) OVER (PARTITION BY MOD(x, 3)) AS count_star,
  COUNT(x) OVER (PARTITION BY MOD(x, 3)) AS count_x,
  COUNT(DISTINCT x) OVER (PARTITION BY MOD(x, 3)) AS count_dist_x
FROM UNNEST([1, 4, NULL, 4, 5]) AS x;

+------+------------+---------+--------------+
| x    | count_star | count_x | count_dist_x |
+------+------------+---------+--------------+
| NULL | 1          | 0       | 0            |
| 1    | 3          | 3       | 2            |
| 4    | 3          | 3       | 2            |
| 4    | 3          | 3       | 2            |
| 5    | 1          | 1       | 1            |
+------+------------+---------+--------------+

COUNTIF

COUNTIF(expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the count of TRUE values for expression. Returns 0 if there are zero input rows or expression evaluates to FALSE for all rows.

Supported Argument Types

BOOL

Optional Clause

OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

Return Data Types

INT64

Examples

SELECT COUNTIF(x<0) AS num_negative, COUNTIF(x>0) AS num_positive
FROM UNNEST([5, -2, 3, 6, -10, NULL, -7, 4, 0]) AS x;

+--------------+--------------+
| num_negative | num_positive |
+--------------+--------------+
| 3            | 4            |
+--------------+--------------+

SELECT
  x,
  COUNTIF(x<0) OVER (ORDER BY ABS(x) ROWS BETWEEN 1 PRECEDING AND 1 FOLLOWING) AS num_negative
FROM UNNEST([5, -2, 3, 6, -10, NULL, -7, 4, 0]) AS x;

+------+--------------+
| x    | num_negative |
+------+--------------+
| NULL | 0            |
| 0    | 1            |
| -2   | 1            |
| 3    | 1            |
| 4    | 0            |
| 5    | 0            |
| 6    | 1            |
| -7   | 2            |
| -10  | 2            |
+------+--------------+

LOGICAL_AND

LOGICAL_AND(expression)

Description

Returns the logical AND of all non-NULL expressions. Returns NULL if there are zero input rows or expression evaluates to NULL for all rows.

Supported Argument Types

BOOL

Return Data Types

BOOL

Examples

SELECT LOGICAL_AND(x) as logical_and FROM UNNEST([true, false, true]) as x;

+-------------+
| logical_and |
+-------------+
| false       |
+-------------+

LOGICAL_OR

LOGICAL_OR(expression)

Description

Returns the logical OR of all non-NULL expressions. Returns NULL if there are zero input rows or expression evaluates to NULL for all rows.

Supported Argument Types

BOOL

Return Data Types

BOOL

Examples

SELECT LOGICAL_OR(x) as logical_or FROM UNNEST([true, false, true]) as x;

+------------+
| logical_or |
+------------+
| true       |
+------------+

MAX

MAX(expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the maximum value of non-NULL expressions. Returns NULL if there are zero input rows or expression evaluates to NULL for all rows. Returns NaN if the input contains a NaN.

Supported Argument Types

Any data type except: STRUCT ARRAY

Optional Clause

OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

Return Data Types

Same as the data type used as the input values.

Examples

SELECT MAX(x) AS max
FROM UNNEST([8, NULL, 37, 4, NULL, 55]) AS x;

+-----+
| max |
+-----+
| 55  |
+-----+

SELECT x, MAX(x) OVER (PARTITION BY MOD(x, 2)) AS max
FROM UNNEST([8, NULL, 37, 4, NULL, 55]) AS x;

+------+------+
| x    | max  |
+------+------+
| NULL | NULL |
| NULL | NULL |
| 8    | 8    |
| 4    | 8    |
| 37   | 55   |
| 55   | 55   |
+------+------+

MIN

MIN(expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the minimum value of non-NULL expressions. Returns NULL if there are zero input rows or expression evaluates to NULL for all rows. Returns NaN if the input contains a NaN.

Supported Argument Types

Any data type except: STRUCT ARRAY

Optional Clause

OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

Return Data Types

Same as the data type used as the input values.

Examples

SELECT MIN(x) AS min
FROM UNNEST([8, NULL, 37, 4, NULL, 55]) AS x;

+-----+
| min |
+-----+
| 4   |
+-----+

SELECT x, MIN(x) OVER (PARTITION BY MOD(x, 2)) AS min
FROM UNNEST([8, NULL, 37, 4, NULL, 55]) AS x;

+------+------+
| x    | min  |
+------+------+
| NULL | NULL |
| NULL | NULL |
| 8    | 4    |
| 4    | 4    |
| 37   | 37   |
| 55   | 37   |
+------+------+

STRING_AGG

STRING_AGG([DISTINCT] expression [, delimiter]  [ORDER BY key [{ASC|DESC}] [, ... ]]  [LIMIT n])
[OVER (...)]

Description

Returns a value (either STRING or BYTES) obtained by concatenating non-null values.

If a delimiter is specified, concatenated values are separated by that delimiter; otherwise, a comma is used as a delimiter.

Supported Argument Types

STRING BYTES

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions. This clause is currently incompatible with all other clauses within STRING_AGG().

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

  3. ORDER BY: Specifies the order of the values.

    • For each sort key, the default sort direction is ASC.
    • NULLs: In the context of the ORDER BY clause, NULLs are the minimum possible value; that is, NULLs appear first in ASC sorts and last in DESC sorts.
    • Floating point data types: see Floating Point Semantics on ordering and grouping.
    • If DISTINCT is also specified, then the sort key must be the same as expression.
    • If ORDER BY is not specified, the order of the elements in the output array is non-deterministic, which means you might receive a different result each time you use this function.

  4. LIMIT: Specifies the maximum number of expression inputs in the result. The limit applies to the number of input strings, not the number of characters or bytes in the inputs. An empty string counts as 1. A NULL string is not counted. The limit n must be a constant INT64.

Return Data Types

STRING BYTES

Examples

SELECT STRING_AGG(fruit) AS string_agg
FROM UNNEST(["apple", NULL, "pear", "banana", "pear"]) AS fruit;

+------------------------+
| string_agg             |
+------------------------+
| apple,pear,banana,pear |
+------------------------+

SELECT STRING_AGG(fruit, " & ") AS string_agg
FROM UNNEST(["apple", NULL, "pear", "banana", "pear"]) AS fruit;

+------------------------------+
| string_agg                   |
+------------------------------+
| apple & pear & banana & pear |
+------------------------------+

SELECT STRING_AGG(DISTINCT fruit, " & ") AS string_agg
FROM UNNEST(["apple", NULL, "pear", "banana", "pear"]) AS fruit;

+-----------------------+
| string_agg            |
+-----------------------+
| apple & banana & pear |
+-----------------------+

SELECT STRING_AGG(fruit, " & " ORDER BY LENGTH(fruit)) AS string_agg
FROM UNNEST(["apple", NULL, "pear", "banana", "pear"]) AS fruit;

+------------------------------+
| string_agg                   |
+------------------------------+
| pear & pear & apple & banana |
+------------------------------+

SELECT STRING_AGG(fruit, " & " LIMIT 2) AS string_agg
FROM UNNEST(["apple", NULL, "pear", "banana", "pear"]) AS fruit;

+--------------+
| string_agg   |
+--------------+
| apple & pear |
+--------------+

SELECT STRING_AGG(DISTINCT fruit, " & " ORDER BY fruit DESC LIMIT 2) AS string_agg
FROM UNNEST(["apple", NULL, "pear", "banana", "pear"]) AS fruit;

+---------------+
| string_agg    |
+---------------+
| pear & banana |
+---------------+

SELECT
  fruit,
  STRING_AGG(fruit, " & ") OVER (ORDER BY LENGTH(fruit)) AS string_agg
FROM UNNEST(["apple", NULL, "pear", "banana", "pear"]) AS fruit;

+--------+------------------------------+
| fruit  | string_agg                   |
+--------+------------------------------+
| NULL   | NULL                         |
| pear   | pear & pear                  |
| pear   | pear & pear                  |
| apple  | pear & pear & apple          |
| banana | pear & pear & apple & banana |
+--------+------------------------------+

SUM

SUM([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the sum of non-null values.

If the expression is a floating point value, the sum is non-deterministic, which means you might receive a different result each time you use this function.

Supported Argument Types

Any supported numeric data types.

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

Return Data Types

  • Returns INT64 if the input is an integer.

  • Returns NUMERIC if the input type is NUMERIC.

  • Returns FLOAT64 if the input is a floating point value.

Returns NULL if the input contains only NULLs.

Returns Inf if the input contains Inf.

Returns -Inf if the input contains -Inf.

Returns NaN if the input contains a NaN.

Returns NaN if the input contains a combination of Inf and -Inf.

Examples

SELECT SUM(x) AS sum
FROM UNNEST([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]) AS x;

+-----+
| sum |
+-----+
| 25  |
+-----+

SELECT SUM(DISTINCT x) AS sum
FROM UNNEST([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]) AS x;

+-----+
| sum |
+-----+
| 15  |
+-----+

SELECT
  x,
  SUM(x) OVER (PARTITION BY MOD(x, 3)) AS sum
FROM UNNEST([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]) AS x;

+---+-----+
| x | sum |
+---+-----+
| 3 | 6   |
| 3 | 6   |
| 1 | 10  |
| 4 | 10  |
| 4 | 10  |
| 1 | 10  |
| 2 | 9   |
| 5 | 9   |
| 2 | 9   |
+---+-----+

SELECT
  x,
  SUM(DISTINCT x) OVER (PARTITION BY MOD(x, 3)) AS sum
FROM UNNEST([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]) AS x;

+---+-----+
| x | sum |
+---+-----+
| 3 | 3   |
| 3 | 3   |
| 1 | 5   |
| 4 | 5   |
| 4 | 5   |
| 1 | 5   |
| 2 | 7   |
| 5 | 7   |
| 2 | 7   |
+---+-----+

Statistical Aggregate Functions

BigQuery supports the following statistical aggregate functions.

CORR

CORR(X1, X2)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the Pearson coefficient of correlation of a set of number pairs. For each number pair, the first number is the dependent variable and the second number is the independent variable. The return result is between -1 and 1. A result of 0 indicates no correlation.

This function ignores any input pairs that contain one or more NULL values. If there are fewer than two input pairs without NULL values, this function returns NULL.

Supported Input Types

FLOAT64

Optional Clause

OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

Return Data Type

FLOAT64

COVAR_POP

COVAR_POP(X1, X2)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the population covariance of a set of number pairs. The first number is the dependent variable; the second number is the independent variable. The return result is between -Inf and +Inf.

This function ignores any input pairs that contain one or more NULL values. If there is no input pair without NULL values, this function returns NULL. If there is exactly one input pair without NULL values, this function returns 0.

Supported Input Types

FLOAT64

Optional Clause

OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

Return Data Type

FLOAT64

COVAR_SAMP

COVAR_SAMP(X1, X2)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the sample covariance of a set of number pairs. The first number is the dependent variable; the second number is the independent variable. The return result is between -Inf and +Inf.

This function ignores any input pairs that contain one or more NULL values. If there are fewer than two input pairs without NULL values, this function returns NULL.

Supported Input Types

FLOAT64

Optional Clause

OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions.

Return Data Type

FLOAT64

STDDEV_POP

STDDEV_POP([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the population (biased) standard deviation of the values. The return result is between 0 and +Inf.

This function ignores any NULL inputs. If all inputs are ignored, this function returns NULL.

If this function receives a single non-NULL input, it returns 0.

Supported Input Types

FLOAT64

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions. This clause is currently incompatible with all other clauses within STDDEV_POP().

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

Return Data Type

FLOAT64

STDDEV_SAMP

STDDEV_SAMP([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the sample (unbiased) standard deviation of the values. The return result is between 0 and +Inf.

This function ignores any NULL inputs. If there are fewer than two non-NULL inputs, this function returns NULL.

Supported Input Types

FLOAT64

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions. This clause is currently incompatible with all other clauses within STDDEV_SAMP().

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

Return Data Type

FLOAT64

STDDEV

STDDEV([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

An alias of STDDEV_SAMP.

VAR_POP

VAR_POP([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the population (biased) variance of the values. The return result is between 0 and +Inf.

This function ignores any NULL inputs. If all inputs are ignored, this function returns NULL.

If this function receives a single non-NULL input, it returns 0.

Supported Input Types

FLOAT64

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions. This clause is currently incompatible with all other clauses within VAR_POP().

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

Return Data Type

FLOAT64

VAR_SAMP

VAR_SAMP([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

Returns the sample (unbiased) variance of the values. The return result is between 0 and +Inf.

This function ignores any NULL inputs. If there are fewer than two non-NULL inputs, this function returns NULL.

Supported Input Types

FLOAT64

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. OVER: Specifies a window. See Analytic Functions. This clause is currently incompatible with all other clauses within VAR_SAMP().

  2. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

Return Data Type

FLOAT64

VARIANCE

VARIANCE([DISTINCT] expression)  [OVER (...)]

Description

An alias of VAR_SAMP.

Approximate Aggregate Functions

Approximate aggregate functions are scalable in terms of memory usage and time, but produce approximate results instead of exact results. For more background, see Approximate Aggregation.

APPROX_COUNT_DISTINCT

APPROX_COUNT_DISTINCT(expression)

Description

Returns the approximate result for COUNT(DISTINCT expression). The value returned is a statistical estimate—not necessarily the actual value.

This function is less accurate than COUNT(DISTINCT expression), but performs better on huge input.

Supported Argument Types

All data types except:

  • ARRAY
  • STRUCT

Returned Data Types

INT64

Examples

SELECT APPROX_COUNT_DISTINCT(x) as approx_distinct
FROM UNNEST([0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5]) as x;

+-----------------+
| approx_distinct |
+-----------------+
| 5               |
+-----------------+

APPROX_QUANTILES

APPROX_QUANTILES([DISTINCT] expression, number [{IGNORE|RESPECT} NULLS])

Description

Returns the approximate boundaries for a group of expression values, where number represents the number of quantiles to create. This function returns an array of number + 1 elements, where the first element is the approximate minimum and the last element is the approximate maximum.

Supported Argument Types

expression can be any supported data type except:

  • ARRAY
  • STRUCT

number must be INT64.

Optional Clauses

The clauses are applied in the following order:

  1. DISTINCT: Each distinct value of expression is aggregated only once into the result.

  2. IGNORE NULLS or RESPECT NULLS: If IGNORE NULLS is specified or if neither is specified, the NULL values are excluded from the result. If RESPECT NULLS is specified, the NULL values are included in the result (an error is raised, however, if an array in the final query result contains a NULL element).

Returned Data Types

An ARRAY of the type specified by the expression parameter.

Returns NULL if there are zero input rows or expression evaluates to NULL for all rows.

Examples

SELECT APPROX_QUANTILES(x, 2) AS approx_quantiles
FROM UNNEST([NULL, NULL, 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]) AS x;

+------------------+
| approx_quantiles |
+------------------+
| [1, 5, 10]       |
+------------------+

SELECT APPROX_QUANTILES(DISTINCT x, 2) AS approx_quantiles
FROM UNNEST([NULL, NULL, 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]) AS x;

+------------------+
| approx_quantiles |
+------------------+
| [1, 6, 10]       |
+------------------+

SELECT FORMAT("%T", APPROX_QUANTILES(x, 2 RESPECT NULLS)) AS approx_quantiles
FROM UNNEST([NULL, NULL, 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]) AS x;

+------------------+
| approx_quantiles |
+------------------+
| [NULL, 4, 10]    |
+------------------+

SELECT FORMAT("%T", APPROX_QUANTILES(DISTINCT x, 2 RESPECT NULLS)) AS approx_quantiles
FROM UNNEST([NULL, NULL, 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]) AS x;

+------------------+
| approx_quantiles |
+------------------+
| [NULL, 6, 10]    |
+------------------+

APPROX_TOP_COUNT

APPROX_TOP_COUNT(expression, number)

Description

Returns the approximate top elements of expression. The number parameter specifies the number of elements returned.

Supported Argument Types

expression can be of any data type that the GROUP BY clause supports.

number must be INT64.

Returned Data Types

An ARRAY of type STRUCT. The STRUCT contains two fields. The first field contains an input value. The second field contains an INT64 specifying the number of times the input was returned.

Returns NULL if there are zero input rows.

Examples

SELECT APPROX_TOP_COUNT(x, 2) as approx_top_count
FROM UNNEST(["apple", "apple", "pear", "pear", "pear", "banana"]) as x;

+-------------------------+
| approx_top_count        |
+-------------------------+
| [{pear, 3}, {apple, 2}] |
+-------------------------+

NULL handling

APPROX_TOP_COUNT does not ignore NULLs in the input. For example:

SELECT APPROX_TOP_COUNT(x, 2) as approx_top_count
FROM UNNEST([NULL, "pear", "pear", "pear", "apple", NULL]) as x;

+------------------------+
| approx_top_count       |
+------------------------+
| [{pear, 3}, {NULL, 2}] |
+------------------------+

APPROX_TOP_SUM

APPROX_TOP_SUM(expression, weight, number)

Description

Returns the approximate top elements of expression, based on the sum of an assigned weight. The number parameter specifies the number of elements returned.

If the weight input is negative or NaN, this function returns an error.

Supported Argument Types

expression can be of any data type that the GROUP BY clause supports.

weight must be one of the following:

  • INT64
  • FLOAT64

number must be INT64.

Returned Data Types

An ARRAY of type STRUCT. The STRUCT contains two fields: value and sum. The value field contains the value of the input expression. The sum field is the same type asweight, and is the approximate sum of the input weight associated with the value field.

Returns NULL if there are zero input rows.

Examples

SELECT APPROX_TOP_SUM(x, weight, 2) AS approx_top_sum FROM
UNNEST([
  STRUCT("apple" AS x, 3 AS weight),
  ("pear", 2),
  ("apple", 0),
  ("banana", 5),
  ("pear", 4)
]);

+--------------------------+
| approx_top_sum           |
+--------------------------+
| [{pear, 6}, {banana, 5}] |
+--------------------------+

NULL handling

APPROX_TOP_SUM does not ignore NULL values for the expression and weight parameters.

SELECT APPROX_TOP_SUM(x, weight, 2) AS approx_top_sum FROM
UNNEST([STRUCT("apple" AS x, NULL AS weight), ("pear", 0), ("pear", NULL)]);

+----------------------------+
| approx_top_sum             |
+----------------------------+
| [{pear, 0}, {apple, NULL}] |
+----------------------------+
SELECT APPROX_TOP_SUM(x, weight, 2) AS approx_top_sum FROM
UNNEST([STRUCT("apple" AS x, 0 AS weight), (NULL, 2)]);

+-------------------------+
| approx_top_sum          |
+-------------------------+
| [{NULL, 2}, {apple, 0}] |
+-------------------------+
SELECT APPROX_TOP_SUM(x, weight, 2) AS approx_top_sum FROM
UNNEST([STRUCT("apple" AS x, 0 AS weight), (NULL, NULL)]);

+----------------------------+
| approx_top_sum             |
+----------------------------+
| [{apple, 0}, {NULL, NULL}] |
+----------------------------+

HyperLogLog++ Functions

BigQuery supports the following approximate aggregate functions using the HyperLogLog++ algorithm. For an explanation of how approximate aggregate functions work, see Approximate Aggregation.

HLL_COUNT.INIT

HLL_COUNT.INIT(input [, precision])

Description

A scalar function that takes one or more input values and aggregates them into a HyperLogLog++ sketch. Each sketch is represented using the BYTES data type. You can then merge sketches using HLL_COUNT.MERGE or HLL_COUNT.MERGE_PARTIAL. If no merging is needed, you can extract the final count of distinct values from the sketch using HLL_COUNT.EXTRACT.

An input can be one of the following:

  • INT64
  • STRING
  • BYTES

This function supports an optional parameter, precision. This parameter defines the accuracy of the estimate at the cost of additional memory required to process the sketches or store them on disk. The following table shows the allowed precision values, the maximum sketch size per group, and confidence interval (CI) of typical precisions:

Precision Max. Sketch Size (KiB) 65% CI 95% CI 99% CI
10 1 ±1.63% ±3.25% ±6.50%
11 2 ±1.15% ±2.30% ±4.60%
12 4 ±0.81% ±1.63% ±3.25%
13 8 ±0.57% ±1.15% ±1.72%
14 16 ±0.41% ±0.81% ±1.22%
15 (default) 32 ±0.29% ±0.57% ±0.86%
16 64 ±0.20% ±0.41% ±0.61%
17 128 ±0.14% ±0.29% ±0.43%
18 256 ±0.10% ±0.20% ±0.41%
19 512 ±0.07% ±0.14% ±0.29%
20 1024 ±0.05% ±0.10% ±0.20%
21 2048 ±0.04% ±0.07% ±0.14%
22 4096 ±0.03% ±0.05% ±0.10%
23 8192 ±0.02% ±0.04% ±0.07%
24 16384 ±0.01% ±0.03% ±0.05%

If the input is NULL, this function returns NULL.

For more information, see HyperLogLog in Practice: Algorithmic Engineering of a State of The Art Cardinality Estimation Algorithm.

Supported input type

BYTES

Return type

BYTES

Example

SELECT
  HLL_COUNT.INIT(respondent) AS respondents_hll,
  flavor,
  country
FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT(1 AS respondent, "Vanilla" AS flavor, "CH" AS country),
  (1, "Chocolate", "CH"),
  (2, "Chocolate", "US"),
  (2, "Strawberry", "US")])
GROUP BY flavor, country;

HLL_COUNT.MERGE

HLL_COUNT.MERGE(sketch)

Description

An aggregate function that returns the cardinality of several HyperLogLog++ set sketches by computing their union.

Each sketch must have the same precision and be initialized on the same type. Attempts to merge sketches with different precisions or for different types results in an error. For example, you cannot merge a sketch initialized from INT64 data with one initialized from STRING data.

This function ignores NULL values when merging sketches. If the merge happens over zero rows or only over NULL values, the function returns 0.

Supported input types

BYTES

Return type

INT64

Example

SELECT HLL_COUNT.MERGE(respondents_hll) AS num_respondents, flavor
FROM (
  SELECT
    HLL_COUNT.INIT(respondent) AS respondents_hll,
    flavor,
    country
  FROM UNNEST([
    STRUCT(1 AS respondent, "Vanilla" AS flavor, "CH" AS country),
    (1, "Chocolate", "CH"),
    (2, "Chocolate", "US"),
    (2, "Strawberry", "US")])
  GROUP BY flavor, country)
GROUP BY flavor;

HLL_COUNT.MERGE_PARTIAL

HLL_COUNT.MERGE_PARTIAL(sketch)

Description

An aggregate function that takes one or more HyperLogLog++ sketch inputs and merges them into a new sketch.

This function returns NULL if there is no input or all inputs are NULL.

Supported input types

BYTES

Return type

BYTES

Example

SELECT HLL_COUNT.MERGE_PARTIAL(respondents_hll) AS num_respondents, flavor
FROM (
  SELECT
    HLL_COUNT.INIT(respondent) AS respondents_hll,
    flavor,
    country
  FROM UNNEST([
    STRUCT(1 AS respondent, "Vanilla" AS flavor, "CH" AS country),
    (1, "Chocolate", "CH"),
    (2, "Chocolate", "US"),
    (2, "Strawberry", "US")])
  GROUP BY flavor, country)
GROUP BY flavor;

HLL_COUNT.EXTRACT

HLL_COUNT.EXTRACT(sketch)

Description

A scalar function that extracts an cardinality estimate of a single HyperLogLog++ sketch.

If sketch is NULL, this function returns a cardinality estimate of 0.

Supported input types

BYTES

Return type

INT64

Example

SELECT
  flavor,
  country,
  HLL_COUNT.EXTRACT(respondents_hll) AS num_respondents
FROM (
  SELECT
    HLL_COUNT.INIT(respondent) AS respondents_hll,
    flavor,
    country
  FROM UNNEST([
    STRUCT(1 AS respondent, "Vanilla" AS flavor, "CH" AS country),
    (1, "Chocolate", "CH"),
    (2, "Chocolate", "US"),
    (2, "Strawberry", "US")])
  GROUP BY flavor, country);

+------------+---------+-----------------+
| flavor     | country | num_respondents |
+------------+---------+-----------------+
| Vanilla    | CH      | 1               |
| Chocolate  | CH      | 1               |
| Chocolate  | US      | 1               |
| Strawberry | US      | 1               |
+------------+---------+-----------------+

Numbering Functions

The following sections describe the numbering functions that BigQuery supports. Numbering functions are a subset of analytic functions. For an explanation of how analytic functions work, see Analytic Function Concepts. For a description of how numbering functions work, see the Numbering Function Concepts.

OVER clause requirements:

  • PARTITION BY: Optional.
  • ORDER BY: Required, except for ROW_NUMBER().
  • window_frame_clause: Disallowed.

RANK

Description

Returns the ordinal (1-based) rank of each row within the ordered partition. All peer rows receive the same rank value. The next row or set of peer rows receives a rank value which increments by the number of peers with the previous rank value, instead of DENSE_RANK, which always increments by 1.

Supported Argument Types

INT64

DENSE_RANK

Description

Returns the ordinal (1-based) rank of each row within the window partition. All peer rows receive the same rank value, and the subsequent rank value is incremented by one.

Supported Argument Types

INT64

PERCENT_RANK

Description

Return the percentile rank of a row defined as (RK-1)/(NR-1), where RK is the RANK of the row and NR is the number of rows in the partition. Returns 0 if NR=1.

Supported Argument Types

FLOAT64

CUME_DIST

Description

Return the relative rank of a row defined as NP/NR. NP is defined to be the number of rows that either precede or are peers with the current row. NR is the number of rows in the partition.

Supported Argument Types

FLOAT64

NTILE

NTILE(constant_integer_expression)

Description

This function divides the rows into constant_integer_expression buckets based on row ordering and returns the 1-based bucket number that is assigned to each row. The number of rows in the buckets can differ by at most 1. The remainder values (the remainder of number of rows divided by buckets) are distributed one for each bucket, starting with bucket 1. If constant_integer_expression evaluates to NULL, 0 or negative, an error is provided.

Supported Argument Types

INT64

ROW_NUMBER

Description

Does not require the ORDER BY clause. Returns the sequential row ordinal (1-based) of each row for each ordered partition. If the ORDER BY clause is unspecified then the result is non-deterministic.

Supported Argument Types

INT64

Bit Functions

BigQuery supports the following bit functions.

BIT_COUNT

BIT_COUNT(expression)

Description

The input, expression, must be an integer or BYTES.

Returns the number of bits that are set in the input expression. For integers, this is the number of bits in two's complement form.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT a, BIT_COUNT(a) AS a_bits, FORMAT("%T", b) as b, BIT_COUNT(b) AS b_bits
FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT(0 AS a, b'' AS b), (0, b'\x00'), (5, b'\x05'), (8, b'\x00\x08'),
  (0xFFFF, b'\xFF\xFF'), (-2, b'\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFE'),
  (-1, b'\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF'),
  (NULL, b'\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF')
]) AS x;

+-------+--------+---------------------------------------------+--------+
| a     | a_bits | b                                           | b_bits |
+-------+--------+---------------------------------------------+--------+
| 0     | 0      | b""                                         | 0      |
| 0     | 0      | b"\x00"                                     | 0      |
| 5     | 2      | b"\x05"                                     | 2      |
| 8     | 1      | b"\x00\x08"                                 | 1      |
| 65535 | 16     | b"\xff\xff"                                 | 16     |
| -2    | 63     | b"\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe"         | 63     |
| -1    | 64     | b"\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff"         | 64     |
| NULL  | NULL   | b"\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff" | 80     |
+-------+--------+---------------------------------------------+--------+

Mathematical functions

All mathematical functions have the following behaviors:

  • They return NULL if any of the input parameters is NULL.
  • They return NaN if any of the arguments is NaN.

ABS

ABS(X)

Description

Computes absolute value. Returns an error if the argument is an integer and the output value cannot be represented as the same type; this happens only for the largest negative input value, which has no positive representation. Returns +inf for a +/-inf argument.

SIGN

SIGN(X)

Description

Returns -1, 0, or +1 for negative, zero and positive arguments respectively. For floating point arguments, this function does not distinguish between positive and negative zero. Returns NaN for a NaN argument.

IS_INF

IS_INF(X)

Description

Returns TRUE if the value is positive or negative infinity. Returns NULL for NULL inputs.

IS_NAN

IS_NAN(X)

Description

Returns TRUE if the value is a NaN value. Returns NULL for NULL inputs.

IEEE_DIVIDE

IEEE_DIVIDE(X, Y)

Description

Divides X by Y; this function never fails. Returns FLOAT64. Unlike the division operator (/), this function does not generate errors for division by zero or overflow.

Special cases:

  • If the result overflows, returns +/-inf.
  • If Y=0 and X=0, returns NaN.
  • If Y=0 and X!=0, returns +/-inf.
  • If X = +/-inf and Y = +/-inf, returns NaN.

The behavior of IEEE_DIVIDE is further illustrated in the table below.

Special cases for IEEE_DIVIDE

The following table lists special cases for IEEE_DIVIDE.

Numerator Data Type (X) Denominator Data Type (Y) Result Value
Anything except 0 0 +/-inf
0 0 NaN
0 NaN NaN
NaN 0 NaN
+/-inf +/-inf NaN

RAND

RAND()

Description

Generates a pseudo-random value of type FLOAT64 in the range of [0, 1), inclusive of 0 and exclusive of 1.

SQRT

SQRT(X)

Description

Computes the square root of X. Generates an error if X is less than 0. Returns +inf if X is +inf.

POW

POW(X, Y)

Description

Returns the value of X raised to the power of Y. If the result underflows and is not representable, then the function returns a value of zero. Returns an error if one of the following is true:

  • X is a finite value less than 0 and Y is a noninteger
  • X is 0 and Y is a finite value less than 0

The behavior of POW() is further illustrated in the table below.

POWER

POWER(X, Y)

Description

Synonym of POW().

Special cases for POW(X, Y) and POWER(X, Y)

The following are special cases for POW(X, Y) and POWER(X, Y).

X Y POW(X, Y) or POWER(X, Y)
1.0 Any value including NaN 1.0
any including NaN 0 1.0
-1.0 +/-inf 1.0
ABS(X) < 1 -inf +inf
ABS(X) > 1 -inf 0
ABS(X) < 1 +inf 0
ABS(X) > 1 +inf +inf
-inf Y < 0 0
-inf Y > 0 -inf if Y is an odd integer, +inf otherwise
+inf Y < 0 0
+inf Y > 0 +inf

EXP

EXP(X)

Description

Computes e to the power of X, also called the natural exponential function. If the result underflows, this function returns a zero. Generates an error if the result overflows. If X is +/-inf, then this function returns +inf or 0.

LN

LN(X)

Description

Computes the natural logarithm of X. Generates an error if X is less than or equal to zero. If X is +inf, then this function returns +inf.

LOG

LOG(X [, Y])

Description

If only X is present, LOG is a synonym of LN. If Y is also present, LOG computes the logarithm of X to base Y. Generates an error in these cases:

  • X is less than or equal to zero
  • Y is 1.0
  • Y is less than or equal to zero.

The behavior of LOG(X, Y) is further illustrated in the table below.

Special cases for LOG(X, Y)

X Y LOG(X, Y)
-inf Any value NaN
Any value +inf NaN
+inf 0.0 Y < 1.0 -inf
+inf Y > 1.0 +inf

LOG10

LOG10(X)

Description

Similar to LOG, but computes logarithm to base 10.

GREATEST

GREATEST(X1,...,XN)

Description

Returns NULL if any of the inputs is NULL. Otherwise, returns NaN if any of the inputs is NaN. Otherwise, returns the largest value among X1,...,XN according to the < comparison.

LEAST

LEAST(X1,...,XN)

Description

Returns NULL if any of the inputs is NULL. Returns NaN if any of the inputs is NaN. Otherwise, returns the smallest value among X1,...,XN according to the > comparison.

DIV

DIV(X, Y)

Description

Returns the result of integer division of X by Y. Division by zero returns an error. Division by -1 may overflow. See the table below for possible result types.

SAFE_DIVIDE

SAFE_DIVIDE(X, Y)

Description

Equivalent to the division operator (/), but returns NULL if an error occurs, such as a division by zero error.

MOD

MOD(X, Y)

Description

Modulo function: returns the remainder of the division of X by Y. Returned value has the same sign as X. An error is generated if Y is 0. See the table below for possible result types.

ROUND

ROUND(X [, N])

Description

If only X is present, ROUND rounds X to the nearest integer. If N is present, ROUND rounds X to N decimal places after the decimal point. If N is negative, ROUND will round off digits to the left of the decimal point. Rounds halfway cases away from zero. Generates an error if overflow occurs.

TRUNC

TRUNC(X [, N])

Description

If only X is present, TRUNC rounds X to the nearest integer whose absolute value is not greater than the absolute value of X. If N is also present, TRUNC behaves like ROUND(X, N), but always rounds towards zero and never overflows.

CEIL

CEIL(X)

Description

Returns the smallest integral value (with FLOAT64 type) that is not less than X.

CEILING

CEILING(X)

Description

Synonym of CEIL(X)

FLOOR

FLOOR(X)

Description

Returns the largest integral value (with FLOAT64 type) that is not greater than X.

Example rounding function behavior

Example behavior of BigQuery rounding functions:

Input "X" ROUND(X) TRUNC(X) CEIL(X) FLOOR(X)
2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
2.3 2.0 2.0 3.0 2.0
2.8 3.0 2.0 3.0 2.0
2.5 3.0 2.0 3.0 2.0
-2.3 -2.0 -2.0 -2.0 -3.0
-2.8 -3.0 -2.0 -2.0 -3.0
-2.5 -3.0 -2.0 -2.0 -3.0
0 0 0 0 0
+/-inf +/-inf +/-inf +/-inf +/-inf
NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN

COS

COS(X)

Description

Computes cosine of X. Never fails.

COSH

COSH(X)

Description

Computes the hyperbolic cosine of X. Generates an error if an overflow occurs.

ACOS

ACOS(X)

Description

Computes the principal value of the arc cosine of X. The return value is in the range [0,]. Generates an error if X is a finite value outside of range [-1, 1].

ACOSH

ACOSH(X)

Description

Computes the inverse hyperbolic cosine of X. Generates an error if X is a finite value less than 1.

SIN

SIN(X)

Description

Computes the sine of X. Never fails.

SINH

SINH(X)

Description

Computes the hyperbolic sine of X. Generates an error if an overflow occurs.

ASIN

ASIN(X)

Description

Computes the principal value of the arc sine of X. The return value is in the range [-π/2,π/2]. Generates an error if X is a finite value outside of range [-1, 1].

ASINH

ASINH(X)

Description

Computes the inverse hyperbolic sine of X. Does not fail.

TAN

TAN(X)

Description

Computes tangent of X. Generates an error if an overflow occurs.

TANH

TANH(X)

Description

Computes hyperbolic tangent of X. Does not fail.

ATAN

ATAN(X)

Description

Computes the principal value of the arc tangent of X. The return value is in the range [-π/2,π/2]. Does not fail.

ATANH

ATANH(X)

Description

Computes the inverse hyperbolic tangent of X. Generates an error if the absolute value of X is greater or equal 1.

ATAN2

ATAN2(Y, X)

Description

Calculates the principal value of the arc tangent of Y/X using the signs of the two arguments to determine the quadrant. The return value is in the range [-π,π]. The behavior of this function is further illustrated in the table below.

Special cases for ATAN2()

Y X ATAN2(Y, X)
NaN Any value NaN
Any value NaN NaN
0 0 0, π or -π depending on the sign of X and Y
Finite value -inf π or -π depending on the sign of Y
Finite value +inf 0
+/-inf Finite value π/2 or π/2 depending on the sign of Y
+/-inf -inf ¾π or -¾π depending on the sign of Y
+/-inf +inf π/4 or -π/4 depending on the sign of Y

Special cases for trigonometric and hyperbolic rounding functions

X COS(X) COSH(X) ACOS(X) ACOSH(X) SIN(X) SINH(X) ASIN(X) ASINH(X) TAN(X) TANH(X) ATAN(X) ATANH(X)
+/-inf NaN =+inf NaN =+inf NaN =+inf NaN =+inf NaN =+1.0 π/2 NaN
-inf NaN =+inf NaN NaN NaN -inf NaN -inf NaN -1.0 -π/2 NaN
NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN

The following sections describe the navigation functions that BigQuery supports. Navigation functions are a subset of analytic functions. For an explanation of how analytic functions work, see Analytic Function Concepts. For an explanation of how navigation functions work, see Navigation Function Concepts.

FIRST_VALUE

FIRST_VALUE (value_expression [{RESPECT | IGNORE} NULLS])

Description

Returns the value of the value_expression for the first row in the current window frame.

This function includes NULL values in the calculation unless IGNORE NULLS is present. If IGNORE NULLS is present, the function excludes NULL values from the calculation.

Supported Argument Types

value_expression can be any data type that an expression can return.

Return Data Type

ANY

Examples

The following example computes the fastest time for each division.

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  FORMAT_TIMESTAMP('%X', finish_time) AS finish_time,
  division,
  FORMAT_TIMESTAMP('%X', fastest_time) AS fastest_time,
  TIMESTAMP_DIFF(finish_time, fastest_time, SECOND) AS delta_in_seconds
FROM (
  SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,
  FIRST_VALUE(finish_time)
    OVER (PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC
    ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING) AS fastest_time
  FROM finishers);

+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | fastest_time | delta_in_seconds |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | 03:08:58     | 0                |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 0                |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 436              |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 891              |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 956              |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 1109             |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | 02:54:11     | 0                |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | 02:54:11     | 426              |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | 02:54:11     | 691              |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | 02:54:11     | 733              |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------------+

LAST_VALUE

LAST_VALUE (value_expression [{RESPECT | IGNORE} NULLS])

Description

Returns the value of the value_expression for the last row in the current window frame.

This function includes NULL values in the calculation unless IGNORE NULLS is present. If IGNORE NULLS is present, the function excludes NULL values from the calculation.

Supported Argument Types

value_expression can be any data type that an expression can return.

Return Data Type

ANY

Examples

The following example computes the slowest time for each division.

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  FORMAT_TIMESTAMP('%X', finish_time) AS finish_time,
  division,
  FORMAT_TIMESTAMP('%X', slowest_time) AS slowest_time,
  TIMESTAMP_DIFF(slowest_time, finish_time, SECOND) AS delta_in_seconds
FROM (
  SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,
  LAST_VALUE(finish_time)
    OVER (PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC
    ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING) AS slowest_time
  FROM finishers);

+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | slowest_time | delta_in_seconds |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | 03:08:58     | 0                |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | 03:10:14     | 1109             |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | 03:10:14     | 673              |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | 03:10:14     | 218              |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | 03:10:14     | 153              |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | 03:10:14     | 0                |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | 03:06:24     | 733              |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | 03:06:24     | 307              |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | 03:06:24     | 42               |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | 03:06:24     | 0                |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------------+

NTH_VALUE

NTH_VALUE (value_expression, constant_integer_expression [{RESPECT | IGNORE} NULLS])

Description

Returns the value of value_expression at the Nth row of the current window frame, where Nth is defined by constant_integer_expression. Returns NULL if there is no such row.

This function includes NULL values in the calculation unless IGNORE NULLS is present. If IGNORE NULLS is present, the function excludes NULL values from the calculation.

Supported Argument Types

  • value_expression can be any data type that can be returned from an expression.
  • constant_integer_expression can be any constant expression that returns an integer.

Return Data Type

ANY

Examples

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  FORMAT_TIMESTAMP('%X', finish_time) AS finish_time,
  division,
  FORMAT_TIMESTAMP('%X', fastest_time) AS fastest_time,
  FORMAT_TIMESTAMP('%X', second_fastest) AS second_fastest
FROM (
  SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,finishers,
  FIRST_VALUE(finish_time)
    OVER w1 AS fastest_time,
  NTH_VALUE(finish_time, 2)
    OVER w1 as second_fastest
  FROM finishers
  WINDOW w1 AS (
    PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC
    ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING));

+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+----------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | fastest_time | second_fastest |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+----------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | 03:08:58     | NULL           |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 02:59:01       |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 02:59:01       |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 02:59:01       |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 02:59:01       |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | 02:51:45     | 02:59:01       |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | 02:54:11     | 03:01:17       |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | 02:54:11     | 03:01:17       |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | 02:54:11     | 03:01:17       |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | 02:54:11     | 03:01:17       |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+--------------+----------------+

LEAD

LEAD (value_expression[, offset [, default_expression]])

Description

Returns the value of the value_expression on a subsequent row. Changing the offset value changes which subsequent row is returned; the default value is 1, indicating the next row in the window frame. An error occurs if offset is NULL or a negative value.

The optional default_expression is used if there isn't a row in the window frame at the specified offset. This expression must be a constant expression and its type must be implicitly coercible to the type of value_expression. If left unspecified, default_expression defaults to NULL.

Supported Argument Types

  • value_expression can be any data type that can be returned from an expression.
  • offset must be a non-negative integer literal or parameter.
  • default_expression must be compatible with the value expression type.

Return Data Type

ANY

Examples

The following example illustrates a basic use of the LEAD function.

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,
  LEAD(name)
    OVER (PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC) AS followed_by
FROM finishers;

+-----------------+-------------+----------+-----------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | followed_by     |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+-----------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | NULL            |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | Nikki Leith     |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | Jen Edwards     |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | Meghan Lederer  |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | Lauren Reasoner |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | NULL            |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | Lauren Matthews |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | Desiree Berry   |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | Suzy Slane      |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | NULL            |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+-----------------+

This next example uses the optional offset parameter.

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,
  LEAD(name, 2)
    OVER (PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC) AS two_runners_back
FROM finishers;

+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | two_runners_back |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | NULL             |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | Jen Edwards      |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | Meghan Lederer   |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | Lauren Reasoner  |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | NULL             |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | NULL             |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | Desiree Berry    |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | Suzy Slane       |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | NULL             |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | NULL             |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+

The following example replaces NULL values with a default value.

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,
  LEAD(name, 2, 'Nobody')
    OVER (PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC) AS two_runners_back
FROM finishers;

+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | two_runners_back |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | Nobody           |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | Jen Edwards      |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | Meghan Lederer   |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | Lauren Reasoner  |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | Nobody           |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | Nobody           |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | Desiree Berry    |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | Suzy Slane       |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | Nobody           |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | Nobody           |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+

LAG

LAG (value_expression[, offset [, default_expression]])

Description

Returns the value of the value_expression on a preceding row. Changing the offset value changes which preceding row is returned; the default value is 1, indicating the previous row in the window frame. An error occurs if offset is NULL or a negative value.

The optional default_expression is used if there isn't a row in the window frame at the specified offset. This expression must be a constant expression and its type must be implicitly coercible to the type of value_expression. If left unspecified, default_expression defaults to NULL.

Supported Argument Types

  • value_expression can be any data type that can be returned from an expression.
  • offset must be a non-negative integer literal or parameter.
  • default_expression must be compatible with the value expression type.

Return Data Type

ANY

Examples

The following example illustrates a basic use of the LAG function.

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,
  LAG(name)
    OVER (PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC) AS preceding_runner
FROM finishers;

+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | preceding_runner |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | NULL             |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | NULL             |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | Sophia Liu       |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | Nikki Leith      |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | Jen Edwards      |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | Meghan Lederer   |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | NULL             |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | Lisa Stelzner    |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | Lauren Matthews  |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | Desiree Berry    |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+------------------+

This next example uses the optional offset parameter.

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,
  LAG(name, 2)
    OVER (PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC) AS two_runners_ahead
FROM finishers;

+-----------------+-------------+----------+-------------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | two_runners_ahead |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+-------------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | NULL              |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | NULL              |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | NULL              |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | Sophia Liu        |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | Nikki Leith       |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | Jen Edwards       |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | NULL              |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | NULL              |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | Lisa Stelzner     |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | Lauren Matthews   |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+-------------------+

The following example replaces NULL values with a default value.

WITH finishers AS
 (SELECT 'Sophia Liu' as name,
  TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:51:45' as finish_time,
  'F30-34' as division
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lisa Stelzner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:54:11', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Nikki Leith', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 2:59:01', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Matthews', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:01:17', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Desiree Berry', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:05:42', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Suzy Slane', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:24', 'F35-39'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Jen Edwards', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:06:36', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Meghan Lederer', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:07:41', 'F30-34'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Carly Forte', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:08:58', 'F25-29'
  UNION ALL SELECT 'Lauren Reasoner', TIMESTAMP '2016-10-18 3:10:14', 'F30-34')
SELECT name,
  finish_time,
  division,
  LAG(name, 2, 'Nobody')
    OVER (PARTITION BY division ORDER BY finish_time ASC) AS two_runners_ahead
FROM finishers;

+-----------------+-------------+----------+-------------------+
| name            | finish_time | division | two_runners_ahead |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+-------------------+
| Carly Forte     | 03:08:58    | F25-29   | Nobody            |
| Sophia Liu      | 02:51:45    | F30-34   | Nobody            |
| Nikki Leith     | 02:59:01    | F30-34   | Nobody            |
| Jen Edwards     | 03:06:36    | F30-34   | Sophia Liu        |
| Meghan Lederer  | 03:07:41    | F30-34   | Nikki Leith       |
| Lauren Reasoner | 03:10:14    | F30-34   | Jen Edwards       |
| Lisa Stelzner   | 02:54:11    | F35-39   | Nobody            |
| Lauren Matthews | 03:01:17    | F35-39   | Nobody            |
| Desiree Berry   | 03:05:42    | F35-39   | Lisa Stelzner     |
| Suzy Slane      | 03:06:24    | F35-39   | Lauren Matthews   |
+-----------------+-------------+----------+-------------------+

PERCENTILE_CONT

PERCENTILE_CONT (value_expression, percentile [{RESPECT | IGNORE} NULLS])

Description

Computes the specified percentile value for the value_expression, with linear interpolation.

This function ignores NULL values if RESPECT NULLS is absent. If RESPECT NULLS is present:

  • Interpolation between two NULL values returns NULL.
  • Interpolation between a NULL value and a non-NULL value returns the non-NULL value.

Supported Argument Types

  • value_expression is a numeric expression.
  • percentile is a DOUBLE literal in the range [0, 1].

Return Data Type

DOUBLE

Examples

The following example computes the value for some percentiles from a column of values while ignoring nulls.

SELECT
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 0) OVER() AS min,
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 0.01) OVER() AS percentile1,
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 0.5) OVER() AS median,
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 0.9) OVER() AS percentile90,
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 1) OVER() AS max
FROM UNNEST([0, 3, NULL, 1, 2]) AS x LIMIT 1;

+-----+-------------+--------+--------------+-----+
| min | percentile1 | median | percentile90 | max |
+-----+-------------+--------+--------------+-----+
| 0   | 0.03        | 1.5    | 2.7          | 3   |
+-----+-------------+--------+--------------+-----+

The following example computes the value for some percentiles from a column of values while respecting nulls.

SELECT
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 0 RESPECT NULLS) OVER() AS min,
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 0.01 RESPECT NULLS) OVER() AS percentile1,
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 0.5 RESPECT NULLS) OVER() AS median,
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 0.9 RESPECT NULLS) OVER() AS percentile90,
  PERCENTILE_CONT(x, 1 RESPECT NULLS) OVER() AS max
FROM UNNEST([0, 3, NULL, 1, 2]) AS x LIMIT 1;

+------+-------------+--------+--------------+-----+
| min  | percentile1 | median | percentile90 | max |
+------+-------------+--------+--------------+-----+
| NULL | 0           | 1      | 2.6          | 3   |
+------+-------------+--------+--------------+-----+

PERCENTILE_DISC

PERCENTILE_DISC (value_expression, percentile [{RESPECT | IGNORE} NULLS])

Description

Computes the specified percentile value for a discrete value_expression. The returned value is the first sorted value of value_expression with cumulative distribution greater than or equal to the given percentile value.

This function ignores NULL values unless RESPECT NULLS is present.

Supported Argument Types

  • value_expression can be any orderable type.
  • percentile is a DOUBLE literal in the range [0, 1].

Return Data Type

ANY

Examples

The following example computes the value for some percentiles from a column of values while ignoring nulls.

SELECT
  x,
  PERCENTILE_DISC(x, 0) OVER() AS min,
  PERCENTILE_DISC(x, 0.5) OVER() AS median,
  PERCENTILE_DISC(x, 1) OVER() AS max
FROM UNNEST(['c', NULL, 'b', 'a']) AS x;

+------+-----+--------+-----+
| x    | min | median | max |
+------+-----+--------+-----+
| c    | a   | b      | c   |
| NULL | a   | b      | c   |
| b    | a   | b      | c   |
| a    | a   | b      | c   |
+------+-----+--------+-----+

The following example computes the value for some percentiles from a column of values while respecting nulls.

SELECT
  x,
  PERCENTILE_DISC(x, 0 RESPECT NULLS) OVER() AS min,
  PERCENTILE_DISC(x, 0.5 RESPECT NULLS) OVER() AS median,
  PERCENTILE_DISC(x, 1 RESPECT NULLS) OVER() AS max
FROM UNNEST(['c', NULL, 'b', 'a']) AS x;

+------+------+--------+-----+
| x    | min  | median | max |
+------+------+--------+-----+
| c    | NULL | a      | c   |
| NULL | NULL | a      | c   |
| b    | NULL | a      | c   |
| a    | NULL | a      | c   |
+------+------+--------+-----+

Aggregate Analytic Functions

The following sections describe the aggregate analytic functions that BigQuery supports. For an explanation of how analytic functions work, see Analytic Function Concepts. For an explanation of how aggregate analytic functions work, see Aggregate Analytic Function Concepts.

BigQuery supports the following aggregate functions as analytic functions:

OVER clause requirements:

  • PARTITION BY: Optional.
  • ORDER BY: Optional. Disallowed if DISTINCT is present.
  • window_frame_clause: Optional. Disallowed if DISTINCT is present.

Example:

COUNT(*) OVER (ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING)
SUM(DISTINCT x) OVER ()

Hash functions

FARM_FINGERPRINT

FARM_FINGERPRINT(value)

Description

Computes the fingerprint of the STRING or BYTES input using the Fingerprint64 function from the open-source FarmHash library. The output of this function for a particular input will never change.

Return type

INT64

Examples

WITH example AS (
  SELECT 1 AS x, "foo" AS y, true AS z UNION ALL
  SELECT 2 AS x, "apple" AS y, false AS z UNION ALL
  SELECT 3 AS x, "" AS y, true AS z
)
SELECT
  *,
  FARM_FINGERPRINT(CONCAT(CAST(x AS STRING), y, CAST(z AS STRING)))
    AS row_fingerprint
FROM example;
+---+-------+-------+----------------------+
| x | y     | z     | row_fingerprint      |
+---+-------+-------+----------------------+
| 1 | foo   | true  | -1541654101129638711 |
| 2 | apple | false | 2794438866806483259  |
| 3 |       | true  | -4880158226897771312 |
+---+-------+-------+----------------------+

MD5

MD5(input)

Description

Computes the hash of the input using the MD5 algorithm. The input can either be STRING or BYTES. The string version treats the input as an array of bytes.

This function returns 16 bytes.

Return type

BYTES

Example

SELECT MD5("Hello World") as md5;

+-------------------------------------------------+
| md5                                             |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| \xb1\n\x8d\xb1d\xe0uA\x05\xb7\xa9\x9b\xe7.?\xe5 |
+-------------------------------------------------+

SHA1

SHA1(input)

Description

Computes the hash of the input using the SHA-1 algorithm. The input can either be STRING or BYTES. The string version treats the input as an array of bytes.

This function returns 20 bytes.

Return type

BYTES

Example

SELECT SHA1("Hello World") as sha1;

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| sha1                                                      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| \nMU\xa8\xd7x\xe5\x02/\xabp\x19w\xc5\xd8@\xbb\xc4\x86\xd0 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+

SHA256

SHA256(input)

Description

Computes the hash of the input using the SHA-256 algorithm. The input can either be STRING or BYTES. The string version treats the input as an array of bytes.

This function returns 32 bytes.

Return type

BYTES

Example

SELECT SHA256("Hello World") as sha256;

SHA512

SHA512(input)

Description

Computes the hash of the input using the SHA-512 algorithm. The input can either be STRING or BYTES. The string version treats the input as an array of bytes.

This function returns 64 bytes.

Return type

BYTES

Example

SELECT SHA512("Hello World") as sha512;

String functions

These string functions work on two different values: STRING and BYTES data types. STRING values must be well-formed UTF-8.

Functions that return position values, such as STRPOS, encode those positions as INT64. The value 1 refers to the first character (or byte), 2 refers to the second, and so on. The value 0 indicates an invalid index. When working on STRING types, the returned positions refer to character positions.

All string comparisons are done byte-by-byte, without regard to Unicode canonical equivalence.

BYTE_LENGTH

BYTE_LENGTH(value)

Description

Returns the length of the value in bytes, regardless of whether the type of the value is STRING or BYTES.

Return type

INT64

Examples

WITH example AS
  (SELECT "абвгд" AS characters, b"абвгд" AS bytes)

SELECT
  characters,
  BYTE_LENGTH(characters) AS string_example,
  bytes,
  BYTE_LENGTH(bytes) AS bytes_example
FROM example;

+------------+----------------+-------+---------------+
| characters | string_example | bytes | bytes_example |
+------------+----------------+-------+---------------+
| абвгд      | 10             | абвгд | 10            |
+------------+----------------+-------+---------------+

CHAR_LENGTH

CHAR_LENGTH(value)

Description

Returns the length of the STRING in characters.

Return type

INT64

Examples

WITH example AS
  (SELECT "абвгд" AS characters)

SELECT
  characters,
  CHAR_LENGTH(characters) AS char_length_example
FROM example;

+------------+---------------------+
| characters | char_length_example |
+------------+---------------------+
| абвгд      |                   5 |
+------------+---------------------+

CHARACTER_LENGTH

CHARACTER_LENGTH(value)

Description

Synonym for CHAR_LENGTH.

Return type

INT64

Examples

WITH example AS
  (SELECT "абвгд" AS characters)

SELECT
  characters,
  CHARACTER_LENGTH(characters) AS char_length_example
FROM example;

+------------+---------------------+
| characters | char_length_example |
+------------+---------------------+
| абвгд      |                   5 |
+------------+---------------------+

CODE_POINTS_TO_BYTES

CODE_POINTS_TO_BYTES(ascii_values)

Description

Takes an array of extended ASCII code points (ARRAY of INT64) and returns BYTES.

To convert from BYTES to an array of code points, see TO_CODE_POINTS.

Return type

BYTES

Examples

The following is a basic example using CODE_POINTS_TO_BYTES.

SELECT CODE_POINTS_TO_BYTES([65, 98, 67, 100]) AS bytes;

+-------+
| bytes |
+-------+
| AbCd  |
+-------+

The following example uses a rotate-by-13 places (ROT13) algorithm to encode a string.

SELECT CODE_POINTS_TO_BYTES(ARRAY_AGG(
  (SELECT
      CASE
        WHEN chr BETWEEN b'a' and b'z'
          THEN TO_CODE_POINTS(b'a')[offset(0)] +
            MOD(code+13-TO_CODE_POINTS(b'a')[offset(0)],26)
        WHEN chr BETWEEN b'A' and b'Z'
          THEN TO_CODE_POINTS(b'A')[offset(0)] +
            MOD(code+13-TO_CODE_POINTS(b'A')[offset(0)],26)
        ELSE code
      END
   FROM
     (SELECT code, CODE_POINTS_TO_BYTES([code]) chr)
  ) ORDER BY OFFSET)) AS encoded_string
FROM UNNEST(TO_CODE_POINTS(b'Test String!')) code WITH OFFSET;

+----------------+
| encoded_string |
+----------------+
| Grfg Fgevat!   |
+----------------+

CODE_POINTS_TO_STRING

CODE_POINTS_TO_STRING(value)

Description

Takes an array of Unicode code points (ARRAY of INT64) and returns a STRING.

To convert from a string to an array of code points, see TO_CODE_POINTS.

Return type

STRING

Example

The following is a basic example using CODE_POINTS_TO_STRING.

SELECT CODE_POINTS_TO_STRING([65, 255, 513, 1024]) AS string;

+--------+
| string |
+--------+
| AÿȁЀ   |
+--------+

The following example computes the frequency of letters in a set of words.

WITH Words AS (
  SELECT word
  FROM UNNEST(['foo', 'bar', 'baz', 'giraffe', 'llama']) AS word
)
SELECT
  CODE_POINTS_TO_STRING([code_point]) AS letter,
  COUNT(*) AS letter_count
FROM Words,
  UNNEST(TO_CODE_POINTS(word)) AS code_point
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 2 DESC;

+--------+--------------+
| letter | letter_count |
+--------+--------------+
| a      | 5            |
| f      | 3            |
| r      | 2            |
| b      | 2            |
| l      | 2            |
| o      | 2            |
| g      | 1            |
| z      | 1            |
| e      | 1            |
| m      | 1            |
| i      | 1            |
+--------+--------------+

CONCAT

CONCAT(value1[, ...])

Description

Concatenates one or more values into a single result.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

With Employees AS
  (SELECT
    "John" AS first_name,
    "Doe" AS last_name
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "Jane" AS first_name,
    "Smith" AS last_name
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "Joe" AS first_name,
    "Jackson" AS last_name)

SELECT
  CONCAT(first_name, " ", last_name)
  AS full_name
FROM Employees;

+---------------------+
| full_name           |
+---------------------+
| John Doe            |
| Jane Smith          |
| Joe Jackson         |
+---------------------+

ENDS_WITH

ENDS_WITH(value1, value2)

Description

Takes two values. Returns TRUE if the second value is a suffix of the first.

Return type

BOOL

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "apple" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "banana" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "orange" as item)

SELECT
  ENDS_WITH(item, "e") as example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
|    True |
|   False |
|    True |
+---------+

FORMAT

BigQuery supports a FORMAT() function for formatting strings. This function is similar to the C printf function. It produces a STRING from a format string that contains zero or more format specifiers, along with a variable length list of additional arguments that matches the format specifiers. Here are some examples:

Description Statement Result
Simple integer format("%d", 10) 10
Integer with left blank padding format("|%10d|", 11) |           11|
Integer with left zero padding format("+%010d+", 12) +0000000012+
STRING format("-%s-", 'abcd efg') -abcd efg-
FLOAT64 format("%f %E", 1.1, 2.2) 1.100000 2.200000E+00
DATE format("%t", date "2015-09-01") 2015-09-01
TIMESTAMP format("%t", timestamp "2015-09-01 12:34:56 America/Los_Angeles") 2015‑09‑01 19:34:56+00

The FORMAT() function does not provide fully customizable formatting for all types and values, nor formatting that is sensitive to locale.

If custom formatting is necessary for a type, you must first format it using type-specific format functions, such as FORMAT_DATE() or FORMAT_TIMESTAMP(). For example:

FORMAT("date: %s!", FORMAT_DATE("%B %d, %Y", date '2015-01-02'));

Returns

date: January 02, 2015!

Syntax

The FORMAT() syntax takes a format string and variable length list of arguments and produces a STRING result:

FORMAT(<format_string>, ...)

The <format_string> expression can contain zero or more format specifiers. Each format specifier is introduced by the % symbol, and must map to one or more of the remaining arguments. For the most part, this is a one-to-one mapping, except when the * specifier is present. For example, %.*i maps to two arguments—a length argument and a signed integer argument. If the number of arguments related to the format specifiers is not the same as the number of arguments, an error occurs.

Supported format specifiers

The FORMAT() function format specifier follows this prototype:

%[flags][width][.precision]specifier

The supported format specifiers are identified in the following table. Extensions from printf() are identified in italics.

Specifier Description Examples Types
d or i Decimal integer 392 INT64
o Octal 610
INT64*
x Hexadecimal integer 7fa
INT64*
X Hexadecimal integer (uppercase) 7FA
INT64*
f Decimal floating point, lowercase 392.65
inf
NaN		 NUMERIC
FLOAT64
F Decimal floating point, uppercase 392.65
inf
NAN		 NUMERIC
FLOAT64
e Scientific notation (mantissa/exponent), lowercase 3.9265e+2
inf
NaN		 NUMERIC
FLOAT64
E Scientific notation (mantissa/exponent), uppercase 3.9265E+2
inf
NAN		 NUMERIC
FLOAT64
g Use the shortest representation, %e or %f 392.65
FLOAT64
G Use the shortest representation, %E or %F 392.65
FLOAT64
s String of characters sample STRING
t Returns a printable string representing the value. Often looks similar to casting the argument to STRING. See %t section below. sample
2014‑01‑01		 <any>
T Produces a string that is a valid BigQuery constant with a similar type to the value's type (maybe wider, or maybe string). See %T section below. 'sample'
b'bytes sample'
1234
2.3
date '2014‑01‑01'		 <any>
% '%%' produces a single '%' % n/a

*The specifiers o, x, and X raise an error if negative values are used.

The format specifier can optionally contain the sub-specifiers identified above in the specifier prototype.

These sub-specifiers must comply with the following specifications.

Flags
Flags Description
- Left-justify within the given field width; Right justification is the default (see width sub-specifier)
+ Forces to precede the result with a plus or minus sign (+ or -) even for positive numbers. By default, only negative numbers are preceded with a - sign
<space> If no sign is going to be written, a blank space is inserted before the value
# Used with o, x or X specifiers. Precedes the value with 0, 0x or 0X respectively for values different than zero
0 Left-pads the number with zeroes (0) instead of spaces when padding is specified (see width sub-specifier)
'

Formats integers using the appropriating grouping character. For example:

  • FORMAT("%'d", 12345678) returns 12,345,678
  • FORMAT("%'x", 12345678) returns bc:614e
  • FORMAT("%'o", 55555) returns 15,4403

    • This flag is only relevant for decimal, hex, and octal values.

Flags may be specified in any order. Duplicate flags are not an error. When flags are not relevant for some element type, they are ignored.

Width
Width Description
<number> Minimum number of characters to be printed. If the value to be printed is shorter than this number, the result is padded with blank spaces. The value is not truncated even if the result is larger
* The width is not specified in the format string, but as an additional integer value argument preceding the argument that has to be formatted
Precision
Precision Description
.<number> For integer specifiers (d, i, o, u, x, X): precision specifies the minimum number of digits to be written. If the value to be written is shorter than this number, the result is padded with trailing zeros. The value is not truncated even if the result is longer. A precision of 0 means that no character is written for the value 0. For a, A, e, E, f and F specifiers: this is the number of digits to be printed after the decimal point (by default, this is 6)
.* The precision is not specified in the format string, but as an additional integer value argument preceding the argument that has to be formatted

%t and %T behavior

The %t and %T format specifiers are defined for all types. The width, precision, and flags act as they do for %s: the width is the minimum width and the STRING will be padded to that size, and precision is the maximum width of content to show and the STRING will be truncated to that size, prior to padding to width.

%t is always meant to be a readable form of the value.

%T is always a valid SQL literal of a similar type, such as a wider numeric type. The literal will not include casts or a type name, except for the special case of non-finite floating point values.

The STRING is formatted as follows:

Type %t %T
NULL of any type NULL NULL
INT64
 123 123
NUMERIC 123.0 (always with .0) NUMERIC "123.0"
FLOAT64 123.0 (always with .0)
123e+10
inf
-inf
NaN		 123.0 (always with .0)
123e+10
CAST("inf" AS <type>)
CAST("-inf" AS <type>)
CAST("nan" AS <type>)
STRING unquoted string value quoted string literal
BYTES unquoted escaped bytes
e.g. abc\x01\x02		 quoted bytes literal
e.g. b"abc\x01\x02"
DATE 2011-02-03 DATE "2011-02-03"
TIMESTAMP 2011-02-03 04:05:06+00 TIMESTAMP "2011-02-03 04:05:06+00"
ARRAY [value, value, ...]
where values are formatted with %t		 [value, value, ...]
where values are formatted with %T
STRUCT (value, value, ...)
where fields are formatted with %t		 (value, value, ...)
where fields are formatted with %T

Special cases:
Zero fields: STRUCT()
One field: STRUCT(value)

Error conditions

If a format specifier is invalid, or is not compatible with the related argument type, or the wrong number or arguments are provided, then an error is produced. For example, the following <format_string> expressions are invalid:

FORMAT('%s', 1)
FORMAT('%')

NULL argument handling

A NULL format string results in a NULL output STRING. Any other arguments are ignored in this case.

The function generally produces a NULL value if a NULL argument is present. For example, FORMAT('%i', <NULL expression>) produces a NULL STRING as output.

However, there are some exceptions: if the format specifier is %t or %T (both of which produce STRINGs that effectively match CAST and literal value semantics), a NULL value produces 'NULL' (without the quotes) in the result STRING. For example, the function:

FORMAT('00-%t-00', <NULL expression>);

Returns

00-NULL-00

Additional semantic rules

FLOAT64 values can be +/-inf or NaN. When an argument has one of those values, the result of the format specifiers %f, %F, %e, %E, %g, %G, and %t are inf, -inf, or nan (or the same in uppercase) as appropriate. This is consistent with how BigQuery casts these values to STRING. For %T, BigQuery returns quoted strings for FLOAT64 values that don't have non-string literal representations.

FROM_BASE32

FROM_BASE32(string_expr)

Description

Converts the base32-encoded input string_expr into BYTES format. To convert BYTES to a base32-encoded STRING, use TO_BASE32.

Return type

BYTES

Example

SELECT FROM_BASE32('MFRGGZDF74======') AS byte_data;

+-----------+
| byte_data |
+-----------+
| abcde\xff |
+-----------+

FROM_BASE64

FROM_BASE64(string_expr)

Description

Converts the base64-encoded input string_expr into BYTES format. To convert BYTES to a base64-encoded STRING, use TO_BASE64.

Return type

BYTES

Example

SELECT FROM_BASE64('3q2+7w==') AS byte_data;

+------------------+
| byte_data        |
+------------------+
| \xde\xad\xbe\xef |
+------------------+

FROM_HEX

FROM_HEX(string)

Description

Converts a hexadecimal-encoded STRING into BYTES format. Returns an error if the input STRING contains characters outside the range (0..9, A..F, a..f). The lettercase of the characters does not matter. To convert BYTES to a hexadecimal-encoded STRING, use TO_HEX.

Return type

BYTES

Example

WITH Input AS (
  SELECT '00010203aaeeefff' AS hex_str UNION ALL
  SELECT '0AF' UNION ALL
  SELECT '666f6f626172'
)
SELECT hex_str, FROM_HEX(hex_str) AS bytes_str
FROM Input;
+------------------+----------------------------------+
| hex_str          | bytes_str                        |
+------------------+----------------------------------+
| 0AF              | \x00\xaf                         |
| 00010203aaeeefff | \x00\x01\x02\x03\xaa\xee\xef\xff |
| 666f6f626172     | foobar                           |
+------------------+----------------------------------+

LENGTH

LENGTH(value)

Description

Returns the length of the value. The returned value is in characters for STRING arguments and in bytes for the BYTES argument.

Return type

INT64

Examples

WITH example AS
  (SELECT "абвгд" AS characters)

SELECT
  characters,
  LENGTH(characters) AS string_example,
  LENGTH(CAST(characters AS BYTES)) AS bytes_example
FROM example;

+------------+----------------+---------------+
| characters | string_example | bytes_example |
+------------+----------------+---------------+
| абвгд      |              5 |            10 |
+------------+----------------+---------------+

LPAD

LPAD(original_value, return_length[, pattern])

Description

Returns a value that consists of original_value prepended with pattern. The return_length is an INT64 that specifies the length of the returned value. If original_value is BYTES, return_length is the number of bytes. If original_value is STRING, return_length is the number of characters.

The default value of pattern is a blank space.

Both original_value and pattern must be the same data type.

If return_length is less than or equal to the original_value length, this function returns the original_value value, truncated to the value of return_length. For example, LPAD("hello world", 7); returns "hello w".

If original_value, return_length, or pattern is NULL, this function returns NULL.

This function returns an error if:

  • return_length is negative
  • pattern is empty

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

SELECT t, len, FORMAT("%T", LPAD(t, len)) AS LPAD FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT('abc' AS t, 5 AS len),
  ('abc', 2),
  ('例子', 4)
]);
t len LPAD
abc 5 "  abc"
abc 2 "ab"
例子 4 "  例子" 
SELECT t, len, pattern, FORMAT("%T", LPAD(t, len, pattern)) AS LPAD FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT('abc' AS t, 8 AS len, 'def' AS pattern),
  ('abc', 5, '-'),
  ('例子', 5, '中文')
]);
t len pattern LPAD
abc 8 def "defdeabc"
abc 5 - "--abc"
例子 5 中文 "中文中例子" 
SELECT FORMAT("%T", t) AS t, len, FORMAT("%T", LPAD(t, len)) AS LPAD FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT(b'abc' AS t, 5 AS len),
  (b'abc', 2),
  (b'\xab\xcd\xef', 4)
]);
t len LPAD
b"abc" 5 b"  abc"
b"abc" 2 b"ab"
b"\xab\xcd\xef" 4 b" \xab\xcd\xef" 
SELECT
  FORMAT("%T", t) AS t,
  len,
  FORMAT("%T", pattern) AS pattern,
  FORMAT("%T", LPAD(t, len, pattern)) AS LPAD
FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT(b'abc' AS t, 8 AS len, b'def' AS pattern),
  (b'abc', 5, b'-'),
  (b'\xab\xcd\xef', 5, b'\x00')
]);
t len pattern LPAD
b"abc" 8 b"def" b"defdeabc"
b"abc" 5 b"-" b"--abc"
b"\xab\xcd\xef" 5 b"\x00" b"\x00\x00\xab\xcd\xef"

LOWER

LOWER(value)

Description

For STRING arguments, returns the original string with all alphabetic characters in lowercase. Mapping between lowercase and uppercase is done according to the Unicode Character Database without taking into account language-specific mappings.

For BYTES arguments, the argument is treated as ASCII text, with all bytes greater than 127 left intact.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT
    "FOO" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "BAR" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "BAZ" as item)

SELECT
  LOWER(item) AS example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| foo     |
| bar     |
| baz     |
+---------+

LTRIM

LTRIM(value1[, value2])

Description

Identical to TRIM, but only removes leading characters.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "   apple   " as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "   banana   " as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "   orange   " as item)

SELECT
  CONCAT("#", LTRIM(item), "#") as example
FROM items;

+-------------+
| example     |
+-------------+
| #apple   #  |
| #banana   # |
| #orange   # |
+-------------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "***apple***" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "***banana***" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "***orange***" as item)

SELECT
  LTRIM(item, "*") as example
FROM items;

+-----------+
| example   |
+-----------+
| apple***  |
| banana*** |
| orange*** |
+-----------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "xxxapplexxx" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "yyybananayyy" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "zzzorangezzz" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "xyzpearxyz" as item)

SELECT
  LTRIM(item, "xyz") as example
FROM items;

+-----------+
| example   |
+-----------+
| applexxx  |
| bananayyy |
| orangezzz |
| pearxyz   |
+-----------+

NORMALIZE

NORMALIZE(value[, normalization_mode])

Description

Takes a STRING, value, and returns it as a normalized string.

Normalization is used to ensure that two strings are equivalent. Normalization is often used in situations in which two strings render the same on the screen but have different Unicode code points.

NORMALIZE supports four optional normalization modes:

Value Name Description
NFC Normalization Form Canonical Composition Decomposes and recomposes characters by canonical equivalence.
NFKC Normalization Form Compatibility Composition Decomposes characters by compatibility, then recomposes them by canonical equivalence.
NFD Normalization Form Canonical Decomposition Decomposes characters by canonical equivalence, and multiple combining characters are arranged in a specific order.
NFKD Normalization Form Compatibility Decomposition Decomposes characters by compatibility, and multiple combining characters are arranged in a specific order.

The default normalization mode is NFC.

Return type

STRING

Examples

SELECT a, b, a = b as normalized
FROM (SELECT NORMALIZE('\u00ea') as a, NORMALIZE('\u0065\u0302') as b)
AS normalize_example;

+---+---+------------+
| a | b | normalized |
+---+---+------------+
| ê | ê | true       |
+---+---+------------+

The following example normalizes different space characters.

WITH EquivalentNames AS (
  SELECT name
  FROM UNNEST([
      'Jane\u2004Doe',
      'John\u2004Smith',
      'Jane\u2005Doe',
      'Jane\u2006Doe',
      'John Smith']) AS name
)
SELECT
  NORMALIZE(name, NFKC) AS normalized_name,
  COUNT(*) AS name_count
FROM EquivalentNames
GROUP BY 1;

+-----------------+------------+
| normalized_name | name_count |
+-----------------+------------+
| John Smith      | 2          |
| Jane Doe        | 3          |
+-----------------+------------+

NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD

NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(value[, normalization_mode])

Description

Takes a STRING, value, and performs the same actions as NORMALIZE, as well as casefolding for case-insensitive operations.

NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD supports four optional normalization modes:

Value Name Description
NFC Normalization Form Canonical Composition Decomposes and recomposes characters by canonical equivalence.
NFKC Normalization Form Compatibility Composition Decomposes characters by compatibility, then recomposes them by canonical equivalence.
NFD Normalization Form Canonical Decomposition Decomposes characters by canonical equivalence, and multiple combining characters are arranged in a specific order.
NFKD Normalization Form Compatibility Decomposition Decomposes characters by compatibility, and multiple combining characters are arranged in a specific order.

The default normalization mode is NFC.

Return type

STRING

Example

WITH Strings AS (
  SELECT '\u2168' AS a, 'IX' AS b UNION ALL
  SELECT '\u0041\u030A', '\u00C5'
)
SELECT a, b,
  NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(a, NFD)=NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(b, NFD) AS nfd,
  NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(a, NFC)=NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(b, NFC) AS nfc,
  NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(a, NFKD)=NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(b, NFKD) AS nkfd,
  NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(a, NFKC)=NORMALIZE_AND_CASEFOLD(b, NFKC) AS nkfc
FROM Strings;

+---+----+-------+-------+------+------+
| a | b  | nfd   | nfc   | nkfd | nkfc |
+---+----+-------+-------+------+------+
| Ⅸ | IX | false | false | true | true |
| Å | Å  | true  | true  | true | true |
+---+----+-------+-------+------+------+

REGEXP_CONTAINS

REGEXP_CONTAINS(value, regex)

Description

Returns TRUE if value is a partial match for the regular expression, regex. You can search for a full match by using ^ (beginning of text) and $ (end of text).

If the regex argument is invalid, the function returns an error.

Note: BigQuery provides regular expression support using the re2 library; see that documentation for its regular expression syntax.

Return type

BOOL

Examples

SELECT
  email,
  REGEXP_CONTAINS(email, r"@[a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9-.]+") AS is_valid
FROM
  (SELECT
    ["foo@example.com", "bar@example.org", "www.example.net"]
    AS addresses),
  UNNEST(addresses) AS email;

+-----------------+----------+
| email           | is_valid |
+-----------------+----------+
| foo@example.com | true     |
| bar@example.org | true     |
| www.example.net | false    |
+-----------------+----------+

# Performs a full match, using ^ and $.
SELECT
  email,
  REGEXP_CONTAINS(email, r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_.+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9-.]+$")
    AS valid_email_address
FROM
  (SELECT
    ["foo@example.com", "bar@example.org", "www.example.net"]
    AS addresses),
  UNNEST(addresses) AS email;

+-----------------+---------------------+
| email           | valid_email_address |
+-----------------+---------------------+
| foo@example.com | true                |
| bar@example.org | true                |
| www.example.net | false               |
+-----------------+---------------------+

REGEXP_EXTRACT

REGEXP_EXTRACT(value, regex)

Description

Returns the first substring in value that matches the regular expression, regex. Returns NULL if there is no match.

If the regular expression contains a capturing group, the function returns the substring that is matched by that capturing group. If the expression does not contain a capturing group, the function returns the entire matching substring.

Returns an error if:

  • The regular expression is invalid
  • The regular expression has more than one capturing group

Note: BigQuery provides regular expression support using the re2 library; see that documentation for its regular expression syntax.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH email_addresses AS
  (SELECT "foo@example.com" as email
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "bar@example.org" as email
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "baz@example.net" as email)

SELECT
  REGEXP_EXTRACT(email, r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_.+-]+")
  AS user_name
FROM email_addresses;

+-----------+
| user_name |
+-----------+
| foo       |
| bar       |
| baz       |
+-----------+

WITH email_addresses AS
  (SELECT "foo@example.com" as email
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "bar@example.org" as email
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "baz@example.net" as email)

SELECT
  REGEXP_EXTRACT(email, r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_.+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.([a-zA-Z0-9-.]+$)")
  AS top_level_domain
FROM email_addresses;

+------------------+
| top_level_domain |
+------------------+
| com              |
| org              |
| net              |
+------------------+

REGEXP_EXTRACT_ALL

REGEXP_EXTRACT_ALL(value, regex)

Description

Returns an array of all substrings of value that match the regular expression, regex.

The REGEXP_EXTRACT_ALL function only returns non-overlapping matches. For example, using this function to extract ana from banana returns only one substring, not two.

Note: BigQuery provides regular expression support using the re2 library; see that documentation for its regular expression syntax.

Return type

An ARRAY of either STRINGs or BYTES

Examples

WITH code_markdown AS
  (SELECT "Try `function(x)` or `function(y)`" as code)

SELECT
  REGEXP_EXTRACT_ALL(code, "`(.+?)`") AS example
FROM code_markdown;

+----------------------------+
| example                    |
+----------------------------+
| [function(x), function(y)] |
+----------------------------+

REGEXP_REPLACE

REGEXP_REPLACE(value, regex, replacement)

Description

Returns a STRING where all substrings of value that match regular expression regex are replaced with replacement.

You can use backslashed-escaped digits (\1 to \9) within the replacement argument to insert text matching the corresponding parenthesized group in the regex pattern. Use \0 to refer to the entire matching text.

Note: To add a backslash in your regular expression, you must first escape it. For example, SELECT REGEXP_REPLACE("abc", "b(.)", "X\\1"); returns aXc.

The REGEXP_REPLACE function only replaces non-overlapping matches. For example, replacing ana within banana results in only one replacement, not two.

If the regex argument is not a valid regular expression, this function returns an error.

Note: BigQuery provides regular expression support using the re2 library; see that documentation for its regular expression syntax.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH markdown AS
  (SELECT "# Heading" as heading
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "# Another heading" as heading)

SELECT
  REGEXP_REPLACE(heading, r"^# ([a-zA-Z0-9\s]+$)", "<h1>\\1</h1>")
  AS html
FROM markdown;

+--------------------------+
| html                     |
+--------------------------+
| <h1>Heading</h1>         |
| <h1>Another heading</h1> |
+--------------------------+

REPLACE

REPLACE(original_value, from_value, to_value)

Description

Replaces all occurrences of from_value with to_value in original_value. If from_value is empty, no replacement is made.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH desserts AS
  (SELECT "apple pie" as dessert
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "blackberry pie" as dessert
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "cherry pie" as dessert)

SELECT
  REPLACE (dessert, "pie", "cobbler") as example
FROM desserts;

+--------------------+
| example            |
+--------------------+
| apple cobbler      |
| blackberry cobbler |
| cherry cobbler     |
+--------------------+

REPEAT

REPEAT(original_value, repetitions)

Description

Returns a value that consists of original_value, repeated. The repetitions parameter specifies the number of times to repeat original_value. Returns NULL if either original_value or repetitions are NULL.

This function return an error if the repetitions value is negative.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

SELECT t, n, REPEAT(t, n) AS REPEAT FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT('abc' AS t, 3 AS n),
  ('例子', 2),
  ('abc', null),
  (null, 3)
]);
t n REPEAT
abc 3 abcabcabc
例子 2 例子例子
abc NULL NULL
NULL 3 NULL

REVERSE

REVERSE(value)

Description

Returns the reverse of the input STRING or BYTES.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH example AS (
  SELECT "foo" AS sample_string, b"bar" AS sample_bytes UNION ALL
  SELECT "абвгд" AS sample_string, b"123" AS sample_bytes
)
SELECT
  sample_string,
  REVERSE(sample_string) AS reverse_string,
  sample_bytes,
  REVERSE(sample_bytes) AS reverse_bytes
FROM example;

+---------------+----------------+--------------+---------------+
| sample_string | reverse_string | sample_bytes | reverse_bytes |
+---------------+----------------+--------------+---------------+
| foo           | oof            | bar          | rab           |
| абвгд         | дгвба          | 123          | 321           |
+---------------+----------------+--------------+---------------+

RPAD

RPAD(original_value, return_length[, pattern])

Description

Returns a value that consists of original_value appended with pattern. The return_length is an INT64 that specifies the length of the returned value. If original_value is BYTES, return_length is the number of bytes. If original_value is STRING, return_length is the number of characters.

The default value of pattern is a blank space.

Both original_value and pattern must be the same data type.

If return_length is less than or equal to the original_value length, this function returns the original_value value, truncated to the value of return_length. For example, RPAD("hello world", 7); returns "hello w".

If original_value, return_length, or pattern is NULL, this function returns NULL.

This function returns an error if:

  • return_length is negative
  • pattern is empty

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

SELECT t, len, FORMAT("%T", RPAD(t, len)) AS RPAD FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT('abc' AS t, 5 AS len),
  ('abc', 2),
  ('例子', 4)
]);
t len RPAD
abc 5 "abc  "
abc 2 "ab"
例子 4 "例子  " 
SELECT t, len, pattern, FORMAT("%T", RPAD(t, len, pattern)) AS RPAD FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT('abc' AS t, 8 AS len, 'def' AS pattern),
  ('abc', 5, '-'),
  ('例子', 5, '中文')
]);
t len pattern RPAD
abc 8 def "abcdefde"
abc 5 - "abc--"
例子 5 中文 "例子中文中" 
SELECT FORMAT("%T", t) AS t, len, FORMAT("%T", RPAD(t, len)) AS RPAD FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT(b'abc' AS t, 5 AS len),
  (b'abc', 2),
  (b'\xab\xcd\xef', 4)
]);
t len RPAD
b"abc" 5 b"abc  "
b"abc" 2 b"ab"
b"\xab\xcd\xef" 4 b"\xab\xcd\xef " 
SELECT
  FORMAT("%T", t) AS t,
  len,
  FORMAT("%T", pattern) AS pattern,
  FORMAT("%T", RPAD(t, len, pattern)) AS RPAD
FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT(b'abc' AS t, 8 AS len, b'def' AS pattern),
  (b'abc', 5, b'-'),
  (b'\xab\xcd\xef', 5, b'\x00')
]);
t len pattern RPAD
b"abc" 8 b"def" b"abcdefde"
b"abc" 5 b"-" b"abc--"
b"\xab\xcd\xef" 5 b"\x00" b"\xab\xcd\xef\x00\x00"

RTRIM

RTRIM(value1[, value2])

Description

Identical to TRIM, but only removes trailing characters.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "***apple***" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "***banana***" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "***orange***" as item)

SELECT
  RTRIM(item, "*") as example
FROM items;

+-----------+
| example   |
+-----------+
| ***apple  |
| ***banana |
| ***orange |
+-----------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "applexxx" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "bananayyy" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "orangezzz" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "pearxyz" as item)

SELECT
  RTRIM(item, "xyz") as example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| apple   |
| banana  |
| orange  |
| pear    |
+---------+

SAFE_CONVERT_BYTES_TO_STRING

SAFE_CONVERT_BYTES_TO_STRING(value)

Description

Converts a sequence of bytes to a string. Any invalid UTF-8 characters are replaced with the Unicode replacement character, U+FFFD.

Return type

STRING

Examples

The following statement returns the Unicode replacement character, �.

SELECT SAFE_CONVERT_BYTES_TO_STRING(b'\xc2') as safe_convert;

SPLIT

SPLIT(value[, delimiter])

Description

Splits value using the delimiter argument.

For STRING, the default delimiter is the comma ,.

For BYTES, you must specify a delimiter.

Splitting on an empty delimiter produces an array of UTF-8 characters for STRING values, and an array of BYTES for BYTES values.

Splitting an empty STRING returns an ARRAY with a single empty STRING.

Return type

ARRAY of type STRING or ARRAY of type BYTES

Examples

WITH letters AS
  (SELECT "a b c d" as letter_group
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "e f g h" as letter_group
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "i j k l" as letter_group)

SELECT SPLIT(letter_group, " ") as example
FROM letters;

+----------------------+
| example              |
+----------------------+
| [a, b, c, d]         |
| [e, f, g, h]         |
| [i, j, k, l]         |
+----------------------+

STARTS_WITH

STARTS_WITH(value1, value2)

Description

Takes two values. Returns TRUE if the second value is a prefix of the first.

Return type

BOOL

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "foo" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "bar" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "baz" as item)

SELECT
  STARTS_WITH(item, "b") as example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
|   False |
|    True |
|    True |
+---------+

STRPOS

STRPOS(string, substring)

Description

Returns the 1-based index of the first occurrence of substring inside string. Returns 0 if substring is not found.

Return type

INT64

Examples

WITH email_addresses AS
  (SELECT
    "foo@example.com" AS email_address
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "foobar@example.com" AS email_address
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "foobarbaz@example.com" AS email_address
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "quxexample.com" AS email_address)

SELECT
  STRPOS(email_address, "@") AS example
FROM email_addresses;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
|       4 |
|       7 |
|      10 |
|       0 |
+---------+

SUBSTR

SUBSTR(value, position[, length])

Description

Returns a substring of the supplied value. The position argument is an integer specifying the starting position of the substring, with position = 1 indicating the first character or byte. The length argument is the maximum number of characters for STRING arguments, or bytes for BYTES arguments.

If position is negative, the function counts from the end of value, with -1 indicating the last character.

If position is a position off the left end of the STRING (position = 0 or position < -LENGTH(value)), the function starts from position = 1. If length exceeds the length of value, returns fewer than length characters.

If length is less than 0, the function returns an error.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "apple" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "banana" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "orange" as item)

SELECT
  SUBSTR(item, 2) as example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| pple    |
| anana   |
| range   |
+---------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "apple" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "banana" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "orange" as item)

SELECT
  SUBSTR(item, 2, 2) as example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| pp      |
| an      |
| ra      |
+---------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "apple" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "banana" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "orange" as item)

SELECT
  SUBSTR(item, -2) as example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| le      |
| na      |
| ge      |
+---------+

TO_BASE32

TO_BASE32(bytes_expr)

Description

Converts a sequence of BYTES into a base32-encoded STRING. To convert a base32-encoded STRING into BYTES, use FROM_BASE32.

Return type

STRING

Example

SELECT TO_BASE32(b'abcde\xFF') AS base32_string;

+------------------+
| base32_string    |
+------------------+
| MFRGGZDF74====== |
+------------------+

TO_BASE64

TO_BASE64(bytes_expr)

Description

Converts a sequence of BYTES into a base64-encoded STRING. To convert a base64-encoded STRING into BYTES, use FROM_BASE64.

Return type

STRING

Example

SELECT TO_BASE64(b'\xde\xad\xbe\xef') AS base64_string;

+---------------+
| base64_string |
+---------------+
| 3q2+7w==      |
+---------------+

TO_CODE_POINTS

TO_CODE_POINTS(value)

Description

Takes a value and returns an array of INT64.

  • If value is a STRING, each element in the returned array represents a code point. Each code point falls within the range of [0, 0xD7FF] and [0xE000, 0x10FFFF].
  • If value is BYTES, each element in the array is an extended ASCII character value in the range of [0, 255].

To convert from an array of code points to a STRING or BYTES, see CODE_POINTS_TO_STRING or CODE_POINTS_TO_BYTES.

Return type

ARRAY of INT64

Examples

The following example gets the code points for each element in an array of words.

SELECT word, TO_CODE_POINTS(word) AS code_points
FROM UNNEST(['foo', 'bar', 'baz', 'giraffe', 'llama']) AS word;

+---------+------------------------------------+
| word    | code_points                        |
+---------+------------------------------------+
| foo     | [102, 111, 111]                    |
| bar     | [98, 97, 114]                      |
| baz     | [98, 97, 122]                      |
| giraffe | [103, 105, 114, 97, 102, 102, 101] |
| llama   | [108, 108, 97, 109, 97]            |
+---------+------------------------------------+

The following example converts integer representations of BYTES to their corresponding ASCII character values.

SELECT word, TO_CODE_POINTS(word) AS bytes_value_as_integer
FROM UNNEST([b'\x00\x01\x10\xff', b'\x66\x6f\x6f']) AS word;

+------------------+------------------------+
| word             | bytes_value_as_integer |
+------------------+------------------------+
| \x00\x01\x10\xff | [0, 1, 16, 255]        |
| foo              | [102, 111, 111]        |
+------------------+------------------------+

The following example demonstrates the difference between a BYTES result and a STRING result.

SELECT TO_CODE_POINTS(b'Ā') AS b_result, TO_CODE_POINTS('Ā') AS s_result;

+------------+----------+
| b_result   | s_result |
+------------+----------+
| [196, 128] | [256]    |
+------------+----------+

Notice that the character, Ā, is represented as a two-byte Unicode sequence. As a result, the BYTES version of TO_CODE_POINTS returns an array with two elements, while the STRING version returns an array with a single element.

TO_HEX

TO_HEX(bytes)

Description

Converts a sequence of BYTES into a hexadecimal STRING. Converts each byte in the STRING as two hexadecimal characters in the range (0..9, a..f). To convert a hexadecimal-encoded STRING to BYTES, use FROM_HEX.

Return type

STRING

Example

WITH Input AS (
  SELECT b'\x00\x01\x02\x03\xAA\xEE\xEF\xFF' AS byte_str UNION ALL
  SELECT b'foobar'
)
SELECT byte_str, TO_HEX(byte_str) AS hex_str
FROM Input;
+----------------------------------+------------------+
| byte_string                      | hex_string       |
+----------------------------------+------------------+
| foobar                           | 666f6f626172     |
| \x00\x01\x02\x03\xaa\xee\xef\xff | 00010203aaeeefff |
+----------------------------------+------------------+

TRIM

TRIM(value1[, value2])

Description

Removes all leading and trailing characters that match value2. If value2 is not specified, all leading and trailing whitespace characters (as defined by the Unicode standard) are removed. If the first argument is of type BYTES, the second argument is required.

If value2 contains more than one character or byte, the function removes all leading or trailing characters or bytes contained in value2.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "   apple   " as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "   banana   " as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "   orange   " as item)

SELECT
  CONCAT("#", TRIM(item), "#") as example
FROM items;

+----------+
| example  |
+----------+
| #apple#  |
| #banana# |
| #orange# |
+----------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "***apple***" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "***banana***" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "***orange***" as item)

SELECT
  TRIM(item, "*") as example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| apple   |
| banana  |
| orange  |
+---------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT "xxxapplexxx" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "yyybananayyy" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "zzzorangezzz" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT "xyzpearxyz" as item)

SELECT
  TRIM(item, "xyz") as example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| apple   |
| banana  |
| orange  |
| pear    |
+---------+

UPPER

UPPER(value)

Description

For STRING arguments, returns the original string with all alphabetic characters in uppercase. Mapping between uppercase and lowercase is done according to the Unicode Character Database without taking into account language-specific mappings.

For BYTES arguments, the argument is treated as ASCII text, with all bytes greater than 127 left intact.

Return type

STRING or BYTES

Examples

WITH items AS
  (SELECT
    "foo" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "bar" as item
  UNION ALL
  SELECT
    "baz" as item)

SELECT
  UPPER(item) AS example
FROM items;

+---------+
| example |
+---------+
| FOO     |
| BAR     |
| BAZ     |
+---------+

JSON functions

BigQuery supports functions that help you retrieve data stored in JSON-formatted strings and functions that help you transform data into JSON-formatted strings.

JSON_EXTRACT or JSON_EXTRACT_SCALAR

JSON_EXTRACT(json_string_expr, json_path_string_literal), which returns JSON values as STRINGs.

JSON_EXTRACT_SCALAR(json_string_expr, json_path_string_literal), which returns scalar JSON values as STRINGs.

Description

The json_string_expr parameter must be a JSON-formatted string. For example:

{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "Jane"}]}}

The json_path_string_literal parameter identifies the value or values you want to obtain from the JSON-formatted string. You construct this parameter using the JSONPath format. As part of this format, this parameter must start with a $ symbol, which refers to the outermost level of the JSON-formatted string. You can identify child values using dot or bracket notation. If the JSON object is an array, you can use brackets to specify the array index.

JSONPath Description
$ Root object or element
. or [] Child operator
[] Subscript operator

Both functions return NULL if the json_path_string_literal parameter does not match a value in json_string_expr. If the selected value for JSON_EXTRACT_SCALAR is not scalar, such as an object or an array, the function returns NULL.

If the JSONPath is invalid, these functions raise an error.

In cases where a JSON key uses invalid JSONPath characters, you can escape those characters using single quotes and brackets, [' ']. For example:

SELECT JSON_EXTRACT_SCALAR('{"a.b": {"c": "world"}}', "$['a.b'].c") as hello;

+-------+
| hello |
+-------+
| world |
+-------+

Examples

SELECT JSON_EXTRACT(json_text, '$') AS json_text_string
FROM UNNEST([
  '{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "Jane"}]}}',
  '{"class" : {"students" : []}}',
  '{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "John"}, {"name": "Jamie"}]}}'
  ]) AS json_text;

The above query produces the following result:

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| json_text_string                                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| {"class":{"students":[{"name":"Jane"}]}}                  |
| {"class":{"students":[]}}                                 |
| {"class":{"students":[{"name":"John"},{"name":"Jamie"}]}} |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
SELECT JSON_EXTRACT(json_text, '$.class.students[0]') AS first_student
FROM UNNEST([
  '{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "Jane"}]}}',
  '{"class" : {"students" : []}}',
  '{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "John"}, {"name": "Jamie"}]}}'
  ]) AS json_text;

The above query produces the following result:

+-----------------+
| first_student   |
+-----------------+
| {"name":"Jane"} |
| NULL            |
| {"name":"John"} |
+-----------------+
SELECT JSON_EXTRACT(json_text, '$.class.students[1].name') AS second_student_name
FROM UNNEST([
  '{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "Jane"}]}}',
  '{"class" : {"students" : []}}',
  '{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "John"}, {"name": "Jamie"}]}}'
  ]) AS json_text;

The above query produces the following result:

+-------------------+
| second_student    |
+-------------------+
| NULL              |
| NULL              |
| {"first":"Jamie"} |
+-------------------+
SELECT JSON_EXTRACT(json_text, "$.class['students']") AS student_names
FROM UNNEST([
  '{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "Jane"}]}}',
  '{"class" : {"students" : []}}',
  '{"class" : {"students" : [{"name" : "John"}, {"name": "Jamie"}]}}'
  ]) AS json_text;

The above query produces the following result:

+------------------------------------+
| student_names                      |
+------------------------------------+
| [{"name":"Jane"}]                  |
| []                                 |
| [{"name":"John"},{"name":"Jamie"}] |
+------------------------------------+
SELECT JSON_EXTRACT('{ "name" : "Jakob", "age" : "6" }', '$.name') as json_name,
  JSON_EXTRACT_SCALAR('{ "name" : "Jakob", "age" : "6" }', '$.name') as scalar_name,
  JSON_EXTRACT('{ "name" : "Jakob", "age" : "6" }', '$.age') as json_age,
  JSON_EXTRACT_SCALAR('{ "name" : "Jakob", "age" : "6" }', '$.age') as scalar;

The above query produces the following result:

+-----------+-------------+----------+--------+
| json_name | scalar_name | json_age | scalar |
+-----------+-------------+----------+--------+
| "Jakob"   | Jakob       | "6"      | 6      |
+-----------+-------------+----------+--------+

TO_JSON_STRING

TO_JSON_STRING(value[, pretty_print])

Description

Returns a JSON-formatted string representation of value. This function supports an optional pretty_print parameter. If pretty_print is present, the returned value is formatted for easy readability.

Input data type Returned value
NULL of any type null
BOOL true or false.
INT64

Same as CAST(value AS STRING) when value is in the range of [-253, 253], which is the range of integers that can be represented losslessly as IEEE 754 double-precision floating point numbers. Values outside of this range are represented as quoted strings. For example:

-1
0
12345678901
9007199254740992
-9007199254740992
"9007199254740993"

9007199254740993 is greater than 253, so it is represented as a quoted string.
NUMERIC

Same as CAST(value AS STRING) when value is in the range of [-253, 253] and has no fractional part. Values outside of this range are represented as quoted strings. For example:

-1
0
"9007199254740993"
"123.56"
FLOAT64 +/-inf and NaN are represented as Infinity, -Infinity, and NaN, respectively.

Otherwise, the same as CAST(value AS STRING).
STRING Quoted string value, escaped according to the JSON standard. Specifically, ", \, and the control characters from U+0000 to U+001F are escaped.
BYTES

Quoted RFC 4648 base64-escaped value. For example:

"R29vZ2xl" is the base64 representation of bytes b"Google"
DATE

Quoted date. For example:

"2017-03-06"
TIMESTAMP

Quoted ISO 8601 date-time, where T separates the date and time and Zulu/UTC represents the time zone. For example:

"2017-03-06T12:34:56.789012Z"
DATETIME

Quoted ISO 8601 date-time, where T separates the date and time. For example:

"2017-03-06T12:34:56.789012"
TIME

Quoted ISO 8601 time. For example:

"12:34:56.789012"
ARRAY

[elem1,elem2,...], where each elem is formatted according to the element type.

Example with formatting: 
[
  elem1,
  elem2,
  ...
]

Where each elem is formatted according to the element type. The empty array is represented as [].
STRUCT {"field_name1":field_value1,"field_name2":field_value2,...}

Where each field_value is formatted according to its type.

Example with formatting: 
{
  "field_name1": field_value1,
  "field_name2": field_value2,
  ...
}

Where each field_value is formatted according to its type. If a field_value is a non-empty ARRAY or STRUCT, elements are indented to the appropriate level. The empty struct is represented as {}.

Fields with duplicate names might result in unparseable JSON. Anonymous fields are represented with "".

Invalid UTF-8 field names might result in unparseable JSON. String values are escaped according to the JSON standard. Specifically, ", \, and the control characters from U+0000 to U+001F are escaped.

Return type

JSON string representation of the value.

Examples

Convert rows in a table to JSON.

WITH Input AS (
  SELECT [1, 2] AS x, 'foo' AS y, STRUCT(true AS a, DATE '2017-04-05' AS b) AS s UNION ALL
  SELECT NULL AS x, '' AS y, STRUCT(false AS a, DATE '0001-01-01' AS b) AS s UNION ALL
  SELECT [3] AS x, 'bar' AS y, STRUCT(NULL AS a, DATE '2016-12-05' AS b) AS s
)
SELECT
  t,
  TO_JSON_STRING(t) AS json_row
FROM Input AS t;

The above query produces the following result:

+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| t                                 | json_row                                              |
+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| {[1, 2], foo, {true, 2017-04-05}} | {"x":[1,2],"y":"foo","s":{"a":true,"b":"2017-04-05"}} |
| {NULL, , {false, 0001-01-01}}     | {"x":null,"y":"","s":{"a":false,"b":"0001-01-01"}}    |
| {[3], bar, {NULL, 2016-12-05}}    | {"x":[3],"y":"bar","s":{"a":null,"b":"2016-12-05"}}   |
+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------+

Convert rows in a table to JSON with formatting.

WITH Input AS (
  SELECT [1, 2] AS x, 'foo' AS y, STRUCT(true AS a, DATE '2017-04-05' AS b) AS s UNION ALL
  SELECT NULL AS x, '' AS y, STRUCT(false AS a, DATE '0001-01-01' AS b) AS s UNION ALL
  SELECT [3] AS x, 'bar' AS y, STRUCT(NULL AS a, DATE '2016-12-05' AS b) AS s
)
SELECT
  TO_JSON_STRING(t, true) AS json_row
FROM Input AS t;

The above query produces the following result:

+-----------------------+
| json_row              |
+-----------------------+
| {                     |
|  "x": [               |
|    1,                 |
|    2                  |
|  ],                   |
|  "y": "foo",          |
|  "s": {               |
|    "a": true,         |
|    "b": "2017-04-05"  |
|  }                    |
|}                      |
| {                     |
|  "x": null,           |
|  "y": "",             |
|  "s": {               |
|    "a": false,        |
|    "b": "0001-01-01"  |
|  }                    |
|}                      |
| {                     |
|  "x": [               |
|    3                  |
|  ],                   |
|  "y": "bar",          |
|  "s": {               |
|    "a": null,         |
|    "b": "2016-12-05"  |
|  }                    |
|}                      |
+-----------------------+

Array functions

ARRAY

ARRAY(subquery)

Description

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

If subquery produces a standard 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 ["apples", "bananas", NULL, "grapes"] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["coffee", "tea", "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 |
+---------------------------------+------+
| [apples, bananas, NULL, grapes] | 4    |
| [coffee, tea, 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 ["apples", "bananas", "pears", "grapes"] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["coffee", "tea", "milk" ] as list
  UNION ALL
  SELECT ["cake", "pie", NULL] as list)

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

+--------------------------------+
| text                           |
+--------------------------------+
| apples--bananas--pears--grapes |
| coffee--tea--milk              |
| cake--pie                      |
+--------------------------------+

WITH items AS
  (SELECT ["apples", "bananas", "pears", "grapes"] as list
  UNION ALL
  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                           |
+--------------------------------+
| apples--bananas--pears--grapes |
| 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.

WITH StartsAndEnds AS (
  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"
)
SELECT GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY(date_start, date_end, INTERVAL 1 WEEK) AS date_range
FROM StartsAndEnds;

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| 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           |
+----------------------------------+---------------+----------------+

Date functions

BigQuery supports the following DATE functions.

CURRENT_DATE

CURRENT_DATE([time_zone])

Description

Returns the current date as of the specified or default timezone.

This function supports an optional time_zone parameter. This parameter is a string representing the timezone to use. If no timezone is specified, the default timezone, UTC, is used. See Timezone definitions for information on how to specify a time zone.

If the time_zone parameter evaluates to NULL, this function returns NULL.

Return Data Type

DATE

Example

SELECT CURRENT_DATE() as the_date;

+--------------+
| the_date     |
+--------------+
| 2016-12-25   |
+--------------+

EXTRACT

EXTRACT(part FROM date_expression)

Description

Returns the value corresponding to the specified date part. The part must be one of:

  • DAYOFWEEK: Returns values in the range [1,7] with Sunday as the first day of the week.
  • DAY
  • DAYOFYEAR

  • WEEK: Returns the week number of the date in the range [0, 53]. Weeks begin with Sunday, and dates prior to the first Sunday of the year are in week 0.

  • WEEK(<WEEKDAY>): Returns the week number of the date in the range [0, 53]. Weeks begin on WEEKDAY. Dates prior to the first WEEKDAY of the year are in week 0. Valid values for WEEKDAY are SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY.

  • ISOWEEK: Returns the ISO 8601 week number of the date_expression. ISOWEEKs begin on Monday. Return values are in the range [1, 53]. The first ISOWEEK of each ISO year begins on the Monday before the first Thursday of the Gregorian calendar year.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER: Returns values in the range [1,4].
  • YEAR
  • ISOYEAR: Returns the ISO 8601 week-numbering year, which is the Gregorian calendar year containing the Thursday of the week to which date_expression belongs.

Return Data Type

INT64

Examples

In the following example, EXTRACT returns a value corresponding to the DAY time part.

SELECT EXTRACT(DAY FROM DATE '2013-12-25') as the_day;

+---------+
| the_day |
+---------+
| 25      |
+---------+

In the following example, EXTRACT returns values corresponding to different time parts from a column of dates near the end of the year.

SELECT
  date,
  EXTRACT(ISOYEAR FROM date) AS isoyear,
  EXTRACT(ISOWEEK FROM date) AS isoweek,
  EXTRACT(YEAR FROM date) AS year,
  EXTRACT(WEEK FROM date) AS week
FROM UNNEST(GENERATE_DATE_ARRAY('2015-12-23', '2016-01-09')) AS date
ORDER BY date;
+------------+---------+---------+------+------+
| date       | isoyear | isoweek | year | week |
+------------+---------+---------+------+------+
| 2015-12-23 | 2015    | 52      | 2015 | 51   |
| 2015-12-24 | 2015    | 52      | 2015 | 51   |
| 2015-12-25 | 2015    | 52      | 2015 | 51   |
| 2015-12-26 | 2015    | 52      | 2015 | 51   |
| 2015-12-27 | 2015    | 52      | 2015 | 52   |
| 2015-12-28 | 2015    | 53      | 2015 | 52   |
| 2015-12-29 | 2015    | 53      | 2015 | 52   |
| 2015-12-30 | 2015    | 53      | 2015 | 52   |
| 2015-12-31 | 2015    | 53      | 2015 | 52   |
| 2016-01-01 | 2015    | 53      | 2016 | 0    |
| 2016-01-02 | 2015    | 53      | 2016 | 0    |
| 2016-01-03 | 2015    | 53      | 2016 | 1    |
| 2016-01-04 | 2016    | 1       | 2016 | 1    |
| 2016-01-05 | 2016    | 1       | 2016 | 1    |
| 2016-01-06 | 2016    | 1       | 2016 | 1    |
| 2016-01-07 | 2016    | 1       | 2016 | 1    |
| 2016-01-08 | 2016    | 1       | 2016 | 1    |
| 2016-01-09 | 2016    | 1       | 2016 | 1    |
+------------+---------+---------+------+------+

In the following example, date_expression falls on a Sunday. EXTRACT calculates the first column using weeks that begin on Sunday, and it calculates the second column using weeks that begin on Monday.

WITH table AS (SELECT DATE('2017-11-05') AS date)
SELECT
  date,
  EXTRACT(WEEK(SUNDAY) FROM date) AS week_sunday,
  EXTRACT(WEEK(MONDAY) FROM date) AS week_monday FROM table;

+------------+-------------+-------------+
| date       | week_sunday | week_monday |
+------------+-------------+-------------+
| 2017-11-05 | 45          | 44          |
+------------+-------------+-------------+

DATE

1. DATE(year, month, day)
2. DATE(timestamp_expression[, timezone])

Description

  1. Constructs a DATE from INT64 values representing the year, month, and day.
  2. Converts a timestamp_expression to a DATE data type. It supports an optional parameter to specify a timezone. If no timezone is specified, the default timezone, UTC, is used.

Return Data Type

DATE

Example

SELECT
  DATE(2016, 12, 25) as date_ymd,
  DATE(TIMESTAMP "2016-12-25 05:30:00+07", "America/Los_Angeles") as date_tstz;

+------------+------------+
| date_ymd   | date_tstz  |
+------------+------------+
| 2016-12-25 | 2016-12-24 |
+------------+------------+

DATE_ADD

DATE_ADD(date_expression, INTERVAL INT64_expr date_part)

Description

Adds a specified time interval to a DATE.

DATE_ADD supports the following date_part values:

  • DAY
  • WEEK. Equivalent to 7 DAYs.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR

Special handling is required for MONTH, QUARTER, and YEAR parts when the date is at (or near) the last day of the month. If the resulting month has fewer days than the original date's day, then the result day is the last day of the new month.

Return Data Type

DATE

Example

SELECT DATE_ADD(DATE "2008-12-25", INTERVAL 5 DAY) as five_days_later;

+--------------------+
| five_days_later    |
+--------------------+
| 2008-12-30         |
+--------------------+

DATE_SUB

DATE_SUB(date_expression, INTERVAL INT64_expr date_part)

Description

Subtracts a specified time interval from a DATE.

DATE_SUB supports the following date_part values:

  • DAY
  • WEEK. Equivalent to 7 DAYs.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR

Special handling is required for MONTH, QUARTER, and YEAR parts when the date is at (or near) the last day of the month. If the resulting month has fewer days than the original date's day, then the result day is the last day of the new month.

Return Data Type

DATE

Example

SELECT DATE_SUB(DATE "2008-12-25", INTERVAL 5 DAY) as five_days_ago;

+---------------+
| five_days_ago |
+---------------+
| 2008-12-20    |
+---------------+

DATE_DIFF

DATE_DIFF(date_expression, date_expression, date_part)

Description

Returns the number of date_part boundaries between the two date_expressions. If the first date occurs before the second date, then the result is non-positive.

DATE_DIFF supports the following date_part values:

  • DAY
  • WEEK This date part begins on Sunday.
  • WEEK(<WEEKDAY>): This date part begins on WEEKDAY. Valid values for WEEKDAY are SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY.
  • ISOWEEK: Uses ISO 8601 week boundaries. ISO weeks begin on Monday.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR
  • ISOYEAR: Uses the ISO 8601 week-numbering year boundary. The ISO year boundary is the Monday of the first week whose Thursday belongs to the corresponding Gregorian calendar year.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT DATE_DIFF(DATE '2010-07-07', DATE '2008-12-25', DAY) as days_diff;

+-----------+
| days_diff |
+-----------+
| 559       |
+-----------+
SELECT
  DATE_DIFF(DATE '2017-10-15', DATE '2017-10-14', DAY) as days_diff,
  DATE_DIFF(DATE '2017-10-15', DATE '2017-10-14', WEEK) as weeks_diff;

+-----------+------------+
| days_diff | weeks_diff |
+-----------+------------+
| 1         | 1          |
+-----------+------------+

The example above shows the result of DATE_DIFF for two days in succession. DATE_DIFF with the date part WEEK returns 1 because DATE_DIFF counts the number of date part boundaries in this range of dates. Each WEEK begins on Sunday, so there is one date part boundary between Saturday, 2017-10-14 and Sunday, 2017-10-15.

The following example shows the result of DATE_DIFF for two dates in different years. DATE_DIFF with the date part YEAR returns 3 because it counts the number of Gregorian calendar year boundaries between the two dates. DATE_DIFF with the date part ISOYEAR returns 2 because the second date belongs to the ISO year 2015. The first Thursday of the 2015 calendar year was 2015-01-01, so the ISO year 2015 begins on the preceding Monday, 2014-12-29.

SELECT
  DATE_DIFF('2017-12-30', '2014-12-30', YEAR) AS year_diff,
  DATE_DIFF('2017-12-30', '2014-12-30', ISOYEAR) AS isoyear_diff;

+-----------+--------------+
| year_diff | isoyear_diff |
+-----------+--------------+
| 3         | 2            |
+-----------+--------------+

The following example shows the result of DATE_DIFF for two days in succession. The first date falls on a Monday and the second date falls on a Sunday. DATE_DIFF with the date part WEEK returns 0 because this time part uses weeks that begin on Sunday. DATE_DIFF with the date part WEEK(MONDAY) returns 1. DATE_DIFF with the date part ISOWEEK also returns 1 because ISO weeks begin on Monday.

SELECT
  DATE_DIFF('2017-12-18', '2017-12-17', WEEK) AS week_diff,
  DATE_DIFF('2017-12-18', '2017-12-17', WEEK(MONDAY)) AS week_weekday_diff,
  DATE_DIFF('2017-12-18', '2017-12-17', ISOWEEK) AS isoweek_diff;

+-----------+-------------------+--------------+
| week_diff | week_weekday_diff | isoweek_diff |
+-----------+-------------------+--------------+
| 0         | 1                 | 1            |
+-----------+-------------------+--------------+

DATE_TRUNC

DATE_TRUNC(date_expression, date_part)

Description

Truncates the date to the specified granularity.

DATE_TRUNC supports the following values for date_part:

  • DAY
  • WEEK
  • WEEK(<WEEKDAY>): Truncates date_expression to the preceding week boundary, where weeks begin on WEEKDAY. Valid values for WEEKDAY are SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY.
  • ISOWEEK: Truncates date_expression to the preceding ISO 8601 week boundary. ISOWEEKs begin on Monday. The first ISOWEEK of each ISO year contains the first Thursday of the corresponding Gregorian calendar year. Any date_expression earlier than this will truncate to the preceding Monday.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR
  • ISOYEAR: Truncates date_expression to the preceding ISO 8601 week-numbering year boundary. The ISO year boundary is the Monday of the first week whose Thursday belongs to the corresponding Gregorian calendar year.

Return Data Type

DATE

Examples

SELECT DATE_TRUNC(DATE '2008-12-25', MONTH) as month;

+------------+
| month      |
+------------+
| 2008-12-01 |
+------------+

In the following example, the original date falls on a Sunday. Because the date_part is WEEK(MONDAY), DATE_TRUNC returns the DATE for the preceding Monday.

SELECT date AS original, DATE_TRUNC(date, WEEK(MONDAY)) AS truncated
FROM (SELECT DATE('2017-11-05') AS date);

+------------+------------+
| original   | truncated  |
+------------+------------+
| 2017-11-05 | 2017-10-30 |
+------------+------------+

In the following example, the original date_expression is in the Gregorian calendar year 2015. However, DATE_TRUNC with the ISOYEAR date part truncates the date_expression to the beginning of the ISO year, not the Gregorian calendar year. The first Thursday of the 2015 calendar year was 2015-01-01, so the ISO year 2015 begins on the preceding Monday, 2014-12-29. Therefore the ISO year boundary preceding the date_expression 2015-06-15 is 2014-12-29.

SELECT
  DATE_TRUNC('2015-06-15', ISOYEAR) AS isoyear_boundary,
  EXTRACT(ISOYEAR FROM DATE '2015-06-15') AS isoyear_number;

+------------------+----------------+
| isoyear_boundary | isoyear_number |
+------------------+----------------+
| 2014-12-29       | 2015           |
+------------------+----------------+

DATE_FROM_UNIX_DATE

DATE_FROM_UNIX_DATE(INT64_expression)

Description

Interprets INT64_expression as the number of days since 1970-01-01.

Return Data Type

DATE

Example

SELECT DATE_FROM_UNIX_DATE(14238) as date_from_epoch;

+-----------------+
| date_from_epoch |
+-----------------+
| 2008-12-25      |
+-----------------+

FORMAT_DATE

FORMAT_DATE(format_string, date_expr)

Description

Formats the date_expr according to the specified format_string.

See Supported Format Elements For DATE for a list of format elements that this function supports.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT FORMAT_DATE("%x", DATE "2008-12-25") as US_format;

+------------+
| US_format  |
+------------+
| 12/25/08   |
+------------+

PARSE_DATE

PARSE_DATE(format_string, date_string)

Description

Uses a format_string and a string representation of a date to return a DATE object.

When using PARSE_DATE, keep the following in mind:

  • Unspecified fields. Any unspecified field is initialized from 1970-01-01.
  • Case insensitive names. Names, such as Monday, February, and so on, are case insensitive.
  • Whitespace. One or more consecutive white spaces in the format string matches zero or more consecutive white spaces in the date string. In addition, leading and trailing white spaces in the date string are always allowed -- even if they are not in the format string.
  • Format precedence. When two (or more) format elements have overlapping information (for example both %F and %Y affect the year), the last one generally overrides any earlier ones.

See Supported Format Elements For DATE for a list of format elements that this function supports.

Return Data Type

DATE

Example

SELECT PARSE_DATE("%x", "12/25/08") as parsed;

+------------+
| parsed     |
+------------+
| 2008-12-25 |
+------------+

UNIX_DATE

UNIX_DATE(date_expression)

Description

Returns the number of days since 1970-01-01.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT UNIX_DATE(DATE "2008-12-25") as days_from_epoch;

+-----------------+
| days_from_epoch |
+-----------------+
| 14238           |
+-----------------+

Supported Format Elements for DATE

Unless otherwise noted, DATE functions that use format strings support the following elements:

Format element Description
%A The full weekday name.
%a The abbreviated weekday name.
%B The full month name.
%b or %h The abbreviated month name.
%C The century (a year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer) as a decimal number (00-99).
%D The date in the format %m/%d/%y.
%d The day of the month as a decimal number (01-31).
%e The day of month as a decimal number (1-31); single digits are preceded by a space.
%F The date in the format %Y-%m-%d.
%G The ISO 8601 year with century as a decimal number.
%g The ISO 8601 year without century as a decimal number (00-99).
%j The day of the year as a decimal number (001-366).
%m The month as a decimal number (01-12).
%n A newline character.
%t A tab character.
%U The week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00-53).
%u The weekday (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (1-7).
%V The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (01-53). If the week containing January 1 has four or more days in the new year, then it is week 1; otherwise it is week 53 of the previous year, and the next week is week 1.
%W The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00-53).
%w The weekday (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (0-6).
%x The date representation in MM/DD/YY format.
%Y The year with century as a decimal number.
%y The year without century as a decimal number (00-99), with an optional leading zero. Can be mixed with %C. If %C is not specified, years 00-68 are 2000s, while years 69-99 are 1900s.
%E4Y Four-character years (0001 ... 9999). Note that %Y produces as many characters as it takes to fully render the year.

DateTime functions

BigQuery supports the following DATETIME functions.

CURRENT_DATETIME

CURRENT_DATETIME([timezone])

Description

Returns the current time as a DATETIME object.

This function supports an optional timezone parameter. See Timezone definitions for information on how to specify a time zone.

Return Data Type

DATETIME

Example

SELECT CURRENT_DATETIME() as now;

+----------------------------+
| now                        |
+----------------------------+
| 2016-05-19 10:38:47.046465 |
+----------------------------+

DATETIME

1. DATETIME(year, month, day, hour, minute, second)
2. DATETIME(date_expression, time_expression)
3. DATETIME(timestamp_expression [, timezone])

Description

  1. Constructs a DATETIME object using INT64 values representing the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second.
  2. Constructs a DATETIME object using a DATE object and a TIME object.
  3. Constructs a DATETIME object using a TIMESTAMP object. It supports an optional parameter to specify a timezone. If no timezone is specified, the default timezone, UTC, is used.

Return Data Type

DATETIME

Example

SELECT
  DATETIME(2008, 12, 25, 05, 30, 00) as datetime_ymdhms,
  DATETIME(TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 05:30:00+00", "America/Los_Angeles") as datetime_tstz;

+---------------------+---------------------+
| datetime_ymdhms     | datetime_tstz       |
+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2008-12-25 05:30:00 | 2008-12-24 21:30:00 |
+---------------------+---------------------+

DATETIME_ADD

DATETIME_ADD(datetime_expression, INTERVAL INT64_expr part)

Description

Adds INT64_expr units of part to the DATETIME object.

DATETIME_ADD supports the following values for part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR
  • DAY
  • WEEK. Equivalent to 7 DAYs.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR

Special handling is required for MONTH, QUARTER, and YEAR parts when the date is at (or near) the last day of the month. If the resulting month has fewer days than the original DATETIME's day, then the result day is the last day of the new month.

Return Data Type

DATETIME

Example

SELECT
  DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00" as original_date,
  DATETIME_ADD(DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00", INTERVAL 10 MINUTE) as later;

+-----------------------------+------------------------+
| original_date               | later                  |
+-----------------------------+------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00         | 2008-12-25 15:40:00    |
+-----------------------------+------------------------+

DATETIME_SUB

DATETIME_SUB(datetime_expression, INTERVAL INT64_expr part)

Description

Subtracts INT64_expr units of part from the DATETIME.

DATETIME_SUB supports the following values for part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR
  • DAY
  • WEEK. Equivalent to 7 DAYs.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR

Special handling is required for MONTH, QUARTER, and YEAR parts when the date is at (or near) the last day of the month. If the resulting month has fewer days than the original DATETIME's day, then the result day is the last day of the new month.

Return Data Type

DATETIME

Example

SELECT
  DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00" as original_date,
  DATETIME_SUB(DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00", INTERVAL 10 MINUTE) as earlier;

+-----------------------------+------------------------+
| original_date               | earlier                |
+-----------------------------+------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00         | 2008-12-25 15:20:00    |
+-----------------------------+------------------------+

DATETIME_DIFF

DATETIME_DIFF(datetime_expression, datetime_expression, part)

Description

Returns the number of part boundaries between the two datetime_expressions. If the first DATETIME occurs before the second DATETIME, then the result is non-positive. Throws an error if the computation overflows the result type, such as if the difference in microseconds between the two DATETIME objects would overflow an INT64 value.

DATETIME_DIFF supports the following values for part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR
  • DAY
  • WEEK: This date part begins on Sunday.
  • WEEK(<WEEKDAY>): This date part begins on WEEKDAY. Valid values for WEEKDAY are SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY.
  • ISOWEEK: Uses ISO 8601 week boundaries. ISO weeks begin on Monday.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR
  • ISOYEAR: Uses the ISO 8601 week-numbering year boundary. The ISO year boundary is the Monday of the first week whose Thursday belongs to the corresponding Gregorian calendar year.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT
  DATETIME "2010-07-07 10:20:00" as first_datetime,
  DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00" as second_datetime,
  DATETIME_DIFF(DATETIME "2010-07-07 10:20:00",
    DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00", DAY) as difference;

+----------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| first_datetime             | second_datetime        | difference             |
+----------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| 2010-07-07 10:20:00        | 2008-12-25 15:30:00    | 559                    |
+----------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
SELECT
  DATETIME_DIFF(DATETIME '2017-10-15 00:00:00',
    DATETIME '2017-10-14 00:00:00', DAY) as days_diff,
  DATETIME_DIFF(DATETIME '2017-10-15 00:00:00',
    DATETIME '2017-10-14 00:00:00', WEEK) as weeks_diff;

+-----------+------------+
| days_diff | weeks_diff |
+-----------+------------+
| 1         | 1          |
+-----------+------------+

The example above shows the result of DATETIME_DIFF for two DATETIMEs that are 24 hours apart. DATETIME_DIFF with the part WEEK returns 1 because DATETIME_DIFF counts the number of part boundaries in this range of DATETIMEs. Each WEEK begins on Sunday, so there is one part boundary between Saturday, 2017-10-14 00:00:00 and Sunday, 2017-10-15 00:00:00.

The following example shows the result of DATETIME_DIFF for two dates in different years. DATETIME_DIFF with the date part YEAR returns 3 because it counts the number of Gregorian calendar year boundaries between the two DATETIMEs. DATETIME_DIFF with the date part ISOYEAR returns 2 because the second DATETIME belongs to the ISO year 2015. The first Thursday of the 2015 calendar year was 2015-01-01, so the ISO year 2015 begins on the preceding Monday, 2014-12-29.

SELECT
  DATETIME_DIFF('2017-12-30 00:00:00',
    '2014-12-30 00:00:00', YEAR) AS year_diff,
  DATETIME_DIFF('2017-12-30 00:00:00',
    '2014-12-30 00:00:00', ISOYEAR) AS isoyear_diff;

+-----------+--------------+
| year_diff | isoyear_diff |
+-----------+--------------+
| 3         | 2            |
+-----------+--------------+

The following example shows the result of DATETIME_DIFF for two days in succession. The first date falls on a Monday and the second date falls on a Sunday. DATETIME_DIFF with the date part WEEK returns 0 because this time part uses weeks that begin on Sunday. DATETIME_DIFF with the date part WEEK(MONDAY) returns 1. DATETIME_DIFF with the date part ISOWEEK also returns 1 because ISO weeks begin on Monday.

SELECT
  DATETIME_DIFF('2017-12-18', '2017-12-17', WEEK) AS week_diff,
  DATETIME_DIFF('2017-12-18', '2017-12-17', WEEK(MONDAY)) AS week_weekday_diff,
  DATETIME_DIFF('2017-12-18', '2017-12-17', ISOWEEK) AS isoweek_diff;

+-----------+-------------------+--------------+
| week_diff | week_weekday_diff | isoweek_diff |
+-----------+-------------------+--------------+
| 0         | 1                 | 1            |
+-----------+-------------------+--------------+

DATETIME_TRUNC

DATETIME_TRUNC(datetime_expression, part)

Description

Truncates a DATETIME object to the granularity of part.

DATETIME_TRUNC supports the following values for part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR
  • DAY
  • WEEK
  • WEEK(<WEEKDAY>): Truncates datetime_expression to the preceding week boundary, where weeks begin on WEEKDAY. Valid values for WEEKDAY are SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY.
  • ISOWEEK: Truncates datetime_expression to the preceding ISO 8601 week boundary. ISOWEEKs begin on Monday. The first ISOWEEK of each ISO year contains the first Thursday of the corresponding Gregorian calendar year. Any date_expression earlier than this will truncate to the preceding Monday.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR
  • ISOYEAR: Truncates datetime_expression to the preceding ISO 8601 week-numbering year boundary. The ISO year boundary is the Monday of the first week whose Thursday belongs to the corresponding Gregorian calendar year.

Return Data Type

DATETIME

Examples

SELECT
  DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00" as original,
  DATETIME_TRUNC(DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00", DAY) as truncated;

+----------------------------+------------------------+
| original                   | truncated              |
+----------------------------+------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00        | 2008-12-25 00:00:00    |
+----------------------------+------------------------+

In the following example, the original DATETIME falls on a Sunday. Because the part is WEEK(MONDAY), DATE_TRUNC returns the DATETIME for the preceding Monday.

SELECT
 datetime AS original,
 DATETIME_TRUNC(datetime, WEEK(MONDAY)) AS truncated
FROM (SELECT DATETIME(TIMESTAMP '2017-11-05 00:00:00') AS datetime);

+---------------------+---------------------+
| original            | truncated           |
+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2017-11-05 00:00:00 | 2017-10-30 00:00:00 |
+---------------------+---------------------+

In the following example, the original datetime_expression is in the Gregorian calendar year 2015. However, DATETIME_TRUNC with the ISOYEAR date part truncates the datetime_expression to the beginning of the ISO year, not the Gregorian calendar year. The first Thursday of the 2015 calendar year was 2015-01-01, so the ISO year 2015 begins on the preceding Monday, 2014-12-29. Therefore the ISO year boundary preceding the datetime_expression 2015-06-15 00:00:00 is 2014-12-29.

SELECT
  DATETIME_TRUNC('2015-06-15 00:00:00', ISOYEAR) AS isoyear_boundary,
  EXTRACT(ISOYEAR FROM DATETIME '2015-06-15 00:00:00') AS isoyear_number;

+---------------------+----------------+
| isoyear_boundary    | isoyear_number |
+---------------------+----------------+
| 2014-12-29 00:00:00 | 2015           |
+---------------------+----------------+

FORMAT_DATETIME

FORMAT_DATETIME(format_string, datetime_expression)

Description

Formats a DATETIME object according to the specified format_string. See Supported Format Elements For DATETIME for a list of format elements that this function supports.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT
  FORMAT_DATETIME("%c", DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00")
  AS formatted;

PARSE_DATETIME

PARSE_DATETIME(format_string, string)

Description

Uses a format_string and a string representation of a timestamp to return a TIMESTAMP object. See Supported Format Elements For DATETIME for a list of format elements that this function supports.

When using PARSE_DATETIME, keep the following in mind:

  • Unspecified fields. Any unspecified field is initialized from 1970-01-01 00:00:00.0. For instance, if the year is unspecified then it defaults to 1970, and so on.
  • Case insensitive names. Names, such as Monday, February, and so on, are case insensitive.
  • Whitespace. One or more consecutive white spaces in the format string matches zero or more consecutive white spaces in the DATETIME string. In addition, leading and trailing white spaces in the DATETIME string are always allowed—even if they are not in the format string.
  • Format precedence. When two (or more) format elements have overlapping information (for example both %F and %Y affect the year), the last one generally overrides any earlier ones, with some exceptions (see the descriptions of %s, %C, and %y).

Return Data Type

DATETIME

Supported format elements for DATETIME

Unless otherwise noted, DATETIME functions that use format strings support the following elements:

Format element Description
%A The full weekday name.
%a The abbreviated weekday name.
%B The full month name.
%b or %h The abbreviated month name.
%C The century (a year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer) as a decimal number (00-99).
%c The date and time representation.
%D The date in the format %m/%d/%y.
%d The day of the month as a decimal number (01-31).
%e The day of month as a decimal number (1-31); single digits are preceded by a space.
%F The date in the format %Y-%m-%d.
%G The ISO 8601 year with century as a decimal number.
%g The ISO 8601 year without century as a decimal number (00-99).
%H The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (00-23).
%I The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (01-12).
%j The day of the year as a decimal number (001-366).
%k The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (0-23); single digits are preceded by a space.
%l The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (1-12); single digits are preceded by a space.
%M The minute as a decimal number (00-59).
%m The month as a decimal number (01-12).
%n A newline character.
%P Either am or pm.
%p Either AM or PM.
%R The time in the format %H:%M.
%r The 12-hour clock time using AM/PM notation.
%S The second as a decimal number (00-60).
%s The number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00. Always overrides all other format elements, independent of where %s appears in the string. If multiple %s elements appear, then the last one takes precedence.
%T The time in the format %H:%M:%S.
%t A tab character.
%U The week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00-53).
%u The weekday (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (1-7).
%V The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (01-53). If the week containing January 1 has four or more days in the new year, then it is week 1; otherwise it is week 53 of the previous year, and the next week is week 1.
%W The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00-53).
%w The weekday (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (0-6).
%X The time representation in HH:MM:SS format.
%x The date representation in MM/DD/YY format.
%Y The year with century as a decimal number.
%y The year without century as a decimal number (00-99), with an optional leading zero. Can be mixed with %C. If %C is not specified, years 00-68 are 2000s, while years 69-99 are 1900s.
%% A single % character.
%E#S Seconds with # digits of fractional precision.
%E*S Seconds with full fractional precision (a literal '*').
%E4Y Four-character years (0001 ... 9999). Note that %Y produces as many characters as it takes to fully render the year.

Time functions

BigQuery supports the following TIME functions.

CURRENT_TIME

CURRENT_TIME()

Description

Returns the current time as a TIME object.

Return Data Type

TIME

Example

SELECT CURRENT_TIME() as now;

+----------------------------+
| now                        |
+----------------------------+
| 15:31:38.776361            |
+----------------------------+

TIME

1. TIME(hour, minute, second)
2. TIME(timestamp, [timezone])
3. TIME(datetime)

Description

  1. Constructs a TIME object using INT64 values representing the hour, minute, and second.
  2. Constructs a TIME object using a TIMESTAMP object. It supports an optional parameter to specify a timezone. If no timezone is specified, the default timezone, UTC, is used.
  3. Constructs a TIME object using a DATETIME object.

Return Data Type

TIME

Example

SELECT
  TIME(15, 30, 00) as time_hms,
  TIME(TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00+08", "America/Los_Angeles") as time_tstz;
+----------+-----------+
| time_hms | time_tstz |
+----------+-----------+
| 15:30:00 | 23:30:00  |
+----------+-----------+
SELECT
  TIME(DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00.000000") AS time_dt;
+----------+
| time_dt  |
+----------+
| 15:30:00 |
+----------+

TIME_ADD

TIME_ADD(time_expression, INTERVAL INT64_expr part)

Description

Adds INT64_expr units of part to the TIME object.

TIME_ADD supports the following values for part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR

This function automatically adjusts when values fall outside of the 00:00:00 to 24:00:00 boundary. For example, if you add an hour to 23:30:00, the returned value is 00:30:00.

Return Data Types

TIME

Example

SELECT
  TIME "15:30:00" as original_time,
  TIME_ADD(TIME "15:30:00", INTERVAL 10 MINUTE) as later;

+-----------------------------+------------------------+
| original_time               | later                  |
+-----------------------------+------------------------+
| 15:30:00                    | 15:40:00               |
+-----------------------------+------------------------+

TIME_SUB

TIME_SUB(time_expression, INTERVAL INT_expr part)

Description

Subtracts INT64_expr units of part from the TIME object.

TIME_SUB supports the following values for part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR

This function automatically adjusts when values fall outside of the 00:00:00 to 24:00:00 boundary. For example, if you subtract an hour from 00:30:00, the returned value is 23:30:00.

Return Data Type

TIME

Example

SELECT
  TIME "15:30:00" as original_date,
  TIME_SUB(TIME "15:30:00", INTERVAL 10 MINUTE) as earlier;

+-----------------------------+------------------------+
| original_date                | earlier                |
+-----------------------------+------------------------+
| 15:30:00                    | 15:20:00               |
+-----------------------------+------------------------+

TIME_DIFF

TIME_DIFF(time_expression, time_expression, part)

Description

Returns the number of whole specified part intervals between two TIME objects. Throws an error if the computation overflows the result type, such as if the difference in microseconds between the two time objects would overflow an INT64 value.

TIME_DIFF supports the following values for part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT
  TIME "15:30:00" as first_time,
  TIME "14:35:00" as second_time,
  TIME_DIFF(TIME "15:30:00", TIME "14:35:00", MINUTE) as difference;

+----------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| first_time                 | second_time            | difference             |
+----------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| 15:30:00                   | 14:35:00               | 55                     |
+----------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+

TIME_TRUNC

TIME_TRUNC(time_expression, part)

Description

Truncates a TIME object to the granularity of part.

TIME_TRUNC supports the following values for part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR

Return Data Type

TIME

Example

SELECT
  TIME "15:30:00" as original,
  TIME_TRUNC(TIME "15:30:00", HOUR) as truncated;

+----------------------------+------------------------+
| original                   | truncated              |
+----------------------------+------------------------+
| 15:30:00                   | 15:00:00               |
+----------------------------+------------------------+

FORMAT_TIME

FORMAT_TIME(format_string, time_object)

Description Formats a TIME object according to the specified format_string. See Supported Format Elements For TIME for a list of format elements that this function supports.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT FORMAT_TIME("%R", TIME "15:30:00") as formatted_time;

+----------------+
| formatted_time |
+----------------+
| 15:30          |
+----------------+

PARSE_TIME

PARSE_TIME(format_string, string)

Description

Uses a format_string and a string to return a TIME object. See Supported Format Elements For TIME for a list of format elements that this function supports.

When using PARSE_TIME, keep the following in mind:

  • Unspecified fields. Any unspecified field is initialized from 00:00:00.0. For instance, if seconds is unspecified then it defaults to 00, and so on.
  • Whitespace. One or more consecutive white spaces in the format string matches zero or more consecutive white spaces in the TIME string. In addition, leading and trailing white spaces in the TIME string are always allowed—even if they are not in the format string.
  • Format precedence. When two (or more) format elements have overlapping information, the last one generally overrides any earlier ones.

Return Data Type

TIME

Example

SELECT PARSE_TIME("%H", "15") as parsed_time;

+-------------+
| parsed_time |
+-------------+
| 15:00:00    |
+-------------+

Supported format elements for TIME

Unless otherwise noted, TIME functions that use format strings support the following elements:

Format element Description
%H The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (00-23).
%I The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (01-12).
%j The day of the year as a decimal number (001-366).
%k The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (0-23); single digits are preceded by a space.
%l The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (1-12); single digits are preceded by a space.
%M The minute as a decimal number (00-59).
%n A newline character.
%P Either am or pm.
%p Either AM or PM.
%R The time in the format %H:%M.
%r The 12-hour clock time using AM/PM notation.
%S The second as a decimal number (00-60).
%T The time in the format %H:%M:%S.
%t A tab character.
%X The time representation in HH:MM:SS format.
%% A single % character.
%E#S Seconds with # digits of fractional precision.
%E*S Seconds with full fractional precision (a literal '*').

Timestamp functions

BigQuery supports the following TIMESTAMP functions.

NOTE: These functions return a runtime error if overflow occurs; result values are bounded by the defined date and timestamp min/max values.

CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()

Description

Parentheses are optional. This function handles leap seconds by smearing them across a window of 20 hours around the inserted leap second. CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() produces a TIMESTAMP value that is continuous, non-ambiguous, has exactly 60 seconds per minute and does not repeat values over the leap second.

Supported Input Types

Not applicable

Result Data Type

TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() as now;

+-------------------------------+
| now                           |
+-------------------------------+
| 2016-05-16 18:12:47.145482+00 |
+-------------------------------+

EXTRACT

EXTRACT(part FROM timestamp_expression [AT TIME ZONE tz_spec])

Description

Returns an INT64 value that corresponds to the specified part from a supplied timestamp_expression.

Allowed part values are:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR
  • DAYOFWEEK
  • DAY
  • DAYOFYEAR

  • WEEK: Returns the week number of the date in the range [0, 53]. Weeks begin with Sunday, and dates prior to the first Sunday of the year are in week 0.

  • WEEK(<WEEKDAY>): Returns the week number of timestamp_expression in the range [0, 53]. Weeks begin on WEEKDAY. datetimes prior to the first WEEKDAY of the year are in week 0. Valid values for WEEKDAY are SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY.

  • ISOWEEK: Returns the ISO 8601 week number of the datetime_expression. ISOWEEKs begin on Monday. Return values are in the range [1, 53]. The first ISOWEEK of each ISO year begins on the Monday before the first Thursday of the Gregorian calendar year.

  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR
  • ISOYEAR: Returns the ISO 8601 week-numbering year, which is the Gregorian calendar year containing the Thursday of the week to which date_expression belongs.
  • DATE
  • DATETIME
  • TIME

Returned values truncate lower order time periods. For example, when extracting seconds, EXTRACT truncates the millisecond and microsecond values.

See Timezone definitions for information on how to specify a time zone.

Return Data Type

Generally INT64 . Returns DATE if part is DATE.

Examples

In the following example, EXTRACT returns a value corresponding to the DAY time part.

SELECT EXTRACT(DAY
  FROM TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00" AT TIME ZONE "America/Los_Angeles")
  AS the_day;

+------------+
| the_day    |
+------------+
| 25         |
+------------+

In the following example, EXTRACT returns values corresponding to different time parts from a column of timestamps.

WITH Timestamps AS (
  SELECT TIMESTAMP '2005-01-03 12:34:56' AS timestamp UNION ALL
  SELECT TIMESTAMP '2007-12-31' UNION ALL
  SELECT TIMESTAMP '2009-01-01' UNION ALL
  SELECT TIMESTAMP '2009-12-31' UNION ALL
  SELECT TIMESTAMP '2017-01-02' UNION ALL
  SELECT TIMESTAMP '2017-05-26'
)
SELECT
  timestamp,
  EXTRACT(ISOYEAR FROM timestamp) AS isoyear,
  EXTRACT(ISOWEEK FROM timestamp) AS isoweek,
  EXTRACT(YEAR FROM timestamp) AS year,
  EXTRACT(WEEK FROM timestamp) AS week
FROM Timestamps
ORDER BY timestamp;
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+------+
| timestamp              | isoyear | isoweek | year | week |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+------+
| 2005-01-03 12:34:56+00 | 2005    | 1       | 2005 | 1    |
| 2007-12-31 00:00:00+00 | 2008    | 1       | 2007 | 52   |
| 2009-01-01 00:00:00+00 | 2009    | 1       | 2009 | 0    |
| 2009-12-31 00:00:00+00 | 2009    | 53      | 2009 | 52   |
| 2017-01-02 00:00:00+00 | 2017    | 1       | 2017 | 1    |
| 2017-05-26 00:00:00+00 | 2017    | 21      | 2017 | 21   |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+------+

In the following example, timestamp_expression falls on a Sunday. EXTRACT calculates the first column using weeks that begin on Sunday, and it calculates the second column using weeks that begin on Monday.

WITH table AS (SELECT TIMESTAMP('2017-11-05 00:00:00') AS timestamp)
SELECT
  timestamp,
  EXTRACT(WEEK(SUNDAY) FROM timestamp) AS week_sunday,
  EXTRACT(WEEK(MONDAY) FROM timestamp) AS week_monday
FROM table;

+------------------------+-------------+---------------+
| timestamp              | week_sunday | week_monday |
+------------------------+-------------+---------------+
| 2017-11-05 00:00:00+00 | 45          | 44            |
+------------------------+-------------+---------------+

STRING

STRING(timestamp_expression[, timezone])

Description

Converts a timestamp_expression to a STRING data type. Supports an optional parameter to specify a timezone. See Timezone definitions for information on how to specify a time zone.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT STRING(TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00", "America/Los_Angeles") as string;

+-------------------------------+
| string                        |
+-------------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00-08        |
+-------------------------------+

TIMESTAMP

1. TIMESTAMP(string_expression[, timezone])
2. TIMESTAMP(date_expression[, timezone])
3. TIMESTAMP(datetime_expression[, timezone])

Description

  1. Converts a STRING expression to a TIMESTAMP data type.

  2. Converts a DATE object to a TIMESTAMP data type.

  3. Converts a DATETIME object to a TIMESTAMP data type.

This function supports an optional parameter to specify a timezone. If no timezone is specified, the default timezone, UTC, is used.

Return Data Type

TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT
  CAST(TIMESTAMP("2008-12-25 15:30:00", "America/Los_Angeles") AS STRING) AS timestamp_str,
  CAST(TIMESTAMP(DATE "2008-12-25", "America/Los_Angeles") AS STRING) AS timestamp_date,
  CAST(TIMESTAMP(DATETIME "2008-12-25 15:30:00", "America/Los_Angeles") AS STRING) AS timestamp_datetime;

+------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| timestamp_str          | timestamp_date         | timestamp_datetime     |
+------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 23:30:00+00 | 2008-12-25 08:00:00+00 | 2008-12-25 23:30:00+00 |
+------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+

TIMESTAMP_ADD

TIMESTAMP_ADD(timestamp_expression, INTERVAL int64_expression date_part)

Description

Adds int64_expression units of date_part to the timestamp, independent of any time zone.

TIMESTAMP_ADD supports the following values for date_part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR. Equivalent to 60 MINUTEs.

Return Data Types

TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT
  TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC" as original,
  TIMESTAMP_ADD(TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC", INTERVAL 10 MINUTE) AS later;

+------------------------+------------------------+
| original               | later                  |
+------------------------+------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00+00 | 2008-12-25 15:40:00+00 |
+------------------------+------------------------+

TIMESTAMP_SUB

TIMESTAMP_SUB(timestamp_expression, INTERVAL int64_expression date_part)

Description

Subtracts int64_expression units of date_part from the timestamp, independent of any time zone.

TIMESTAMP_SUB supports the following values for date_part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR. Equivalent to 60 MINUTEs.

Return Data Type

TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT
  TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC" as original,
  TIMESTAMP_SUB(TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC", INTERVAL 10 MINUTE) AS earlier;

+------------------------+------------------------+
| original               | earlier                |
+------------------------+------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00+00 | 2008-12-25 15:20:00+00 |
+------------------------+------------------------+

TIMESTAMP_DIFF

TIMESTAMP_DIFF(timestamp_expression, timestamp_expression, date_part)

Description

Returns the number of whole specified date_part intervals between two timestamps. The first timestamp_expression represents the later date; if the first timestamp_expression is earlier than the second timestamp_expression, the output is negative. Throws an error if the computation overflows the result type, such as if the difference in microseconds between the two timestamps would overflow an INT64 value.

TIMESTAMP_DIFF supports the following values for date_part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR. Equivalent to 60 MINUTEs.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT
  TIMESTAMP "2010-07-07 10:20:00 UTC" as later_timestamp,
  TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC" as earlier_timestamp,
  TIMESTAMP_DIFF(TIMESTAMP "2010-07-07 10:20:00 UTC",
    TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC", HOUR) AS hours;

+------------------------+------------------------+-------+
| later_timestamp        | earlier_timestamp      | hours |
+------------------------+------------------------+-------+
| 2010-07-07 10:20:00+00 | 2008-12-25 15:30:00+00 | 13410 |
+------------------------+------------------------+-------+

In the following example, the first timestamp occurs before the second timestamp, resulting in a negative output.

SELECT TIMESTAMP_DIFF(TIMESTAMP "2018-08-14", TIMESTAMP "2018-10-14", DAY);

+---------------+
| negative_diff |
+---------------+
| -61           |
+---------------+

TIMESTAMP_TRUNC

TIMESTAMP_TRUNC(timestamp_expression, date_part[, time_zone])

Description

Truncates a timestamp to the granularity of date_part.

TIMESTAMP_TRUNC supports the following values for date_part:

  • MICROSECOND
  • MILLISECOND
  • SECOND
  • MINUTE
  • HOUR
  • DAY
  • WEEK
  • WEEK(<WEEKDAY>): Truncates timestamp_expression to the preceding week boundary, where weeks begin on WEEKDAY. Valid values for WEEKDAY are SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY.
  • ISOWEEK: Truncates timestamp_expression to the preceding ISO 8601 week boundary. ISOWEEKs begin on Monday. The first ISOWEEK of each ISO year contains the first Thursday of the corresponding Gregorian calendar year. Any date_expression earlier than this will truncate to the preceding Monday.
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR
  • ISOYEAR: Truncates timestamp_expression to the preceding ISO 8601 week-numbering year boundary. The ISO year boundary is the Monday of the first week whose Thursday belongs to the corresponding Gregorian calendar year.

TIMESTAMP_TRUNC function supports an optional time_zone parameter. This parameter applies to the following date_parts:

  • MINUTE
  • HOUR
  • DAY
  • WEEK
  • WEEK(<WEEKDAY>)
  • MONTH
  • QUARTER
  • YEAR

Use this parameter if you want to use a time zone other than the default timezone, UTC, as part of the truncate operation.

Return Data Type

TIMESTAMP

Examples

SELECT
  TIMESTAMP_TRUNC(TIMESTAMP '2008-12-25 15:30:00', DAY, 'UTC') as utc,
  TIMESTAMP_TRUNC(TIMESTAMP '2008-12-25 15:30:00', DAY, 'America/Los_Angeles') as la;

+------------------------+------------------------+
| utc                    | la                     |
+------------------------+------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 00:00:00+00 | 2008-12-25 08:00:00+00 |
+------------------------+------------------------+

In the following example, timestamp_expression has a time zone offset of +12. The first column shows the timestamp_expression in UTC time. The second column shows the output of TIMESTAMP_TRUNC using weeks that start on Monday. Because the timestamp_expression falls on a Sunday in UTC, TIMESTAMP_TRUNC truncates it to the preceding Monday. The third column shows the same function with the optional Timezone definition argument 'Pacific/Auckland'. Here the function truncates the timestamp_expression using New Zealand Daylight Time, where it falls on a Monday.

SELECT
  timestamp,
  TIMESTAMP_TRUNC(timestamp, WEEK(MONDAY)) AS utc_truncated,
  TIMESTAMP_TRUNC(timestamp, WEEK(MONDAY), 'Pacific/Auckland') AS nzdt_truncated
FROM (SELECT TIMESTAMP('2017-11-06 00:00:00+12') AS timestamp);

+------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| timestamp              | utc_truncated          | nzdt_truncated         |
+------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| 2017-11-05 12:00:00+00 | 2017-10-30 07:00:00+00 | 2017-11-05 11:00:00+00 |
+------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+

In the following example, the original timestamp_expression is in the Gregorian calendar year 2015. However, TIMESTAMP_TRUNC with the ISOYEAR date part truncates the timestamp_expression to the beginning of the ISO year, not the Gregorian calendar year. The first Thursday of the 2015 calendar year was 2015-01-01, so the ISO year 2015 begins on the preceding Monday, 2014-12-29. Therefore the ISO year boundary preceding the timestamp_expression 2015-06-15 00:00:00+00 is 2014-12-29.

SELECT
  TIMESTAMP_TRUNC('2015-06-15 00:00:00+00', ISOYEAR) AS isoyear_boundary,
  EXTRACT(ISOYEAR FROM TIMESTAMP '2015-06-15 00:00:00+00') AS isoyear_number;

+------------------------+----------------+
| isoyear_boundary       | isoyear_number |
+------------------------+----------------+
| 2014-12-29 00:00:00+00 | 2015           |
+------------------------+----------------+

FORMAT_TIMESTAMP

FORMAT_TIMESTAMP(format_string, timestamp[, time_zone])

Description

Formats a timestamp according to the specified format_string.

See Supported Format Elements For TIMESTAMP for a list of format elements that this function supports.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT FORMAT_TIMESTAMP("%c", TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00", "America/Los_Angeles")
  AS formatted;

+--------------------------+
| formatted                |
+--------------------------+
| Thu Dec 25 07:30:00 2008 |
+--------------------------+

PARSE_TIMESTAMP

PARSE_TIMESTAMP(format_string, string[, time_zone])

Description

Uses a format_string and a string representation of a timestamp to return a TIMESTAMP object.

When using PARSE_TIMESTAMP, keep the following in mind:

  • Unspecified fields. Any unspecified field is initialized from 1970-01-01 00:00:00.0. This initialization value uses the time zone specified by the function's time zone argument, if present. If not, the initialization value uses the default time zone, UTC. For instance, if the year is unspecified then it defaults to 1970, and so on.
  • Case insensitive names. Names, such as Monday, February, and so on, are case insensitive.
  • Whitespace. One or more consecutive white spaces in the format string matches zero or more consecutive white spaces in the timestamp string. In addition, leading and trailing white spaces in the timestamp string are always allowed -- even if they are not in the format string.
  • Format precedence. When two (or more) format elements have overlapping information (for example both %F and %Y affect the year), the last one generally overrides any earlier ones, with some exceptions (see the descriptions of %s, %C, and %y).

See Supported Format Elements For TIMESTAMP for a list of format elements that this function supports.

Return Data Type

TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT PARSE_TIMESTAMP("%c", "Thu Dec 25 07:30:00 2008", "America/Los_Angeles") as parsed;

+-------------------------+
| parsed                  |
+-------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC |
+-------------------------+

TIMESTAMP_SECONDS

TIMESTAMP_SECONDS(int64_expression)

Description

Interprets int64_expression as the number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.

Return Data Type

TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT TIMESTAMP_SECONDS(1230219000) as timestamp;

+-------------------------+
| timestamp               |
+-------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC |
+-------------------------+

TIMESTAMP_MILLIS

TIMESTAMP_MILLIS(int64_expression)

Description

Interprets int64_expression as the number of milliseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.

Return Data Type

TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT TIMESTAMP_MILLIS(1230219000000) as timestamp;

+-------------------------+
| timestamp               |
+-------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC |
+-------------------------+

TIMESTAMP_MICROS

TIMESTAMP_MICROS(int64_expression)

Description

Interprets int64_expression as the number of microseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.

Return Data Type

TIMESTAMP

Example

SELECT TIMESTAMP_MICROS(1230219000000000) as timestamp;

+-------------------------+
| timestamp               |
+-------------------------+
| 2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC |
+-------------------------+

UNIX_SECONDS

UNIX_SECONDS(timestamp_expression)

Description

Returns the number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. Truncates higher levels of precision.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT UNIX_SECONDS(TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00") as seconds;

+------------+
| seconds    |
+------------+
| 1230219000 |
+------------+

UNIX_MILLIS

UNIX_MILLIS(timestamp_expression)

Description

Returns the number of milliseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. Truncates higher levels of precision.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT UNIX_MILLIS(TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00 UTC") as millis;

+---------------+
| millis        |
+---------------+
| 1230219000000 |
+---------------+

UNIX_MICROS

UNIX_MICROS(timestamp_expression)

Description

Returns the number of microseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. Truncates higher levels of precision.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT UNIX_MICROS(TIMESTAMP "2008-12-25 15:30:00") as micros;

+------------------+
| micros           |
+------------------+
| 1230219000000000 |
+------------------+

Supported format elements for TIMESTAMP

Unless otherwise noted, TIMESTAMP functions that use format strings support the following elements:

Format element Description
%A The full weekday name.
%a The abbreviated weekday name.
%B The full month name.
%b or %h The abbreviated month name.
%C The century (a year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer) as a decimal number (00-99).
%c The date and time representation.
%D The date in the format %m/%d/%y.
%d The day of the month as a decimal number (01-31).
%e The day of month as a decimal number (1-31); single digits are preceded by a space.
%F The date in the format %Y-%m-%d.
%G The ISO 8601 year with century as a decimal number.
%g The ISO 8601 year without century as a decimal number (00-99).
%H The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (00-23).
%I The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (01-12).
%j The day of the year as a decimal number (001-366).
%k The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (0-23); single digits are preceded by a space.
%l The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (1-12); single digits are preceded by a space.
%M The minute as a decimal number (00-59).
%m The month as a decimal number (01-12).
%n A newline character.
%P Either am or pm.
%p Either AM or PM.
%R The time in the format %H:%M.
%r The 12-hour clock time using AM/PM notation.
%S The second as a decimal number (00-60).
%s The number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. Always overrides all other format elements, independent of where %s appears in the string. If multiple %s elements appear, then the last one takes precedence.
%T The time in the format %H:%M:%S.
%t A tab character.
%U The week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00-53).
%u The weekday (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (1-7).
%V The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (01-53). If the week containing January 1 has four or more days in the new year, then it is week 1; otherwise it is week 53 of the previous year, and the next week is week 1.
%W The week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (00-53).
%w The weekday (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number (0-6).
%X The time representation in HH:MM:SS format.
%x The date representation in MM/DD/YY format.
%Y The year with century as a decimal number.
%y The year without century as a decimal number (00-99), with an optional leading zero. Can be mixed with %C. If %C is not specified, years 00-68 are 2000s, while years 69-99 are 1900s.
%Z The time zone name.
%z The offset from the Prime Meridian in the format +HHMM or -HHMM as appropriate, with positive values representing locations east of Greenwich.
%% A single % character.
%Ez RFC 3339-compatible numeric time zone (+HH:MM or -HH:MM).
%E#S Seconds with # digits of fractional precision.
%E*S Seconds with full fractional precision (a literal '*').
%E4Y Four-character years (0001 ... 9999). Note that %Y produces as many characters as it takes to fully render the year.

Timezone definitions

Certain date and timestamp functions allow you to override the default time zone and specify a different one. You can specify a timezone by supplying its UTC offset using the following format:

(+|-)H[H][:M[M]]

For example:

-08:00

Geography functions

The geography functions operate on or generate BigQuery GEOGRAPHY values. The signature of any geography function starts with ST_. BigQuery supports the following functions that can be used to analyze geographical data, determine spatial relationships between geographical features, and construct or manipulate GEOGRAPHYs.

The geography functions are grouped into the following categories based on their behavior:

  • Constructors: Functions that build new GEOGRAPHY values from coordinates or existing GEOGRAPHYs, such as ST_GEOGPOINT.
  • Parsers: Functions that create GEOGRAPHYs from an external format such as WKT and GeoJSON. For example, ST_GEOGFROMTEXT, creates a GEOGRAPHY from WKT.
  • Formatters: Functions that export GEOGRAPHYs to an external format such as WKT and GeoJSON. For example, ST_ASTEXT formats a GEOGRAPHY to WKT.
  • Transformations: Functions that generate a new GEOGRAPHY from others that adhere to some property. Examples include ST_INTERSECTION and ST_BOUNDARY.
  • Predicates: Functions that return TRUE or FALSE for some spatial relationship between two GEOGRAPHYs, or for some property of a geography. These functions are commonly used in filter clauses. For example, ST_DWITHIN is a predicate.
  • Accessors: Functions that provide access to properties of a GEOGRAPHY without side-effects, such as ST_NUMPOINTS.
  • Measures: Functions that compute measurements of one or more GEOGRAPHY, for example ST_DISTANCE.
  • Aggregate Functions: Geography-specific aggregate functions, such as ST_UNION_AGG.

All BigQuery geography functions return NULL if any input argument is NULL.

ST_GEOGPOINT

ST_GEOGPOINT(longitude, latitude)

Description

Creates a GEOGRAPHY with a single point. ST_GEOGPOINT creates a point from the specified FLOAT64 longitude and latitude parameters and returns that point in a GEOGRAPHY value.

Constraints

  • Latitudes must be in the range [-90, 90]. Latitudes outside this range will result in an error.
  • Longitudes outside the range [-180, 180] are allowed; ST_GEOGPOINT uses the input longitude modulo 360 to obtain a longitude within [-180, 180].

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_MAKELINE

ST_MAKELINE(geography_1, geography_2)
ST_MAKELINE(array_of_geography)

Description

Creates a GEOGRAPHY with a single linestring by concatenating the point or line vertices of each of the input GEOGRAPHYs in the order they are given.

Input can either be two GEOGRAPHYs or an ARRAY of type GEOGRAPHY. Each input GEOGRAPHY must consist of one of the following values:

  • Exactly one point.
  • Exactly one linestring.

Constraints

Every edge must span strictly less than 180 degrees.

NOTE: BigQuery's snapping process may discard sufficiently short edges and snap the two endpoints together. For instance, if two input GEOGRAPHYs each contain a point and the two points are separated by a distance less than the snap radius, the points will be snapped together. In such a case the result will be a GEOGRAPHY with exactly one point.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_MAKEPOLYGON

ST_MAKEPOLYGON(geography_expression)
ST_MAKEPOLYGON(geography_expression, array_of_geography)

Description

Creates a GEOGRAPHY containing a single polygon from linestring inputs, where each input linestring is used to construct a polygon ring.

The linestring input is either provided by a single GEOGRAPHY containing exactly one linestring, or by a single GEOGRAPHY and an array of GEOGRAPHYs, each containing exactly one linestring. The first GEOGRAPHY will always be used to construct the polygon shell. Any additional GEOGRAPHYs beyond the first in the array specify a polygon hole. For every input GEOGRAPHY containing exactly one linestring, the following must be true:

  • The linestring must consist of at least three distinct vertices.
  • The linestring must be closed: that is, the first and last vertex have to be the same. If the first and last vertex differ, the function constructs a final edge from the first vertex to the last.

NOTE: ST_MAKEPOLYGON accepts an empty GEOGRAPHY as input. ST_MAKEPOLYGON interprets an empty GEOGRAPHY as having an empty linestring, which will create a full loop: that is, a polygon that covers the entire Earth.

Constraints

Together, the input rings must form a valid polygon:

  • The polygon shell must cover each of the polygon holes.
  • There can be only one polygon shell (which has to be the first input ring). This implies that polygon holes cannot be nested.
  • Polygon rings may only intersect in a vertex on the boundary of both rings.

Every edge must span strictly less than 180 degrees.

Each polygon ring divides the sphere into two regions. The first input linesting to ST_MAKEPOLYGON forms the polygon shell, and the interior is chosen to be the smaller of the two regions. Each subsequent input linestring specifies a polygon hole, so the interior of the polygon is already well-defined. In order to define a polygon shell such that the interior of the polygon is the larger of the two regions, see ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED.

NOTE: BigQuery's snapping process may discard sufficiently short edges and snap the two endpoints together. Hence, when vertices are snapped together, it is possible that a polygon hole that is sufficiently small may disappear, or the output GEOGRAPHY may contain only a line or a point.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED

ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED(array_of_geography)

Description

Like ST_MAKEPOLYGON, but the vertex ordering of each input linestring determines the orientation of each polygon ring. The orientation of a polygon ring defines the interior of the polygon as follows: if someone walks along the boundary of the polygon in the order of the input vertices, the interior of the polygon is on the left. This applies for each polygon ring provided.

This variant of the polygon constructor is more flexible since ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED can construct a polygon such that the interior is on either side of the polygon ring. However, proper orientation of polygon rings is critical in order to construct the desired polygon.

NOTE: The input argument for ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED may contain an empty GEOGRAPHY. ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED interprets an empty GEOGRAPHY as having an empty linestring, which will create a full loop: that is, a polygon that covers the entire Earth.

Constraints

Together, the input rings must form a valid polygon:

  • The polygon shell must cover each of the polygon holes.
  • There must be only one polygon shell, which must to be the first input ring. This implies that polygon holes cannot be nested.
  • Polygon rings may only intersect in a vertex on the boundary of both rings.

Every edge must span strictly less than 180 degrees.

ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED relies on the ordering of the input vertices of each linestring to determine the orientation of the polygon. This applies to the polygon shell and any polygon holes. ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED expects all polygon holes to have the opposite orientation of the shell. See ST_MAKEPOLYGON for an alternate polygon constructor, and other constraints on building a valid polygon.

NOTE: Due to BigQuery's snapping process, edges with a sufficiently short length will be discarded and the two endpoints will be snapped to a single point. Therefore, it is possible that vertices in a linestring may be snapped together such that one or more edge disappears. Hence, it is possible that a polygon hole that is sufficiently small may disappear, or the resulting GEOGRAPHY may contain only a line or a point.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_GEOGFROMGEOJSON

ST_GEOGFROMGEOJSON(geojson_string)

Description

Returns a GEOGRAPHY value that corresponds to the input GeoJSON representation.

ST_GEOGFROMGEOJSON accepts input that is RFC 7946 compliant.

A BigQuery GEOGRAPHY has spherical geodesic edges, whereas a GeoJSON Geometry object explicitly has planar edges. To convert between these two types of edges, BigQuery adds additional points to the line where necessary so that the resulting sequence of edges remains within 10 meters of the original edge.

See ST_ASGEOJSON to format a GEOGRAPHY as GeoJSON.

Constraints

The input is subject to the following constraints:

  • ST_GEOGFROMGEOJSON only accepts JSON geometry fragments and cannot be used to ingest a whole JSON document.
  • The input JSON fragment must consist of a GeoJSON geometry type, which includes Point, MultiPoint, LineString, MultiLineString, Polygon, MultiPolygon, and GeometryCollection. Any other GeoJSON type such as Feature or FeatureCollection will result in an error.
  • A position in the coordinates member of a GeoJSON geometry type must consist of exactly two elements. The first is the longitude and the second is the latitude. Therefore, ST_GEOGFROMGEOJSON does not support the optional third element for a position in the coordinates member.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_GEOGFROMTEXT

ST_GEOGFROMTEXT(wkt_string)

Description

Returns a GEOGRAPHY value that corresponds to the input WKT representation.

To format GEOGRAPHY as WKT, use ST_ASTEXT.

Constraints

All input edges are assumed to be spherical geodesics, and not planar straight lines. For reading data in a planar projection, consider using ST_GEOGFROMGEOJSON. For more information on the differences between spherical geodesics and planar lines, see Coordinate systems and edges.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_GEOGFROMWKB

ST_GEOGFROMWKB(wkb_bytes)

Description

Returns a GEOGRAPHY value that corresponds to the input WKB representation.

To format GEOGRAPHY as WKB, use ST_ASBINARY.

Constraints

All input edges are assumed to be spherical geodesics, and not planar straight lines. For reading data in a planar projection, consider using ST_GEOGFROMGEOJSON.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_ASGEOJSON

ST_ASGEOJSON(geography_expression)

Description

Returns the RFC 7946 compliant GeoJSON representation of the input GEOGRAPHY.

A BigQuery GEOGRAPHY has spherical geodesic edges, whereas a GeoJSON Geometry object explicitly has planar edges. To convert between these two types of edges, BigQuery adds additional points to the line where necessary so that the resulting sequence of edges remains within 10 meters of the original edge.

See ST_GEOGFROMGEOJSON to construct a GEOGRAPHY from GeoJSON.

Return type

STRING

ST_ASTEXT

ST_ASTEXT(geography_expression)

Description

Returns the WKT representation of an input GEOGRAPHY.

See ST_GEOGFROMTEXT to construct a GEOGRAPHY from WKT.

Return type

STRING

ST_ASBINARY

ST_ASBINARY(geography_expression)

Description

Returns the WKB representation of an input GEOGRAPHY.

See ST_GEOGFROMWKB to construct a GEOGRAPHY from WKB.

Return type

BYTES

ST_BOUNDARY

ST_BOUNDARY(geography_expression)

Description

Returns a single GEOGRAPHY that contains the union of the boundaries of each component in the given input GEOGRAPHY.

The boundary of each component of a GEOGRAPHY is defined as follows:

  • The boundary of a point is empty.
  • The boundary of a linestring consists of the endpoints of the linestring.
  • The boundary of a polygon consists of the linestrings that form the polygon shell and each of the polygon's holes.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_CENTROID

ST_CENTROID(geography_expression)

Description

Returns the centroid of the input GEOGRAPHY as a single point GEOGRAPHY.

The centroid of a GEOGRAPHY is the weighted average of the centroids of the highest-dimensional components in the GEOGRAPHY. The centroid for components in each dimension is defined as follows:

  • The centroid of points is the arithmetic mean of the input coordinates.
  • The centroid of linestrings is the centroid of all the edges weighted by length. The centroid of each edge is the geodesic midpoint of the edge.
  • The centroid of a polygon is its center of mass.

If the input GEOGRAPHY is empty, an empty GEOGRAPHY is returned.

Constraints

In the unlikely event that the centroid of a GEOGRAPHY cannot be defined by a single point on the surface of the Earth, a deterministic but otherwise arbitrary point is returned. This can only happen if the centroid is exactly at the center of the Earth, such as the centroid for a pair of antipodal points, and the likelihood of this happening is vanishingly small.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_CLOSESTPOINT

ST_CLOSESTPOINT(geography_1, geography_2[, spheroid=FALSE])

Description

Returns a GEOGRAPHY containing a point on geography_1 with the smallest possible distance to geography_2. This implies that the distance between the point returned by ST_CLOSESTPOINT and geography_2 is less than or equal to the distance between any other point on geography_1 and geography_2.

The spheroid parameter determines how distance is measured for this function. If spheroid is set to FALSE, then distance is measured on the surface of a perfect sphere. If spheroid is set to TRUE, distance is measured on the surface of the WGS84 spheroid. The default for the spheroid parameter is FALSE.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_DIFFERENCE

ST_DIFFERENCE(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns a GEOGRAPHY that represents the point set difference of geography_1 and geography_2.

If geometry_1 is completely contained in geometry_2, then ST_DIFFERENCE returns an empty GEOGRAPHY.

Constraints

The underlying geometric objects that a BigQuery GEOGRAPHY represents correspond to a closed point set. Therefore, ST_DIFFERENCE is the closure of the point set difference of geography_1 and geography_2. This implies that if geography_1 and geography_2 intersect, then a portion of the boundary of geography_2 could be in the difference.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_INTERSECTION

ST_INTERSECTION(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns a GEOGRAPHY that represents the point set intersection of the two input GEOGRAPHYs. Thus, every point in the intersection appears in both geography_1 and geography_2.

If the two input GEOGRAPHYs are disjoint, that is, there are no points that appear in both input geometry_1 and geometry_2, then an empty GEOGRAPHY is returned.

See ST_INTERSECTS, ST_DISJOINT for related predicate functions.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_SNAPTOGRID

ST_SNAPTOGRID(geography_expression, grid_size)

Description

Returns the input GEOGRAPHY, where each vertex has been snapped to a longitude/latitude grid. The grid size is determined by the grid_size parameter which is given in degrees.

Constraints

Arbitrary grid sizes are not supported. The grid_size parameter is rounded so that it is of the form $$10^n$$, where $$-10 < n < 0$$.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_UNION

ST_UNION(geography_1, geography_2)
ST_UNION(array_of_geography)

Description

Returns a GEOGRAPHY that represents the point set union of all input GEOGRAPHYs.

Input can either be two GEOGRAPHYs or an ARRAY of type GEOGRAPHY.

See ST_UNION_AGG for the aggregate version of ST_UNION.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_CONTAINS

ST_CONTAINS(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns TRUE if no point of geography_2 is outside geography_1, and the interiors intersect; returns FALSE otherwise.

NOTE: A GEOGRAPHY does not contain its own boundary. Compare with ST_COVERS.

Return type

BOOL

Example

The following query tests whether the polygon POLYGON((1 1, 20 1, 10 20, 1 1)) contains each of the three points (0, 0), (1, 1), and (10, 10), which lie on the exterior, the boundary, and the interior of the polygon respectively.

SELECT
  ST_GEOGPOINT(i, i) AS p,
  ST_CONTAINS(ST_GEOGFROMTEXT('POLYGON((1 1, 20 1, 10 20, 1 1))'),
              ST_GEOGPOINT(i, i)) AS `contains`
FROM UNNEST([0, 1, 10]) AS i;

+--------------+----------+
| p            | contains |
+--------------+----------+
| POINT(0 0)   | false    |
| POINT(1 1)   | false    |
| POINT(10 10) | true     |
+--------------+----------+

ST_COVEREDBY

ST_COVEREDBY(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns FALSE if geography_1 or geography_2 is empty. Returns TRUE no points of geography_1 lie in the exterior of geography_2.

Given two GEOGRAPHYs a and b, ST_COVEREDBY(a, b) returns the same result as ST_COVERS(b, a). Note the opposite order of arguments.

Return type

BOOL

ST_COVERS

ST_COVERS(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns FALSE if geography_1 or geography_2 is empty. Returns TRUE if no points of geography_2 lie in the exterior of geography_1.

Return type

BOOL

Example

The following query tests whether the polygon POLYGON((1 1, 20 1, 10 20, 1 1)) covers each of the three points (0, 0), (1, 1), and (10, 10), which lie on the exterior, the boundary, and the interior of the polygon respectively.

SELECT
  ST_GEOGPOINT(i, i) AS p,
  ST_COVERS(ST_GEOGFROMTEXT('POLYGON((1 1, 20 1, 10 20, 1 1))'),
            ST_GEOGPOINT(i, i)) AS `covers`
FROM UNNEST([0, 1, 10]) AS i;

+--------------+--------+
| p            | covers |
+--------------+--------+
| POINT(0 0)   | false  |
| POINT(1 1)   | true   |
| POINT(10 10) | true   |
+--------------+--------+

ST_DISJOINT

ST_DISJOINT(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns TRUE if the intersection of geography_1 and geography_2 is empty, that is, no point in geography_1 also appears in geography_2.

ST_DISJOINT is the logical negation of ST_INTERSECTS.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

ST_DWITHIN

ST_DWITHIN(geography_1, geography_2, distance[, spheroid=FALSE])

Description

Returns TRUE if the distance between geography_1 and geography_2 is less than or equal to the distance given by the distance argument; otherwise, returns FALSE. The given distance is in meters on the surface of the Earth.

The spheroid parameter determines how distance is measured for this function. If spheroid is set to FALSE, then distance is measured on the surface of a perfect sphere. If spheroid is set to TRUE, distance is measured on the surface of the WGS84 spheroid. The default for the spheroid parameter is FALSE.

Return type

BOOL

ST_EQUALS

ST_EQUALS(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns TRUE if geography_1 and geography_2 represent the same GEOGRAPHY value. More precisely, this means that one of the following conditions holds:

  • ST_COVERS(geography_1, geography_2) = TRUE and ST_COVERS(geography_2, geography_1) = TRUE
  • Both geography_1 and geography_2 are empty.

Therefore, two GEOGRAPHYs may be equal even if the ordering of points or vertices differ, as long as they still represent the same geometric structure.

Constraints

ST_EQUALS is not guaranteed to be a transitive function.

Return type

BOOL

ST_INTERSECTS

ST_INTERSECTS(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns TRUE if the point set intersection of geography_1 and geography_2 is non-empty. Thus, this function returns TRUE if there is at least one point that appears in both input GEOGRAPHYs.

If ST_INTERSECTS returns TRUE, it implies that ST_DISJOINT returns FALSE.

Return type

BOOL

ST_INTERSECTSBOX

ST_INTERSECTSBOX(geography, lng1, lat1, lng2, lat2)

Description

Returns TRUE if geography intersects the rectangle between [lng1, lng2] and [lat1, lat2]. The edges of the rectangle follow constant lines of longitude and latitude. lng1 and lng2 specify the minimum and maximum longitude lines that bound the rectangle, and lat1 and lat2 specify the minimum and maximum constant latitude lines that bound the rectangle.

Specify all longitude and latitude arguments in degrees.

Constraints

The input arguments are subject to the following constraints:

  • Latitudes should be in the [-90, 90] degree range.
  • Longitudes should be in the [-180, 180] degree range.

Return type

BOOL

ST_TOUCHES

ST_TOUCHES(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns TRUE provided the following two conditions are satisfied:

  1. geography_1 intersects geography_2.
  2. The interior of geography_1 and the interior of geography_2 are disjoint.

Return type

BOOL

ST_WITHIN

ST_WITHIN(geography_1, geography_2)

Description

Returns TRUE if no point of geography_1 is outside of geography_2 and the interiors of geography_1 and geography_2 intersect.

Given two geographies a and b, ST_WITHIN(a, b) returns the same result as ST_CONTAINS(b, a). Note the opposite order of arguments.

Return type

BOOL

ST_ISEMPTY

ST_ISEMPTY(geography_expression)

Description

Returns TRUE if the given GEOGRAPHY is empty; that is, the GEOGRAPHY does not contain any points, lines, or polygons.

NOTE: A BigQuery empty GEOGRAPHY is not associated with a particular geometry shape. For example, the results of expressions ST_GEOGFROMTEXT('POINT EMPTY') and ST_GEOGFROMTEXT('GEOMETRYCOLLECTION EMPTY') are identical.

Return type

BOOL

ST_ISCOLLECTION

ST_ISCOLLECTION(geography_expression)

Description

Returns TRUE if the total number of points, linestrings, and polygons is greater than one.

An empty GEOGRAPHY is not a collection.

Return type

BOOL

ST_DIMENSION

ST_DIMENSION(geography_expression)

Description

Returns the dimension of the highest-dimensional element in the input GEOGRAPHY.

The dimension of each possible element is as follows:

  • The dimension of a point is 0.
  • The dimension of a linestring is 1.
  • The dimension of a polygon is 2.

If the input GEOGRAPHY is empty, ST_DIMENSION returns -1.

Return type

INT64

ST_NUMPOINTS

ST_NUMPOINTS(geography_expression)

Description

Returns the number of vertices in the input GEOGRAPHY. This includes the number of points, the number of linestring vertices, and the number of polygon vertices.

NOTE: The first and last vertex of a polygon ring are counted as distinct vertices.

Return type

INT64

ST_AREA

ST_AREA(geography_expression[, spheroid=FALSE])

Description

Returns the area in square meters covered by the polygons in the input GEOGRAPHY.

If geography_expression is a point or a line, returns zero. If geography_expression is a collection, returns the area of the polygons in the collection; if the collection does not contain polygons, returns zero.

If spheroid is set to FALSE, the area of the input is measured on the surface of a perfect sphere; if TRUE, the area is measured on the surface of the WGS84 spheroid. The default for the spheroid parameter is FALSE.

Return type

FLOAT64

ST_DISTANCE

ST_DISTANCE(geography_1, geography_2[, spheroid=FALSE])

Description

Returns the shortest distance in meters between two GEOGRAPHYs.

If spheroid is set to FALSE, distance is measured on the surface of a perfect sphere; if TRUE, distance is measured on the surface of the WGS84 spheroid. The default for the spheroid parameter is FALSE.

Return type

FLOAT64

ST_LENGTH

ST_LENGTH(geography_expression[, spheroid=FALSE])

Description

Returns the total length in meters of the lines in the input GEOGRAPHY.

If geography_expression is a point or a polygon, returns zero. If geography_expression is a collection, returns the length of the lines in the collection; if the collection does not contain lines, returns zero.

If spheroid is set to FALSE, the length of the input is measured on the surface of a perfect sphere; if TRUE, the length is measured on the surface of the WGS84 spheroid. The default for the spheroid parameter is FALSE.

Return type

FLOAT64

ST_MAXDISTANCE

ST_MAXDISTANCE(geography_1, geography_2[, spheroid=FALSE])

Returns the longest distance in meters between two GEOGRAPHYs; that is, the distance between two vertices where the first vertex is in the first GEOGRAPHY, and the second vertex is in the second GEOGRAPHY. If geography_1 and geography_2 are the same GEOGRAPHY, the function returns the distance between the two most distant vertices in that GEOGRAPHY.

If spheroid is set to FALSE, distance is measured on the surface of a perfect sphere; if TRUE, distance is measured on the surface of the WGS84 spheroid. The default for the spheroid parameter is FALSE.

Return type

FLOAT64

ST_PERIMETER

ST_PERIMETER(geography_expression[, spheroid=FALSE])

Description

Returns the length in meters of the boundary of the polygons in the input GEOGRAPHY.

If geography_expression is a point or a line, returns zero. If geography_expression is a collection, returns the perimeter of the polygons in the collection; if the collection does not contain polygons, returns zero.

If spheroid is set to FALSE, the length of the input is measured on the surface of a perfect sphere; if TRUE, distance is measured on the surface of the WGS84 spheroid. The default for the spheroid parameter is FALSE.

Return type

FLOAT64

ST_UNION_AGG

ST_UNION_AGG(geography)

Returns a GEOGRAPHY that represents the point set union of all input GEOGRAPHYs.

See ST_UNION for the non-aggregate version of ST_UNION_AGG.

Return type

GEOGRAPHY

Security functions

BigQuery supports the following security functions.

SESSION_USER

SESSION_USER()

Description

Returns the email address of the user that is running the query.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT SESSION_USER() as user;

+----------------------+
| user                 |
+----------------------+
| jdoe@example.com     |
+----------------------+

Net functions

NET.IP_FROM_STRING

NET.IP_FROM_STRING(addr_str)

Description

Converts an IPv4 or IPv6 address from text (STRING) format to binary (BYTES) format in network byte order.

This function supports the following formats for addr_str:

  • IPv4: Dotted-quad format. For example, 10.1.2.3.
  • IPv6: Colon-separated format. For example, 1234:5678:90ab:cdef:1234:5678:90ab:cdef. For more examples, see the IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture.

This function does not support CIDR notation, such as 10.1.2.3/32.

If this function receives a NULL input, it returns NULL. If the input is considered invalid, an OUT_OF_RANGE error occurs.

Return Data Type

BYTES

Example

SELECT
  addr_str, FORMAT("%T", NET.IP_FROM_STRING(addr_str)) AS ip_from_string
FROM UNNEST([
  '48.49.50.51',
  '::1',
  '3031:3233:3435:3637:3839:4041:4243:4445',
  '::ffff:192.0.2.128'
]) AS addr_str;
addr_str ip_from_string
48.49.50.51 b"0123"
::1 b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01"
3031:3233:3435:3637:3839:4041:4243:4445 b"0123456789@ABCDE"
::ffff:192.0.2.128 b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xff\xff\xc0\x00\x02\x80"

NET.SAFE_IP_FROM_STRING

NET.SAFE_IP_FROM_STRING(addr_str)

Description

Similar to NET.IP_FROM_STRING, but returns NULL instead of throwing an error if the input is invalid.

Return Data Type

BYTES

Example

SELECT
  addr_str,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.SAFE_IP_FROM_STRING(addr_str)) AS safe_ip_from_string
FROM UNNEST([
  '48.49.50.51',
  '::1',
  '3031:3233:3435:3637:3839:4041:4243:4445',
  '::ffff:192.0.2.128',
  '48.49.50.51/32',
  '48.49.50',
  '::wxyz'
]) AS addr_str;
addr_str safe_ip_from_string
48.49.50.51 b"0123"
::1 b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01"
3031:3233:3435:3637:3839:4041:4243:4445 b"0123456789@ABCDE"
::ffff:192.0.2.128 b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xff\xff\xc0\x00\x02\x80"
48.49.50.51/32 NULL
48.49.50 NULL
::wxyz NULL

NET.IP_TO_STRING

NET.IP_TO_STRING(addr_bin)

Description Converts an IPv4 or IPv6 address from binary (BYTES) format in network byte order to text (STRING) format.

If the input is 4 bytes, this function returns an IPv4 address as a STRING. If the input is 16 bytes, it returns an IPv6 address as a STRING.

If this function receives a NULL input, it returns NULL. If the input has a length different from 4 or 16, an OUT_OF_RANGE error occurs.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT FORMAT("%T", x) AS addr_bin, NET.IP_TO_STRING(x) AS ip_to_string
FROM UNNEST([
  b"0123",
  b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01",
  b"0123456789@ABCDE",
  b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xff\xff\xc0\x00\x02\x80"
]) AS x;
addr_bin ip_to_string
b"0123" 48.49.50.51
b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01" ::1
b"0123456789@ABCDE" 3031:3233:3435:3637:3839:4041:4243:4445
b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xff\xff\xc0\x00\x02\x80" ::ffff:192.0.2.128

NET.IP_NET_MASK

NET.IP_NET_MASK(num_output_bytes, prefix_length)

Description

Returns a network mask: a byte sequence with length equal to num_output_bytes, where the first prefix_length bits are set to 1 and the other bits are set to 0. num_output_bytes and prefix_length are INT64. This function throws an error if num_output_bytes is not 4 (for IPv4) or 16 (for IPv6). It also throws an error if prefix_length is negative or greater than 8 * num_output_bytes.

Return Data Type

BYTES

Example

SELECT x, y, FORMAT("%T", NET.IP_NET_MASK(x, y)) AS ip_net_mask
FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT(4 as x, 0 as y),
  (4, 20),
  (4, 32),
  (16, 0),
  (16, 1),
  (16, 128)
]);
x y ip_net_mask
4 0 b"\x00\x00\x00\x00"
4 20 b"\xff\xff\xf0\x00"
4 32 b"\xff\xff\xff\xff"
16 0 b"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00"
16 1 b"\x80\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00"
16 128 b"\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff"

NET.IP_TRUNC

NET.IP_TRUNC(addr_bin, prefix_length)

Description Takes addr_bin, an IPv4 or IPv6 address in binary (BYTES) format in network byte order, and returns a subnet address in the same format. The result has the same length as addr_bin, where the first prefix_length bits are equal to those in addr_bin and the remaining bits are 0.

This function throws an error if LENGTH(addr_bin) is not 4 or 16, or if prefix_len is negative or greater than LENGTH(addr_bin) * 8.

Return Data Type

BYTES

Example

SELECT
  FORMAT("%T", x) as addr_bin, prefix_length,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.IP_TRUNC(x, prefix_length)) AS ip_trunc
FROM UNNEST([
  STRUCT(b"\xAA\xBB\xCC\xDD" as x, 0 as prefix_length),
  (b"\xAA\xBB\xCC\xDD", 11), (b"\xAA\xBB\xCC\xDD", 12),
  (b"\xAA\xBB\xCC\xDD", 24), (b"\xAA\xBB\xCC\xDD", 32),
  (b'0123456789@ABCDE', 80)
]);
addr_bin prefix_length ip_trunc
b"\xaa\xbb\xcc\xdd" 0 b"\x00\x00\x00\x00"
b"\xaa\xbb\xcc\xdd" 11 b"\xaa\xa0\x00\x00"
b"\xaa\xbb\xcc\xdd" 12 b"\xaa\xb0\x00\x00"
b"\xaa\xbb\xcc\xdd" 24 b"\xaa\xbb\xcc\x00"
b"\xaa\xbb\xcc\xdd" 32 b"\xaa\xbb\xcc\xdd"
b"0123456789@ABCDE" 80 b"0123456789\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00"

NET.IPV4_FROM_INT64

NET.IPV4_FROM_INT64(integer_value)

Description

Converts an IPv4 address from integer format to binary (BYTES) format in network byte order. In the integer input, the least significant bit of the IP address is stored in the least significant bit of the integer, regardless of host or client architecture. For example, 1 means 0.0.0.1, and 0x1FF means 0.0.1.255.

This function checks that either all the most significant 32 bits are 0, or all the most significant 33 bits are 1 (sign-extended from a 32 bit integer). In other words, the input should be in the range [-0x80000000, 0xFFFFFFFF]; otherwise, this function throws an error.

This function does not support IPv6.

Return Data Type

BYTES

Example

SELECT x, x_hex, FORMAT("%T", NET.IPV4_FROM_INT64(x)) AS ipv4_from_int64
FROM (
  SELECT CAST(x_hex AS INT64) x, x_hex
  FROM UNNEST(["0x0", "0xABCDEF", "0xFFFFFFFF", "-0x1", "-0x2"]) AS x_hex
);
x x_hex ipv4_from_int64
0 0x0 b"\x00\x00\x00\x00"
11259375 0xABCDEF b"\x00\xab\xcd\xef"
4294967295 0xFFFFFFFF b"\xff\xff\xff\xff"
-1 -0x1 b"\xff\xff\xff\xff"
-2 -0x2 b"\xff\xff\xff\xfe"

NET.IPV4_TO_INT64

NET.IPV4_TO_INT64(addr_bin)

Description

Converts an IPv4 address from binary (BYTES) format in network byte order to integer format. In the integer output, the least significant bit of the IP address is stored in the least significant bit of the integer, regardless of host or client architecture. For example, 1 means 0.0.0.1, and 0x1FF means 0.0.1.255. The output is in the range [0, 0xFFFFFFFF].

If the input length is not 4, this function throws an error.

This function does not support IPv6.

Return Data Type

INT64

Example

SELECT
  FORMAT("%T", x) AS addr_bin,
  FORMAT("0x%X", NET.IPV4_TO_INT64(x)) AS ipv4_to_int64
FROM
UNNEST([b"\x00\x00\x00\x00", b"\x00\xab\xcd\xef", b"\xff\xff\xff\xff"]) AS x;
addr_bin ipv4_to_int64
b"\x00\x00\x00\x00" 0x0
b"\x00\xab\xcd\xef" 0xABCDEF
b"\xff\xff\xff\xff" 0xFFFFFFFF

NET.HOST

NET.HOST(url)

Description

Takes a URL as a STRING and returns the host as a STRING. For best results, URL values should comply with the format as defined by RFC 3986. If the URL value does not comply with RFC 3986 formatting, this function makes a best effort to parse the input and return a relevant result. If the function cannot parse the input, it returns NULL.

Note: The function does not perform any normalization.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT
  FORMAT("%T", input) AS input,
  description,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.HOST(input)) AS host,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.PUBLIC_SUFFIX(input)) AS suffix,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.REG_DOMAIN(input)) AS domain
FROM (
  SELECT "" AS input, "invalid input" AS description
  UNION ALL SELECT "http://abc.xyz", "standard URL"
  UNION ALL SELECT "//user:password@a.b:80/path?query",
                   "standard URL with relative scheme, port, path and query, but no public suffix"
  UNION ALL SELECT "https://[::1]:80", "standard URL with IPv6 host"
  UNION ALL SELECT "http://例子.卷筒纸.中国", "standard URL with internationalized domain name"
  UNION ALL SELECT "    www.Google.Co.UK    ",
                   "non-standard URL with spaces, upper case letters, and without scheme"
  UNION ALL SELECT "mailto:?to=&subject=&body=", "URI rather than URL--unsupported"
);
input description host suffix domain
"" invalid input NULL NULL NULL
"http://abc.xyz" standard URL "abc.xyz" "xyz" "abc.xyz"
"//user:password@a.b:80/path?query" standard URL with relative scheme, port, path and query, but no public suffix "a.b" NULL NULL
"https://[::1]:80" standard URL with IPv6 host "[::1]" NULL NULL
"http://例子.卷筒纸.中国" standard URL with internationalized domain name "例子.卷筒纸.中国" "中国" "卷筒纸.中国"
"    www.Google.Co.UK    " non-standard URL with spaces, upper case letters, and without scheme "www.Google.Co.UK" "Co.UK" "Google.Co.UK"
"mailto:?to=&subject=&body=" URI rather than URL--unsupported "mailto" NULL NULL

NET.PUBLIC_SUFFIX

NET.PUBLIC_SUFFIX(url)

Description

Takes a URL as a STRING and returns the public suffix (such as com, org, or net) as a STRING. A public suffix is an ICANN domain registered at publicsuffix.org. For best results, URL values should comply with the format as defined by RFC 3986. If the URL value does not comply with RFC 3986 formatting, this function makes a best effort to parse the input and return a relevant result.

This function returns NULL if any of the following is true:

  • It cannot parse the host from the input;
  • The parsed host contains adjacent dots in the middle (not leading or trailing);
  • The parsed host does not contain any public suffix.

Before looking up the public suffix, this function temporarily normalizes the host by converting upper case English letters to lower case and encoding all non-ASCII characters with Punycode. The function then returns the public suffix as part of the original host instead of the normalized host.

Note: The function does not perform Unicode normalization.

Note: The public suffix data at publicsuffix.org also contains private domains. This function ignores the private domains.

Note: The public suffix data may change over time. Consequently, input that produces a NULL result now may produce a non-NULL value in the future.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT
  FORMAT("%T", input) AS input,
  description,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.HOST(input)) AS host,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.PUBLIC_SUFFIX(input)) AS suffix,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.REG_DOMAIN(input)) AS domain
FROM (
  SELECT "" AS input, "invalid input" AS description
  UNION ALL SELECT "http://abc.xyz", "standard URL"
  UNION ALL SELECT "//user:password@a.b:80/path?query",
                   "standard URL with relative scheme, port, path and query, but no public suffix"
  UNION ALL SELECT "https://[::1]:80", "standard URL with IPv6 host"
  UNION ALL SELECT "http://例子.卷筒纸.中国", "standard URL with internationalized domain name"
  UNION ALL SELECT "    www.Google.Co.UK    ",
                   "non-standard URL with spaces, upper case letters, and without scheme"
  UNION ALL SELECT "mailto:?to=&subject=&body=", "URI rather than URL--unsupported"
);
input description host suffix domain
"" invalid input NULL NULL NULL
"http://abc.xyz" standard URL "abc.xyz" "xyz" "abc.xyz"
"//user:password@a.b:80/path?query" standard URL with relative scheme, port, path and query, but no public suffix "a.b" NULL NULL
"https://[::1]:80" standard URL with IPv6 host "[::1]" NULL NULL
"http://例子.卷筒纸.中国" standard URL with internationalized domain name "例子.卷筒纸.中国" "中国" "卷筒纸.中国"
"    www.Google.Co.UK    " non-standard URL with spaces, upper case letters, and without scheme "www.Google.Co.UK" "Co.UK" "Google.Co.UK"
"mailto:?to=&subject=&body=" URI rather than URL--unsupported "mailto" NULL NULL

NET.REG_DOMAIN

NET.REG_DOMAIN(url)

Description

Takes a URL as a STRING and returns the registered or registerable domain (the public suffix plus one preceding label), as a STRING. For best results, URL values should comply with the format as defined by RFC 3986. If the URL value does not comply with RFC 3986 formatting, this function makes a best effort to parse the input and return a relevant result.

This function returns NULL if any of the following is true:

  • It cannot parse the host from the input;
  • The parsed host contains adjacent dots in the middle (not leading or trailing);
  • The parsed host does not contain any public suffix;
  • The parsed host contains only a public suffix without any preceding label.

Before looking up the public suffix, this function temporarily normalizes the host by converting upper case English letters to lowercase and encoding all non-ASCII characters with Punycode. The function then returns the registered or registerable domain as part of the original host instead of the normalized host.

Note: The function does not perform Unicode normalization.

Note: The public suffix data at publicsuffix.org also contains private domains. This function does not treat a private domain as a public suffix. For example, if "us.com" is a private domain in the public suffix data, NET.REG_DOMAIN("foo.us.com") returns "us.com" (the public suffix "com" plus the preceding label "us") rather than "foo.us.com" (the private domain "us.com" plus the preceding label "foo").

Note: The public suffix data may change over time. Consequently, input that produces a NULL result now may produce a non-NULL value in the future.

Return Data Type

STRING

Example

SELECT
  FORMAT("%T", input) AS input,
  description,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.HOST(input)) AS host,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.PUBLIC_SUFFIX(input)) AS suffix,
  FORMAT("%T", NET.REG_DOMAIN(input)) AS domain
FROM (
  SELECT "" AS input, "invalid input" AS description
  UNION ALL SELECT "http://abc.xyz", "standard URL"
  UNION ALL SELECT "//user:password@a.b:80/path?query",
                   "standard URL with relative scheme, port, path and query, but no public suffix"
  UNION ALL SELECT "https://[::1]:80", "standard URL with IPv6 host"
  UNION ALL SELECT "http://例子.卷筒纸.中国", "standard URL with internationalized domain name"
  UNION ALL SELECT "    www.Google.Co.UK    ",
                   "non-standard URL with spaces, upper case letters, and without scheme"
  UNION ALL SELECT "mailto:?to=&subject=&body=", "URI rather than URL--unsupported"
);
input description host suffix domain
"" invalid input NULL NULL NULL
"http://abc.xyz" standard URL "abc.xyz" "xyz" "abc.xyz"
"//user:password@a.b:80/path?query" standard URL with relative scheme, port, path and query, but no public suffix "a.b" NULL NULL
"https://[::1]:80" standard URL with IPv6 host "[::1]" NULL NULL
"http://例子.卷筒纸.中国" standard URL with internationalized domain name "例子.卷筒纸.中国" "中国" "卷筒纸.中国"
"    www.Google.Co.UK    " non-standard URL with spaces, upper case letters, and without scheme "www.Google.Co.UK" "Co.UK" "Google.Co.UK"
"mailto:?to=&subject=&body=" URI rather than URL--unsupported "mailto" NULL NULL

Operators

Operators are represented by special characters or keywords; they do not use function call syntax. An operator manipulates any number of data inputs, also called operands, and returns a result.

Common conventions:

  • Unless otherwise specified, all operators return NULL when one of the operands is NULL.
  • All operators will throw an error if the computation result overflows.
  • For all floating point operations, +/-inf and NaN may only be returned if one of the operands is +/-inf or NaN. In other cases, an error is returned.

The following table lists all BigQuery operators from highest to lowest precedence, i.e. the order in which they will be evaluated within a statement.

Order of Precedence Operator Input Data Types Name Operator Arity
1 . STRUCT
 Member field access operator Binary
  [ ] ARRAY Array position. Must be used with OFFSET or ORDINAL—see ARRAY Functions. Binary
2 - All numeric types Unary minus Unary
  ~ Integer or BYTES Bitwise not Unary
3 * All numeric types Multiplication Binary
  / All numeric types Division Binary
4 + All numeric types Addition Binary
  - All numeric types Subtraction Binary
5 << Integer or BYTES Bitwise left-shift Binary
  >> Integer or BYTES Bitwise right-shift Binary
6 & Integer or BYTES Bitwise and Binary
7 ^ Integer or BYTES Bitwise xor Binary
8 | Integer or BYTES Bitwise or Binary
9 (Comparison Operators) = Any comparable type. See Data Types for a complete list. Equal Binary
  < Any comparable type. See Data Types for a complete list. Less than Binary
  > Any comparable type. See Data Types for a complete list. Greater than Binary
  <= Any comparable type. See Data Types for a complete list. Less than or equal to Binary
  >= Any comparable type. See Data Types for a complete list. Greater than or equal to Binary
  !=, <> Any comparable type. See Data Types for a complete list. Not equal Binary
  [NOT] LIKE STRING and byte Value does [not] match the pattern specified Binary
  [NOT] BETWEEN Any comparable types. See Data Types for list. Value is [not] within the range specified Binary
  [NOT] IN Any comparable types. See Data Types for list. Value is [not] in the set of values specified Binary
  IS [NOT] NULL All Value is [not] NULL Unary
  IS [NOT] TRUE BOOL Value is [not] TRUE. Unary
  IS [NOT] FALSE BOOL Value is [not] FALSE. Unary
10 NOT BOOL Logical NOT Unary
11 AND BOOL Logical AND Binary
12 OR BOOL Logical OR Binary

Operators with the same precedence are left associative. This means that those operators are grouped together starting from the left and moving right. For example, the expression:

x AND y AND z

is interpreted as

( ( x AND y ) AND z )

The expression:

x * y / z

is interpreted as:

( ( x * y ) / z )

All comparison operators have the same priority and are grouped using left associativity. However, comparison operators are not associative. As a result, it is recommended that you use parentheses to improve readability and ensure expressions are resolved as desired. For example:

(x < y) IS FALSE

is recommended over:

x < y IS FALSE

Element access operators

Operator Syntax Input Data Types Result Data Type Description
. expression.fieldname1... STRUCT
 Type T stored in fieldname1 Dot operator. Can be used to access nested fields, e.g.expression.fieldname1.fieldname2...
[ ] array_expression [position_keyword (int_expression ) ] See ARRAY Functions. Type T stored in ARRAY position_keyword is either OFFSET or ORDINAL. See ARRAY Functions for the two functions that use this operator.

Arithmetic operators

All arithmetic operators accept input of numeric type T, and the result type has type T unless otherwise indicated in the description below:

Name Syntax
Addition X + Y
Subtraction X - Y
Multiplication X * Y
Division X / Y
Unary Minus - X

NOTE: Divide by zero operations return an error. To return a different result, consider the IEEE_DIVIDE or SAFE_DIVIDE functions.

Result types for Addition and Multiplication:

 INT64NUMERICFLOAT64
INT64INT64NUMERICFLOAT64
NUMERICNUMERICNUMERICFLOAT64
FLOAT64FLOAT64FLOAT64FLOAT64

Result types for Subtraction:

 INT64NUMERICFLOAT64
INT64INT64NUMERICFLOAT64
NUMERICNUMERICNUMERICFLOAT64
FLOAT64FLOAT64FLOAT64FLOAT64

Result types for Division:

 INT64NUMERICFLOAT64
INT64FLOAT64NUMERICFLOAT64
NUMERICNUMERICNUMERICFLOAT64
FLOAT64FLOAT64FLOAT64FLOAT64

Result types for Unary Minus:

Input Data Type Result Data Type
INT64 INT64
NUMERIC NUMERIC
FLOAT64 FLOAT64

Bitwise operators

All bitwise operators return the same type and the same length as the first operand.

Name Syntax Input Data Type Description
Bitwise not ~ X Integer or BYTES Performs logical negation on each bit, forming the ones' complement of the given binary value.
Bitwise or X | Y X: Integer or BYTES
Y: Same type as X		 Takes two bit patterns of equal length and performs the logical inclusive OR operation on each pair of the corresponding bits. This operator throws an error if X and Y are BYTES of different lengths.
Bitwise xor X ^ Y X: Integer or BYTES
Y: Same type as X		 Takes two bit patterns of equal length and performs the logical exclusive OR operation on each pair of the corresponding bits. This operator throws an error if X and Y are BYTES of different lengths.
Bitwise and X & Y X: Integer or BYTES
Y: Same type as X		 Takes two bit patterns of equal length and performs the logical AND operation on each pair of the corresponding bits. This operator throws an error if X and Y are BYTES of different lengths.
Left shift X << Y X: Integer or BYTES
Y: INT64		 Shifts the first operand X to the left. This operator returns 0 or a byte sequence of b'\x00' if the second operand Y is greater than or equal to the bit length of the first operand X (for example, 64 if X has the type INT64). This operator throws an error if Y is negative.
Right shift X >> Y X: Integer or BYTES
Y: INT64		 Shifts the first operand X to the right. This operator does not do sign bit extension with a signed type (i.e. it fills vacant bits on the left with 0). This operator returns 0 or a byte sequence of b'\x00' if the second operand Y is greater than or equal to the bit length of the first operand X (for example, 64 if X has the type INT64). This operator throws an error if Y is negative.

Logical operators

All logical operators allow only BOOL input.

Name Syntax Description
Logical NOT NOT X Returns FALSE if input is TRUE. Returns TRUE if input is FALSE. Returns NULL otherwise.
Logical AND X AND Y Returns FALSE if at least one input is FALSE. Returns TRUE if both X and Y are TRUE. Returns NULL otherwise.
Logical OR X OR Y Returns FALSE if both X and Y are FALSE. Returns TRUE if at least one input is TRUE. Returns NULL otherwise.

Comparison operators

Comparisons always return BOOL. Comparisons generally require both operands to be of the same type. If operands are of different types, and if BigQuery can convert the values of those types to a common type without loss of precision, BigQuery will generally coerce them to that common type for the comparison; BigQuery will generally coerce literals to the type of non-literals, where present. Comparable data types are defined in Data Types.

STRUCTs support only 4 comparison operators: equal (=), not equal (!= and <>), and IN.

The following rules apply when comparing these data types:

  • FLOAT64 : All comparisons with NaN return FALSE, except for != and <>, which return TRUE.
  • BOOL: FALSE is less than TRUE.
  • STRING: Strings are compared codepoint-by-codepoint, which means that canonically equivalent strings are only guaranteed to compare as equal if they have been normalized first.
  • NULL: The convention holds here: any operation with a NULL input returns NULL.
Name Syntax Description
Less Than X < Y Returns TRUE if X is less than Y.
Less Than or Equal To X <= Y Returns TRUE if X is less than or equal to Y.
Greater Than X > Y Returns TRUE if X is greater than Y.
Greater Than or Equal To X >= Y Returns TRUE if X is greater than or equal to Y.
Equal X = Y Returns TRUE if X is equal to Y.
Not Equal X != Y
X <> Y		 Returns TRUE if X is not equal to Y.
BETWEEN X [NOT] BETWEEN Y AND Z Returns TRUE if X is [not] within the range specified. The result of "X BETWEEN Y AND Z" is equivalent to "Y <= X AND X <= Z" but X is evaluated only once in the former.
LIKE X [NOT] LIKE Y Checks if the STRING in the first operand X matches a pattern specified by the second operand Y. Expressions can contain these characters:
  • A percent sign "%" matches any number of characters or bytes
  • An underscore "_" matches a single character or byte
  • You can escape "\", "_", or "%" using two backslashes. For example, "\\%". If you are using raw strings, only a single backslash is required. For example, r"\%".
IN Multiple - see below Returns FALSE if the right operand is empty. Returns NULL if the left operand is NULL. Returns TRUE or NULL, never FALSE, if the right operand contains NULL. Arguments on either side of IN are general expressions. Neither operand is required to be a literal, although using a literal on the right is most common. X is evaluated only once.

When testing values that have a STRUCT data type for equality, it's possible that one or more fields are NULL. In such cases:

  • If all non-NULL field values are equal, the comparison returns NULL.
  • If any non-NULL field values are not equal, the comparison returns false.

The following table demonstrates how STRUCT data types are compared when they have fields that are NULL valued.

Struct1 Struct2 Struct1 = Struct2
STRUCT(1, NULL) STRUCT(1, NULL) NULL
STRUCT(1, NULL) STRUCT(2, NULL) FALSE
STRUCT(1,2) STRUCT(1, NULL) NULL

IN operators

The IN operator supports the following syntaxes:

x [NOT] IN (y, z, ... ) # Requires at least one element
x [NOT] IN (<subquery>)
x [NOT] IN UNNEST(<array expression>) # analysis error if the expression
                                      # does not return an ARRAY type.

Arguments on either side of the IN operator are general expressions. It is common to use literals on the right side expression; however, this is not required.

The semantics of:

x IN (y, z, ...)

are defined as equivalent to:

(x = y) OR (x = z) OR ...

and the subquery and array forms are defined similarly.

x NOT IN ...

is equivalent to:

NOT(x IN ...)

The UNNEST form treats an array scan like UNNEST in the FROM clause:

x [NOT] IN UNNEST(<array expression>)

This form is often used with ARRAY parameters. For example:

x IN UNNEST(@array_parameter)

Note: A NULL ARRAY will be treated equivalently to an empty ARRAY.

See the Arrays topic for more information on how to use this syntax.

When using the IN operator, the following semantics apply:

  • IN with an empty right side expression is always FALSE
  • IN with a NULL left side expression and a non-empty right side expression is always NULL
  • IN with a NULL in the IN-list can only return TRUE or NULL, never FALSE
  • NULL IN (NULL) returns NULL
  • IN UNNEST(<NULL array>) returns FALSE (not NULL)

IN can be used with multi-part keys by using the struct constructor syntax. For example:

(Key1, Key2) IN ( (12,34), (56,78) )
(Key1, Key2) IN ( SELECT (table.a, table.b) FROM table )

See the Struct Type section of the Data Types topic for more information on this syntax.

IS operators

IS operators return TRUE or FALSE for the condition they are testing. They never return NULL, even for NULL inputs, unlike the IS_INF and IS_NAN functions defined in Mathematical Functions. If NOT is present, the output BOOL value is inverted.

Function Syntax Input Data Type Result Data Type Description 
X IS [NOT] NULL
 Any value type BOOL Returns TRUE if the operand X evaluates to NULL, and returns FALSE otherwise. 
X IS [NOT] TRUE
 BOOL BOOL Returns TRUE if the BOOL operand evaluates to TRUE. Returns FALSE otherwise. 
X IS [NOT] FALSE
 BOOL BOOL Returns TRUE if the BOOL operand evaluates to FALSE. Returns FALSE otherwise.

Conditional expressions

Conditional expressions impose constraints on the evaluation order of their inputs. In essence, they are evaluated left to right, with short-circuiting, and only evaluate the output value that was chosen. In contrast, all inputs to regular functions are evaluated before calling the function. Short-circuiting in conditional expressions can be exploited for error handling or performance tuning.

Syntax Input Data Types Result Data Type Description 
CASE expr
  WHEN value THEN result
  [WHEN ...]
  [ELSE else_result]
  END
 expr and value: Any type result and else_result: Supertype of input types. Compares expr to value of each successive WHEN clause and returns the first result where this comparison returns true. The remaining WHEN clauses and else_result are not evaluated. If the expr = value comparison returns false or NULL for all WHEN clauses, returns else_result if present; if not present, returns NULL. expr and value expressions must be implicitly coercible to a common supertype; equality comparisons are done on coerced values. result and else_result expressions must be coercible to a common supertype. 
CASE
  WHEN cond1 THEN result
  [WHEN cond2...]
  [ELSE else_result]
  END
 cond: BOOL result and else_result: Supertype of input types. Evaluates condition cond of each successive WHEN clause and returns the first result where the condition is true; any remaining WHEN clauses and else_result are not evaluated. If all conditions are false or NULL, returns else_result if present; if not present, returns NULL. result and else_result expressions must be implicitly coercible to a common supertype.
COALESCE(expr1, ..., exprN) Any type Supertype of input types Returns the value of the first non-null expression. The remaining expressions are not evaluated. All input expressions must be implicitly coercible to a common supertype.
IF(cond, true_result, else_result) cond: BOOL true_result and else_result: Any type. If cond is true, returns true_result, else returns else_result. else_result is not evaluated if cond is true. true_result is not evaluated if cond is false or NULL. true_result and else_result must be coercible to a common supertype.
IFNULL(expr, null_result) Any type Any type or supertype of input types. If expr is NULL, return null_result. Otherwise, return expr. If expr is not NULL, null_result is not evaluated. expr and null_result must be implicitly coercible to a common supertype. Synonym for COALESCE(expr, null_result).
NULLIF(expression, expression_to_match) Any type T or subtype of T Any type T or subtype of T Returns NULL if expression = expression_to_match is true, otherwise returns expression. expression and expression_to_match must be implicitly coercible to a common supertype; equality comparison is done on coerced values.

Expression subqueries

There are four types of expression subqueries, i.e. subqueries that are used as expressions. Expression subqueries return NULL or a single value, as opposed to a column or table, and must be surrounded by parentheses. For a fuller discussion of subqueries, see Subqueries.

Type of Subquery Result Data Type Description
Scalar Any type T A subquery in parentheses inside an expression (e.g. in the SELECT list or WHERE clause) is interpreted as a scalar subquery. The SELECT list in a scalar subquery must have exactly one field. If the subquery returns exactly one row, that single value is the scalar subquery result. If the subquery returns zero rows, the scalar subquery value is NULL. If the subquery returns more than one row, the query fails with a runtime error. When the subquery is written with SELECT AS STRUCT , it can include multiple columns, and the returned value is the constructed STRUCT. Selecting multiple columns without using SELECT AS is an error.
ARRAY ARRAY Can use SELECT AS STRUCT to build arrays of structs, and conversely, selecting multiple columns without using SELECT AS is an error. Returns an empty ARRAY if the subquery returns zero rows. Never returns a NULL ARRAY.
IN BOOL Occurs in an expression following the IN operator. The subquery must produce a single column whose type is equality-compatible with the expression on the left side of the IN operator. Returns FALSE if the subquery returns zero rows. x IN () is equivalent to x IN (value, value, ...) See the IN operator in Comparison Operators for full semantics.
EXISTS BOOL Returns TRUE if the subquery produced one or more rows. Returns FALSE if the subquery produces zero rows. Never returns NULL. Unlike all other expression subqueries, there are no rules about the column list. Any number of columns may be selected and it will not affect the query result.

Examples

The following examples of expression subqueries assume that t.int_array has type ARRAY<INT64>.

Type Subquery Result Data Type Notes
Scalar (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM t.int_array) INT64  
(SELECT DISTINCT i FROM t.int_array i) INT64, possibly runtime error  
(SELECT i FROM t.int_array i WHERE i=5) INT64, possibly runtime error  
(SELECT ARRAY_AGG(i) FROM t.int_array i) ARRAY Uses the ARRAY_AGG aggregation function to return an ARRAY.
(SELECT 'xxx' a) STRING  
(SELECT 'xxx' a, 123 b) Error Returns an error because there is more than one column
(SELECT AS STRUCT 'xxx' a, 123 b) STRUCT  
(SELECT AS STRUCT 'xxx' a) STRUCT  
ARRAY ARRAY(SELECT COUNT(*) FROM t.int_array) ARRAY of size 1  
ARRAY(SELECT x FROM t) ARRAY  
ARRAY(SELECT 5 a, COUNT(*) b FROM t.int_array) Error Returns an error because there is more than one column
ARRAY(SELECT AS STRUCT 5 a, COUNT(*) b FROM t.int_array) ARRAY  
ARRAY(SELECT AS STRUCT i FROM t.int_array i) ARRAY Makes an ARRAY of one-field STRUCTs
ARRAY(SELECT AS STRUCT 1 x, 2, 3 x) ARRAY Returns an ARRAY of STRUCTs with anonymous or duplicate fields.
ARRAY(SELECT AS TypeName SUM(x) a, SUM(y) b, SUM(z) c from t) array<TypeName> Selecting into a named type. Assume TypeName is a STRUCT type with fields a,b,c.
STRUCT (SELECT AS STRUCT 1 x, 2, 3 x) STRUCT Constructs a STRUCT with anonymous or duplicate fields.
EXISTS EXISTS(SELECT x,y,z FROM table WHERE y=z) BOOL  
NOT EXISTS(SELECT x,y,z FROM table WHERE y=z) BOOL  
IN x IN (SELECT y FROM table WHERE z) BOOL  
x NOT IN (SELECT y FROM table WHERE z) BOOL  

Debugging functions

BigQuery supports the following debugging functions.

ERROR

ERROR(error_message)

Description

Returns an error. The error_message argument is a STRING.

BigQuery treats ERROR in the same way as any expression that may result in an error: there is no special guarantee of evaluation order.

Return Data Type

BigQuery infers the return type in context.

Examples

In the following example, the query returns an error message if the value of the row does not match one of two defined values.

SELECT
  CASE
    WHEN value = 'foo' THEN 'Value is foo.'
    WHEN value = 'bar' THEN 'Value is bar.'
    ELSE ERROR(concat('Found unexpected value: ', value))
  END AS new_value
FROM (
  SELECT 'foo' AS value UNION ALL
  SELECT 'bar' AS value UNION ALL
  SELECT 'baz' AS value);

Found unexpected value: baz

In the following example, BigQuery may evaluate the ERROR function before or after the x > 0 condition, because BigQuery generally provides no ordering guarantees between WHERE clause conditions and there are no special guarantees for the ERROR function.

SELECT *
FROM (SELECT -1 AS x)
WHERE x > 0 AND ERROR('Example error');

In the next example, the WHERE clause evaluates an IF condition, which ensures that BigQuery only evaluates the ERROR function if the condition fails.

SELECT *
FROM (SELECT -1 AS x)
WHERE IF(x > 0, true, ERROR(FORMAT('Error: x must be positive but is %t', x)));'

Error: x must be positive but is -1
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