I opened https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CALCITE-1432 to track any
progress.
Jordan, do you mind sharing your code there?
Julien: I don't remember offhand which db2 supports this. I feel like it
may have formed part of the basis for their JSON/Mongo integration a few
years ago but this is all from dim memories...
thanks,
jacques
On Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 3:44 PM, Jordan Halterman <
jordan.halter...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Interesting history lesson! I'm certainly not one to deny code to the open
> source community...
>
> On Tue, Sep 27, 2016 at 12:35 PM, Julian Hyde <jh...@apache.org> wrote:
>
> > For the younger folks… it came from a crazy time in the mid 90s when
> > “object-oriented database” was the holy grail, and someone had the bright
> > idea of making SQL syntax look like C++. Stonebraker and co. added
> > object-oriented features to Ingres, called it Illustra, sold Illustra to
> > Informix, and Informix choked digesting too large a meal, and IBM picked
> up
> > the pieces. So, I consider it a vestige, and the only advantage of
> > supporting it is for users who have existing SQL.
> >
> > I think we should do it, as long as it is enabled using a conformance
> > setting (disabled by default), and if we can do it without making other
> > parts of the code more complex to maintain.
> >
> > I’d also like to see an analysis of the scope of the task before we
> start.
> > Is it just cosmetic sugar for CAST, or are there semantic differences?
> For
> > example are there some types that can only be converted to using :: or
> > CAST? Does :: fit neatly into the existing parser?
> >
> > Jacques, Is double-colon supported on all variants of DB2? From what I
> can
> > tell, it an alternative to CAST only on some variants of DB2 (presumably
> > those derived from Informix/Illustra).
> >
> > Jordan, Would you consider contributing back? It will make your life
> > easier as we maintain code, and you know it’s the right thing to do. :)
> >
> > Julian
> >
> >
> > > On Sep 27, 2016, at 11:46 AM, jordan.halter...@gmail.com wrote:
> > >
> > > We added the double-colon syntax to our own fork of the Calcite grammar
> > to placate our analysts and their addiction to Redshift. TBH it was not
> > easy, and our implementation still doesn't support things like casting
> from
> > a scalar subquery. Essentially, you can cast identifiers and function
> > results. But I'm sure the folks around here could figure it out.
> > >
> > >> On Sep 27, 2016, at 11:11 AM, Jacques Nadeau <jacq...@apache.org>
> > wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Hey Everybody,
> > >>
> > >> I'd like to propose adding the double colon cast syntax to Calcite
> (e.g.
> > >> '1'::INTEGER instead of CAST('1' as INTEGER). It's something that
> > Postgres,
> > >> DB2, Vertica (PG deriv), RedShift (PG deriv) and a number of other
> > systems
> > >> support. Has anybody explored this or previously opened a jira (I
> > searched
> > >> and didn't find any)? Any thoughts on lexical ambiguities?
> > >>
> > >> thanks,
> > >> Jacques
> >
> >
>
