sq (Structured Query)

code example of a select query using sq, to give viewers a quick idea of what the library is about

Introduction to sq [link]

Github link: github.com/bokwoon95/sq

sq is a type-safe data mapper and query builder for Go. It is not an ORM, but aims to be as convenient as an ORM while retaining the flexibility of a query builder/raw sql.

Notable features:

Installation [link]

This package only supports Go 1.18 and above because it uses generics for data mapping.

$ go get github.com/bokwoon95/sq
$ go install -tags=fts5 github.com/bokwoon95/sqddl@latest

Quickstart [link]

Connect to the database.

db, err := sql.Open("postgres", "postgres://username:password@localhost:5432/sakila?sslmode=disable")

Define your model structs(s).

type Actor struct {
    ActorID    int
    FirstName  string
    LastName   string
    LastUpdate time.Time
}

Use one of the below three functions to run your query.

Select example [link]

Fetch all [link]

SELECT actor_id, first_name, last_name FROM actor WHERE first_name = 'DAN'
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE first_name = {}", "DAN").
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.Int("actor_id"),
            FirstName: row.String("first_name"),
            LastName:  row.String("last_name"),
        }
    },
)

Fetch one [link]

SELECT actor_id, first_name, last_name FROM actor WHERE actor_id = 18
actor, err := sq.FetchOne(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE actor_id = {}", 18).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.Int("actor_id"),
            FirstName: row.String("first_name"),
            LastName:  row.String("last_name"),
        }
    },
)

Fetch cursor [link]

SELECT actor_id, first_name, last_name FROM actor WHERE first_name = 'DAN'
cursor, err := sq.FetchCursor(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE first_name = {}", "DAN").
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.Int("actor_id"),
            FirstName: row.String("first_name"),
            LastName:  row.String("last_name"),
        }
    },
)
if err != nil {
}
defer cursor.Close()

var actors []Actor
for cursor.Next() {
    actor, err := cursor.Result()
    if err != nil {
    }
    actors = append(actors, actor)
}

Fetch exists [link]

SELECT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM actor WHERE actor_id = 18)
exists, err := sq.FetchExists(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT 1 FROM actor WHERE actor_id = {}", 18).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Insert example [link]

Insert one [link]

INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name) VALUES (18, 'DAN', 'TORN')
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Queryf("INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name) VALUES {}", sq.RowValue{
        18, "DAN", "TORN",
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Insert many [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (18, 'DAN', 'TORN'),
    (56, 'DAN', 'HARRIS'),
    (116, 'DAN', 'STREEP')
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Queryf("INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name) VALUES {}", sq.RowValues{
        {18, "DAN", "TORN"},
        {56, "DAN", "HARRIS"},
        {166, "DAN", "STREEP"},
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Update example [link]

UPDATE actor SET first_name = 'DAN', last_name = 'TORN' WHERE actor_id = 18
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Queryf("UPDATE actor SET first_name = {}, last_name = {} WHERE actor_id = {}",
        "DAN", "TORN", 18,
    ).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Delete example [link]

DELETE FROM actor WHERE actor_id = 56
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Queryf("DELETE FROM actor WHERE actor_id = {}", 56).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

How the rowmapper works [link]

The FetchAll/FetchOne/FetchCursor examples in the quickstart use a rowmapper function both as a way of indicating what fields should be selected, as well as encoding how each row should be procedurally mapped back to a model struct.

// The rowmapper function signature should match func(*sq.Row) T.
func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
    return Actor{
        ActorID:   row.Int("actor_id"),
        FirstName: row.String("first_name"),
        LastName:  row.String("last_name"),
    }
}

To go into greater detail, the rowmapper is first called in "passive mode" where the sq.Row records the fields needed by the SELECT query. Those fields are then injected back into the SELECT query (via the {*} insertion point) and the query is run for real. Then the rowmapper is called in "active mode" where each sq.Row method call actually returns a value from the underlying row. The Actor result returned by each rowmapper call is then appended into a slice. All this is done generically, so the rowmapper can yield any variable of type T and a slice []T will be returned at the end.

The order in which you call the sq.Row methods must be deterministic and must not change between rowmapper invocations. Don't put an row.Int() call inside an if-block, for example.

Handling errors [link]

If you do any computation in a rowmapper that returns an error, you can panic() with it and the error will be propagated as the error return value of FetchAll/FetchOne/FetchCursor. Try not to do anything that returns an error in the rowmapper.

func(row *sq.Row) Film {
    var film Film
    film.FilmID = row.Int("film_id")
    film.Title = row.String("title")
    film.Description = row.String("description")

    // Pull raw bytes from the DB and unmarshal as JSON.
    b := row.Bytes("special_features")
    err := json.Unmarshal(b, &film.SpecialFeatures)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    // Alternatively you can use row.JSON(), which doesn't
    // require you to do error handling.
    row.JSON(&film.SpecialFeatures, "special_features")

    return film
}

Available methods [link]

// These methods are straighforward and return the type associated with their
// name.
//
// NULL values are automatically converted to a zero value: 0 for numbers, the
// empty string for strings, an nil slice for []byte, etc. Use the NullXXX
// method variants if capturing NULL is meaningful to you.
var _ []byte    = row.Bytes("field_name")
var _ bool      = row.Bool("field_name")
var _ float64   = row.Float64("field_name")
var _ int       = row.Int("field_name")
var _ int64     = row.Int64("field_name")
var _ string    = row.String("field_name")
var _ time.Time = row.Time("field_name")

// The sql.NullXXX variants.
var _ sql.NullBool    = row.NullBool("field_name")
var _ sql.NullFloat64 = row.NullFloat64("field_name")
var _ sql.NullInt64   = row.NullInt64("field_name")
var _ sql.NullString  = row.NullString("field_name")
var _ sql.NullTime    = row.NullTime("field_name")

// row.Scan scans the value of field_name into a destination pointer. If the
// pointer type implements sql.Scanner, this is where to use it.
row.Scan(dest, "field_name")

// row.Array scans the value of field_name into a destination slice pointer. Only
// *[]bool, *[]int64, *[]int32, *[]float64, *[]float32 and *[]string are
// supported. On Postgres this value must be an array, while for other dialects
// this value must be a JSON array.
row.Array(sliceDest, "field_name")

// row.JSON scans the value of field_name into a destination pointer that
// json.Unmarshal can unmarshal JSON into. The value must be JSON.
row.JSON(jsonDest, "field_name")

// row.UUID scans the value of field_name into a destination pointer whose
// underlying type must be [16]byte. The value can be BINARY(16) or a UUID string.
row.UUID(uuidDest, "field_name")

Additionally there are also the Field method variants that accept an sq.Field instead of a string name. This is relevant if you are using the query builder instead of raw SQL.

var _ []byte    = row.BytesField(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ bool      = row.BoolField(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ float64   = row.Float64Field(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ int       = row.IntField(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ int64     = row.Int64Field(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ string    = row.StringField(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ time.Time = row.TimeField(tbl.FIELD_NAME)

var _ sql.NullBool    = row.NullBoolField(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ sql.NullFloat64 = row.NullFloat64Field(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ sql.NullInt64   = row.NullInt64Field(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ sql.NullString  = row.NullStringField(tbl.FIELD_NAME)
var _ sql.NullTime    = row.NullTimeField(tbl.FIELD_NAME)

row.ScanField(dest, tbl.FIELD_NAME)

row.ArrayField(sliceDest, tbl.FIELD_NAME)

row.JSONField(jsonDest, tbl.FIELD_NAME)

row.UUIDField(uuidDest, tbl.FIELD_NAME)

Setting the dialect of a query [link]

Each sample query in the quickstart has its dialect set to Postgres.

sq.Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE first_name = {}", "DAN").SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres)

This is to generate a Postgres-compatible query, where each curly brace {} placeholder is replaced with a Postgres dollar placeholder (e.g. $1, $2, $3). This is the same case for the query builder. You can choose one of four possible dialects:

const (
    DialectSQLite    = "sqlite"    // placeholders are $1, $2, $3
    DialectPostgres  = "postgres"  // placeholders are $1, $2, $3
    DialectMySQL     = "mysql"     // placeholders are ?, ?, ?
    DialectSQLServer = "sqlserver" // placeholders are @p1, @p2, @p3
)

Each dialect that you pick will use the corresponding placeholder type when generating the query. Ordinal placeholders ({1}, {2}, {3}) and named placeholders ({foo}, {bar}, {baz}) are also supported.

You can use the sq.SQLite, sq.Postgres, sq.MySQL and sq.SQLServer package-level variables as shorthand for setting the dialect (in order to type less).

sq.SQLite.Queryf(query)    // sq.Queryf(query).SetDialect(sq.DialectSQLite)
sq.Postgres.Queryf(query)  // sq.Queryf(query).SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres)
sq.MySQL.Queryf(query)     // sq.Queryf(query).SetDialect(sq.DialectMySQL)
sq.SQLServer.Queryf(query) // sq.Queryf(query).SetDialect(sq.DialectSQLServer)

Setting the query dialect globally [link]

To set the default dialect globally, set the value of sq.DefaultDialect. This value is used when no dialect is provided (i.e. an empty string).

func init() {
    // Sets the default dialect of all queries to Postgres (unless a dialect is
    // explicitly provided).
    //
    // NOTE: You can't use a pointer to sq.DialectPostgres directly because it is
    // a constant which cannot be addressed.
    dialect := sq.DialectPostgres
    sq.DefaultDialect.Store(&dialect)
}

sq's query templating syntax [link]

sq.Queryf (and sq.Expr) use a Printf-style templating syntax where the format string uses curly brace {} placeholders. Here is a basic example for Queryf:

Note: All examples below interpolate their arguments into the SQL query for illustrative purposes, but in actuality the proper prepared statement placeholders will be generated.

sq.Queryf("SELECT first_name FROM actor WHERE actor_id = {}", 18)
SELECT first_name FROM actor WHERE actor_id = 18

sq.Queryf has an Append() method which allows for a basic level of query building:

var (
    name  = "bob"
    email = "bob@email.com"
    age   = 27
)
q := sq.Queryf("SELECT name, email FROM tbl WHERE 1 = 1") // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1264681/what-is-the-purpose-of-using-where-1-1-in-sql-statements
if name != "" {
    q = q.Append("AND name = {}", name)
}
if email != "" {
    q = q.Append("AND email = {}", email)
}
if age != 0 {
    q = q.Append("AND age = {}", age)
}
SELECT name, email FROM tbl WHERE 1 = 1 AND name = 'bob' AND email = 'bob@email.com' AND age = 27

Unlike with SQL prepared statements, the curly brace {} placeholders are allowed to change the structure of a query (i.e. it can appear anywhere inside a query):

sq.Queryf(
    "SELECT {} FROM {} WHERE first_name = {}",
    sq.Fields{
        sq.Expr("actor_id"),
        sq.Expr("last_name"),
    },
    sq.Expr("actor"),
    "DAN",
)
SELECT actor_id, last_name FROM actor WHERE first_name = 'DAN'

Escaping the curly brace [link]

If you wish to actually use curly braces {} inside the format string (which is very rare), you must escape the opening curly brace by doubling it up like this: {{}.

sq.Queryf("SELECT '{{}', '{{abcd}'")
SELECT '{}', '{abcd}'

Value expansion [link]

Each value passed to the query preprocessor is evaluated based on the following cases in the order shown:

  1. If the value implements the SQLWriter interface, its WriteSQL method is called.
  2. Else if the value is a slice, the slice is expanded into a comma separated list.
    • Each item in this list is further evaluated recursively following the same logic.
    • byte slices ([]byte) are the exception, they are treated as a unit and do not undergo slice expansion.
  3. Otherwise, a dialect-appropriate placeholder is appended to the query string and the value itself is appended to the args.

Here is an example of the three different cases in action.

sq.Queryf(
    "SELECT {} FROM actor WHERE actor_id IN ({}) AND first_name = {}",
    // case 1
    sq.Expr("jsonb_build_object({})", []any{ // case 2
        sq.Literal("first_name"), // case 1
        sq.Expr("first_name"),    // case 1
        sq.Literal("last_name"),  // case 1
        sq.Expr("last_name"),     // case 1
    }),
    // case 2
    []int{18, 56, 116},
    // case 3
    "DAN",
).SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres)
SELECT jsonb_build_object('first_name', first_name, 'last_name', last_name)
FROM actor
WHERE actor_id IN ($1, $2, $3) AND first_name = $4
-- args: 18, 56, 11, 'DAN'

Ordinal and Named placeholders [link]

The templating syntax supports 3 types of placeholders:

  1. Anonymous placeholders {}.
  2. Ordinal placeholders {1}, {2}, {3}.
    • Ordinal placeholders used 1-based indexing.
  3. Named placeholders {foo}, {bar}, {baz}.
    • Named placeholders in the format string must have a corresponding sql.Named value.
    • Placeholder names must consist only of unicode letters, numbers 0-9 or underscore _.

It is possible for an anonymous placeholder, an ordinal placeholder and a named placeholder to refer to the same value.

sq.Queryf("SELECT {}, {2}, {}, {name}", "Marco", sql.Named("name", "Polo"))
//                    └─────────────┘
//                   All refer to 'Polo'
SELECT 'Marco', 'Polo', 'Polo', 'Polo'

Anonymous parameter example [link]

sq.SQLite.Queryf(   "SELECT {}, {}, {}", "foo", "bar", "foo") // SQLite
sq.Postgres.Queryf( "SELECT {}, {}, {}", "foo", "bar", "foo") // Postgres
sq.MySQL.Queryf(    "SELECT {}, {}, {}", "foo", "bar", "foo") // MySQL
sq.SQLServer.Queryf("SELECT {}, {}, {}", "foo", "bar", "foo") // SQLServer
SELECT $1, $2, $3    -- SQLite,    Args: 'foo', 'bar', 'foo'
SELECT $1, $2, $3    -- Postgres,  Args: 'foo', 'bar', 'foo'
SELECT ?, ?, ?       -- MySQL,     Args: 'foo', 'bar', 'foo'
SELECT @p1, @p2, @p3 -- SQLServer, Args: 'foo', 'bar', 'foo'

Ordinal parameter example [link]

sq.SQLite.Queryf(   "SELECT {1}, {2}, {1}", "foo", "bar") // SQLite
sq.Postgres.Queryf( "SELECT {1}, {2}, {1}", "foo", "bar") // Postgres
sq.MySQL.Queryf(    "SELECT {1}, {2}, {1}", "foo", "bar") // MySQL
sq.SQLServer.Queryf("SELECT {1}, {2}, {1}", "foo", "bar") // SQLServer
SELECT $1, $2, $1    -- SQLite,    Args: 'foo', 'bar'
SELECT $1, $2, $1    -- Postgres,  Args: 'foo', 'bar'
SELECT ?, ?, ?       -- MySQL,     Args: 'foo', 'bar', 'foo'
SELECT @p1, @p2, @p1 -- SQLServer, Args: 'foo', 'bar'

Named parameter example [link]

// SQLite
sq.SQLite.Queryf("SELECT {one}, {two}, {one}",
    sql.Named("one", "foo"),
    sql.Named("two", "bar"),
)
// Postgres
sq.Postgres.Queryf("SELECT {one}, {two}, {one}",
    sql.Named("one", "foo"),
    sql.Named("two", "bar"),
)
// MySQL
sq.MySQL.Queryf("SELECT {one}, {two}, {one}",
    sql.Named("one", "foo"),
    sql.Named("two", "bar"),
)
// SQLServer
sq.SQLServer.Queryf("SELECT {one}, {two}, {one}",
    sql.Named("one", "foo"),
    sql.Named("two", "bar"),
)
SELECT $one, $two, $one -- SQLite,    Args: one: 'foo', two: 'bar'
SELECT $1, $2, $1       -- Postgres,  Args: 'foo', 'bar'
SELECT ?, ?, ?          -- MySQL,     Args: 'foo', 'bar', 'foo'
SELECT @one, @two, @one -- SQLServer, Args: one: 'foo', two: 'bar'

SQLWriter example [link]

An SQLWriter represents anything that can render itself as SQL. It is the first thing taken into consideration during value expansion.

Here is the definition of the SQLWriter interface:

type SQLWriter interface {
    WriteSQL(ctx context.Context, dialect string, buf *bytes.Buffer, args *[]any, params map[string][]int) error
}

As an example, we will create a custom SQLWriter component that renders itself as string str for num times, where str and num are parameters:

sq.Queryf("SELECT {}", multiplier{str: "lorem ipsum", num: 5, delim: " "})
SELECT lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum

This is the implementation of multiplier:

type multiplier struct {
    str   string
    num   int
    delim string
}

func (m multiplier) WriteSQL(ctx context.Context, dialect string, buf *bytes.Buffer, args *[]any, params map[string][]int) error {
    for i := 0; i < m.num; i++ {
        if i > 0 {
            buf.WriteString(m.delim)
        }
        buf.WriteString(m.str)
    }
    return nil
}
sq.Queryf("SELECT {}", multiplier{str: "foo",         num: 3, delim: "AND"})
sq.Queryf("SELECT {}", multiplier{str: "lorem ipsum", num: 4, delim: ", "})
sq.Queryf("SELECT {}", multiplier{str: "🎉",          num: 6, delim: ""})
SELECT foo AND foo AND foo
SELECT lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum
SELECT 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Using the query builder [link]

Table structs [link]

To use a query builder, you need to first define your table struct(s).

type ACTOR struct {
    sq.TableStruct // A table struct is marked by embedding sq.TableStruct as the first field.
    ACTOR_ID    sq.NumberField
    FIRST_NAME  sq.StringField
    LAST_NAME   sq.StringField
    LAST_UPDATE sq.TimeField
}

You can then instantiate the table using sq.New() and use it to create predicates and participate in a query.

a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
// actor AS a

a.ACTOR_ID.EqInt(18)
// a.actor_id = 18

a.LAST_UPDATE.IsNotNull()
// a.last_update IS NOT NULL

sq.Select(a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).From(a).Where(a.ACTOR_ID.In([]int{18, 56, 116}))
// SELECT a.first_name, a.last_name FROM actor AS a WHERE a.actor_id IN (18, 56, 116)

Model structs [link]

In general, there should be two types of structs that you use with the query builder. One is the table struct, which represents an instance of an SQL table. The other is a model struct, which represents an instance of a domain model (in this example, an actor).

// Table struct (represents your SQL table).
type ACTOR struct {
    sq.TableStruct `sq:"Actor"`
    ACTOR_ID       sq.NumberField `sq:"ActorID"`
    FIRST_NAME     sq.StringField `sq:"FirstName"`
    LAST_NAME      sq.StringField `sq:"LastName"`
    LAST_UPDATE    sq.TimeField   `sq:"LastUpdate"`
}

// Model struct (represents an instance of an actor).
type Actor struct {
    ActorID    int
    FirstName  string
    LastName   string
    LastUpdate time.Time
}

// Note the different casing of ACTOR vs Actor.
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(a).
    Where(a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("DAN")).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

Available Field types [link]

There are 10 available field types that you can use in your table structs.

Field name to column name translation [link]

The table name and column names are derived by lowercasing the struct name and struct field names. So a struct ACTOR will be translated to a table called actor, and a field ACTOR_ID will be translated to a column called actor_id. If that is not what you want, you can specify the desired name inside an sq struct tag.

type ACTOR struct {
    sq.TableStruct `sq:"Actor"`
    ACTOR_ID       sq.NumberField `sq:"ActorID"`
    FIRST_NAME     sq.StringField `sq:"FirstName"`
    LAST_NAME      sq.StringField `sq:"LastName"`
    LAST_UPDATE    sq.TimeField   `sq:"LastUpdate"`
}

a := sq.New[ACTOR]("") // "Actor"
a.ACTOR_ID             // "Actor"."ActorID"
a.FIRST_NAME           // "Actor"."FirstName"

Aliasing a table struct [link]

sq.New() takes in an alias string as an argument and returns a table with that alias. Leave the alias string blank if you don't want the table to have an alias.

a1 := sq.New[ACTOR]("a") // actor AS a
a1.ACTOR_ID              // a.actor_id

a2 := sq.New[ACTOR]("") // actor
a2.ACTOR_ID             // actor.actor_id

Table structs as a declarative schema [link]

Generating migrations [link]

Example: here is the table struct representation of the sakila database schema.

Your table structs serve as a declarative schema for your tables. The sqddl tool is able to parse Go files containing table structs and generate the necessary migrations needed to reach that desired schema. The generated migrations can then be applied using the same sqddl tool.

# Generate migrations needed to go from $DATABASE_URL to tables/tables.go and write into ./migrations dir
$ sqddl generate -src "$DATABASE_URL" -dest tables/tables.go -output-dir ./migrations

# Apply the pending migrations in ./migrations dir against the database $DATABASE_URL
$ sqddl migrate -db "$DATABASE_URL" -dir ./migrations

For more information on how to express "CREATE TABLE" DDL using tables structs, please check out the sqddl documentation.

Generating table structs [link]

The reverse is also possible, you can generate table structs from an existing database. If you have an existing database this is the recommended way to get started, rather than creating the table structs manually to match the database.

# Generate table structs from $DATABASE_URL and write into tables/tables.go
$ sqddl tables -db "$DATABASE_URL" -file tables/tables.go

Once you have your table structs, you can edit your table structs and generate migrations from them. Note that migration generation only covers a subset of possible DDL operations so it's possible that you will have to write some migrations by hand.

Select example [link]

Fetch all [link]

SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name FROM actor AS a WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(a).
    Where(a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("DAN")).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:    row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName:  row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:   row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

Fetch one [link]

SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name FROM actor AS a WHERE a.actor_id = 18
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
actor, err := sq.FetchOne(db, sq.
    From(a).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.EqInt(18)).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:    row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName:  row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:   row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

Fetch cursor [link]

SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name FROM actor AS a WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
cursor, err := sq.FetchCursor(db, sq.
    From(a).
    Where(a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("DAN")).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:    row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName:  row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:   row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)
if err != nil {
}
defer cursor.Close()

var actor []Actor
for cursor.Next() {
    actor, err := cursor.Result()
    if err != nil {
    }
    actors = append(actors, actor)
}

Fetch exists [link]

SELECT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM actor AS a WHERE a.actor_id = 18)
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
exists, err := sq.FetchExists(db, sq.
    SelectOne().
    From(a).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.EqInt(18)).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Fetch distinct [link]

SELECT DISTINCT a.first_name FROM actor AS a
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
firstNames, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    SelectDistinct().
    From(a).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) string {
        return row.String(a.FIRST_NAME)
    },
)

Insert example [link]

Insert one [link]

INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name) VALUES (18, 'DAN', 'TORN')
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(18, "DAN", "TORN").
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Insert many [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (18, 'DAN', 'TORN'),
    (56, 'DAN', 'HARRIS'),
    (116, 'DAN', 'STREEP')
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(18, "DAN", "TORN").
    Values(56, "DAN", "HARRIS").
    Values(166, "DAN", "STREEP").
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Insert from Select [link]

INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
SELECT actor.actor_id, actor.first_name, actor.last_name
FROM actor
WHERE actor.last_update IS NOT NULL
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Select(sq.
        Select(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
        From(a).
        Where(a.LAST_UPDATE.IsNotNull()),
    ).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Insert one (column mapper) [link]

INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name) VALUES (18, 'DAN', 'TORN')
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(a).
    ColumnValues(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        col.SetInt(a.ACTOR_ID, 18)
        col.SetString(a.FIRST_NAME, "DAN")
        col.SetString(a.LAST_NAME, "TORN")
        return nil
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Insert many (column mapper) [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (18, 'DAN', 'TORN'),
    (56, 'DAN', 'HARRIS'),
    (116, 'DAN', 'STREEP')
actors := []Actor{
    {ActorID: 18, FirstName: "DAN", LastName: "TORN"},
    {ActorID: 56, FirstName: "DAN", LastName: "HARRIS"},
    {ActorID: 166, FirstName: "DAN", LastName: "STREEP"},
}
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(a).
    ColumnValues(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        for _, actor := range actors {
            col.SetInt(a.ACTOR_ID, actor.ActorID)
            col.SetString(a.FIRST_NAME, actor.FirstName)
            col.SetString(a.LAST_NAME, actor.LastName)
        }
        return nil
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

How does the Insert column mapper work? [link]

The Insert column mapper works by having the sq.Column note down the very first field passed to it. Everytime sq.Column sees that field again, it will treat it as starting a new row value.

a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
q := sq.
    InsertInto(a).
    ColumnValues(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        col.SetInt(a.ACTOR_ID, 1) // every a.ACTOR_ID will mark the start of a new row value
        col.SetString(a.FIRST_NAME, "PENELOPE")
        col.SetString(a.LAST_NAME, "GUINESS")

        col.SetInt(a.ACTOR_ID, 2)
        col.SetString(a.FIRST_NAME, "NICK")
        col.SetString(a.LAST_NAME, "WAHLBERG")

        col.SetInt(a.ACTOR_ID, 3)
        col.SetString(a.FIRST_NAME, "ED")
        col.SetString(a.LAST_NAME, "CHASE")
        return nil
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres)
INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')

Update example [link]

UPDATE actor SET first_name = 'DAN', last_name = 'TORN' WHERE actor.actor_id = 18
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Update(a).
    Set(
        a.FIRST_NAME.SetString("DAN"),
        a.LAST_NAME.SetString("TORN"),
    ).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.EqInt(18)).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Update (column mapper) [link]

UPDATE actor SET first_name = 'DAN', last_name = 'TORN' WHERE actor.actor_id = 18
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Update(a).
    SetFunc(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        col.SetString(a.FIRST_NAME, "DAN")
        col.SetString(a.LAST_NAME, "TORN")
        return nil
    }).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.EqInt(18)).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Delete example [link]

DELETE FROM actor WHERE actor.actor_id = 56
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    DeleteFrom(a).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.EqInt(56)).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Combining predicates (AND and OR) [link]

Where() accepts more than one predicate. By default, those predicates are AND-ed together.

a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
query := sq.
    Select(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    From(a).
    Where(
        a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("BOB"),
        a.LAST_NAME.EqString("THE BUILDER"),
        a.LAST_UPDATE.IsNotNull(),
    )
SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name
FROM actor AS a
WHERE a.first_name = 'BOB' AND a.last_name = 'THE BUILDER' AND a.last_update IS NOT NULL

If you need to OR those predicates together, wrap them in sq.Or().

a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
query := sq.
    Select(a.actor_id, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    From(a).
    Where(sq.Or( // <-- sq.Or
        a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("BOB"),
        a.LAST_NAME.EqString("THE BUILDER"),
        a.LAST_UPDATE.IsNotNull(),
    ))
SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name
FROM actor AS a
WHERE a.first_name = 'BOB' OR a.last_name = 'THE BUILDER' OR a.last_update IS NOT NULL

Using expressions in the query builder [link]

If you need to do SQL math or call an SQL function, you need to use sq.Expr() to create an expression. The same query templating syntax in sq.Queryf() can be used here.

SELECT a.first_name || ' ' || a.last_name AS fullname
FROM actor AS a
WHERE a.actor_id IN (18, 56, 116)
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
q := sq.
    Select(sq.Expr("{} || ' ' || {}", a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).As("fullname")).
    From(a).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.In([]int{18, 56, 116})).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres)

sq.Expr() satisfies the Any interface and can be used wherever a Number, String, Time, Boolean, Binary, Array, Enum, JSON or UUID interface is expected.

Dialect expressions [link]

Sometimes a query may be the same across different dialects save for some dialect-specific function call or expression, which changes for each dialect. In those cases you can use sq.DialectExpr() to use different expressions depending on the dialect.

-- The 3 queries below are nearly identical except for the name of their JSON
-- aggregation function.

-- SQLite
SELECT json_group_array(a.last_name)
FROM actor AS a WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'

-- Postgres
SELECT json_agg(a.last_name)
FROM actor AS a WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'

-- MySQL
SELECT json_arrayagg(a.last_name)
FROM actor AS a WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
q := sq.
    Select(
        sq.DialectExpr("json_group_array({})", a.LAST_NAME).                // default case
            DialectExpr(sq.DialectPostgres, "json_agg({})", a.LAST_NAME).   // if dialect == sq.DialectPostgres
            DialectExpr(sq.DialectMySQL, "json_arrayagg({})", a.LAST_NAME), // if dialect == sq.DialectMySQL
    ),
    From(a).
    Where(a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("DAN")).
    SetDialect(dialect)

Similar to sq.Expr(), sq.DialectExpr() can be used wherever a Number, String, Time, Boolean, Binary, Array, Enum, JSON or UUID interface is expected.

How do I use dialect-specific features? [link]

There are dialect-specific query builders for each dialect that are accessible through the four package-level variables:

Do note that you can also use the dialect-agnostic query builder (as shown in the query builder examples) if you're not using any dialect-specific features. Doing so will make your queries more portable, as you can just toggle the dialect on the query and have it work across multiple databases without effort.

SQLite-specific features [link]

RETURNING [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    ('PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    ('NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    ('ED', 'CHASE')
RETURNING
    actor.actor_id, actor.first_name, actor.last_name
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.SQLite.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values("PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values("NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values("ED", "CHASE"),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

LastInsertId [link]

INSERT INTO actor (first_name, last_name) VALUES ('PENELOPE', 'GUINESS');
SELECT last_insert_rowid();
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
result, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLite.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values("PENELOPE", "GUINESS"),
)
if err != nil {
}
fmt.Println(result.LastInsertId) // int64

Insert ignore duplicates [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLite.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values(2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values(3, "ED", "CHASE").
    OnConflict().DoNothing(),
)

Upsert [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
ON CONFLICT (actor_id) DO UPDATE SET
    first_name = EXCLUDED.first_name,
    last_name = EXCLUDED.last_name
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLite.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values(2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values(3, "ED", "CHASE").
    OnConflict(a.ACTOR_ID).DoUpdateSet(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Set(a.FIRST_NAME.WithPrefix("EXCLUDED")),
        a.LAST_NAME.Set(a.LAST_NAME.WithPrefix("EXLCUDED")),
    ),
)

Update with Join [link]

UPDATE actor
SET last_name = 'DINO'
FROM film_actor
JOIN film ON film.film_id = film_actor.film_id
WHERE film_actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id AND film.title = 'ACADEMY DINOSAUR'
a, fa, f := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLite.
    Update(a).
    Set(a.LAST_NAME.SetString("DINO")).
    From(fa).
    Join(f, f.FILM_ID.Eq(fa.FILM_ID)).
    Where(
        fa.ACTOR_ID.Eq(a.ACTOR_ID),
        f.TITLE.EqString("ACADEMY DINOSAUR"),
    ),
)

Delete with Join [link]

This is not technically an SQLite-specific feature as it uses a plain subquery to achieve a Delete with Join. Other databases have their own dialect-specific way of doing this, but this method works across every database and as such I prefer it over the others.

DELETE FROM actor
WHERE EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM film_actor
    JOIN film ON film.film_id = film_actor.film_id
    WHERE film_actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id AND film.title = 'ACADEMY DINOSAUR'
)
a, fa, f := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLite.
    DeleteFrom(a).
    Where(sq.Exists(sq.
        SelectOne().
        From(fa).
        Join(f, f.FILM_ID.Eq(f.FILM_ID)).
        Where(
            fa.ACTOR_ID.Eq(a.ACTOR_ID),
            f.TITLE.EqString("ACADEMY DINOSAUR"),
        ),
    )),
)

Bulk Update [link]

UPDATE actor
SET
    first_name = tmp.first_name,
    last_name = tmp.last_name
FROM (
        SELECT 1 AS actor_id, 'PENELOPE' AS first_name, 'GUINESS' AS last_name
        UNION ALL
        SELECT 2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'
        UNION ALL
        SELECT 3, 'ED', 'CHASE'
    ) AS tmp
WHERE tmp.actor_id = actor.actor_id
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
tmp := sq.SelectValues{
    Alias:     "tmp",
    Columns:   []string{"actor_id", "first_name", "last_name"},
    RowValues: [][]any{
        {1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS"},
        {2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG"},
        {3, "ED", "CHASE"},
    },
}
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLite.
    Update(a).
    Set(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Set(tmp.Field("first_name")),
        a.LAST_NAME.Set(tmp.Field("last_name")),
    ).
    From(tmp).
    Where(tmp.Field("actor_id").Eq(a.ACTOR_ID)),
)

Postgres-specific features [link]

DISTINCT ON [link]

SELECT DISTINCT ON (a.first_name) a.first_name, a.last_name
FROM actor AS a
ORDER BY a.first_name
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.Postgres.
    From(a).
    DistinctOn(a.FIRST_NAME).
    OrderBy(a.FIRST_NAME),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            FirstName: row.String(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.String(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

FETCH NEXT, WITH TIES [link]

SELECT a.first_name
FROM actor AS a
OFFSET 5
FETCH NEXT 10 ROWS WITH TIES
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
firstNames, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.Postgres.
    From(a).
    Offset(5).
    FetchNext(10).WithTies(),
    func(row *sq.Row) string {
        return row.String(a.FIRST_NAME)
    },
)

FOR UPDATE, FOR SHARE [link]

For Update

SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name
FROM actor AS a
WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'
FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.Postgres.
    From(a).
    Where(a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("DAN")).
    LockRows("FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED"),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

For Share

SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name
FROM actor AS a
WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'
FOR SHARE
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.Postgres.
    From(a).
    Where(a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("DAN")).
    LockRows("FOR SHARE"),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

RETURNING [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    ('PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    ('NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    ('ED', 'CHASE')
RETURNING
    actor.actor_id, actor.first_name, actor.last_name
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.Postgres.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values("PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values("NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values("ED", "CHASE"),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

Insert ignore duplicates [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.Postgres.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values(2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values(3, "ED", "CHASE").
    OnConflict().DoNothing(),
)

Upsert [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
ON CONFLICT (actor_id) DO UPDATE SET
    first_name = EXCLUDED.first_name,
    last_name = EXCLUDED.last_name
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.Postgres.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values(2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values(3, "ED", "CHASE").
    OnConflict(a.ACTOR_ID).DoUpdateSet(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Set(a.FIRST_NAME.WithPrefix("EXCLUDED")),
        a.LAST_NAME.Set(a.LAST_NAME.WithPrefix("EXLCUDED")),
    ),
)

Update with Join [link]

UPDATE actor
SET last_name = 'DINO'
FROM film_actor
JOIN film ON film.film_id = film_actor.film_id
WHERE film_actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id AND film.title = 'ACADEMY DINOSAUR'
a, fa, f := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.Postgres.
    Update(a).
    Set(a.LAST_NAME.SetString("DINO")).
    From(fa).
    Join(f, f.FILM_ID.Eq(fa.FILM_ID)).
    Where(
        fa.ACTOR_ID.Eq(a.ACTOR_ID),
        f.TITLE.EqString("ACADEMY DINOSAUR"),
    ),
)

Delete with Join [link]

DELETE FROM actor
USING film_actor
JOIN film ON film.film_id = film_actor.film_id
WHERE film_actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id AND film.title = 'ACADEMY DINOSAUR'
a, fa, f := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.Postgres.
    DeleteFrom(a).
    Using(fa).
    Join(f, f.FILM_ID.Eq(fa.FILM_ID)).
    Where(
        fa.ACTOR_ID.Eq(a.ACTOR_ID),
        f.TITLE.EqString("ACADEMY DINOSAUR"),
    ),
)

Bulk Update [link]

UPDATE actor
SET
    first_name = tmp.first_name,
    last_name = tmp.last_name
FROM (VALUES
        (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
        (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
        (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
    ) AS tmp (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
WHERE tmp.actor_id = actor.actor_id
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
tmp := sq.TableValues{
    Alias:     "tmp",
    Columns:   []string{"actor_id", "first_name", "last_name"},
    RowValues: [][]any{
        {1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS"},
        {2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG"},
        {3, "ED", "CHASE"},
    },
}
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.Postgres.
    Update(a).
    Set(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Set(tmp.Field("first_name")),
        a.LAST_NAME.Set(tmp.Field("last_name")),
    ).
    From(tmp).
    Where(tmp.Field("actor_id").Eq(a.ACTOR_ID)),
)

MySQL-specific features [link]

FOR UPDATE, FOR SHARE [link]

For Update

SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name
FROM actor AS a
WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'
FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.MySQL.
    From(a).
    Where(a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("DAN")).
    LockRows("FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED"),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

For Share

SELECT a.actor_id, a.first_name, a.last_name
FROM actor AS a
WHERE a.first_name = 'DAN'
FOR SHARE
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.MySQL.
    From(a).
    Where(a.FIRST_NAME.EqString("DAN")).
    LockRows("FOR SHARE"),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

LastInsertId [link]

INSERT INTO actor (first_name, last_name) VALUES ('PENELOPE', 'GUINESS');
SELECT last_insert_id();
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
result, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values("PENELOPE", "GUINESS"),
)
if err != nil {
}
fmt.Println(result.LastInsertId) // int64

Insert ignore duplicates [link]

ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE field = field

MySQL lacks ON DUPLICATE KEY DO NOTHING but assigning a field to itself is the closest thing we can get. If a field is assigned to itself, MySQL doesn't actually trigger an update (making it do nothing).

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
    actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values(2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values(3, "ED", "CHASE").
    OnDuplicateKeyUpdate(
        a.ACTOR_ID.Set(a.ACTOR_ID),
    ),
)

INSERT IGNORE

INSERT IGNORE will ignore all kinds of errors (such as foreign key violations) so use only if you really, really don't care if an INSERT fails.

INSERT IGNORE INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.
    InsertIgnoreInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values(2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values(3, "ED", "CHASE"),
)

Upsert [link]

Row Alias (MySQL 8.0+ onwards)

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
AS new
ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
    actor.first_name = new.first_name,
    actor.last_name = new.last_name
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values(2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values(3, "ED", "CHASE").
    As("new").
    OnDuplicateKeyUpdate(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Set(a.FIRST_NAME.WithPrefix("new")),
        a.LAST_NAME.Set(a.LAST_NAME.WithPrefix("new")),
    ),
)

VALUES()

INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
VALUES
    (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
    actor.first_name = VALUES(first_name),
    actor.last_name = VALUES(last_name)
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values(1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values(2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values(3, "ED", "CHASE").
    OnDuplicateKeyUpdate(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Setf("VALUES({})", a.FIRST_NAME.WithPrefix("")),
        a.LAST_NAME.Setf("VALUES({})", a.LAST_NAME.WithPrefix("")),
    ),
)

Update with Join [link]

UPDATE actor
JOIN film_actor ON film_actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id
JOIN film ON film.film_id = film_actor.film_id
SET actor.last_name = 'DINO'
WHERE film.title = 'ACADEMY DINOSAUR'
a, fa, f := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.
    Update(a).
    Join(fa, fa.ACTOR_ID.Eq(a.ACTOR_ID)).
    Join(f, f.FILM_ID.Eq(fa.FILM_ID)).
    Set(a.LAST_NAME.SetString("DINO")).
    Where(f.TITLE.EqString("ACADEMY DINOSAUR")),
)

Delete with Join [link]

DELETE actor
FROM actor
JOIN film_actor ON film_actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id
JOIN film ON film.film_id = film_actor.film_id
WHERE film.title = 'ACADEMY DINOSAUR'
a, fa, f := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.
    Delete(a).
    From(a)
    Join(fa, fa.ACTOR_ID.Eq(a.ACTOR_ID)).
    Join(f, f.FILM_ID.Eq(fa.FILM_ID)).
    Where(f.TITLE.EqString("ACADEMY DINOSAUR")),
)

Bulk Update [link]

UPDATE actor
JOIN (VALUES
        ROW(1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
        ROW(2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
        ROW(3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
    ) AS tmp (actor_id, first_name, last_name) ON tmp.actor_id = actor.actor_id
SET
    first_name = tmp.first_name,
    last_name = tmp.last_name
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
tmp := sq.TableValues{
    Alias:     "tmp",
    Columns:   []string{"actor_id", "first_name", "last_name"},
    RowValues: [][]any{
        {1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS"},
        {2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG"},
        {3, "ED", "CHASE"},
    },
}
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.
    Update(a).
    Join(tmp, tmp.Field("actor_id").Eq(a.ACTOR_ID)).
    Set(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Set(tmp.Field("first_name")),
        a.LAST_NAME.Set(tmp.Field("last_name")),
    ),
)

SQLServer-specific features [link]

TOP, WITH TIES [link]

SELECT TOP 10 WITH TIES a.first_name
FROM actor AS a
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
firstNames, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.SQLServer.
    From(a).
    Top(10).WithTies(),
    func(row *sq.Row) string {
        return row.String(a.FIRST_NAME)
    },
)

OUTPUT [link]

INSERT INTO actor
    (first_name, last_name)
OUTPUT
    INSERTED.actor_id, INSERTED.first_name, INSERTED.last_name
VALUES
    ('PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
    ('NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
    ('ED', 'CHASE')
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
actors, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.SQLServer.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Values("PENELOPE", "GUINESS").
    Values("NICK", "WAHLBERG").
    Values("ED", "CHASE"),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

INSERTED. vs DELETED.**

Technically both INSERTED.* and DELETED.* fields are supported for Update queries, but sq only supports INSERTED.* because that is how RETURNING behaves in SQLite and Postgres.

Insert ignore duplicates [link]

This is technically not an SQL Server-specific feature as SQL Server completely does not support this. You have to employ a workaround using INSERT with SELECT (https://stackoverflow.com/a/10703792). I'm including the workaround here for completion's sake.

-- Insert rows that don't exist.
INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
SELECT
    actor_id, first_name, last_name
FROM (
    VALUES
        (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
        (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
        (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
    ) AS rowvalues (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
    SELECT 1 FROM actor WHERE actor.actor_id = rowvalues.actor_id
)
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
// Insert rows that don't exist.
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLServer.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Select(sq.Queryf("SELECT actor_id, first_name, last_name"+
        "FROM (VALUES {}) AS rowvalues (actor_id, first_name, last_name)"+
        "WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM actor WHERE actor.actor_id = rowvalues.actor_id)",
        sq.RowValues{
            {1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS"},
            {2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG"},
            {3, "ED", "CHASE"},
        },
    )),
)

Upsert [link]

This is technically not an SQL Server-specific feature as SQL Server does not support this. You have to employ a 2-step workaround using an UPDATE with JOIN + an INSERT with SELECT (https://sqlperformance.com/2020/09/locking/upsert-anti-pattern). I'm including the workaround here for completion's sake.

Avoid using MERGE for upserting.

-- Update rows that exist.
UPDATE actor
SET
    first_name = rowvalues.first_name,
    last_name = rowvalues.last_name
FROM
    actor
    JOIN (VALUES
        (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
        (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
        (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
    ) AS rowvalues (actor_id, first_name, last_name) ON rowvalues.actor_id = actor.actor_id;

-- Insert rows that don't exist.
INSERT INTO actor
    (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
SELECT
    actor_id, first_name, last_name
FROM (VALUES
        (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
        (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
        (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
    ) AS rowvalues (actor_id, first_name, last_name)
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
    SELECT 1 FROM actor WHERE actor.actor_id = rowvalues.actor_id
);
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
// Update rows that exist.
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLServer.
    Update(a).
    Set(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Setf("rowvalues.first_name"),
        a.LAST_NAME.Setf("rowvalues.last_name"),
    ).
    From(a).
    Join(sq.
        Queryf("VALUES {}", sq.RowValues{
            {1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS"},
            {2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG"},
            {3, "ED", "CHASE"},
        }).
        As("rowvalues (actor_id, first_name, last_name)"),
        sq.Expr("rowvalues.actor_id").Eq(a.ACTOR_ID),
    )
)

// Insert rows that don't exist.
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLServer.
    InsertInto(a).
    Columns(a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    Select(sq.Queryf("SELECT actor_id, first_name, last_name"+
        "FROM (VALUES {}) AS rowvalues (actor_id, first_name, last_name)"+
        "WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM actor WHERE actor.actor_id = rowvalues.actor_id)",
        sq.RowValues{
            {1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS"},
            {2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG"},
            {3, "ED", "CHASE"},
        },
    )),
)

Update with Join [link]

UPDATE actor
SET last_name = 'DINO'
FROM actor
JOIN film_actor ON film_actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id
JOIN film ON film.film_id = film_actor.film_id
WHERE film.title = 'ACADEMY DINOSAUR'
a, fa, f := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLServer.
    Update(a).
    Set(a.LAST_NAME.SetString("DINO")).
    From(a).
    Join(fa, fa.ACTOR_ID.Eq(a.ACTOR_ID)).
    Join(f, f.FILM_ID.Eq(fa.FILM_ID)).
    Where(f.TITLE.EqString("ACADEMY DINOSAUR")),
)

Delete with Join [link]

DELETE actor
FROM actor
JOIN film_actor ON film_actor.actor_id = actor.actor_id
JOIN film ON film.film_id = film_actor.film_id
WHERE film.title = 'ACADEMY DINOSAUR'
a, fa, f := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR](""), sq.New[FILM]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLServer.
    Delete(a).
    From(a)
    Join(fa, fa.ACTOR_ID.Eq(a.ACTOR_ID)).
    Join(f, f.FILM_ID.Eq(fa.FILM_ID)).
    Where(f.TITLE.EqString("ACADEMY DINOSAUR")),
)

Bulk Update [link]

UPDATE actor
SET
    first_name = tmp.first_name,
    last_name = tmp.last_name
FROM
    actor
    JOIN (VALUES
        (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'),
        (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG'),
        (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')
    ) AS tmp (actor_id, first_name, last_name) ON tmp.actor_id = actor.actor_id
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
tmp := sq.TableValues{
    Alias:     "tmp",
    Columns:   []string{"actor_id", "first_name", "last_name"},
    RowValues: [][]any{
        {1, "PENELOPE", "GUINESS"},
        {2, "NICK", "WAHLBERG"},
        {3, "ED", "CHASE"},
    },
}
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.SQLServer.
    Update(a).
    Set(
        a.FIRST_NAME.Set(tmp.Field("first_name")),
        a.LAST_NAME.Set(tmp.Field("last_name")),
    ).
    From(a)
    Join(tmp, tmp.Field("actor_id").Eq(a.ACTOR_ID)),
)

Working with arrays, enums, JSON and UUID [link]

Arrays [link]

Slices of primitive types ([]string, []int64, []int32, []float64, []float32, []bool) can be saved into the database. For Postgres, it will be saved as an ARRAY (TEXT[], INT[], BIGINT[], NUMERIC[] or BOOLEAN[]). For other databases, it will be saved as a JSON array.

Writing arrays

// Raw SQL
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Queryf("INSERT INTO posts (title, body, tags) VALUES {}", sq.RowValue{
        "Hello World!",
        "This is my first blog post.",
        sq.ArrayValue([]string{"introduction", "hello-world", "meta"}),
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

// Query Builder
p := sq.New[POSTS]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(p).
    ColumnValues(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        col.SetString(p.TITLE, "Hello World!")
        col.SetString(p.BODY, "This is my first blog post.")
        col.SetArray(p.TAGS, []string{"introduction", "hello-world", "meta"})
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Reading arrays

// Raw SQL
posts, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM posts WHERE post_id IN ({})", []int{1, 2, 3}).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Post {
        var post Post
        post.Title = row.String("title")
        post.Body = row.String("body")
        row.Array(&post.Tags, "tags")
        return post
    },
)

// Query Builder
p := sq.New[POSTS]("")
posts, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(p).
    Where(p.POST_ID.In([]int{1, 2, 3})).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Post {
        var post Post
        post.Title = row.StringField(p.TITLE)
        post.Body = row.StringField(p.BODY)
        row.ArrayField(&post.Tags, p.TAGS)
        return post
    },
)

Enums [link]

A Go type is considered an enum if it implements the Enumeration interface:

type Enumeration interface{
    Enumerate() []string
}

As an example, this is how an int-based enum and a string-based enum would be implemented:

type Color int

const (
    ColorInvalid Color = iota
    ColorRed
    ColorGreen
    ColorBlue
)

var colorNames = [...]string{
    ColorInvalid: "",
    ColorRed:     "red",
    ColorGreen:   "green",
    ColorBlue:    "blue",
}

func (c Color) Enumerate() []string { return colorNames[:] }
type Direction string

const (
    DirectionInvalid = Direction("")
    DirectionNorth   = Direction("north")
    DirectionSouth   = Direction("south")
    DirectionEast    = Direction("east")
    DirectionWest    = Direction("west")
)

func (d Direction) Enumerate() []string {
    return []string{
        string(DirectionInvalid),
        string(DirectionNorth),
        string(DirectionSouth),
        string(DirectionEast),
        string(DirectionWest),
    }
}

By implementing the Enumeration interface, you automatically get enum type validation when writing enums to and reading enums from the database.

Writing enums

// Raw SQL
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Queryf("INSERT INTO fruits (name, color) VALUES {}", sq.RowValue{
        "apple",
        sq.EnumValue(ColorRed),
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

// Query Builder
f := sq.New[FRUITS]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(f).
    ColumnValues(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        col.SetString(f.NAME, "apple")
        col.SetEnum(f.COLOR, ColorRed)
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Reading enums

// Raw SQL
fruits, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM fruits WHERE fruit_id IN ({})", []int{1, 2, 3}).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Fruit {
        var fruit Fruit
        fruit.Name = row.String("name")
        row.Enum(&fruit.Color, "color")
        return fruit
    },
)

// Query Builder
f := sq.New[FRUITS]("")
posts, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(f).
    Where(f.FRUIT_ID.In([]int{1, 2, 3})).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Fruit {
        var fruit Fruit
        fruit.Name = row.StringField(f.NAME)
        row.EnumField(&fruit.Color, f.COLOR)
        return fruit
    },
)

JSON [link]

Any Go type that works with json.Marshal and json.Unmarshal can be saved into the database. For Postgres, it will be saved as JSONB. For MySQL, it will be saved as JSON. For other databases, it will be saved as a JSON string.

Writing JSON

// Raw SQL
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Queryf("INSERT INTO products (name, price, attributes) VALUES {}", sq.RowValue{
        "Sleeping Bag",
        89.99,
        sq.JSONValue(map[string]any{
            "Length (cm)":    220,
            "Width (cm)":     150,
            "Weight (kg)":    2.96,
            "Color":          "Lake Blue",
            "Fill Material":  "190T Pongee",
            "Outer Material": "Polyester",
        }),
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

// Query Builder
p := sq.New[PRODUCTS]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(p).
    ColumnValues(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        col.SetString(p.NAME, "Sleeping Bag")
        col.SetFloat64(p.PRICE, 89.99)
        col.SetJSON(p.ATTRIBUTES, map[string]any{
            "Length (cm)":    220,
            "Width (cm)":     150,
            "Weight (kg)":    2.96,
            "Color":          "Lake Blue",
            "Fill Material":  "190T Pongee",
            "Outer Material": "Polyester",
        })
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Reading JSON

// Raw SQL
products, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM products WHERE product_id IN ({})", []int{1, 2, 3}).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Product {
        var product Product
        product.Name = row.String("name")
        product.Price = row.Float64("price")
        row.JSON(&product.Attributes, "attributes")
        return product
    },
)

// Query Builder
p := sq.New[PRODUCTS]("")
posts, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(p).
    Where(p.PRODUCT_ID.In([]int{1, 2, 3})).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Product {
        var product Product
        product.Name = row.StringField(p.NAME)
        product.Price = row.Float64Field(p.PRICE)
        row.JSONField(&product.Attributes, p.ATTRIBUTES)
        return product
    },
)

UUID [link]

Any Go type whose underlying type is [16]byte can be saved as a UUID into the database. For Postgres, it will be saved as UUID. For other databases, it will be saved as a BINARY(16).

It is likely that the Go UUID library you are using already implements sql.Scanner and driver.Valuer (e.g. github.com/google/uuid). You can choose to rely on their built-in SQL behaviour:

The main benefit of using this library's built-in UUID helpers is to have UUID reading/writing work identically across database dialects: for Postgres, if you want to save a UUID you must give it a UUID string. For other databases, if you want to save a UUID as a BINARY(16) you must give it raw UUID bytes. Using this library's UUID helpers means you don't have to manually account for this UUID string/bytes disparity between Postgres and the other DBs.

Writing UUID

userID, err := uuid.Parse("d619cde3-7661-4b6e-928e-4d5b239a18a9")
if err != nil {
}

// Raw SQL
_, err = sq.Exec(db, sq.
    Queryf("INSERT INTO users (user_id, name, email) VALUES {}", sq.RowValue{
        sq.UUIDValue(userID),
        "John Doe",
        "john_doe@email.com",
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

// Query Builder
u := sq.New[USERS]("")
_, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.
    InsertInto(u).
    ColumnValues(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        col.SetUUID(u.USER_ID, userID)
        col.SetString(u.NAME, "John Doe")
        col.SetString(u.EMAIL, "john_doe@email.com")
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)

Reading UUID

// Raw SQL
users, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM users WHERE email IS NOT NULL").
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) User {
        var user User
        row.UUID(&user.UserID, "user_id")
        user.Name = row.String("name")
        user.Email = row.String("email")
        return user
    },
)

// Query Builder
u := sq.New[USERS]("")
posts, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(u).
    Where(u.EMAIL.IsNotNull()).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) User {
        var user User
        row.UUIDField(&user.UserID, u.USER_ID)
        user.Name = row.StringField(u.NAME)
        user.Email = row.StringField(u.EMAIL)
        return user
    },
)

Logging [link]

Queries can be logged wrapping the database with sq.Log() or sq.VerboseLog().

sq.Log()

// With logging                    ↓ wrap the db
firstName, err := sq.FetchOne(sq.Log(db), sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE last_name IN ({})", []string{"AKROYD", "ALLEN", "WILLIAMS"}),
    func(row *sq.Row) string {
        return row.String("first_name")
    },
)
2022/02/06 15:34:36 [OK] SELECT first_name FROM actor WHERE last_name IN (?, ?, ?) | timeTaken=9.834µs rowCount=9 caller=/Users/bokwoon/Documents/sq/fetch_exec_test.go:74:sq.TestFetchExec

sq.VerboseLog()

// With verbose logging                ↓ wrap the db
firstName, err := sq.FetchOne(sq.VerboseLog(db), sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE last_name IN ({})", []string{"AKROYD", "ALLEN", "WILLIAMS"}),
    func(row *sq.Row) string {
        return row.String("first_name")
    },
)
2022/02/06 15:34:36 [OK] timeTaken=9.834µs rowCount=9 caller=/Users/bokwoon/Documents/sq/fetch_exec_test.go:74:sq.TestFetchExec
----[ Executing query ]----
SELECT first_name FROM actor WHERE last_name IN (?, ?, ?) []interface {}{"AKROYD", "ALLEN", "WILLIAMS"}
----[ with bind values ]----
SELECT first_name FROM actor WHERE last_name IN ('AKROYD', 'ALLEN', 'WILLIAMS')
----[ Fetched result ]----
----[ Row 1 ]----
first_name: 'CHRISTIAN'
----[ Row 2 ]----
first_name: 'SEAN'
----[ Row 3 ]----
first_name: 'KIRSTEN'
----[ Row 4 ]----
first_name: 'CUBA'
----[ Row 5 ]----
first_name: 'MORGAN'
...
(Fetched 9 rows)

Logging without manual sq.Log() wrapping [link]

To log every query without manually wrapping it in sq.Log(), set the global logger using SetDefaultLogQuery(). It takes in a callback function which is called everytime a query is called (if no logger was explicitly provided to FetchOne, FetchAll, Exec, etc).

func init() {
    logger := sq.NewLogger(os.Stdout, "", log.LstdFlags, sq.LoggerConfig{
        ShowTimeTaken: true,
        HideArgs:      true,
    })
    sq.SetDefaultLogQuery(func(ctx context.Context, queryStats sq.QueryStats) {
        // You can choose to only log queries if they encountered an error.
        // if queryStats.Err == nil {
        //     return
        // }
        logger.SqLogQuery(ctx, queryStats)
    })
}

Custom logger [link]

A custom logger can also be used by creating custom DB type that implements the SqLogger interface. The logging information is passed in as a QueryStats struct, which you can feed into the structured logger of your choice.

// QueryStats represents the statistics from running a query.
type QueryStats struct {
    // Dialect of the query.
    Dialect string

    // Query string.
    Query string

    // Args slice provided with the query string.
    Args []any

    // Params maps param names back to arguments in the args slice (by index).
    Params map[string][]int

    // Err is the error from running the query.
    Err error

    // RowCount from running the query. Not valid for Exec().
    RowCount sql.NullInt64

    // RowsAffected by running the query. Not valid for
    // FetchOne/FetchAll/FetchCursor.
    RowsAffected sql.NullInt64

    // LastInsertId of the query.
    LastInsertId sql.NullInt64

    // Exists is the result of FetchExists().
    Exists sql.NullBool

    // When the query started at.
    StartedAt time.Time

    // Time taken by the query.
    TimeTaken time.Duration

    // The caller file where the query was invoked.
    CallerFile string

    // The line in the caller file that invoked the query.
    CallerLine int

    // The name of the function where the query was invoked.
    CallerFunction string

    // The results from running the query (if it was provided).
    Results string
}

As an example, we will create a custom database logger that outputs JSON and only logs if the query took longer than 1 second.

type MyDB struct {
    *sql.DB
}

func (myDB MyDB) SqLogSettings(ctx context.Context, settings *sq.LogSettings) {
    settings.LogAsynchronously = false // Should the logging be dispatched in a separate goroutine?
    settings.IncludeTime = true        // Should timeTaken be included in the QueryStats?
    settings.IncludeCaller = true      // Should caller info be included in the QueryStats?
    settings.IncludeResults = 0        // The first how many rows of results should be included? Leave 0 to not include any results.
}

func (myDB MyDB) SqLogQuery(ctx context.Context, stats sq.QueryStats) {
    if stats.TimeTaken < time.Second {
        return
    }
    output := map[string]any{
        "query":     stats.Query,
        "args":      stats.Args,
        "caller":    stats.CallerFile + ":" + strconv.Itoa(stats.CallerLine)
        "timeTaken": stats.TimeTaken.String(),
    }
    b, err := json.MarshalIndent(output, "", "  ")
    if err != nil {
        log.Println(err.Error())
        return
    }
    log.Println("TOO SLOW! " + string(b))
}
2022/02/06 15:34:36 TOO SLOW! {
  "args": [
    1
  ],
  "caller": "/Users/bokwoon/Documents/sq/fetch_exec_test.go:74",
  "query": "SELECT actor_id, first_name, last_name FROM actor WHERE actor_id = ?",
  "timeTaken": "1.534s"
}

Working with transactions [link]

Fetch() and Exec() both accept an sq.DB interface, which represents something that can query the database.

// *sql.Conn, *sql.DB and *sql.Tx all implement DB.
type DB interface {
    QueryContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args ...any) (*sql.Rows, error)
    ExecContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args ...any) (sql.Result, error)
    PrepareContext(ctx context.Context, query string) (*sql.Stmt, error)
}

To use an *sql.Tx (or an *sql.Conn), you can pass it in like a normal *sql.DB.

tx, err := db.BeginTx(ctx, &sql.TxOptions{Isolation: sql.LevelSerializable})
if err != nil {
    return err
}
// good practice defer tx.Rollback first, if tx.Commit is called then this becomes a no-op.
defer tx.Rollback()

// do operation 1
_, err = sq.Exec(tx, q1)
if err != nil {
    return err
}

// do operation 2
_, err = sq.Exec(tx, q2)
if err != nil {
    return err
}

// do operation 3
_, err = sq.Exec(tx, q3)
if err != nil {
    return err
}

// If all goes well, commit. If anything wrong happened before reaching here we
// just bail and let defer tx.Rollback() kick in
err = tx.Commit()
if err != nil {
    return err
}
// if we reach here, success

Compiling queries [link]

The cost of query building can be amortized by compiling queries down into a query string and args slice. Compiled queries are reused by supplying a different set of parameters each time you execute them. They can be executed safely in parallel.

// Compile the query.
compiledQuery, err := sq.CompileFetch(sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE first_name = {first_name}, last_name = {last_name}",
        sql.Named("first_name", nil), // first_name is a rebindable param, with default value nil
        sql.Named("last_name", nil),  // last_name is a rebindable param, with default value nil
    ).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.Int("actor_id"),
            FirstName: row.String("first_name"),
            LastName:  row.String("last_name"),
        }
    },
)
if err != nil {
}

// Obtain the query string and args slice back from the CompiledFetch.
// The params map and rowmapper function are also available.
query, args, params, rowmapper := compiledQuery.GetSQL()

// Execute the compiled query with the default values.
actor, err := compiledQuery.FetchOne(db, nil)
if err != nil {
}

// Execute the compiled query with values first_name = "DAN", last_name = "TORN".
actor, err := compiledQuery.FetchOne(db, sq.Params{
    "first_name": "DAN",
    "last_name":  "TORN",
})
if err != nil {
}

Rebindable params [link]

Only named parameters can be rebinded in a compiled query, which means they must be provided during the query building phase.

// WRONG: actor_id cannot be rebinded.
compiledQuery, err := sq.CompileFetch(
    sq.Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE actor_id = {}", 1),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            FirstName: row.String("first_name"),
            LastName:  row.String("last_name"),
        }
    },
)
if err != nil {
}
// ERROR: named parameter {actorID} not provided
actor, err := compiledQuery.FetchOne(db, sq.Params{"actorID": 2})
if err != nil {
}

// CORRECT: actor_id can be rebinded (using "actorID").
compiledQuery, err := sq.CompileFetch(
    sq.Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE actor_id = {actorID}", sql.Named("actorID", 1)),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            FirstName: row.String("first_name"),
            LastName:  row.String("last_name"),
        }
    },
)
if err != nil {
}
actor, err := compiledQuery.FetchOne(db, sq.Params{"actorID": 2})
if err != nil {
}

Most of the time you should use sql.Named(), but if you need to conform to various interfaces like String or Number you can use the typed versions sq.StringParam() or sq.IntParam().

Parameter Description
sql.Named(name string, value any) database/sql's named parameter type
sq.Param(name string, value any) same as sql.Named, but satisfies the Field interface
sq.BinaryParam(name string, b []byte) same as sql.Named, but satisfies the Binary interface
sq.BooleanParam(name string, b bool) same as sql.Named, but satisfies the Boolean interface
sq.IntParam(name string, num int) same as sql.Named, but satisfies the Number interface
sq.Int64Param(name string, num int64) same as sql.Named, but satisfies the Number interface
sq.Float64Param(name string, num float64) same as sql.Named, but satisfies the Number interface
sq.StringParam(name string, s string) same as sql.Named, but satisfies the String interface
sq.TimeParam(name string, t time.Time) same as sql.Named, but satisfies the Time interface

CompiledFetch example [link]

type ACTOR struct {
    sq.TableStruct
    ACTOR_ID    sq.NumberField
    FIRST_NAME  sq.StringField
    LAST_NAME   sq.StringField
    LAST_UPDATE sq.TimeField
}

a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
compiledQuery, err := sq.CompileFetch(sq.
    From(a).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.Eq(sq.IntParam("actor_id", 0))). // actor_id is a rebindable param, with default value 0
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)
if err != nil {
}

actor, err := compiledQuery.FetchOne(db, sq.Params{"actor_id": 1})
fmt.Println(actor) // {ActorID: 1, FirstName: "PENELOPE", LastName: "GUINESS"}

actor, err = compiledQuery.FetchOne(db, sq.Params{"actor_id": 2})
fmt.Println(actor) // {ActorID: 2, FirstName: "NICK", LastName: "WAHLBERG"}

actor, err = compiledQuery.FetchOne(db, sq.Params{"actor_id": 3})
fmt.Println(actor) // {ActorID: 3, FirstName: "ED", LastName: "CHASE"}

CompiledExec example [link]

type ACTOR struct {
    sq.TableStruct
    ACTOR_ID    sq.NumberField
    FIRST_NAME  sq.StringField
    LAST_NAME   sq.StringField
    LAST_UPDATE sq.TimeField
}

a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
compiledQuery, err = sq.CompileExec(sq.
    InsertInto(a).
    ColumnValues(func(col *sq.Column) error {
        col.Set(a.ACTOR_ID, sql.Named("actor_id", nil))     // actor_id is a rebindable param, with default value nil
        col.Set(a.FIRST_NAME, sql.Named("first_name", nil)) // first_name is a rebindable param, with default value nil
        col.Set(a.LAST_NAME, sql.Named("last_name", nil))   // last_name is a rebindable param, with default value nil
        return nil
    }).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
)
if err != nil {
}

_, err := compiledQuery.Exec(db, sq.Params{
    "actor_id":   1,
    "first_name": "PENELOPE",
    "last_name":  "GUINESS",
})
// INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name) VALUES (1, 'PENELOPE', 'GUINESS')

_, err = compiledQuery.Exec(db, sq.Params{
    "actor_id":   2,
    "first_name": "NICK",
    "last_name":  "WAHLBERG",
})
// INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name) VALUES (2, 'NICK', 'WAHLBERG')

_, err = compiledQuery.Exec(db, sq.Params{
    "actor_id":   3,
    "first_name": "ED",
    "last_name":  "CHASE",
})
// INSERT INTO actor (actor_id, first_name, last_name) VALUES (3, 'ED', 'CHASE')

Preparing queries [link]

Compiled queries can be further prepared by binding it to a database connection (creating a prepared statement).

type ACTOR struct {
    sq.TableStruct
    ACTOR_ID    sq.NumberField
    FIRST_NAME  sq.StringField
    LAST_NAME   sq.StringField
    LAST_UPDATE sq.TimeField
}

// Compile the query.
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")
compiledQuery, err := sq.CompileFetch(sq.
    From(a).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.Eq(sq.IntParam("actor_id", 0))).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.IntField(a.ACTOR_ID),
            FirstName: row.StringField(a.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:  row.StringField(a.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)
if err != nil {
}

// Prepare the compiled query.
preparedQuery, err := compiledQuery.Prepare(db)
if err != nil {
}

// Use the prepared query with default values.
actor, err := preparedQuery.FetchOne(nil)
if err != nil {
}

// Use the prepared query with values actor_id = 1.
actor, err = preparedQuery.FetchOne(sq.Params{"actor_id": 1})
if err != nil {
}

Alternatively, you may directly prepare PreparedQuery directly with PrepareFetch.

// Prepare the query.
preparedQuery, err := sq.PrepareFetch(db, sq.
    Queryf("SELECT {*} FROM actor WHERE first_name = {first_name}, last_name = {last_name}",
        sql.Named("first_name", nil), // first_name is a rebindable param, with default value nil
        sql.Named("last_name", nil),  // last_name is a rebindable param, with default value nil
    ).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Actor {
        return Actor{
            ActorID:   row.Int("actor_id"),
            FirstName: row.String("first_name"),
            LastName:  row.String("last_name"),
        }
    },
)
if err != nil {
}

// Obtain a CompiledFetch from the PreparedFetch. This is useful if you need to
// re-prepare the query on another DB connection.
compiledQuery := preparedQuery.GetCompiled()
// Example:
preparedQuery, err = compiledQuery.Prepare(db2)

// Execute the prepared query with the default values.
actor, err := preparedQuery.FetchOne(nil)
if err != nil {
}

// Execute the prepared query with values first_name = "DAN", last_name = "TORN".
actor, err := preparedQuery.FetchOne(sq.Params{
    "first_name": "DAN",
    "last_name":  "TORN",
})
if err != nil {
}

Application-side Row Level Security [link]

You can define policies on your table structs such that whenever it is used in a query, it will produce an additional predicate to be added to the query. This roughly emulates Postgres' Row Level Security, except it works completely application-side and supports every database (not just Postgres).

Since table policies are baked directly into the query string, it plays well with database/sql's connection pooling because you don't have to set session-level variables (which force you to use an *sql.Tx or *sql.Conn). That means it also plays well with an external connection pooler like PgBouncer, because again no session-level variables are required.

The main downside is that this can be easily bypassed if you reference the table directly with raw SQL instead of using the query builder.

A PolicyTable example [link]

To define a table policy, a table struct must implement the PolicyTable interface.

type PolicyTable interface {
    Table
    Policy(ctx context.Context, dialect string) (Predicate, error)
}

The context is the same context that was passed in to sq.FetchAllContext, sq.FetchOneContext or sq.ExecContext.

As an example, we will define a table employees that stores employees for multiple tenants (indicated by the tenant_id). Any SELECT, UPDATE or DELETE query that hits the employees table must have a tenant_id predicate added to it.

Before

SELECT name FROM employees;
UPDATE employees SET name = $1 WHERE employee_id = $2;
DELETE FROM employees WHERE employee_id = $1;

After

SELECT name FROM employees WHERE tenant_id = $1;
UPDATE employees SET name = $1 WHERE tenant_id = $2 AND employee_id = $3;
DELETE FROM employees WHERE tenant_id = $1 AND employee_id = $2;

Here is how to define the policy on the employees table.

type EMPLOYEES struct {
    sq.TableStruct
    TENANT_ID   sq.NumberField
    EMPLOYEE_ID sq.NumberField
    NAME        sq.StringField
}

func (tbl EMPLOYEES) Policy(ctx context.Context, dialect string) (sq.Predicate, error) {
    tenantID, ok := ctx.Value("tenantID").(int)
    if !ok {
        return nil, errors.New("tenantID not provided")
    }
    return tbl.TENANT_ID.EqInt(tenantID), nil
}

Note that if the tenantID cannot be retrieved from the context, (EMPLOYEES).Policy() returns an error. This means that any invocation of the EMPLOYEES table struct will always require the tenantID to be in the context or else query building will fail. You may choose to omit this check by simply returning a nil Predicate. nil Predicates do not get added to the query.

Here is how to use employees table.

// get tenantID from somewhere and put it into the context
ctx := context.WithValue(context.Background(), "tenantID", 1)
e := sq.New[EMPLOYEES]("")

// Query 1
names, err := sq.FetchAllContext(ctx, db, sq.From(e),
    func(row *sq.Row) string {
        return row.String(e.NAME)
    },
)
// SELECT employees.name FROM employees WHERE employees.tenant_id = 1

// Query 2
_, err := sq.ExecContext(ctx, db, sq.
    Update(e).
    Set(e.NAME.SetString("BOB")).
    Where(e.EMPLOYEE_ID.EqInt(18)),
)
// UPDATE employees SET name = 'BOB' WHERE employees.tenant_id = 1 AND employees.employee_id = 18

// Query 3
_, err := sq.ExecContext(ctx, db, sq.
    DeleteFrom(e).
    Where(e.EMPLOYEE_ID.EqInt(18)),
)
// DELETE FROM employees WHERE employees.tenant_id = 1 AND employees.employee_id = 18

SQL examples [link]

IN [link]

In slice [link]

a.actor_id IN (1, 2, 3)
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
a.ACTOR_ID.In([]int{1, 2, 3})

In RowValues [link]

a.first_name IN ('PENELOPE', 'NICK', 'ED')
(a.first_name, a.last_name) IN (('PENELOPE', 'GUINESS'), ('NICK', 'WAHLBERG'), ('ED', 'CHASE'))
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
a.FIRST_NAME.In(sq.RowValue{"PENELOPE", "NICK", "ED"})
sq.RowValue{a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME}.In(sq.RowValues{
    {"PENELOPE", "GUINESS"},
    {"NICK", "WAHLBERG"},
    {"ED", "CHASE"},
})

In Subquery [link]

(actor.first_name, actor.last_name) IN (
    SELECT a.first_name, a.last_name
    FROM actor AS a
    WHERE a.actor_id <= 3
)
actor, a := sq.New[ACTOR](""), sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
sq.RowValue{actor.FIRST_NAME, actor.LAST_NAME}.In(sq.
    Select(a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    From(a).
    Where(a.ACTOR_ID.Le(3)),
)

CASE [link]

Predicate Case [link]

CASE
    WHEN f.length <= 60 THEN 'short'
    WHEN f.length > 60 AND f.length <= 120 THEN 'medium'
    ELSE 'long'
END AS length_type
f := sq.New[FILM]("f")
sq.CaseWhen(f.LENGTH.LeInt(60), "short").
    CaseWhen(sq.And(f.LENGTH.GtInt(60), f.LENGTH.LeInt(120)), "medium").
    Else("long").
    As("length_type")

Simple Case [link]

CASE f.rating
    WHEN 'G' THEN 'family'
    WHEN 'PG' THEN 'teens'
    WHEN 'PG-13' THEN 'teens'
    WHEN 'R' THEN 'adults'
    WHEN 'NC-17' THEN 'adults'
    ELSE 'unknown'
END AS audience
f := sq.New[FILM]("f")
sq.Case(f.RATING).
    When("G", "family").
    When("PG", "teens").
    When("PG-13", "teens").
    When("R", "adults").
    When("NC-17", "adults").
    Else("unknown").
    As("Audience")

EXISTS [link]

Where Exists [link]

SELECT c.customer_id, c.first_name, c.last_name
FROM customers AS c
WHERE EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM orders AS o
    WHERE o.customer_id = c.customer_id
    GROUP BY o.customer_id
    HAVING COUNT(*) > 2
)
ORDER BY c.first_name, c.last_name
c, o := sq.New[CUSTOMERS]("c"), sq.New[ORDERS]("o")
customers, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(c).
    Where(sq.Exists(sq.
        SelectOne().
        From(o).
        Where(o.CUSTOMER_ID.Eq(c.CUSTOMER_ID)).
        GroupBy(o.CUSTOMER_ID).
        Having(sq.Expr("COUNT(*) > 2")),
    )).
    OrderBy(c.FIRST_NAME, c.LAST_NAME),
    func(row *sq.Row) Customer {
        return Customer{
            CustomerID: row.Int(c.CUSTOMER_ID),
            FirstName:  row.String(c.FIRST_NAME),
            LastName:   row.String(c.LAST_NAME),
        }
    },
)

Where Not Exists [link]

SELECT p.product_id, p.product_name
FROM products AS p
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM order_details AS od
    WHERE p.product_id = od.product_id
)
p, od := sq.New[PRODUCTS]("p"), sq.New[ORDER_DETAILS]("od")
products, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(p).
    Where(sq.NotExists(sq.
        SelectOne().
        From(od).
        Where(p.PRODUCT_ID.Eq(od.PRODUCT_ID)),
    )),
    func(row *sq.Row) Product {
        return Product{
            ProductID:   row.Int(p.PRODUCT_ID),
            ProductName: row.String(p.PRODUCT_NAME),
        }
    },
)

Subqueries [link]

A Subquery is a SelectQuery nested inside another SelectQuery.

Using SelectQuery as Field

SELECT
    city.city,
    (SELECT country.country
        FROM country
        WHERE country.country_id = city.country_id) AS country
FROM
    city
WHERE
    city.city = 'Vancouver'
city, country := sq.New[CITY](""), sq.New[COUNTRY]("")
results, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(city).
    Where(city.CITY.EqString("Vancouver")).
    SetDialect(sq.DialectPostgres),
    func(row *sq.Row) Result {
        return Result{
            City:    row.StringField(city.CITY),
            Country: row.StringField(sq.
                Select(country.COUNTRY).
                From(country).
                Where(country.COUNTRY_ID.Eq(city.COUNTRY_ID)).
                As("country"),
            ),
        }
    },
)

Using SelectQuery as Table

SELECT
    film.title,
    film_stats.actor_count
FROM
    film
    JOIN (
        SELECT film_actor.film_id, COUNT(*) AS actor_count
        FROM film_actor
        GROUP BY film_actor.film_id
    ) AS film_stats ON film_stats.film_id = film.film_id
film, film_actor := sq.New[FILM](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR]("")
// create the subquery
film_stats := sq.Postgres.
    Select(
        film_actor.FILM_ID,
        sq.CountStar().As("actor_count"),
    ).
    From(film_actor).
    GroupBy(film_actor.FILM_ID).
    As("film_stats")
// use the subquery
results, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.
    From(film).
    Join(film_stats, film_stats.Field("field_id").Eq(film.FILM_ID)),
    func(row *sq.Row) Result {
        return Result{
            Title:      row.String(film.TITLE),
            ActorCount: row.Int(film_stats.Field("actor_count")),
        }
    },
)

WITH (Common Table Expressions) [link]

Common Table Expressions (CTEs) are an alternative to subqueries.

WITH film_stats AS (
    SELECT film_id, COUNT(*) AS actor_count
    FROM film_actor
    GROUP BY film_id
)
SELECT
    film.title,
    film_stats.actor_count
FROM
    film
    JOIN film_stats ON film_stats.film_id = film.film_id
film, film_actor := sq.New[FILM](""), sq.New[FILM_ACTOR]("")
// create the CTE
film_stats := sq.NewCTE("film_stats", nil, sq.Postgres.
    Select(
        film_actor.FILM_ID,
        sq.CountStar().As("actor_count"),
    ).
    From(film_actor).
    GroupBy(film_actor.FILM_ID),
)
// use the CTE
results, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.Postgres.
    With(film_stats).
    From(film).
    Join(film_stats, film_stats.Field("field_id").Eq(film.FILM_ID)),
    func(row *sq.Row) Result {
        return Result{
            Title:      row.String(film.TITLE),
            ActorCount: row.Int(film_stats.Field("actor_count")),
        }
    },
)

Recursive Common Table Expressions

WITH RECURSIVE counter (n) AS (
    SELECT 1
    UNION ALL
    SELECT counter.n + 1 FROM counter WHERE counter.n + 1 <= 100
)
SELECT counter.n FROM counter;
counter := sq.NewRecursiveCTE("counter", []string{"n"}, sq.UnionAll(
    sq.Queryf("SELECT 1"),
    sq.Queryf("SELECT counter.n + 1 FROM counter WHERE counter.n + 1 <= {}", 100)
))
sq.Postgres.With(counter).Select(counter.Field("n")).From(counter)

Aggregate functions [link]

sq provides some built-in aggregate functions. They return an sq.Expression and so can pretty much be used everywhere.

func Count(field Field) Expression
func CountStar() Expression
func Sum(num Number) Expression
func Avg(num Number) Expression
func Min(field Field) Expression
func Max(field Field) Expression

Window functions [link]

sq provides some built-in window functions. They return an sq.Expression and so can pretty much be used everywhere.

func CountOver(field Field, window Window) Expression
func CountStarOver(window Window) Expression
func SumOver(num Number, window Window) Expression
func AvgOver(num Number, window Window) Expression
func MinOver(field Field, window Window) Expression
func MaxOver(field Field, window Window) Expression
func RowNumberOver(window Window) Expression
func RankOver(window Window) Expression
func DenseRankOver(window Window) Expression
func CumeDistOver(window Window) Expression
func FirstValueOver(window Window) Expression
func LastValueOver(window Window) Expression

Missing window functions

The LeadOver, LagOver and NtileOver window functions do not have a representative Go function because they can be overloaded (they have multiple signatures) while Go functions cannot. If you need them, use an sq.Expr() as a stand-in.

LEAD(a.actor_id) OVER (PARTITION BY a.first_name)
LEAD(a.actor_id, 2) OVER (PARTITION BY a.first_name)
LEAD(a.actor_id, 2, 5) OVER (PARTITION BY a.first_name)
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
sq.Expr("LEAD({}) OVER (PARTITION BY {})", a.ACTOR_ID, a.FIRST_NAME)
sq.Expr("LEAD({}, {}) OVER (PARTITION BY {})", a.ACTOR_ID, 2, a.FIRST_NAME)
sq.Expr("LEAD({}, {}, {}) OVER (PARTITION BY {})", a.ACTOR_ID, 2, 5, a.FIRST_NAME)

Using window functions

To use a window function, you must create a window using sq.PartitionBy(), sq.OrderBy() or sq.BaseWindow(). You can also pass in nil to represent the empty window.

-- Example 1
SELECT COUNT(*) OVER ()
-- Example 2
SELECT SUM(a.actor_id) OVER (PARTITION BY a.first_name)
-- Example 3
SELECT AVG(a.actor_id) OVER (
    PARTITION BY a.first_name, a.last_name
    ORDER BY a.LAST_UPDATE DESC
    RANGE BETWEEN 5 PRECEDING AND 10 FOLLOWING
)
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
// Example 1
sq.Postgres.Select(sq.CountStarOver(nil))
// Example 2
sq.Postgres.Select(sq.SumOver(a.ACTOR_ID, sq.PartitionBy(a.FIRST_NAME)))
// Example 3
sq.Postgres.Select(sq.AvgOver(a.ACTOR_ID, sq.
    PartitionBy(a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME).
    OrderBy(a.LAST_UPDATE.Desc()).
    Frame("RANGE BETWEEN 5 PRECEDING AND 10 FOLLOWING"),
))

SQLite, Postgres and MySQL support the named windows as part of the SELECT query. This allows you to reuse a window definition without having to specify it over and over.

SELECT
    SUM(a.actor_id) OVER w1,
    MIN(a.actor_id) OVER w2,
    AVG(a.actor_id) OVER (w1 ORDER BY a.last_update)
FROM
    actor AS a
WINDOW
    w1 AS (PARTITION BY a.first_name),
    w2 AS (PARTITION BY a.last_name)
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
w1 := sq.NamedWindow{Name: "w1", Definition: sq.PartitionBy(a.FIRST_NAME)}
w2 := sq.NamedWindow{Name: "w2", Definition: sq.PartitionBy(a.LAST_NAME)}
sq.Postgres.
    Select(
        sq.SumOver(a.ACTOR_ID, w1),
        sq.MinOver(a.ACTOR_ID, w2),
        sq.AvgOver(a.ACTOR_ID, sq.BaseWindow(w1).OrderBy(a.LAST_UPDATE)),
    ).
    From(a).
    Window(w1, w2)

UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT [link]

Union

SELECT t1.field FROM t1
UNION
SELECT t2.field FROM t2
UNION
SELECT t3.field FROM t3
sq.Union(
    sq.Select(t1.FIELD).From(t1),
    sq.Select(t2.FIELD).From(t2),
    sq.Select(t3.FIELD).From(t3),
)

Intersect

SELECT t1.field FROM t1
INTERSECT
SELECT t2.field FROM t2
INTERSECT
SELECT t3.field FROM t3
sq.Intersect(
    sq.Select(t1.FIELD).From(t1),
    sq.Select(t2.FIELD).From(t2),
    sq.Select(t3.FIELD).From(t3),
)

Intersect

SELECT t1.field FROM t1
EXCEPT
SELECT t2.field FROM t2
EXCEPT
SELECT t3.field FROM t3
sq.Except(
    sq.Select(t1.FIELD).From(t1),
    sq.Select(t2.FIELD).From(t2),
    sq.Select(t3.FIELD).From(t3),
)

ORDER BY [link]

SELECT a.first_name FROM actor AS a ORDER BY a.actor_id DESC
SELECT a.last_name FROM actor AS a ORDER BY a.actor_id ASC NULLS FIRST
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
sq.Select(a.FIRST_NAME).From(a).OrderBy(a.ACTOR_ID.Desc())
sq.Select(a.LAST_NAME).From(a).OrderBy(a.ACTOR_ID.Asc().NullsFirst())

Migrating from go-structured-query [link]

If you are migrating to this library from go-structured-query, here are the main changes (index):

Tables structs embed sq.TableStruct instead of sq.TableInfo. Struct constructors are no longer needed. [link]

go-structured-query (old)

// Code generated by 'sqgen-postgres tables'; DO NOT EDIT.

import sq "github.com/bokwoon95/go-structured-query/postgres"

type TABLE_ACTOR struct {
    *sq.TableInfo
    ACTOR_ID    sq.NumberField
    FIRST_NAME  sq.StringField
    LAST_NAME   sq.StringField
    LAST_UPDATE sq.TimeField
}

func ACTOR() TABLE_ACTOR {
    tbl := TABLE_USER_ROLES_STUDENTS{TableInfo: &sq.TableInfo{
        Schema: "",
        Name:   "actor",
    }}
    tbl.ACTOR_ID = sq.NewNumberField("actor_id", tbl.TableInfo)
    tbl.FIRST_NAME = sq.NewStringField("first_name", tbl.TableInfo)
    tbl.LAST_NAME = sq.NewStringField("last_name", tbl.TableInfo)
    tbl.LAST_UPDATE = sq.NewTimeField("last_update", tbl.TableInfo)
    return tbl
}

// Instantiate table.
a := ACTOR()

// Instantiate table with alias.
a := ACTOR().As("a")

sq (new)

import "github.com/bokwoon95/sq"

type ACTOR struct {
    sq.TableStruct
    ACTOR_ID    sq.NumberField
    FIRST_NAME  sq.StringField
    LAST_NAME   sq.StringField
    LAST_UPDATE sq.TimeField
}

// Instantiate table.
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("")

// Instantiate table with alias.
a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")

The CLI command is now called sqddl, not sqgen-xxx. Code generation is now optional. [link]

The new sqddl command replaces the old sqgen-postgres and sqgen-mysql commands.

go-structured-query (old)

# Install the sqgen-postgres command.
$ go install github.com/bokwoon95/go-structured-query/cmd/sqgen-postgres@latest

# Introspect the database and generate a file called 'tables.go' with package
# name 'tables' inside the 'tables' directory.
$ sqgen-postgres tables \
    --database 'postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/sakila?sslmode=disable' \
    --pkg tables \
    --directory ./tables \
    --file tables.go

sq (new)

# Install the sqddl command.
$ go install -tags=fts5 github.com/bokwoon95/sqddl@latest

# Introspect the database and generate a file called 'tables.go' with package
# name 'tables' inside the 'tables' directory.
#
# The dialect (sqlite, postgres, mysql or sqlserver) is inferred from the
# database URL. Refer to https://bokwoon.neocities.org/sqddl#tables for more
# flags.
$ sqddl tables \
    -db 'postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/sakila?sslmode=disable' \
    -pkg tables
    -file ./tables/tables.go

Code generation is now optional

You no longer have to generate the table struct code everytime your database schema changes. It is possible to define your table structs as the source of truth and generate migrations from it, using the sqddl tool. Read the documentation at https://bokwoon.neocities.org/sqddl#table-structs for more information.

As an example here is an ACTOR table struct, which corresponds to the following CREATE TABLE statement:

// tables/tables.go

import "github.com/bokwoon95/sq"

type ACTOR struct {
    sq.TableStruct
    ACTOR_ID    sq.NumberField `ddl:"notnull primarykey identity"`
    FIRST_NAME  sq.StringField `ddl:"type=VARCHAR(45) notnull"`
    LAST_NAME   sq.StringField `ddl:"type=VARCHAR(45) notnull index"`
    LAST_UPDATE sq.TimeField   `ddl:"notnull default=CURRENT_TIMESTAMP"`
}
CREATE TABLE actor (
    actor_id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY ALWAYS GENERATED AS IDENTITY,
    first_name VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL,
    last_name VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL,
    last_update TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

CREATE INDEX actor_last_name_idx ON actor (last_name);

Generate migrations for the ACTOR struct using sqddl generate:

$ sqddl generate \
    -src 'postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/sakila' \
    -dest tables/tables.go \
    -output-dir ./migrations

More information: https://bokwoon.neocities.org/sqddl#generate.

Fetching [link]

Fetching results has been lifted from a method (SelectRowx, Selectx) into a function (FetchOne, FetchAll). The accumulator function is no longer needed as a slice is generically returned based on the mapper function.

go-structured-query (old)

import sq "github.com/bokwoon95/go-structured-query/postgres"

// Fetch one.
err := sq.From(tbl).Where(condition).SelectRowx(mapper).Fetch(db)

// Fetch all.
err := sq.From(tbl).Where(condition).Selectx(mapper, accumulator).Fetch(db)

sq (new)

import "github.com/bokwoon95/sq"

// Fetch one.
result, err := sq.FetchOne(db, sq.Postgres.From(tbl).Where(condition), mapper)

// Fetch all.
results, err := sq.FetchAll(db, sq.Postgres.From(tbl).Where(condition), mapper)

Exec-ing [link]

Similar to Fetch, Exec has been lifted from a method into a function. It is no longer necessary to pass in an ExecFlag indicating if you want the lastInsertId or rowsAffected, it will automatically be populated depending on the dialect.

go-structured-query (old)

import sq "github.com/bokwoon95/go-structured-query/mysql"

lastInsertId, rowsAffected, err := sq.InsertInto(tbl).Values(values...).Exec(db, sq.ElastInsertID|sq.ErowsAffected)

sq (new)

import "github.com/bokwoon95/sq"

res, err := sq.Exec(db, sq.MySQL.InsertInto(tbl).Values(values...))
res.LastInsertId // int64 (valid because MySQL supports LastInsertId)
res.RowAffected  // int64

Expr() replaces Fieldf() and Predicatef() [link]

Fieldf() and Predicatef() were used to define Fields and Predicates containing an arbitrary SQL expression. They have been replaced by Expr(), which does double duty. The placeholder symbol has been changed from ? to {}.

Assuming we want to replicate the query below:

SELECT a.first_name || ' ' || a.last_name
FROM actor AS a
WHERE a.last_update + INTERVAL '1 hour' < CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

go-structured-query (old)

import sq "github.com/bokwoon95/go-structured-query/postgres"

a := ACTOR().As("a")
field := sq.Fieldf("? || ' ' || ?", a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME)
predicate := sq.Predicatef("? + INTERVAL '1 hour' < CURRENT_TIMESTAMP", a.LAST_UPDATE)
sq.Select(field).From(a).Where(predicate)

sq (new)

import "github.com/bokwoon95/sq"

a := sq.New[ACTOR]("a")
field := sq.Expr("{} || ' ' || {}", a.FIRST_NAME, a.LAST_NAME)
predicate := sq.Expr("{} + INTERVAL '1 hour' < CURRENT_TIMESTAMP", a.LAST_UPDATE)
sq.Postgres.Select(field).From(a).Where(predicate)

Logging [link]

Logging has been lifted out of a method .WithDefaultLog() and into a function sq.Log() (which should wrap the database object).

go-structured-query (old)

import sq "github.com/bokwoon95/go-structured-query/postgres"

err := sq.WithDefaultLog().From(tbl).Where(predicate).Selectx(mapper, accumulator).Fetch(db)

sq (new)

import "github.com/bokwoon95/sq"

results, err := sq.FetchAll(sq.Log(db), sq.Postgres.From(tbl).Where(predicate))

Generating type-safe wrappers of PL/pgSQL functions has been removed [link]

go-structured-query supported code-generating wrappers for plpgsql functions, that feature is not present in sq because I was unsatisfied with the design. As a workaround you should use sq.Expr() to invoke functions instead.

go-structured-query (old)

import sq "github.com/bokwoon95/go-structured-query/postgres"

sq.Select(ADD_NUMS(1, 2)) // ADD_NUMS is code-generated.

sq (new)

import "github.com/bokwoon95/sq"

sq.Postgres.Select(sq.Expr("add_nums({}, {})", 1, 2))