ZipponDB/ZiQL.md

ZipponQL

ZipponDB uses its own query language, ZipponQL or ZiQL for short. Here are the key points to remember:

• 4 actions available: GRAB, ADD, UPDATE, DELETE
• All queries start with an action followed by a struct name
• {} are filters
• [] specify how much and what data
• () contain new or updated data (not already in the file)
• || are additional options
• By default, all members that are not links are returned
• To return links or only some members, specify them between []

Disclaimer: A lot of features are still missing, and the language may change over time.

Making errors

When you make an error writing ZiQL, you should see something like this to help you understand where you made a mistake:

Error: Expected string
GRAB User {name = Bob}
                  ^^^ 

Error: Expected ( or member name.
GRAB User {name = 'Bob' AND {age > 10}}
                            ^    

Examples

GRAB

The main action is GRAB, this will parse files and return data.

Here's how to return all User entities without any filtering:

GRAB User

To get all User entities above 18 years old:

GRAB User {age > 18}

To return only the name member of User entities:

GRAB User [name] {age > 18}

To return the 10 first User entities:

GRAB User [10] {age > 18}

You can combine these options:

GRAB User [10; name] {age > 18}

Use multiple conditions:

GRAB User {name = 'Bob' AND (age > 30 OR age < 10)}

GRAB queries return a list of JSON objects with the data inside, e.g:

[{id:"1e170a80-84c9-429a-be25-ab4657894653", name: "Gwendolyn Ray", age: 70, email: "austin92@example.org", scores: [ 77 ], friends: [], }, ]

Not yet implemented

To order the results by name:

GRAB User [10; name] {age > 10} |ASC name|

You can specify how much data to return and which members to include, even for links inside structs. In this example, I get 1 friend's name for 10 User entities:

GRAB User [10; friends [1; name]]

Using IN

You can use the IN operator to check if something is in an array:

GRAB User { age > 10 AND name IN ['Adrien' 'Bob']}

This also works by using other filters. Here I get User entities that have a best friend named Adrien:

GRAB User { bestfriend IN { name = 'Adrien' } }

When using an array with IN, it will return all User entities that have at least one friend named Adrien:

GRAB User { friends IN { name = 'Adrien' } }

To get User entities with all friends named Adrien:

GRAB User { friends ALLIN { name = 'Adrien' } }

You can use IN on itself. Here I get all User entities that liked a Comment from 2024. Both queries return the same result:

GRAB User { IN Comment {at > '2024/01/01'}.like_by}
GRAB Comment.like_by { at > '2024/01/01'}

You can obtain a similar result with this query, but it will return a list of Comment entities with a liked_by member that is similar to the User entities above. If you take all liked_by members inside all Comment entities, it will be the same list, but you can end up with duplicates since one User can like multiple Comment entities.

GRAB Comment [liked_by] {at > '2024/01/01'}

Return relationship

You can also return a relationship only. The filter will be applied to User entities, but will return Comment entities:

GRAB User.comments {name = 'Bob'}

You can do it as much as you like. This will return all User that liked comments from Bob:

GRAB User.comments.like_by {name = 'Bob'}

This can also be used inside filters. Note that we need to specify User because it is a different struct than Post. Here, I get all Post entities that have a comment from Bob:

GRAB Post {comments IN User{name = 'Bob'}.comments}

You can also do the same but only for the first Bob found:

GRAB Post {comments IN User [1] {name = 'Bob'}.comments}

Be careful; this will return all User entities that liked a comment from 10 User entities named Bob:

GRAB User.comments.like_by [10] {name = 'Bob'}

To get 10 User entities that liked a comment from any User entity named Bob, you need to use:

GRAB User.comments.like_by [comments [like_by [10]]] {name = 'Bob'}

Using !

You can use ! to return the opposite. When used with IN, it checks if something is NOT in the list. When used with filters, it returns entities that do not match the filter.

This will return all User entities that didn't like a Comment in 2024:

GRAB User { !IN Comment {at > '2024/01/01'}.like_by}

Be careful because this does not return the same thing as above; it returns all User entities that liked a Comment not in 2024:

GRAB Comment.like_by !{ at > '2024/01/01'}

Which is the same as:

GRAB Comment.like_by { at < '2024/01/01'}

ADD

The ADD action adds one entity to the database. The syntax is similar to GRAB, but uses (). This signifies that the data is not yet in the database.

Here's an example:

ADD User (name = 'Bob', age = 30, email = 'bob@email.com', scores = [1 100 44 82])

You need to specify all members when adding an entity (default values are coming soon).

Not yet implemented

The ADD query will return a list of added IDs, e.g.:

["1e170a80-84c9-429a-be25-ab4657894653", "1e170a80-84c9-429a-be25-ab4657894654", ]

And you can also add them in batch

ADD User (name = 'Bob', age = 30, email = 'bob@email.com', scores = [1 100 44 82]) (name = 'Bob2', age = 33, email = 'bob2@email.com', scores = [])

You don't need to specify the members in the second entity as long as the order is respected:

ADD User (name = 'Bob', age = 30, email = 'bob@email.com', scores = [1 100 44 82]) ('Bob2', 33, 'bob2@email.com', [])

DELETE

Similar to GRAB but deletes all entities found using the filter and returns a list of deleted UUIDs.

DELETE User {name = 'Bob'}

Not yet implemented

The DELETE query will return a list of deleted IDs, e.g.:

["1e170a80-84c9-429a-be25-ab4657894653", "1e170a80-84c9-429a-be25-ab4657894654", ]

UPDATE

A mix of GRAB and ADD. It takes a filter first, then the new data. Here, we update the first 5 User entities named 'adrien' to capitalize the name and become 'Adrien':

UPDATE User [5] {name='adrien'} TO (name = 'Adrien')

Note that, compared to ADD, you don't need to specify all members between (). Only the ones specified will be updated.

Not yet implemented

The UPDATE query will return a list of updated IDs, e.g.:

["1e170a80-84c9-429a-be25-ab4657894653", "1e170a80-84c9-429a-be25-ab4657894654", ]

You can use operations on values themselves when updating:

UPDATE User {name = 'Bob'} TO (age += 1)

You can also manipulate arrays, like adding or removing values:

UPDATE User {name='Bob'} TO (scores APPEND 45)
UPDATE User {name='Bob'} TO (scores APPEND [45 99])
UPDATE User {name='Bob'} TO (scores REMOVEAT [0 1 2])

Currently, there will be four keywords for manipulating lists:

• APPEND: Adds a value to the end of the list.
• REMOVE: Checks the list, and if the same value is found, deletes it.
• REMOVEAT: Deletes the value at a specific index.
• CLEAR: Removes all values from the array.

Except for CLEAR, which takes no value, each keyword can use one value or an array of values. If you choose an array, it will perform the operation on all values in the array.

For relationships, you can use filters:

UPDATE User {name='Bob'} TO (comments APPEND {id = '000'})
UPDATE User {name='Bob'} TO (comments REMOVE { at < '2023/12/31'})

I may include more options later.