Dynamically-typed values and JSON support

The `VARIANT` type

Values of VARIANT type are dynamically-typed. Any such value holds at runtime two pieces of information:

the data type
the data value

Values of VARIANT type can be created by casting any other value to a VARIANT, e.g., SELECT CAST(x AS VARIANT). Conversely, values of type VARIANT can be cast to any other data type, e.g., SELECT CAST(v AS INT). A cast of a value of type VARIANT to target type T will compare the runtime type with T. If the types are identical or there is a natural conversion from the runtime type to T, the original value is returned. Otherwise the CAST returns NULL.

note

Remember that the DECIMAL type specified without precision is the same as DECIMAL(0), with no digits after the decimal point. When you cast a VARIANT value to DECIMAL you should specify a precision and scale large enough for the values that you expect in the data.

Values of type ARRAY and MAP can be cast to VARIANT.

There exists a special value of VARIANT type called null. This value is different from the SQL NULL value. It is used to implement the JSON null value. An important difference is that two VARIANT null values are equal, whereas NULL in SQL is not equal to anything.

VARIANT values also offer the following operations:

indexing using array indexing notation variant[index]. If the VARIANT is obtained from an ARRAY value, the indexing operation returns a VARIANT whose value is the element at the specified index. Otherwise, this operation returns NULL
indexing using map element access notation variant[key], where key can have any legal MAP key type. If the VARIANT is obtained from a MAP value that has en element with this key, a VARIANT value holding the associated value in the MAP is returned. Otherwise NULL is returned. If the VARIANT is obtained from user-defined structure which has a field with the name key, this operation returns a VARIANT value holding the corresponding field value. Otherwise NULL is returned.
field access using the dot notation: variant.field. This operation is interpreted as equivalent to variant['field']. Note, however, that the field notation is subject to the capitalization rules of the SQL dialect, so for correct operation the field may need to be quoted: variant."field"

Functions that operate on `VARIANT` values

Function	Description
`VARIANTNULL()`	Can be used to create an instance of the `VARIANT` `null` value.
`TYPEOF(variant)`	Argument must be a `VARIANT` value. Returns a string describing the runtime type of the value
`PARSE_JSON(string)`	Parses a string that represents a JSON value, returns a `VARIANT` object, or `NULL` if parsing fails (more details below)
`TO_JSON(variant)`	Argument must be a `VARIANT` value. Returns a string that represents the serialization of a `VARIANT` value. If the value cannot be represented as JSON, the result is `NULL` (more details below)

`PARSE_JSON`

PARSE_JSON converts a JSON value as follows:

JSON null is converted to a VARIANT null value (not a SQL NULL!); see above the description of VARIANT null
JSON Booleans are converted to BOOLEAN values (wrapped in VARIANT values)
JSON numbers are converted to DECIMAL values (wrapped in VARIANT values)
JSON strings are converted to VARCHAR values (wrapped in VARIANT values)
JSON arrays are converted to VARIANT ARRAY values (wrapped in VARIANT values). Each array element is a VARIANT
JSON objects are converted to MAP<VARIANT, VARIANT> values (wrapped in VARIANT values). Each key and each value is a VARIANT

For example, PARSE_JSON("{"a": 1, "b": [2, 3.3, null]}") generates the same SQL value that would be generated by the following code:

SELECT CAST(
   MAP[
      CAST('a' AS VARIANT), CAST(1.0 AS VARIANT),
      CAST('b' AS VARIANT), CAST(ARRAY[
          CAST(2.0 AS VARIANT),
          CAST(3.3 AS VARIANT),
          VARIANTNULL()
                                      ] AS VARIANT)
      ] AS VARIANT)

`TO_JSON`

TO_JSON converts a VARIANT value to a VARCHAR:

the VARIANT null value is converted to the string null
a VARIANT wrapping a Boolean value is converted to the respective Boolean string true or false
a VARIANT wrapping any numeric value (DECIMAL, TINYINT, SMALLINT, INTEGER, BIGINT, REAL, DOUBLE, DECIMAL) is converted to the string representation of the value as produced using a CAST(value AS VARCHAR)
a VARIANT wrapping a VARCHAR value is converted to a string with double quotes, and with escape sequences for special characters (e.g., quotes), as mandated by the JSON grammar
a VARIANT wrapping an ARRAY with elements of any type is converted to a JSON array, and the elements are recursively converted
a VARIANT wrapping a MAP whose keys have any SQL CHAR type, or VARIANT values wrapping CHAR values will generate a JSON object, by recursively converting each key-value pair.
a VARIANT wrapping a DATE, TIME, or DATETIME value will be serialized as a JSON string

Processing JSON data using `VARIANT`

The VARIANT type enables efficient JSON processing in SQL. In this sense it is similar to the JSONB type in Postgres and other databases. There are two ways to convert JSON data to and from VARIANT:

Use PARSE_JSON and TO_JSON functions to convert strings to VARIANT and back.
Automatically, when ingesting data to or outputting data from columns of type VARIANT.

The following example demonstrates the first approach. Here, input events contain a field called json of type string, which carries JSON-encoded data. We ingest this field as a string and use PARSE_JSON to convert it to a VARIANT and store the result in an intermediate view.

CREATE TABLE json (id INT, json VARCHAR);
CREATE VIEW parsed_json AS SELECT id, PARSE_JSON(json) AS json FROM json;

Input events can use any supported data format. For instance, when ingesting a JSON stream, a valid input record could look like this (note the use of escaping in the json field):

{"id": 123, "json": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}"}

The second approach parses JSON into VARIANT directly during ingestion, eliminating the need for calling PARSE_JSON explicitly:

CREATE TABLE json (id INT, json VARIANT);

Note that this program has a subtly different semantics from the previous one depending on the input format used. For most input formats, e.g., Avro, Parquet, or CSV, it is equivalent, i.e., it converts an input field of type string into a VARIANT. However, when the input stream carries JSON data using raw or insert/delete encoding, the json field can contain an arbitrary JSON value, which gets parsed into VARIANT:

{"id": 123, "json": {"name": "John Doe", "scores": [8, 10]}}

This is useful for processing semi-structured data, i.e., data whose schema is only partially fixed or is too complex to represent in SQL. In this case, the schema contains an integer field id and a field called json, whose schema is not specified. The VARIANT type allows us to parse this field and manipulate its contents. For instance, the following query extracts name and scores fields, interpets the latter as an array of numbers and computes the average of the first two entries in the array:

CREATE TABLE json (id INT, json VARIANT);

CREATE VIEW average AS SELECT
CAST(json['name'] AS VARCHAR) as name,
((CAST(json['scores'][1] AS DECIMAL(8, 2)) + CAST(json['scores'][2] AS DECIMAL(8, 2))) / 2) as average
FROM json;

Note how object fields are accessed using map indexing operators ['scores'], ['name'], and how array elements are accessed using indexing with numeric values [1]. Recall that array indexes in SQL start from 1!

Finally, notice how the DECIMAL values that are retrieved need to specify the precision and scale: CAST(... AS DECIMAL(8, 2)). Using CAST(... AS DECIMAL) would lose all digits after the decimal point.

Examples

Here are some simple SQL query examples using VARIANT and JSON values and the expected output values. (Note that these examples cannot be executed directly, since they involve no views.)

SELECT CAST(1 AS VARIANT)
1

SELECT TYPEOF(CAST(1 AS VARIANT))
INTEGER

SELECT CAST(CAST(1 AS TINYINT) AS VARIANT)
1

-- The runtime knows that this is a TINYINT
SELECT TYPEOF(CAST(CAST(1 AS TINYINT) AS VARIANT))
TINYINT

-- Converting something to VARIANT and back works
SELECT CAST(CAST(1 AS VARIANT) AS INT)
1

-- Conversions between numeric types are allowed
SELECT CAST(CAST(1 AS VARIANT) AS TINYINT)
1

-- Some VARIANT objects when output receive double quotes
select CAST('string' as VARIANT)
"string"

-- CHAR(3) values are represented as VARCHAR in variants
SELECT CAST(CAST('abc' AS VARIANT) AS VARCHAR)
abc

-- VARCHAR and CHAR(N) have the same underlying runtime type
SELECT CAST(CAST('abc' AS VARIANT) AS CHAR(3))
abc

-- The value representing a VARIANT null value (think of a JSON null)
SELECT VARIANTNULL()
null

-- VARIANT null is not the same as SQL NULL
SELECT VARIANTNULL() IS NULL
false

-- Two VARIANT nulls are equal, unlike SQL NULL
SELECT VARIANTNULL() = VARIANTNULL()
true

SELECT TYPEOF(VARIANTNULL())
VARIANT

-- Variants delegate equality to the underlying values
SELECT CAST(1 AS VARIANT) = CAST(1 AS VARIANT)
true

-- To be equal two variants must have the same value and the same runtime type
SELECT CAST(1 AS VARIANT) = CAST(CAST(1 AS TINYINT) AS VARIANT)
false

-- An array of variant values can have values with any underlying type
SELECT ARRAY[CAST(1 AS VARIANT), CAST('abc' AS VARIANT)]
[1, "abc"]

-- A map with VARCHAR keys and VARIANT values
SELECT MAP['a', CAST(1 AS VARIANT), 'b', CAST('abc' AS VARIANT), 'c', CAST(ARRAY[1,2,3] AS VARIANT)]
{a=1, b="abc", c=[1, 2, 3]}

-- Variant values allow access by index, but return null if they are not arrays
SELECT (CAST(1 AS VARIANT))[1]
null

SELECT CAST(ARRAY[1,2,3] AS VARIANT)[1]
1

-- Accessing items in a VARIANT array returns VARIANT values,
-- even if the array itself does not contain VARIANT values
-- (Otherwise TYPEOF would not compile)
SELECT TYPEOF(CAST(ARRAY[1,2,3] AS VARIANT)[1])
INTEGER

-- One can access fields by name in a VARIANT, even if the
-- variant does not have named fields
SELECT CAST(ARRAY[1,2,3] AS VARIANT)['name']
null

-- One can access fields by name in a VARIANT, even if the
-- variant does not have named fields
SELECT CAST(ARRAY[1,2,3] AS VARIANT)."name"
null

-- One can access fields by index in a VARIANT
SELECT CAST(Map[1,'a',2,'b',3,'c'] AS VARIANT)[1]
"a"

SELECT TYPEOF(CAST(Map[1,'a',2,'b',3,'c'] AS VARIANT)[1])
VARCHAR

-- Note that field name is quoted to match the case of the key
SELECT CAST(Map['a',1,'b',2,'c',3] AS VARIANT)."a"
1

-- Unquoted field may not match, depending on dialect
SELECT CAST(Map['a',1,'b',2,'c',3] AS VARIANT).a
null

-- The safest way is to use an index
SELECT CAST(Map['a',1,'b',2,'c',3] AS VARIANT)['a']
1

-- Maps can have variant keys too
-- (but you have to index with a variant).
SELECT (Map[CAST('a' AS VARIANT), 1, CAST(1 AS VARIANT), 2])[CAST(1 AS VARIANT)]
2

-- Navigating a JSON-like object
SELECT CAST(MAP['a', CAST(1 AS VARIANT), 'b', CAST('abc' AS VARIANT), 'c', CAST(ARRAY[1,2,3] AS VARIANT)]
               ['c'][1] AS INTEGER)
1

SELECT PARSE_JSON(1)
1

SELECT PARSE_JSON('1')
1

-- Numeric values in JSON are stored as DECIMAL values
SELECT TYPEOF(PARSE_JSON('1'))
DECIMAL

SELECT PARSE_JSON('\"a\"')
"a"

SELECT PARSE_JSON('false')
false

-- A VARIANT null
SELECT PARSE_JSON('null')
null

SELECT TYPEOF(PARSE_JSON('null'))
VARIANT

-- a SQL null
SELECT PARSE_JSON(null)
NULL


SELECT PARSE_JSON('[1,2,3]')
[1, 2, 3]

SELECT PARSE_JSON('{\"a\": 1, \"b\": 2}')
{"a"=1,"b"=2}

-- all the following are strings
SELECT TO_JSON(PARSE_JSON(1))
1

SELECT TO_JSON(null)
NULL

SELECT TO_JSON(PARSE_JSON('1'))
1

SELECT TO_JSON(PARSE_JSON('\"a\"'))
a

SELECT TO_JSON(PARSE_JSON('false'))
false

SELECT TO_JSON(PARSE_JSON('null'))
NULL

SELECT TO_JSON(PARSE_JSON(null))
null

SELECT TO_JSON(PARSE_JSON('[1,2,3]'))
[1,2,3]

SELECT TO_JSON(PARSE_JSON('{ \"a\": 1, \"b\": 2 }'))
{\"a\":1,\"b\":2}

SELECT PARSE_JSON('{ \"a\": 1, \"b\": 2 }') = PARSE_JSON('{\"b\":2,\"a\":1}')
true

-- dates are unparsed as strings
SELECT TO_JSON(CAST(DATE '2020-01-01' AS VARIANT))
"2020-01-01"

-- timestamps are unparsed as strings (timezone is always +00)
SELECT TO_JSON(CAST(TIMESTAMP '2020-01-01 10:00:00' AS VARIANT))
"2020-01-01 10:00:00"

Dynamically-typed values and JSON support

The VARIANT type​

Functions that operate on VARIANT values​

PARSE_JSON​

TO_JSON​

Processing JSON data using VARIANT​

Examples​