1 of 14

Building Queries

Selects

Specifying A Select Clause

You may not always want to select all columns from a database table. You can influence the select list of a query with the following methods.

Individual columns can contain fully-qualified names (some_table.some_column), table aliases (alias.some_column), and even set column aliases themselves (some_column AS c). The columns argument can be a single column, a list of columns (comma-separated), or an array of columns.

select

When calling select any previous columns are discarded. If you want to incrementally select columns, use the addSelect method.

If you pass no columns to this method, it will default to "*".

distinct

Calling distinct will cause the query to be executed with the DISTINCT keyword.

distinct applies to the entire query, not just certain fields.

addSelect

This method adds the columns passed to it to the currently selected columns.

If the QueryBuilder is currently selecting all columns ("*") when this method is called, the incoming columns will becoming the only columns selected.

selectRaw

A shortcut to use a raw expression in the select clause.

The expression is added to the other already selected columns.

subSelect

The method lets you pass either a callback or a QueryBuilder instance to be used as a subselect expression. If a callback is passed it will be passed a new query instance as the only parameter.

The subselect is added to the other already selected columns.

clearSelect

Clears out the selected columns for a query along with any configured select bindings.

reselect

reselectRaw

Clears out the selected columns for a query along with any configured select bindings. Then adds an Expression or array of expressions to the already selected columns.

From

from

Used to set the base table for the query.

You can optionally specify an alias for the table.

table

An alias for from where you like how calling table looks.

fromRaw

Sometimes you need more control over your from clause in order to add grammar specific instructions, such as adding SQL Server table hints to your queries.

Since the fromRaw() takes your string verbatim, it's important that you make sure your SQL declaration is escaped properly. Failure to properly escape your table names may result in SQL errors.

Using fromRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the fromRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

Many database engines allow you to define User Defined Functions. For example, SQL Server allows you to define UDFs that will return a table. In these type of cases, it may be necessary to bind parameters to your from clause.

You can bind parameters to the fromRaw() method by passing a secondary argument that is an array of the parameters to bind.

fromSub

Complex queries often contain derived tables. Derived tables are essentially a temporal table defined as a subquery in the from statement.

In additional a function callback, a separate QueryBuilder instance can be passed to the fromSub method.

Joins

Join clauses range from simple to complex including joining complete subqueries on multiple conditions. qb has your back with all of these use cases.

join

Applies a join to the query. The simplest join is to a table based on two columns:

When doing a simple join using = as the operator, you can omit it and pass just the column names:

Using raw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the raw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

When you need to specify more clauses to join, you can pass a function as the second argument:

Conditions inside a join clause can be grouped using a function.

joinWhere

Adds a join to another table based on a WHERE clause instead of an ON clause. WHERE clauses introduce parameters and parameter bindings whereas on clauses join between columns and don't need parameter bindings.

For simple joins, this specifies a column on which to join the two tables:

joinRaw

Using joinRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the joinRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

joinSub

Alternatively, a function may be used to define the derived table:

Complex join conditions are also possible by passing a function as the third parameter:

leftJoin

leftJoinRaw

Using leftJoinRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the leftJoinRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

leftJoinSub

rightJoin

rightJoinRaw

Using rightJoinRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the rightJoinRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

rightJoinSub

crossJoin

crossJoinRaw

Uses the raw SQL provided to as the table for the cross join clause. Cross joins cannot be further constrained with on or where clauses.

Using crossJoinRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the crossJoinRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

crossJoinSub

newJoin

JoinClause

on

Applies a join condition to the JoinClause. An alias for whereColumn.

orOn

Applies a join condition to the JoinClause using an or combinator. An alias for orWhereColumn.

Preventing Duplicate Joins

You can optionally configure qb to ignore duplicate joins. With this setting turned on each JoinClause is inspected and checked if it matches any existing JoinClause instances on the query. This is useful if you have a table shared between optional constraints and want to ensure it is only added once.

You can opt-in to this behavior by setting preventDuplicateJoins = true in your moduleSettings in config/ColdBox.cfc.

Wheres

Where Methods

where

Adds a where clause to a query.

Any of the following operators can be used in a where clause.

When using the "=" constraint, you can use a shortcut and define the value as the second argument.

To group where statements together, pass a function to the where clause as the only parameter.

This grouping can be nested as many levels as you require.

A Function or QueryBuilder can be used as a subselect expression when passed to value.

andWhere

orWhere

whereBetween

Adds a where between clause to the query.

If a function or QueryBuilder is passed it is used as a subselect expression.

whereNotBetween

whereColumn

Adds a where clause to a query that compares two columns.

Just as with where, when using "=" as the operator you can use a shorthand passing the second column in as the operator and leaving the second column null.

Expressions can be passed in place of either column.

whereExists

Adds a where exists clause to the query.

It can be configured with a function.

It can also be configured with a QueryBuilder instance.

whereNotExists

whereLike

whereNotLike

whereIn

Adds a where in clause to the query.

The values passed to whereIn can be a single value, a list of values, or an array of values.

Some database grammars have a hard limit on the number of parameters passed to a SQL statement. Keep this in mind while writing your queries.

If a list of values is passed in, it is converted to an array of values using a single comma (",") delimiter.

Expressions can be freely mixed in with other values.

A function or QueryBuilder instance can be passed to be used as a subquery expression instead of a list of values.

You may find a whereExists method performs better for you than a whereIn with a subquery.

whereNotIn

whereRaw

Shorthand to add a raw SQL statement to the where clauses.

whereNull

Adds a where null clause to the query.

whereNotNull

Dynamic Where Methods

qb uses onMissingMethod to provide a few different helpers when working with where... methods.

andWhere... and orWhere...

Every where... method in qb can be called prefixed with either and or or. Doing so will call the original method using the corresponding combinator.

where{Column}

If you call a method starting with where that does not match an existing qb method, qb will instead call the where method using the rest of the method name as the first column name. (The rest of the arguments will be shifted to account for this.) This also applies to andWhere{Column} and orWhere{Column} method signatures.

Order By

The orderBy method seems simple but has a lot of depth depending on the type of arguments you pass in.

Calling orderBy multiple times appends to the order list.

Order By (String)

Calling orderBy multiple times will append to the order list.

Order By (List)

Order By (Array of Strings)

Order By (Array of Structs)

Order By (Subquery)

You can order with a subquery using either a function or a QueryBuilder instance.

Order By Raw

clearOrders

reorder

Group By and Having

groupBy

Passing a single string will group by that one column.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .groupBy( "country" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
GROUP BY `country`

You can also pass a list of column names. A single comma (",") will be used as the delimiter.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .groupBy( "country,city" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
GROUP BY `country`, `city`

An array of column names can be provided.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .groupBy( [ "country", "city" ] );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
GROUP BY `country`, `city`

Calling groupBy multiple times will to the current groups.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .groupBy( "country" )
    .groupBy( "city" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
GROUP BY `country`, `city`

An Expression can be passed in place of a column.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .groupBy( query.raw( "DATE(created_at)" ) );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
GROUP BY DATE(created_at)

having

Adds a having clause to a query.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .groupBy( "email" )
    .having( "email", ">", 1 );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
GROUP BY `email`
HAVING `email` > ?

Expressions can be used in place of the column or the value.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .groupBy( "email" )
    .having( query.raw( "COUNT(email)" ), ">", 1 );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
GROUP BY `email`
HAVING COUNT(email) > ?

Limit, Offset, and Pagination

limit

Sets the limit value for the query.

take

Sets the limit value for the query. Alias for .

offset

Sets the offset value for the query.

forPage

Helper method to calculate the limit and offset given a page number and count per page.

simplePaginate & paginate

Locks

qb includes a few methods to help you lock certain rows when executing select statements.

Note: For locks to work properly, they must be nested inside a transaction. qb does not handle any of the transaction lifecycle for you.

sharedLock

A shared lock prevents the selected rows from being modified until your transaction is committed.

lockForUpdate

A lock for update lock prevents the selected rows from being modified or selected with another shared lock until your transaction is committed.

The main difference between a sharedLock and lockForUpdate is that a lockForUpdate prevents other reads or selects as well as updates.

noLock

noLock will instruct your grammar to ignore any shared locks when executing the query.

Currently this only makes a difference in SQL Server grammars.

lock

The lock method will allow you to add a custom lock directive to your query. Think of it as the raw method for lock directives.

These lock directives vary from grammar to grammar.

clearLock

Clears any lock directive on the query.

Unions

The query builder also lets you create union statements on your queries using either UNION or UNION ALL strategies.

The union methods take either a Query Builder instance or a closure which you use to define a new QueryBuilder instance.

Union statements are added in the order in which the union methods are invoked, but the union statements can be in any order in your API call stack. This means you can safely declare your union method calls before the select, from and orderBy calls on the source Query Builder instance.

union() — This method builds a SQL statement using the UNION clause which combines two SQL queries into a single result set containing all the matching rows. The two queries must have the same defined columns and compatible data types or the SQL engine will generate an error. The union clause only returns unique rows.
unionAll() — This builds a SQL statement using the UNION ALL clause. This is the same as union but includes duplicate rows.

IMPORTANT: The QueryBuilder instances passed to a union statement cannot contain a defined order. Any use of the orderBy() method on the unioned QueryBuilder instances will result in an OrderByNotAllowedexception. To order the results, add an orderBy() call to the parent source Query Builder instance.

union

Adds a UNION statement to the query.

Adding multiple union statements will append it to the query.

It can also add union queries as QueryBuilder instances.

unionAll

Adds a UNION ALL statement to the query.

Adding multiple unionAll statements will append it to the query.

It can also add union queries as QueryBuilder instances.

Wheres

Where Methods

where

Adds a where clause to a query.

Using the where method will parameterize the value passed. If you want to constrain a column to another column, use the method.

You can also pass an as the value.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .where( "last_logged_in", ">", query.raw( "NOW()" ) );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `last_logged_in` > NOW()

Any of the following operators can be used in a where clause.

When using the "=" constraint, you can use a shortcut and define the value as the second argument.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .where( "active", 1 );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `active` = ?

You may also use statements to simplify this further.

To group where statements together, pass a function to the where clause as the only parameter.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .where( function( q ) {
        q.where( "active", 1 )
            .where( "last_logged_in", ">", dateAdd( "ww", -1, now() ) )
    } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE (
    `active` = ?
    AND
    `last_logged_in` > ?
)

This grouping can be nested as many levels as you require.

A Function or QueryBuilder can be used as a subselect expression when passed to value.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .where( "email", "foo" )
    .orWhere( "id", "=", function( q ) {
        q.select( q.raw( "MAX(id)" ) )
            .from( "users" )
            .where( "email", "bar" );
    } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `email` = ?
  OR `id` = (
    SELECT MAX(id)
    FROM `users`
    WHERE `email` = ?
  )

andWhere

This method is simply an alias for with the combinator set to "and".

orWhere

This method is simply an alias for with the combinator set to "or".

whereBetween

Adds a where between clause to the query.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereBetween( "id", 1, 2 );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `id` BETWEEN ? AND ?

If a function or QueryBuilder is passed it is used as a subselect expression.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereBetween(
        "id",
        function( q ) {
            q.select( q.raw( "MIN(id)" ) )
                .from( "users" )
                .where( "email", "bar" );
        },
        builder.newQuery()
            .select( builder.raw( "MAX(id)" ) )
            .from( "users" )
            .where( "email", "bar" )
    );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `id` BETWEEN (
    SELECT MIN(id)
    FROM `users`
    WHERE `email` = ?
)
AND (
    SELECT MAX(id)
    FROM `users`
    WHERE `email` = ?
)

whereNotBetween

Adds a where not in clause to the query. This behaves identically to the method with the negateflag set to true. See the documentation for for usage and examples.

whereColumn

Adds a where clause to a query that compares two columns.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereColumn( "first_name", "=", "last_name" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `first_name` = `last_name`

Just as with where, when using "=" as the operator you can use a shorthand passing the second column in as the operator and leaving the second column null.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereColumn( "first_name", "last_name" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `first_name` = `last_name`

Expressions can be passed in place of either column.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereColumn( "first_name", query.raw( "LOWER(first_name)" ) );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `first_name` = LOWER(first_name)

whereExists

Adds a where exists clause to the query.

It can be configured with a function.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "orders" )
    .whereExists( function( q ) {
        q.select( q.raw( 1 ) )
            .from( "products" )
            .whereColumn( "products.id", "orders.id" );
    } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `orders`
WHERE EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM `products`
    WHERE `products`.`id` = `orders`.`id`
)

It can also be configured with a QueryBuilder instance.

QueryBuilder

var existsQuery = query.newQuery()
    .select( q.raw( 1 ) )
    .from( "products" )
    .whereColumn( "products.id", "orders.id" );

query.from( "orders" )
    .whereExists( existsQuery );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `orders`
WHERE EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM `products`
    WHERE `products`.`id` = `orders`.`id`
)

whereNotExists

Adds a where not in clause to the query. This behaves identically to the method with the negateflag set to true. See the documentation for for usage and examples.

whereLike

A shortcut for calling with "like" set as the operator.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereLike( "username", "J%" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `username` LIKE ?

whereNotLike

A shortcut for calling with "not like" set as the operator.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereNotLike( "username", "J%" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `username` NOT LIKE ?

whereIn

Adds a where in clause to the query.

The values passed to whereIn can be a single value, a list of values, or an array of values.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "orders" )
    .whereIn( "id", [ 1, 4, 66 ] );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `orders`
WHERE `id` IN (?, ?, ?)

Some database grammars have a hard limit on the number of parameters passed to a SQL statement. Keep this in mind while writing your queries.

If a list of values is passed in, it is converted to an array of values using a single comma (",") delimiter.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "orders" )
    .whereIn( "id", "1,4,66" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `orders`
WHERE `id` IN (?, ?, ?)

Any value in the list or array can also be passed using a to have more control over the parameter settings.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "orders" )
    .whereIn( "id", [ 1, 4, { value = "66", cfsqltype = "CF_SQL_VARCHAR" } ] );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `orders`
WHERE `id` IN (?, ?, ?)

Expressions can be freely mixed in with other values.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "orders" )
    .whereIn( "id", [ query.raw( "MAX(id)" ), 4, 66 ] );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `orders`
WHERE `id` IN (MAX(id), ?, ?)

A function or QueryBuilder instance can be passed to be used as a subquery expression instead of a list of values.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereIn( "id", function( q ) {
        q.select( "id" )
            .from( "users" )
            .where( "age", ">", 25 );
    } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE IN (
    SELECT `id`
    FROM `users`
    WHERE `age` > ?
)

You may find a whereExists method performs better for you than a whereIn with a subquery.

whereNotIn

Adds a where not in clause to the query. This behaves identically to the whereIn method with the negateflag set to true. See the documentation for for usage and examples.

whereRaw

Shorthand to add a raw SQL statement to the where clauses.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereRaw(
        "id = ? OR email = ? OR is_admin = 1",
        [ 1, "foo" ]
    );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE id = ? OR email = ? OR is_admin = 1

whereNull

Adds a where null clause to the query.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereNull( "id" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `id` IS NULL

whereNotNull

Adds a where not in clause to the query. This behaves identically to the method with the negateflag set to true. See the documentation for for usage and examples.

Dynamic Where Methods

qb uses onMissingMethod to provide a few different helpers when working with where... methods.

andWhere... and orWhere...

Every where... method in qb can be called prefixed with either and or or. Doing so will call the original method using the corresponding combinator.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .where( "username", "like", "j%" )
    .andWhere( function( q ) {
        q.where( "isSubscribed", 1 )
            .orWhere( "isOnFreeTrial", 1 );
     } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `username` LIKE ?
  AND (
    `isSubscribed` = ?
    OR
    `isOnFreeTrial` = ?
  )

where{Column}

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .whereUsername( "like", "j%" )
    .whereActive( 1 );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `username` LIKE ?
  AND `active` = ?

Joins

Join clauses range from simple to complex including joining complete subqueries on multiple conditions. qb has your back with all of these use cases.

join

Applies a join to the query. The simplest join is to a table based on two columns:

When doing a simple join using = as the operator, you can omit it and pass just the column names:

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .join( "posts", "users.id", "posts.author_id" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
JOIN `posts`
  ON `users`.`id` = `posts`.`author_id`

`` are also supported as the table argument (though you may prefer the readability of the method):

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .join( query.raw( "posts (nolock)" ), "users.id", "=", "posts.author_id" );

SQL Server

SELECT *
FROM [users]
JOIN posts (nolock)
  ON [users].[id] = [posts].[author_id]

Using raw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the raw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

When you need to specify more clauses to join, you can pass a function as the second argument:

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .join( "posts", function( j ) {
        j.on( "users.id", "=", "posts.author_id" );
        j.on( "users.prefix", "=", "posts.prefix" );
    } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
JOIN `posts`
  ON `users`.`id` = `posts`.`author_id`
  AND `users`.`prefix` = `posts`.`prefix`

You can specify clauses in your joins as well.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .join( "posts", function( j ) {
        j.on( "users.id", "=", "posts.author_id" );
        j.whereNotNull( "posts.published_date" );
    } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
JOIN `posts`
  ON `users`.`id` = `posts`.`author_id`
  AND `posts`.`published_date` IS NOT NULL

Conditions inside a join clause can be grouped using a function.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .join( "posts", function( j ) {
        j.on( function( j1 ) {
            j1.on( "users.id", "posts.author_id" )
                .orOn( "users.id", "posts.reviewer_id" );
        } );
        j.whereNotNull( "posts.published_date" );
    } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
JOIN `posts`
  ON (
      `users`.`id` = `posts`.`author_id`
      OR `users`.`id` = `posts`.`reviewer_id`
  )
  AND `posts`.`published_date` IS NOT NULL

A preconfigured can also be passed to the join function. This allows you to extract shared pieces of code out to different functions.

QueryBuilder

var j = query.newJoin( "contacts" )
    .on( "users.id", "posts.author_id" );

query.from( "users" ).join( j );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
JOIN `posts`
  ON `users`.`id` = `posts`.`author_id`

joinWhere

For simple joins, this specifies a column on which to join the two tables:

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .joinWhere( "contacts", "contacts.balance", "<", 100 );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
JOIN `contacts`
  WHERE `contacts`.`balance` < ?

For complex joins, a function can be passed to first. This allows multiple on and where conditions to be applied to the join. See the documentation for for more information.

joinRaw

Uses the raw SQL provided to as the table for the join clause. All the other functionality of joinRaw matches the method. Additionally, there are , , and crossJoinRaw methods available.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .joinRaw( "posts (nolock)", "users.id", "posts.author_id" );

SQL Server

SELECT *
FROM [users]
JOIN posts (nolock)
  ON [users].[id] = [posts].[author_id]

Using joinRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the joinRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

joinSub

Adds a join to a derived table. All the functionality of the method applies to constrain the query. The derived table can be defined using a QueryBuilder instance:

QueryBuilder

var sub = query.newQuery()
    .select( "id" )
    .from( "contacts" )
    .whereNotIn( "id", [ 1, 2, 3 ] );

query.from( "users as u" )
    .joinSub( "c", sub, "u.id", "=", "c.id" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users` AS `u`
JOIN (
  SELECT `id`
  FROM `contacts`
  WHERE `id` NOT IN (?, ?, ?)
) AS `c`
  ON `u`.`id` = `c`.`id`

Alternatively, a function may be used to define the derived table:

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users as u" )
    .joinSub( "c", function ( q ) {
        q.select( "id" )
            .from( "contacts" )
            .whereNotIn( "id", [ 1, 2, 3 ] );
    }, "u.id", "=", "c.id" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users` AS `u`
JOIN (
  SELECT `id`
  FROM `contacts`
  WHERE `id` NOT IN (?, ?, ?)
) AS `c`
  ON `u`.`id` = `c`.`id`

Complex join conditions are also possible by passing a function as the third parameter:

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users as u" )
    .joinSub( "c", function ( q ) {
        q.select( "id" )
            .from( "contacts" )
            .whereNotIn( "id", [ 1, 2, 3 ] );
    }, function( j ) {
        j.on( "u.id", "c.id" );
        j.on( "u.type", "c.type" );
    } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users` AS `u`
JOIN (
  SELECT `id`
  FROM `contacts`
  WHERE `id` NOT IN (?, ?, ?)
) AS `c`
  ON `u`.`id` = `c`.`id`
  AND `u`.`type` = `c`.`type`

leftJoin

QueryBuilder

query.from( "posts" )
    .leftJoin( "users", "users.id", "posts.author_id" );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `posts`
LEFT JOIN `users`
  ON `users`.`id` = `posts`.`author_id`

leftJoinRaw

Uses the raw SQL provided to as the table for the left join clause. All the other functionality of leftJoinRaw matches the method.

Using leftJoinRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the leftJoinRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

leftJoinSub

Adds a left join to a derived table. All the functionality of the method applies to define and constrain the query.

rightJoin

rightJoinRaw

Uses the raw SQL provided to as the table for the right join clause. All the other functionality of rightJoinRaw matches the method.

Using rightJoinRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the rightJoinRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

rightJoinSub

Adds a right join to a derived table. All the functionality of the method applies to define and constrain the query.

crossJoin

crossJoinRaw

Uses the raw SQL provided to as the table for the cross join clause. Cross joins cannot be further constrained with on or where clauses.

Using crossJoinRaw will most likely tie your code to a specific database, so think carefully before using the crossJoinRaw method if you want your project to be database agnostic.

crossJoinSub

Adds a cross join to a derived table. The derived table can be defined using a QueryBuilder instance or a function just as with . Cross joins cannot be constrained, however.

newJoin

Creates a new . A is a specialized version of a QueryBuilder. You may call on or orOn to constrain the . You may also call any methods.

Creating a directly is useful when you need to share a join between different queries. You can create and configure the in a function and pass it to queries as needed.

Although a can be passed to , , , and crossJoin, the type of the will override the type of the function.

JoinClause

A JoinClause is a specialized version of a QueryBuilder. You may call on or orOn to constrain the JoinClause. You may also call any methods.

on

Applies a join condition to the JoinClause. An alias for whereColumn.

orOn

Applies a join condition to the JoinClause using an or combinator. An alias for orWhereColumn.

Preventing Duplicate Joins

You can opt-in to this behavior by setting preventDuplicateJoins = true in your moduleSettings in config/ColdBox.cfc.

Query Parameters and Bindings

Custom Parameter Types

When passing a parameter to qb, it will infer the sql type to be used. If you pass a number, CF_SQL_NUMERIC will be used. If it is a date, CF_SQL_TIMESTAMP, and so forth. If you need more control, you can pass a struct with the parameters you would pass to cfqueryparam.

You can pass include any parameters you would use with cfqueryparam including null, list, etc. This applies anywhere parameters are used including where, update, and insert methods.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .where( "id", "=", { value = 18, cfsqltype = "CF_SQL_VARCHAR" } );

MySQL

SELECT *
FROM `users`
WHERE `id` = ?

This can be used when inserting or updating records as well.

QueryBuilder

query.table( "users" )
    .insert( {
        "id" = { value 1, cfsqltype = "CF_SQL_VARCHAR" },
        "age" = 18,
        "updatedDate" = { value = now(), cfsqltype = "CF_SQL_DATE" }
    } );

MySQL

INSERT INTO `users`
    (`id`, `age`, `updatedDate`)
VALUES
    (?, ?, ?)

Strict Date Detection

By default, qb will try to determine if a variable is a date using the built-in isDate function. This can have some interesting effects with different formatted strings. You can opt in to stricter date detection which will check the underlying Java class of the value to determine if the value is a date. This is more accurate, but does require you to specifically pass date instances instead of strings. For this reason, it is currently opt-in to not break existing applications. It is likely to become the default in the next major version of qb.

You can opt in to stricter date detection by setting strictDateDetection = true in your moduleSettings in config/ColdBox.cfc.

moduleSettings = {
    "qb": {
        "strictDateDetection": true
    }
};

Numeric SQL Type

By default, qb will use the CF_SQL_NUMERIC SQL type when it detects a numeric binding. You can specify your own default SQL type to use with numeric values using the numericSQLType setting in your moduleSettings in config/ColdBox.cfc.

moduleSettings = {
    "qb": {
        "numericSQLType": "CF_SQL_INTEGER"
    }
};

Automatic Scale Detection

In some combinations of database grammars and CFML engines, the scale argument on a cfqueryparam would default to 0. This would cause issues when attempting to insert a floating point number, even when using the correct SQL type (i.e., CF_SQL_DECIMAL) . In 8.5.0, qb now automatically calculates a scale based on the value provided if the value is a floating point number. This can be disabled by setting autoAddScale in your ColdBox config or passing autoAddScale = false when instantiating your QueryBuilder instance.

Bindings

Bindings are the values that will be sent as parameters to a prepared SQL statement. This protects you from SQL injection. In CFML, this uses cfqueryparam to parameterize the values.

If you need to inspect the bindings for the current query you can retrieve them in order using the getBindings method.

You can view the current SQL for the query with bindings inline for debugging purposes using the toSQL method.

Use these methods only for debugging. Modifying the bindings directly will likely cause issues when executing your query. Adding or removing bindings should be done using the public API.

getBindings

This method returns the current bindings in order to be used for the query.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .join( "logins", function( j ) {
        j.on( "users.id", "logins.user_id" );
        j.where( "logins.created_date", ">", dateAdd( "m", -1, "01 Jun 2019" ) );
    } )
    .where( "active", 1 );

Result

[
    { value = "01 May 2019", cfsqltype = "CF_SQL_TIMESTAMP"  },
    { value = 1, cfsqltype = "CF_SQL_NUMERIC" }
]

You can also retrieve the bindings associated to their corresponding types.

getRawBindings

This method returns the current bindings to be used for the query associated to their corresponding types.

QueryBuilder

query.from( "users" )
    .join( "logins", function( j ) {
        j.on( "users.id", "logins.user_id" );
        j.where( "logins.created_date", ">", dateAdd( "m", -1, "01 Jun 2019" ) );
    } )
    .where( "active", 1 );

Result

{
    "commonTables" = [],
    "select" = [],
    "join" = [
        { value = "01 May 2019", cfsqltype = "CF_SQL_TIMESTAMP"  },
    ],
    "where" = [
        { value = 1, cfsqltype = "CF_SQL_NUMERIC" }
    ],
    "union" = [],
    "insert" = [],
    "insertRaw" = [],
    "update" = []
};

Common Table Expressions (i.e. CTEs)

Common Table Expressions (CTEs) are powerful SQL concept that allow you to create re-usable temporal result sets, which can be referenced as a table within your SQL. CTEs are available in many common database engines and are available in latest versions of all of the support grammars.

CTEs come in two basic types:

Non-recursive — These are statements that do not reference themselves, in simplified terms they are like a derived table that can be referenced by a user-defined name.
Recursive — Recursive CTEs reference themselves and are generally used for creating hierarchical data—such as creating a parent/child relationship within a table.

While all of the grammars currently support CTEs, there is enough difference between the various databases implementations of CTEs that unless your CTEs are fairly basic, using CTEs within your project will most likely tie your project to a specific database, unless you account for the differences in your code.

However, CTEs are can be extremely useful to solve certain use cases.

To add CTEs to your queries, you have two methods available:

with() — Allows you to define a non-recursive CTE.
withRecursive() — Allows you to define a recursive CTE.

Some database engines require the recursive keyword anytime at least one of your CTEs is recursive, but some database engines (e.g. SQL Server and Oracle) do not require the keyword. qb will manage adding the keyword, if necessary. If your query does use recursion you should use the withRecursive()method to avoid issues when migrating grammars.

with

You can build a CTE using a function:

QueryBuilder

// qb
query.with( "UserCTE", function ( q ) {
        q
            .select( [ "fName as firstName", "lName as lastName" ] )
            .from( "users" )
            .where( "disabled", 0 );
    } )
    .from( "UserCTE" )
    .get();

MySQL

WITH `UserCTE` AS (
    SELECT
        `fName` as `firstName`,
        `lName` as `lastName`
    FROM `users`
    WHERE `disabled` = 0
) SELECT * FROM `UserCTE`

Alternatively, you can use a QueryBuilder instance instead of a function:

QueryBuilder

// qb
var cte = query
    .select( [ "fName as firstName", "lName as lastName" ] )
    .from( "users" )
    .where( "disabled", 0 );

query.with( "UserCTE", cte )
    .from( "UserCTE" )
    .get();

MySQL

WITH `UserCTE` AS (
    SELECT
        `fName` as `firstName`,
        `lName` as `lastName`
    FROM `users`
    WHERE `disabled` = 0
)
SELECT * FROM `UserCTE`

A single query can reference multiple CTEs:

QueryBuilder

query.with( "UserCTE", function ( q ) {
        q.select( [ "id", "fName as firstName", "lName as lastName" ] )
            .from( "users" )
            .where( "disabled", 0 );
    } )
    .with( "BlogCTE", function ( q ) {
        q.from( "blogs" )
            .where( "disabled", 0 );
    } )
    .from( "BlogCTE as b" )
    .join( "UserCTE as u", "b.Creator", "u.id" )
    .get();

MySQL

WITH `UserCTE` AS (
    SELECT
        `id`,
        `fName` as `firstName`,
        `lName` as `lastName`
    FROM `users`
    WHERE `disabled` = 0
),
`BlogCTE` AS (
    SELECT *
    FROM `blogs`
    WHERE `disabled` = 0
)
SELECT *
FROM `BlogCTE` AS `b`
INNER JOIN `UserCTE` AS `u`
ON `b`.`Creator` = `u`.`id`

withRecursive

IMPORTANT — The way the SQL in a recursive CTEs are written, using them in your code is likely to lock in you in to a specific database engine, unless you structure your code to build the correct SQL based on the current grammar being used.

Here is an example of building a recursive CTE using SQL Server which would return all parent/child rows and show their generation/level depth:

QueryBuilder

query
.withRecursive( "Hierarchy", function ( q ) {
    q.select( [ "Id", "ParentId", "Name", q.raw( "0 AS [Generation]" ) ] )
        .from( "Sample" )
        .whereNull( "ParentId" )
        // use recursion to join the child rows to their parents
        .unionAll( function ( q ) {
            q.select( [
                    "child.Id",
                    "child.ParentId",
                    "child.Name",
                    q.raw( "[parent].[Generation] + 1" )
                ] )
                .from( "Sample as child" )
                .join( "Hierarchy as parent", "child.ParentId", "parent.Id" );
        } );
    }, [ "Id", "ParentId", "Name", "Generation" ] )
    .from( "Hierarchy" )
    .get();

SqlServer

WITH [Hierarchy] ([Id], [ParentId], [Name], [Generation]) AS (
    SELECT
        [Id],
        [ParentId],
        [Name],
        0 AS [Generation]
    FROM [Sample]
    WHERE [ParentId] IS NULL
    UNION ALL
    SELECT
        [child].[Id],
        [child].[ParentId],
        [child].[Name],

[parent].[Generation] + 1
    FROM [Sample] AS [child]
    INNER JOIN [Hierarchy] AS [parent]
        ON [child].[ParentId] = [parent].[Id]
) SELECT * FROM [Hierarchy]