Odmg Oql User Manual: Release 5.0 - April 1998

ODMG OQL
User Manual
Release 5.0 - April 1998
In for m ation in t h is docu m en t is su bject t o ch an ge with ou t
n ot ice an d sh ou ld n ot be con str u ed as a com m it m en t by
O2 Tech n ology.
Th e soft war e descr ibed in th is docu m en t is deliver ed u n der a

licen se or n on disclosu r e agr eem en t.
Th e soft war e can on ly be u sed or copied in accor dan ce wit h t h e

ter m s of th e agr eem en t . It is again st t h e law t o copy t h is
soft war e t o m agn et ic t ape, disk , or an y ot h er m ediu m for an y
pu r pose ot h er t h an t h e pu r ch aser ’s own u se.
Copyr igh t 1992-1998 O2 Tech n ology.
All r igh t s r eser ved. No par t of t h is pu blicat ion can be

r epr odu ced, st or ed in a r et r ieval syst em or t r an sm it t ed in an y
for m or by an y m ean s, elect r on ic, m ech an ical, ph ot ocopy
with ou t pr ior wr itt en per m ission of O2 Tech n ology.
O2 , O 2 En gin e API, O2 C, O2 DBAccess, O2 En gin e, O2 Gr aph ,

O2 Kit , O2 Look , O2 St or e, O2 Tools, an d O2 Web ar e r egist er ed
tr adem ar k s of O2 Tech n ology.
SQL an d AIX ar e r egist er ed t r adem ar k s of In t er n at ion al

Bu sin ess Mach in es Cor por at ion .
Su n , Su n OS, an d SOLARIS ar e r egist er ed t r adem ar k s of Su n

Micr osystem s, In c.
X Win dow System is a r egist er ed tr adem ar k of t h e

Massach u set t s In st itu t e of Tech n ology.
Un ix is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of Un ix Syst em Labor at or ies, In c.
HPUX is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of H ewlet t -Pack ar d Com pan y.
BOSX is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of Bu ll S.A.
IRIX is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of Siem en s Nixdor f, A.G.
NeXTSt ep is a r egister ed t r adem ar k of t h e NeXT Com pu t er , In c.
Pu r ify, Qu an t ify ar e r egist er ed tr adem ar k s of Pu r e Soft war e In c.
Win dows is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of Micr osoft Cor por ation .
All oth er com pan y or pr odu ct n am es qu ot ed ar e t r adem ar k s or

r egist er ed t r adem ar k s of t h eir r espect ive t r adem ar k h older s.
Who should read this manual
OQL is an object -or ien t ed SQL-lik e qu er y lan gu age, t h e ODM G

st an dar d. Th is m an u al descr ibes h ow t o u se OQL as an em bedded
fu n ct ion in a pr ogr am m in g lan gu age (e.g. O2 C, C, C++, or J ava) or
in t er act ively as a qu er y lan gu age. It assu m es pr eviou s k n owledge of t h e
O 2 syst em .
Oth er docu m en t s available ar e ou t lin ed, click below.
See O2 Documentation set.

TA BLE O F CONTENT S
Th is m an u al is divided in t o t h e followin g ch apt er s:

1 - In tr odu ct ion
2 - Get t in g St ar t ed
3 - OQL Rat ion ale
4 - OQL Refer en ce
ODM G OQL User Man u al 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Introduction 9
1.1 System Overview......................................................................10

OQL .............................................................................................12
Browser Interface .........................................................................12
1.2 Interactive and embedded query language ...........................14
Interactive OQL ...........................................................................15
Embedded OQL ...........................................................................15
1.3 Manual overview.......................................................................16
2 Getting Started 17
2.1 Basic queries ............................................................................18

Database entry points ...................................................................20
Simple queries..............................................................................20
2.2 Select ... from ... where .........................................................22
Set.................................................................................................22
Join ...............................................................................................24
Path expressions ...........................................................................24
Testing on nil ...............................................................................25
List or array ..................................................................................25
2.3 Constructing results ................................................................27
Creating an object ........................................................................29
2.4 Operators ..................................................................................30
Count ............................................................................................30
Define...........................................................................................30
Element ........................................................................................31
Exists ............................................................................................31
Group by ......................................................................................32
Like ..............................................................................................35
Order by .......................................................................................35
2.5 Set operators ............................................................................36
2.6 Conversions..............................................................................37
List to set ......................................................................................37
Set to list.......................................................................................37
6 ODM G OQL User Man u al
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Flatten .......................................................................................... 38
2.7 Combining operators .............................................................. 38
2.8 Indexes ..................................................................................... 39

Display index............................................................................... 40
2.9 Chapter Summary.................................................................... 41
3 OQL Rationale 43
3.1 The ODMG standard ................................................................ 44
3.2 The ODMG model..................................................................... 44
3.3 OQL by example ...................................................................... 49

Path expressions .......................................................................... 49
Data manipulation ....................................................................... 51
Method invoking ......................................................................... 52
Polymorphism.............................................................................. 53
Operator composition .................................................................. 54
4 OQL Reference 57
4.1 Introduction.............................................................................. 58
4.2 Principles.................................................................................. 58
4.3 Language Definition ................................................................ 59
4.4 Syntactical Abbreviations ...................................................... 82
4.5 OQL BNF.................................................................................. 85
INDEX 91

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 I ntr oduction
1
Con gr at u lat ion s! You ar e n ow a u ser of t h e object-or ien t ed qu er y

lan gu age OQL.
O2 is a r evolu t ion ar y syst em t h at is par t icu lar ly well adapt ed for

developin g lar ge-scale clien t/ ser ver application s in bot h fields of
bu sin ess an d t ech n ical soft war e developm en t .
Th is ch apt er in t r odu ces t h e O2 syst em an d t h e OQL qu er y lan gu age.
Th e ch apt er is divided in t o t h e followin g sect ion s :
• Syst em Over view

• In t er active an d em bedded qu er y lan gu age
• M an u al over view

1 Introduction
1.1 System Overview

Th e syst em ar ch it ect u r e of O2 is illu st r at ed in Figu r e 1.1.
Development Tools External

Interfaces
Standard
O2 Dev. Tools
Dev. Tools
O2ODBC
OQL
C C++ O2 C Java
O2Corba
Database Engine
O2DB
Access
O2Engine
O2Web
O2Store
Fi gu r e 1 .1 : O2 Sy st em Ar ch i t ect u r e
Th e O 2 system can be viewed as con sist in g of t h r ee com pon en t s. Th e
Database Engine pr ovides all t h e feat u r es of a D at abase syst em an d an
object -or ien t ed syst em . Th is en gin e is accessed wit h Development Tools ,
su ch as var iou s pr ogr am m in g lan gu ages, O 2 developm en t t ools an d an y
st an dar d developm en t tool. Nu m er ou s External Interfaces ar e pr ovided.
All en com passin g, O 2 is a ver sat ile, por t able, dist r ibu t ed, h igh -
per for m an ce dyn am ic object -or ien ted dat abase system .
Database En gin e:
• O2 St or e Th e dat abase m an agem en t syst em pr ovides low level
facilit ies, t h r ou gh O2 Stor e API, t o access an d m an age a
dat abase: disk volu m es, files, r ecor ds, in dices an d
t r an sact ion s.
• O2 En gin e Th e object dat abase en gin e pr ovides dir ect con t r ol of
sch em as, classes, object s an d t r an sact ion s, t h r ou gh
O2 En gin e API. It pr ovides fu ll t ext in dexin g an d sear ch
capabilit ies wit h O 2 Sear ch an d spat ial in dexin g an d
r et r ieval capabilit ies wit h O 2 Spat ial. It in clu des a
Not ificat ion m an ager for in for m in g oth er clien t s
con n ect ed t o t h e sam e O 2 ser ver t h at an even t h as
occu r r ed, a Ver sion m an ager for h an dlin g m u lt iple
object ver sion s an d a Replicat ion API for syn ch r on izin g
m u lt iple copies of an O2 system .

System Overview :
Pr ogr am m in g Lan gu ages:

O 2 object s m ay be cr eat ed an d m an aged u sin g t h e followin g
pr ogr am m in g lan gu ages, u tilizin g all t h e featu r es available wit h O2
(per sist en ce, collection m an agem en t , t r an sact ion m an agem en t , OQL
qu er ies, et c.)
• C O2 fu n ct ion s can be in vok ed by C pr ogr am s.
• C++ OD MG com plian t C++ bin din g.
• J ava OD MG com plian t J ava bin din g.
• O2 C A power fu l an d elegan t object-or ien t ed fou r t h
gen er at ion lan gu age specialized for easy developm en t
of object dat abase applicat ion s.
• OQL OD MG st an dar d, easy-t o-u se SQL-lik e object qu er y
lan gu age wit h special feat u r es for dealin g wit h com plex
O2 object s an d m eth ods.
O 2 Developm en t Tools:
• O2 Gr aph Cr eat e, m odify an d edit an y t ype of object gr aph .
• O2 Look Design an d develop gr aph ical u ser in ter faces, pr ovides
in t er active m an ipu lation of com plex an d m u ltim edia
object s.
• O2 Kit Libr ar y of pr edefin ed classes an d m et h ods for fast er
developm en t of u ser applicat ion s.
• O2 Tools Com plet e gr aph ical pr ogr am m in g en vir on m en t t o
design an d develop O 2 dat abase applicat ion s.
St an dar d Developm en t Tools:

All stan dar d pr ogr am m in g lan gu ages can be u sed wit h st an dar d
en vir on m en t s (e.g. Visu al C++, Su n Spar cwor k s).
Exter n al In t er faces:
• O2 Cor ba Cr eat e an O2 / Or bix ser ver t o access an O2 dat abase
wit h CORBA.
• O2 DBAccess Con n ect O2 applicat ion s to r elation al dat abases on
r em ot e h ost s an d in vok e SQL st at em en ts.
• O2 OD BC Con n ect r em ot e ODBC clien t applicat ion s t o O2
dat abases.
• O2 Web Cr eat e an O2 Wor ld Wide Web ser ver t o access an O2
dat abase th r ou gh t h e in t er n et n etwor k .

1 Introduction
OQL
OQL is an object-or ien t ed SQL-lik e qu er y lan gu age. OQL is t h e qu er y

lan gu age of t h e ODM G-9 3 st an dar d 1 . It can be u sed in t wo differ en t
ways eit h er as an em bedded fu n ct ion in a pr ogr am m in g lan gu age or as
an ad h oc qu er y lan gu age.
You can u se OQL as a fu n ct ion called fr om O 2 C, C, C++, Sm allt alk or

J ava, in or der t o m an ipu lat e com plex valu es an d m et h ods. Each
con st r u ct pr odu ces a r esu lt wh ich can t h en be u sed dir ect ly in t h e
pr ogr am m in g lan gu age. Meth ods can be t r igger ed t o m odify t h e
dat abase. You will fin d t h at pr ogr am m in g is easier becau se OQL can
filter valu es u sin g com plex pr edicat es wh ose evalu at ion s ar e opt im ized
by t h e OQL opt im izer in O2 .
OQL can also be u sed in t er act ively as an ad h oc qu er y lan gu age

allowin g dat abase qu er ies fr om bot h t ech n ical an d n on -t ech n ical u ser s.
In t er act ive featu r es in clu de fast an d sim ple br owsin g of t h e dat abase.
Browser Interface
Th e br owser in t er face you see depen ds on t h e oper at in g syst em you ar e

u sin g.
• Unix
In Un ix, th e O2 Look gr aph ical u ser in t er face gen er at or is u sed t o

gen er at e t h e gr aph ical for m of OQL qu er y r esu lts.
Figu r e 1.2 sh ows a t ypical qu er y r esu lt in gr aph ical for m , as gen er ated
by O2 Look .
1. Th e Object Database St an dard: ODMG - 93. At wood, Bar ry, Du h l, Eastm an , Fer ran ,
J ordan , Loom is an d Wade. Edited by R.G.G. Cat tell. © 1996 Mor gan Kau fm an Pu blish -
er s.

System Overview : Browser Interface
Er a ser bu t t on
Object i con s
Fi gu r e 1 .2 : T y p i ca l OQL qu er y r esu l t i n gr a p h i ca l f or m , a s gen er a t ed i n Un i x
In addition t o t h e u su al Motif bu t ton s a gr aph ical qu er y r esu lt h as an

Er aser bu t ton . Click in g on t h e Er aser bu t t on r em oves th e gr aph ical
r esu lt . Th is qu er y r esu lt con sist s of a n u m ber of object s. Each object
h as it s own pop-u p m en u wh ich is displayed by click in g t h e Object icon
u sin g t h e r igh t m ou se bu t t on . Th is pop-u p m en u can be u sed t o access
t h e pu blic m et h ods of each object .
• Windows NT
In Win dows NT, t h e qu er y r esu lt is displayed in a win dow in t ext u al

for m con t ain in g h yper t ext lin k s. Each lin k r epr esen t s a su b-object .
Th e label for a specific lin k m ay be obt ain ed by applyin g t h e title

m et h od t o t h e su b-object r epr esen t ed by t h e lin k .
Click in g on a h yper t ext lin k , with t h e r igh t m ou se bu t t on , r eplaces t h e

con t en t s of t h e win dow wit h a r epr esen t at ion of t h e su b-object
associat ed wit h th e lin k .
Figu r e 1.3 sh ows a t ypical qu er y r esu lt in gr aph ical for m , as gen er at ed

in Win dows NT.

1 Introduction
Fi gu r e 1 .3 : Ty p i ca l OQL qu er y r esu l t i n gr a p h i ca l f or m , a s gen er a t ed i n Wi n d ow s NT
Th e br owser sh own in Figu r e 1.3 h as th e followin g bu t t on s:
Ba ck th is bu tt on displays t h e pr eviou s object .
For w a r d th is bu tt on displays t h e n ext su b-object. It is on ly valid if

th e Back bu t ton h as been act ivat ed at least on ce.
New Wi n d ow Th is bu tt on displays t h e cu r r en t object in a n ew win dow.

Each win dow is an in depen den t br owser .
Qu i t Th is bu tt on closes t h e act ive win dow.
Th e qu er y r esu lt is an object of t h e Per son class, wh ich h as a n am e, an

age an d a spou se. A spou se is also an object of t h e Per son class, an d
t h u s appear s in as a h yper t ext lin k . Left click in g displays t h e spou se
object .
Note
Th e r est of th is m an u al will on ly sh ow gr aph ical displays fr om t h e Un ix
plat for m .
1.2 Interactive and embedded query language
It is becau se OQL is so easy t o u se in ter act ively t h at all k in ds of u ser s

in clu din g n on -t ech n ical u ser s can br owse th e dat abase qu ick ly an d
efficien t ly t o get t h e in for m at ion t h ey wan t . OQL can also be u sed as a
fu n ct ion called fr om C, C++, J ava, O2 C an d O2 En gin e API.

Interactive and embedded query language :
Interactive OQL
Th e OQL in ter pr et er can be t r igger ed by t h e query com m an d of O2dba,

O2dsa or O2 sh ells. Th e com m an d in t er pr et er pr om pt s you wit h t h e
followin g m essage:
type your command and end with ^D
To r u n OQL, type:
query
^D
You m u st t ype ^D (Con t r ol - D) on a separ ate lin e. You n ow see:
Query Interpreter
type your query and end with ^D
Type you r qu er y, en din g it wit h ^D.
"this is a query"
^D
Th e an swer is au tom at ically displayed an d th e system r etu r n s to t h e
OQL pr om pt :
type your query and end with ^D
To leave t h e qu er y session type:
^D (or quit)
You ar e n ow back in th e com m an d in t er pr et er an d you see t h e m essage:
type your command and end with ^D
You can also u se OQL in t h e O2 Tools pr ogr am m in g en vir on m en t (Refer
t o t h e O2 Tools User M an u al).
Note
In a Win dows en vir on m en t ^Z (Con t r ol - Z) is u sed in stead of ^D
(Con t r ol - D).
Embedded OQL
An y valid qu er y can be passed fr om O2 C code t o OQL u sin g t h e syst em

su pplied fu n ction o2query. Th is is det ailed in t h e O2 C Refer en ce
m an u al.
Sim ilar ly, you can pass a qu er y t o a C++, C, Sm allt alk or J ava pr ogr am .
Refer to t h e r espect ive m an u als for details.

1 Introduction
Fin ally an OQL fu n ct ion exist s in O2 En gin e an d is descr ibed in t h e

O 2 En gin e API Refer en ce M an u al.
1.3 Manual overview
Th is m an u al is divided u p in t o th e followin g ch apt er s:
• Ch apt er 1 - In t r odu ct ion
Th is ch apt er in t r odu ces t h e O 2 system an d t h e OQL qu er y lan gu age.
It ou t lin es t h e con cept s of t h e ad h oc qu er y lan gu age t h at allows you to

br owse t h e dat abase qu ick ly an d efficien t ly t o get t h e in for m at ion you
wan t , an d th e em bedded qu er y lan gu age t h at you can call fr om in side
you r pr ogr am s.
• Ch apt er 2 - OQL - Get t in g st ar t ed
Th is ch apt er in t r odu ces t h e OQL lan gu age so you can st ar t t o u se OQL

in or der t o obt ain t h e exact in for m ation you wan t fr om you r dat abase.
It descr ibes an d illu st r at es basic an d “select ..fr om ..wh er e” qu er ies,

details h ow t o con st r u ct r esu lts an d descr ibes t h e u se of oper at or s an d
in dexes. To fu lly u n der st an d t h is ch apter , you m u st k n ow t h e ODMG
dat a m odel.
• Ch apt er 3 - OQL Rat ion ale
Th is ch apt er in t r odu ces t h e ODMG stan dar d an d descr ibes t h e ODM G

object m odel. It also gives an exam ple based pr esen t at ion of OQL.
• Ch apt er 4 - OQL Refer en ce
Th is ch apt er con t ain s th e ODMG r efer en ce m an u al for OQL 1.2. It is t h e

sam e as t h e ODMG st an dar d wit h added n ot es an d explan at ion s on h ow
t o u se OQL with O 2 .
For each feat u r e of th e lan gu age, you get th e syn tax, in in for m al
sem an t ics, an d an exam ple. Fin ally, t h e for m al syn t ax is given .

2 G et ti n g S t art ed
2
AN OBJ ECT-ORIENTED DATABASE

QUERY LANGUAGE
So t h at you can obt ain t h e exact in for m ation you wan t fr om you r
dat abase, O2 h as an object or ien t ed database qu er y lan gu age OQL.
OQL is a power fu l an d easy-t o-u se SQL-lik e qu er y lan gu age with special

feat u r es for dealin g wit h com plex objects, valu es an d m eth ods.
Th is ch apt er in t r odu ces t h e OQL lan gu age an d is divided u p in t o t h e

followin g sect ion s:
• Basic qu er ies
• Select ... fr om ... wh er e
• Con str u ctin g r esu lt s
• Oper ator s
• Set oper at or s
• Con ver sion s
• Com bin in g oper at or s
• In dexes
• Ch apter Su m m ar y
To u n der stan d t h is ch apt er you n eed to k n ow th e OD MG dat a m odel 1 .

As an in t r odu ct ion t o t h e data m odel you can r efer t o ch apt er 3 of t h is
m an u al or t h e O 2 C Begin n er ’s Gu ide.
Exper ien ce of SQL, t h ou gh n ot a pr er equ isit e, will facilit at e t h e OQL

lear n in g pr ocess.
1. Th e Object Dat abase Stan dard: ODM G - 93, r elease 1.2. Edit ed by R.G.G. Cat t ell. ©
1996 M or gan Kau fm an Pu blish er s.

2 Getting Started
2.1 Basic queries
All t h e exam ples sh own below ar e based on t h e followin g O2 sch em a:
• In O2 C
class o2_set_Employee public type

unique set (Employee)
end;
class o2_list_Client public type

list (Client)
end;
class Company public type

tuple ( name: string,
employees: o2_set_Employee,
clients: o2_list_Client
)
method public title: string
end;
class Client public type

order: list (tuple ( what: string,
price: real))
)
end;
class Employee public type

birthday: Date,
position: string,
salary: real)
method age: integer
end;

Basic queries
• In C++
class Company {
public:
d_String name;
d_Set<d_Ref<Employee> > employees;
d_List<d_Ref<Client> > clients;
char* title() {return name;}
};
class item { d_String what; double price;};
class Client {
public:
d_String name;
d_Array<item> order;
};
class Employee {
public:
d_String name;
d_Date birthday;
d_String position;
float salary;
int age();
};
Two per sist en t r oot s ar e also defin ed: An object , Globe an d a collect ion
the_employees.
name Globe: Company;

constant name the_employees: o2_set_Employee;

2 Getting Started
Database entry points
To qu er y an y dat abase you n eed var iou s en t r y poin t s.
In O2 t h ese ar e th e n am ed object s an d n am ed valu es.
For exam ple, Globe is an en tr y poin t.
Th e sim plest OQL qu er y calls an en tr y poin t :
Globe
Th is r et u r n s:
In an O2 dat abase, n am ed object s an d valu es can eit h er be valu es of

an y type, or object s of an y class. Con sequ en tly, OQL allows you t o qu er y
valu es or object s of an y type or class.
Note
Th e qu er y r esu lts sh own below ar e all given in th e Un ix gr aph ic for m .
Simple queries
Sim ple qu er ies can in volve differ en t t ypes of valu es:
• Atomic values
With at om ic valu es you can car r y ou t ar ith m et ic calcu lat ion s, e.g.,
2 * 2
Th is is a qu er y wh ich r et u r n s t h e in t eger 4.

Basic queries : Simple queries
• Struct values
You can also con sider th e valu e of th e object Globe of class Company as
a st r u ct (or t u ple) valu e wit h t h r ee at tr ibu t es.
Th e on ly oper at ion you can car r y ou t on a st r u ct is extr actin g a field,

e.g.,
Globe.name
Th is r et u r n s t h e n am e of t h e Globe Com pan y.
• List or array values
A list is an or der ed collect ion t h at allows du plicates an d you can

t h er efor e ext r act an y of it s elem en t s if you k n ow t h eir posit ion .
For exam ple, you can ext r act t h e f i r st elem en t of t h e list in clients as
follows.
Globe.clients[0]
In OQL, you cou n t list elem en t s fr om 0.
For OQL, an ar r ay beh aves t h e sam e way as a list .

2 Getting Started
• Call of a method
To apply a m et h od t o an object is a base qu er y, e.g.
Globe.title
Th is applies t h e m et h od title to t h e object Globe an d r et u r n s t h e

r esu lt of t h e m et h od title:
2.2 Select ... from ... where
Th e select from where clau se en ables you to ext r act t h ose elem en t s
m eetin g a specific con dition fr om a col l ec t i on . O2 collect ion s in clu de
set , bag (a m u lt i-set or set wit h du plicates), l i st (an in ser t able an d
dyn am ic ar r ay) or ar r ay .
Th e OQL qu er y h as t h e followin g str u ctu r e:

select: defin es t h e st r u ct u r e of t h e qu er y r esu lt
from: in t r odu ces t h e collect ion s again st wh ich t h e qu er y r u n s.
where: in t r odu ces a pr edicat e t h at filt er s t h e collect ion .
Th is sect ion n ow descr ibes h ow t o u se t h is clau se.
Set
A set is a n on -or der ed collect ion .
Th e m ost fr equ en t qu er y on a set is a f i l t er . Th is con sists of ex t r act i n g

t h e el em en t s of a set wh ich h ave cer t ain ch ar act er istics.

Select ... from ... where : Set
For exam ple:
select e
from e in Globe.employees
where e.salary > 200.00
Th is qu er y r et u r n s t h ose em ployees wor k in g at t h e In t er n at ion al Globe

wit h a salar y over 200:
Th e select clau se defin es th e qu er y r esu lt as t h e em ployees an d t h e

from clau se gives t h e set on wh ich t o r u n t h e qu er y. Th e var iable e
r epr esen t s each of it s elem en t s in t u r n . Th e where clau se filt er s t h e
em ployees so t h at t h ose ear n in g m or e t h an 200 ar e ext r act ed.
Th is qu er y t h er efor e bu ilds a collect ion of em ployees.
Th is collect ion is in fact a bag as du plicat es ar e accept ed. You can also
add t h e k eywor d distinct to elim in at e an y du plicat es fr om t h e
r esu lt in g bag an d t h en pr odu ce a t r u e set .
M or eover , you can access fr om e an y at tr ibu t es, e.g. salary an d get a

set of r eal n u m ber s. For exam ple:
select distinct e.salary

where e.position = "Reporter"
Th is gives a set of t h e salar ies of t h e Repor t er s:

2 Getting Started
Join
You can also u se a qu er y t o select fr om m or e t h an on e collect ion :
select e
from e in Globe.employees,
c in Globe.clients
where e.name = c.name
Th is qu er y r et u r n s t h e set of em ployees wh o h ave t h e sam e n am e as a

clien t . If t h er e is a clien t called Ken t an d an em ployee called Ken t , you
see t h e followin g win dow:
Path expressions
Object s ar e r elat ed to ot h er object s, an d in or der t o get t o t h e data it

n eeds, a qu er y can follow var iou s pat h s t h at st ar t fr om an y O2 object or
collect ion . For exam ple,
select distinct ord.what

from cl in Globe.clients,
ord in cl.order
where cl.name = "Haddock"
You obt ain t h e set of wh at t h e clien t (s) called Haddock bou gh t :

Select ... from ... where : Testing on nil
Testing on nil
Aft er you r applicat ion h as u pdat ed t h e database, you m ay fin d th at

som e object s ar e n ow equ al t o n il. You can t est for t h is u sin g OQL. For
exam ple, you can t est th at a clien t exist s an d if so, wh ich clien t h as
t h r ee or der s:
select c.name
from c in Globe.clients
where c!=nil and count (c.order) = 3
To sim plify pr ogr am m in g, OQL sk ips n il object s wh en t h ey ar e

en cou n t er ed. If a pat h expr ession con tain s a nil object , a pr edicat e is
always con sider ed false. Th is m ean s t h at th e pr eviou s expr ession can
be r ewr it t en as follows:
select c.name
from c in Globe.clients
where count (c.order) = 3
List or array
A list or an ar r ay is an or der ed collect ion t h at can con tain du plicate

elem en t s.
Sin ce it is or der ed, you m ay ext r act an y of it s elem en t s if you k n ow th eir

position . For exam ple:
Globe.clients[2]
Th is ext r act s t h e t h ir d elem en t of t h e list (t h e fir st elem en t is at posit ion

0).
As with sets you can filt er a list .

2 Getting Started
For exam ple: wh at ar e th e n am es of t h e clien t s wh o bu y t h e

In t er n at ion al Globe n ewspaper ?
select e.name
from e in Globe.clients
Th e r esu lt of t h is qu er y is a bag of t h e name of Globe clien ts:
Note
Th e qu er y r et u r n s a bag an d n ot a list . To r et u r n a list , you m u st defin e
an or der . See “Or der by” on page 35.
You can also add t h e k eywor d distinct t o a selection t o elim in at e an y

du plicat es fr om t h e r esu lt in g set .
Note
You can m an ipu lat e ver y com plex st r u ct u r es. A list can be m ade u p of
t u ples wh ich in t u r n can h ave a set at tr ibu t e, et c. Con sequ en t ly, you
h ave access t o all t h e em bedded com pon en t s of an object .
For m or e det ails, r efer t o Sect ion 2.3 for con str u ctin g qu er y r esu lts an d
Sect ion 2.7 for com bin in g oper at or s.

Constructing results
2.3 Constructing results
Th e st r u ct u r e of a qu er y r esu lt is ver y oft en im plicit . For exam ple, wh en

you ext r act t h e age field of an em ployee, wh ich is of t ype in t eger , you
obt ain an in t eger . Wh en you filt er a set, bag or list , you obtain a set , bag
or list depen din g on wh at you select .
H owever , you can also con str u ct a qu er y r esu lt wit h an explicit

st r u ct u r e u sin g t h e struct, set, bag, list an d array con st r u ct or s.
For exam ple, u sin g th e str u ct con st r u ct or :
select struct (employee: e.name,

position: e.position,
salary: e.salary)
or sim ply:
select e.name, e.position, e.salary

Th is qu er y gives th e n am e, posit ion an d salar y of t h e em ployees at t h e

In t er n at ion al Globe n ewspaper :

2 Getting Started
You can u se th e special "*" oper ator t o select all at tr ibu t es of t h e

elem en t s of a collect ion .
For exam ple:
select * from Globe.employees
Not e t h at in t h is exam ple you do n ot n eed t o defin e a var iable wit h

from.
You can also bu ild u p em bedded str u ct u r es sim ply by com bin in g
struct oper at or s.
For exam ple, t o get th e iden t it ies an d salar ies of all t h ose em ployees
wor k in g as r epor ter s an d older t h an 22.
select struct (employee: struct (name: e.name,

age: e.age),
salary: e.salary)
where e.position = "Reporter" and
e.age > 22

Constructing results : Creating an object
Th is qu er y gives a bag wit h on e elem en t :
Creating an object
You cr eat e valu es u sin g struct, list, array, bag an d set. In OQL,
you can also cr eat e object s u sin g t h e class n am e an d by in it ializin g th e
at t r ibu t es of you r ch oice. An y u n -in it ialized at t r ibu t es ar e set t o th e
defau lt valu e. For exam ple, t o cr eat e an object of t h e class Client:
Client (name: "Trent")
Th is cr eat es a t em por ar y object wit h th e n am e at tr ibu t e in it ialized t o

Trent.
You can th en m ak e t h e object per sist en t in t h e u su al way (r efer t o t h e

O 2 C, C++ an d J ava m an u als). Th e r esu lt of t h is qu er y is t h e n ew object .
An object collect ion can be cr eated in t h e sam e way. For exam ple, u se
t h e followin g qu er y t o cr eat e an o2 _l i st _Cl i en t collect ion .
o2_list_Client (list(Client(name:"John"),
(Client(name:"Jack")))

2 Getting Started
2.4 Operators
Th is sect ion ou t lin es t h e basic OQL oper ator s you can u se t o qu er y t h e

dat abase.
Count
You can qu er y t h e dat abase u sin g t h e count clau se.
For exam ple, t o fin d ou t h ow m an y em ployees t h er e ar e at t h e

In t er n at ion al Globe n ewspaper :
count (Globe.employees)
Th is qu er y r et u r n s an in t eger .
Oth er aggr egat e oper at or s ar e min, max, sum an d avg.
Define
You can n am e t h e r esu lt of a qu er y u sin g t h e define clau se. For

exam ple,
define MyEmployees as
select e
where e.name like "Sp*"
Th is n am es t h e r esu lt of t h e qu er y an d n ot th e qu er y itself.
Th e n am e MyEmployees can t h en be u sed in ot h er qu er ies. Nam ed

qu er ies gr eat ly im pr ove t h e legibilit y of com plex qu er ies.

Operators : Element
Note
You can on ly r eu se t h ese n am ed qu er ies in t h e sam e qu er y session ,
i.e., u p t o a com m i t or abor t poin t.
Element
Wh en you h ave a set or a bag t h at con t ain s a sin gle elem en t , you
ext r act th e elem en t dir ect ly u sin g t h e element oper at or . For exam ple,
element ( select e
where e.name = "Tintin")
Th is qu er y gives t h e r esu lt:
Exists
You can add a n ew per sisten t n am e to cover all t h e differ en t com pan ies
t h at exist :
name TheCompanies: list (Company);
You can n ow car r y ou t m or e com plex qu er ies, su ch as select in g wh ich

com pan y h as at least on e em ployee u n der t h e age of 23:
select c.name
from c in TheCompanies
where exists e in c.employees: e.age < 23

2 Getting Started
Th e an swer is a bag of n am es:
Group by
Th is oper at or gr ou ps t oget h er object s of a collect ion with t h e sam e valu e

for par t icu lar att r ibu t es.
For exam ple,
select *
group by e.salary
Th is gr ou ps t h e employees by salar y givin g a bag of two-at t r ibu t e

t u ples:

Operators : Group by
Th e fir st at tr ibu t e is th e salar y an d is called salary as specified. Th e

secon d is t h e set of object s (em ployees) wit h t h e sam e salar y an d is
called partition.
Th u s, t h e type of th e r esu lt of th is qu er y is:

bag (struct (salary: real,
partition: bag (struct (e:Employee))))
You can wor k on a par t it ion valu e by com pu t in g statistics on each

par tit ion .
Th e followin g qu er y r et u r n s a bag of t wo-att r ibu t e t u ples with t h e salar y

an d t h e n u m ber of em ployees ear n in g each of t h ese salar ies:
select salary, number: count (partition)

group by e.salary

2 Getting Started
You get t h e followin g type of win dow:
Fin ally you can filt er t h e r esu lt of gr ou pin g by applyin g pr edicat es on

aggr egat ive oper at ion s. You can select gr ou ps wit h con dit ion s on
aver age, cou n t , su m , m axim u m an d m in im u m valu es of par tit ion s. You
do th is u sin g t h e having clau se.
For exam ple, if you wish t o select on ly gr ou ps wit h m or e t h an on e

salar y:
select salary, number: count (partition)

group by e.salary
having count (partition) > 1
Th e followin g scr een is displayed.

Operators
Like
Th e like oper at or allows you t o t est par t of a ch ar act er st r in g. Th e "*"

ch ar act er stan ds for an y st r in g in clu din g t h e em pt y st r in g.
Th e qu er y:
select distinct e.salary

where e.name like "Sp*"
r et u r n s t h e salar ies of all em ployees wh ose n am es begin wit h Sp:
Order by
You can obt ain a sor t ed list u sin g t h e order by clau se. For exam ple, t o
sor t t h e em ployees by n am e an d by age:
select e from e in Globe.employees order by e.name, e.age
Th e r esu lt of an order by oper ation is always a l i st , even t h ou gh t h e

sou r ce of th e object s to sor t (t h e set employees, in th is case) m ay be a
set.
Th is qu er y r et u r n s a list of em ployees; t h eir or der is alph abet ical by

n am e, an d t h en by age:

2 Getting Started
2.5 Set operators
Th e st an dar d set oper at ion s ar e defin ed on set an d bag: union,

intersect (in t er section ) an d except (differ en ce).
You can also wr it e th ese oper at or s as + (u n ion ), * (in t er section ) an d -

(differ en ce).
You can defin e an ot h er qu er y YourEmployees:
define YourEmployees as
select e
where e.name = "Tintin"
Now you can com bin e t h e qu er ies by addin g t ogeth er t wo set s:
MyEmployees + YourEmployees
Th e sim ple addit ion (u n ion ) of t h e two set s of em ployees gives you a set
con tain in g t h e an swer :

Conversions
Th e pick oper at or is defin ed on a set or a bag. It r et u r n s an elem en t of

t h e collect ion , ch osen ar bit r ar ily.
For exam ple:
pick (MyEmployees)
2.6 Conversions
List to set
To con ver t a list or ar r ay t o a set you u se t h e listtoset oper at or .
Exam ple:
listtoset (Globe.clients) intersect

listtoset (TheCompanies[2].clients)
Set to list
To con ver t a set or bag t o a list you m u st or der it.

2 Getting Started
For exam ple:
select e from e in the_employees order by e.salary
r et u r n s a list sor t ed by salar y.
You can also u se "*" t o bu ild a list . Th is avoids a r eal sor t algor it h m an d
sh ou ld be u sed wh en th e fin al or der of t h e list is u n im por t an t .
select e from e in the_employees order by *
r et u r n s a list of all em ployees in r an dom or der .
Flatten
To con ver t a collection of collect ion s in t o a flat t en ed collect ion you u se

t h e flatten oper at or .
For exam ple:
flatten (select distinct c.clients

from c in TheCompanies)
r et u r n s a set of clien t s.
2.7 Combining operators
OQL is a com plet e fu n ct ion al lan gu age in t h at ever y oper at or can be

com bin ed wit h an y ot h er oper at or .
You can u se com bin e an d bu ild u p oper at or s, u n iver sal an d exist en t ial
qu an t ifier s, wild-car d oper at or s, st an dar d set oper at or s as well as list
con cat en ation , or der in g an d gr ou pin g oper at or s on set s, bags an d list s.

Indexes : Flatten
For exam ple:
select cl.name, paid: sum (select p.price from p in

cl.order)
from cl in Globe.clients
where count (cl.order) >2
order by sum (select p.price from p in cl.order)
Th is sor t s all t h e clien t s, wit h m or e t h an t wo or der s, by h ow m u ch th ey

h ave paid t o t h e com pan y:
2.8 Indexes
Wh en OQL ext r act s on e or m or e elem en ts fr om a collection u sin g a

specified pr edicate or or der oper at ion , it m u st scan th e wh ole collect ion
t o fin d t h e r equ ir ed elem en t s.
You can im pr ove per for m an ce if th e syst em is able t o dir ect ly access t h e
m atch in g elem en t s. Th is is don e by est ablish in g an in dex on a
collection .
An in dex m aps a k ey t o on e or m or e elem en ts of a n am ed collect ion .
Wh en ever a pr ogr am sear ch es for elem en t s of t h e collect ion u sin g t h e

k ey, t h e syst em u ses th e in dex t o qu ick en t h e sear ch .
Th is en tir e pr ocess is t ot ally t r an spar en t t o you as t h e pr ogr am m er . Th e

absen ce or pr esen ce of an in dex h as n o effect on pr ogr am code, on ly on
syst em per for m an ce.

2 Getting Started
Th e ben efit s of in dexes in clu de t h e followin g:

• Com plet e logical an d ph ysical in depen den ce
You do n ot h ave to ch an ge you r qu er y t o u se in dexin g. In dexes ar e

cr eat ed by adm in istr at ion com m an ds.
• High per for m an ce du r in g u se an d m ain t en an ce
Access fr om an in dex m ean s con st an t t im e access ir r egar dless of t h e

size of t h e collect ion .
Exam ple:
• Defin in g an in dex for all em ployees:
create index the_employees on salary;
• Th e followin g qu er y will th en be opt im ized:
select e
from e in the_employees
where e.salary ≥ 1000 and e.salary ≤ 5000
Display index
The "display index" query allows you to see how OQL will use existing indexes in que-
ries you will make. To stop this feature, execute "display index" again.
Note
Please r efer t o t h e Syst em Adm in ist r at ion Gu ide for det ails on h ow t o
cr eat e an d m an age in dexes.

Chapter Summary : Display index
2.9 Chapter Summary
Th is ch apt er h as cover ed t h e followin g poin t s:
• Basic queries
To qu er y an y database you n eed var iou s en t r y poin t s. In O2 t h ese ar e

t h e n am ed i n st an ces — i.e. n am ed object s an d n am ed valu es.
Sim ple qu er ies in clu de: callin g an en tr y poin t , applyin g a m et h od t o a

n am ed object , ext r act in g a field, et c.
• Select..from..where
Th e select ... from ... where clau se en ables you to ext r act t h ose
elem en t s m eet in g a specific con dition fr om a list or set .
• Constructing results
Th e st r u ct u r e of a qu er y r esu lt is ver y oft en im plicit. However , you can

also con st r u ct a qu er y r esu lt wit h an explicit st r u ct u r e u sin g t h e
struct, set an d list con st r u ctor s.
• Operators
OQL oper ator s in clu de define, element, order by, count, exists,
group by an d like. Th ey can be com bin ed for com plex qu er ies.
• Indexes
Wh en OQL ext r act s on e or m or e elem en ts fr om a set or list it scan s t h e

wh ole collect ion t o fin d t h e desir ed elem en t s. You can im pr ove
per for m an ce if you t ell th e syst em exact ly wh er e t o look .Th is is don e by
establish in g an in dex on a collect ion . An in dex m aps a k ey t o on e or
m or e elem en t s of a n am ed collect ion .

2 Getting Started

3 OQL Rationale
3
Most com m er cial object dat abase syst em s n ow h ave a com m on data
m odel based on t h e OM G object m odel. Th is data m odel is defin ed in t h e
OD MG 93 r epor t . Based on t h is OD MG m odel, t h e qu er y lan gu age OQL
was defin ed an d adopt ed by t h e ODM G gr ou p.
Th is ch apt er is divided as follows:

• Th e ODMG st an dar d
• Th e ODMG m odel
• OQL by exam ple

3 OQL Rationale
3.1 The ODMG standard
Th e ODMG st an dar d cover s t h e followin g poin t s:
1. an object m odel
2. an object defin it ion lan gu age for th is m odel, wit h it s own syn t ax, OD L
or its expr ession t h r ou gh C++ an d Sm allt alk syn t ax
3. an object qu er y lan gu age for t h is m odel, OQL
4. a C++ bin din g allowin g C++ pr ogr am s to oper at e on a database

com plian t t o t h e object m odel
5. a J ava bin din g allowin g J ava pr ogr am s t o oper ate on a dat abase
com plian t t o t h e object m odel
3.2 The ODMG model
Th e ODMG object m odel su ppor t s t h e n ot ion of classes, of object s wit h

at t r ibu t es an d m et h ods, of in h er it an ce an d specializat ion . It offer s t h e
classical t ypes t o deal with st r in g, dat e, t im e, t im e in t er val an d
t im est am p. An d fin ally, it su ppor t s t h e n ot ion s of r el at i on sh i p s an d
col l ect i on s .
ODMG-93 in t r odu ces a set of pr edefin ed gen er ic collection classes:

Set<T>, Bag<T> (a m u lt i-set , i.e., a set wit h r epeat ed elem en t s),
Varray<T> (a var iable size ar r ay), List<T> (a var iable size an d
in ser t able ar r ay).
An object r efer s t o an oth er object t h r ou gh a Ref. A Ref beh aves as a C++

poin t er , bu t wit h m or e sem an tics: it is a per sist en t poin t er bu t
r efer en tial in t egr it y can be expr essed in t h e sch em a an d m ain t ain ed by
t h e syst em . Th is is don e by declar in g t h e r elat ion sh ip as sym m et r ic.
Com bin in g r elat ion sh ips an d collect ion s, an object can r elat e t o m or e
t h an on e object t h r ou gh a r elat ion sh ip. Th er efor e, 1-1 r elat ion sh ips, 1-n
r elat ion sh ips an d n -m r elat ion sh ips can be su ppor ted wit h t h e sam e
gu ar an t ee of r efer en t ial in t egr it y.
ODMG-93 en ables explicit n am es t o be given t o an y object or collect ion .

Fr om a n am e, an applicat ion can dir ectly r et r ieve t h e n am ed object an d

The ODMG model
t h en oper at e on it or n avigat e t o oth er object s followin g t h e r elation sh ip

lin k s.
Let u s n ow pr esen t t h e m odel t h r ou gh a com plet e exam ple. We u se h er e

C++ syn t ax for ou r object defin it ion lan gu age, followin g t h e ODM G C++
ODL bin din g (i.e., th e way of defin in g an OD MG sch em a u sin g t h e
st an dar d C++ lan gu age).

3 OQL Rationale
class Person{
d_String name;
d_Date birthdate;
d_Set < d_Ref<Person> > parents
inverse children;
d_List < d_Ref<Person> > children
inverse parents;
d_Ref<Apartment> lives_in
inverse is_used_by;
Meth ods
Person();
Con st r u ct or : a n ew Per son is bor n
int age();
Retu r n s an atom ic t ype
void marriage( d_Ref<Person> spouse);

Th is per son gets a spou se
void birth( d_Ref<Person> child);

Th is per son get s a ch ild
d_Set< d_Ref<Person> > ancestors;;
Set of an cest or s of t h is Per son
virtual d_Set<d_String> activities();
A r edefin able m et h od
};
class Employee: Person{

A su bclass of Per son
float salary;
M et h od
Th is m eth od is r edefin ed
};

The ODMG model
class Student: Person{

A su bclass of Per son
d_String grade;
M et h od
Th e m et h od is r edefin ed
};

3 OQL Rationale
class Address{
int number;
d_String street;
};
class Building{
Address address;
A com plex valu e Address em bedded in t h is object
d_List< <d_Ref<Apartment> > apartments

inverse building;
M et h od
d_Ref<Apartment> less_expensive();
};
class Apartment{
int number;
d_Ref<Building> building;
d_Ref<Person> is_used_by
inverse lives_in;
};
d_Set< d_Ref<Person> > Persons;

All per son s an d em ployees
d_Set< d_Ref<Apartment> > Apartments;

Th e Apar t em en t class ext en t
d_Set< d_Ref<Apartment> > Vacancy;

Th e set of vacan t appar t em en t s
d_List< d_Ref<Apartment> > Directory;

Th e list of appar t em en t s or der ed by t h eir n u m ber of r oom s
};

OQL by example : Path expressions
3.3 OQL by example
Let u s n ow t u r n t o an exam ple based pr esen t at ion of OQL. We u se t h e

dat abase descr ibed in t h e pr eviou s sect ion , an d in st ead of t r yin g to be
exh au st ive, we give an over view of t h e m ost r elevan t feat u r es.
Path expressions
As explain ed above, on e can en t er a dat abase t h r ou gh a n am ed object ,

bu t m or e gen er ally as soon as on e get s an object (wh ich com es, for
in st an ce, fr om a C++ expr ession ), on e n eeds a way t o “n avigat e” fr om it
an d r each t h e r igh t dat a on e n eeds. To do t h is in OQL, we u se t h e “.” (or
in differ en t ly “->”) n ot at ion wh ich en ables u s t o go in side com plex
object s, as well as t o follow sim ple r elation sh ips. For in st an ce, given a
Per son p t o k n ow t h e n am e of t h e st r eet wh er e th is per son lives, we u se
t h e followin g OQL qu er y:
p.lives_in.building.adddress.street
Th is qu er y st ar t s fr om a Person, tr aver ses an Apartment, ar r ives in a

Building an d goes in side t h e com plex at t r ibu te of t ype Address to get
t h e st r eet n am e.
Th is exam ple t r eated 1-1 r elation sh ip, let u s n ow look at n -p

r elat ion sh ips. Assu m e we wan t t h e n am es of t h e ch ildr en of t h e per son
p. We can n ot wr it e: p.children.name becau se children is a List of
r efer en ces, so t h e in t er pr etation of t h e r esu lt of t h is qu er y wou ld be
u n defin ed. In t u it ively, t h e r esu lt sh ou ld be a collect ion of n am es, bu t we
n eed an u n am bigu ou s n otation t o t r aver se su ch a m u lt iple r elat ion sh ip
an d we u se t h e select-from-where clau se t o h an dle collect ion s ju st as
in SQL.
select c.name
from c in p.children
Th e r esu lt of t h is qu er y is a valu e of type Bag<St r in g>. If we wan t t o get

a Set , we sim ply dr op du plicat es, lik e in SQL by u sin g t h e distinct
k eywor d.
select distinct c.name

from c in p.children

3 OQL Rationale
Now we h ave a m ean s t o n avigat e fr om an y object to an y ot h er object

followin g an y r elation sh ip an d en t er in g an y com plex su bvalu es of an
object .
For in st an ce, we wan t th e set of addr esses of t h e children of each

Person of t h e dat abase. We k n ow t h e collection n am ed Persons
con tain s all t h e per son s of th e dat abase. We h ave n ow to t r aver se t wo
collect ion s: Persons an d Person::children. Lik e in SQL, t h e select-
from oper at or allows u s t o qu er y m or e t h an on e collection . Th ese
collect ion s th en appear in t h e from par t . In OQL, a collect ion in t h e
from par t can be der ived fr om a pr eviou s on e by followin g a pat h wh ich
st ar t s fr om it , an d t h e an swer is:
select c.lives_in.building.address
from p in Persons,
c in p.children
Th is qu er y in spect s all ch ildr en of all per son s. It s r esu lt is of t h e t ype

Bag<Addr ess>.
• Predicate
Of cou r se, t h e where clau se can be u sed t o defin e an y pr edicat e wh ich

t h en ser ves t o select th e dat a m atch in g t h e pr edicate. For in st an ce, t o
r est r ict t h e pr eviou s r esu lt t o t h e people livin g on Main St r eet , an d
h avin g at least 2 ch ildr en wh o do n ot live in t h e sam e apar tm en t as t h eir
par en ts, t h e qu er y is:
select c.lives_in.building.address
from p in Persons,
c in p.children
where
p.lives_in.building.address.street
= "Main Street" and
count(p.children) >= 2 and
c.lives_in != p.lives_in
• Join
In t h e from clau se, collect ion s wh ich ar e n ot dir ect ly r elat ed can also be
declar ed. As in SQL, t h is allows u s t o com pu t e “join s” between t h ese
collect ion s. For in stan ce, t o fin d t h e people livin g in a st r eet an d h avin g
t h e sam e n am e as t h is st r eet , we do th e followin g: th e Building ext en t
is n ot defin ed in th e sch em a, so we h ave t o com pu t e it fr om t h e
Apartments ext en t . To com pu te t h is in t er m ediat e r esu lt , we n eed a
select-from oper ator again . So t h e join is don e as follows:

OQL by example : Data manipulation
select p
from p in Persons,
b in (select distinct a.building
from a in Apartments)
where p.name = b.address.street
Th is qu er y h igh ligh t s t h e n eed for an opt im izer . In t h is case, t h e in n er

select su bqu er y m u st be com pu t ed on ce an d n ot for each per son !
Data manipulation
A m ajor differ en ce bet ween OQL an d SQL is t h at an object qu er y

lan gu age m u st m an ipu lat e com plex valu es. OQL can t h er efor e cr eate
an y com plex valu e as a fin al r esu lt , or in side t h e qu er y as in ter m ediate
com pu tation .
To bu ild a com plex valu e, OQL u ses t h e con st r u ct or s struct, set, bag,
list an d array. For exam ple, t o obt ain t h e addr esses of t h e ch ildr en of
each per son , alon g wit h th e addr ess of th is per son , we u se t h e followin g
qu er y:
select struct(me: p.name,

my_address:
p.lives_in.building.address,
my_children:
(select struct(
name: c.name,
address:
c.lives_in.building.address)
from c in p.children))
from p in Persons

3 OQL Rationale
Th is gives, for each per son , t h e n am e, t h e addr ess, an d t h e n am e an d

addr ess of each ch ild. Th e t ype of t h e r esu lt is a bag of t h e followin g
st r u ct :
struct{
String me;
Address my_address;
Bag<struct{String name;
Address address}> my_children;
}
OQL can also cr eat e com plex object s. For th is pu r pose, it u ses t h e n am e
of a class as a con st r u ct or . At t r ibu tes of t h e object of t h is class can be
in itialized explicit ly by an y valid expr ession .
For in st an ce, t o cr eat e a n ew bu ildin g wit h 2 apar t m en t s, if t h er e is a

t ype n am e in t h e sch em a, called List_apart, defin ed by:
tydedef List<<Ref<Apartment> > List_apart;
t h e qu er y is:
Building(
address:
Address (number: 10,
street: "Main street"),
apartments:
List_apart(list(Apartment(number: 1),
Apartment(number: 2))))
Method invoking
OQL allows m et h od calls wit h or wit h ou t par am et er s an ywh er e t h e

r esu lt t ype of t h e m et h od m at ch es th e expect ed t ype in t h e qu er y. In
case th e m et h od h as n o par am eter , t h e syn t ax for m eth od call is t h e
sam e as for accessin g an at t r ibu te or t r aver sin g a r elat ion sh ip. If t h e
m et h od h as par am eter s, t h ese ar e given bet ween par en t h esis. Th is
flexible syn t ax fr ees t h e u ser fr om k n owin g wh eth er t h e pr oper t y is

OQL by example : Polymorphism
st or ed (an at t r ibu t e) or com pu t ed (a m et h od). For in st an ce, t o get t h e

age of t h e oldest ch ild of “Paul”, we wr it e t h e followin g qu er y:
select max(select c.age

from c in p.children)
from p in Persons,
where p.name = "Paul"
Of cou r se, a m et h od can r etu r n a com plex object or a collect ion an d

t h en its call can be em bedded in a com plex pat h expr ession . For
in st an ce, in side a bu ildin g b, t o k n ow wh o in h abits t h ose least
expen sive apar tm en t, we u se th e followin g pat h expr ession :
b.less_expensive.is_used_by.name
Alt h ou gh less_expensive is a m et h od we “t r aver se” it as if it wer e a

r elat ion sh ip.
Polymorphism
A m ajor con t r ibu t ion of object tech n ology is th e possibilit y of

m an ipu lat in g polym or ph ic collect ion s, an d t h an k s t o t h e “lat e bin din g”
m ech an ism , t o car r y ou t gen er ic act ion s on th e elem en t s of t h ese
collection s. For in st an ce, t h e set Persons con t ain s object s of class
Person, Employee an d Student. So far , all th e qu er ies again st t h e
Persons exten t dealt wit h th e t h r ee possible classes of objects of t h e
collection . A qu er y is an expr ession wh ose oper ator s oper at e on t yped
oper an ds. It is cor r ect if t h e type of oper an ds m at ch es t h ose r equ ir ed by
t h e oper at or s. In th is sen se, OQL is a t yped qu er y lan gu age. Th is is a
n ecessar y con dit ion for an efficien t qu er y optim izer . Wh en a
polym or ph ic collect ion is filter ed (for in stan ce Persons), it s elem en t s
ar e st at ically k n own t o be of th at class (for in stan ce Person). Th is
m ean s t h at a pr oper t y of a su bclass (att r ibu t e or m et h od) can n ot be
applied to su ch an elem en t , except in t wo im por tan t cases: lat e bin din g
t o a m et h od, or explicit class in dicat ion .
• Late binding
To list th e act ivit ies of each per son , we u se t h e followin g qu er y:
select p.activities
from p in Persons

3 OQL Rationale
activities is a m et h od wh ich h as 3 in car n at ion s, on e for Student,

on e for Employee an d on e for gen er ic Person. Depen din g on t h e k in d of
per son of t h e cu r r en t p, th e r igh t in car n ation is called.
• Class indicator
To go down t h e class h ier ar ch y, a u ser m ay explicit ly declar e th e class of

an object t h at can n ot be in fer r ed st at ically. Th e in ter pr et er t h en h as to
ch eck at r u n t im e, t h at t h is object act u ally belon gs t o t h e in dicated class
(or on e of it s su bclasses).
For exam ple, assu m in g we k n ow t h at on ly “st u den ts” spen d t h eir t im e

in followin g a cou r se of st u dy, we can select t h ose per son s an d get t h eir
gr ade. We explicit ly in dicat e in th e qu er y t h at t h ese per son s ar e
st u den t s:
select ((Student)p). grade

from p in Persons
where "course of study" in p.activities
Operator composition
OQL is a pu r ely fu n ct ion al lan gu age: all oper at or s can be com posed
fr eely as lon g as t h e t ype syst em is r espect ed. Th is is wh y t h e lan gu age
is so sim ple an d it s m an u al so sh or t . Th is ph ilosoph y is differ en t fr om
SQL, wh ich is an ad-h oc lan gu age wh ose com posit ion r u les ar e n ot
or t h ogon al t o t h e type syst em . Adopt in g a com plet e or th ogon alit y,
m ak es t h e lan gu age easier t o lear n wit h ou t losin g t h e SQL st yle for
sim ple qu er ies. Am on g t h e oper at or s offer ed by OQL bu t n ot yet
in t r odu ced, we can m en t ion t h e set oper at or s (union, intersect,
except), t h e u n iver sal (forall) an d exist en t ial qu an t ifier s (exists), t h e
order by an d group by oper at or s an d t h e aggr egat ive oper at or s
(count, sum, min, max an d avg).
To illu st r at e t h is fr ee com posit ion of oper at or s, let u s wr it e a r at h er

elabor at e qu er y. We wan t t o k n ow th e n am e of t h e str eet wh er e t h e set
of em ployees livin g on t h at st r eet an d h ave t h e sm allest aver age salar y,
com par ed t o t h e sets of em ployees livin g in oth er st r eet s. We pr oceed
st ep by st ep an d u se t h e define OQL in str u ction t o evalu at e t em por ar y
r esu lts.

OQL by example : Operator composition
1. Bu ild t h e ext en t of class Employee (n ot su ppor t ed dir ect ly by t h e

sch em a)
define Employees as
select (Employee) p
from p in Persons
where "has a job" in p.activities
2. Gr ou p th e em ployees by st r eet an d com pu t e t h e aver age salar y in

each st r eet
define salary_map as
select street,
average_salary: avg (select p.e.salary
from partition p)
from e in Employees
group by e.lives_in.building.address.street
Th e group by oper at or split s t h e em ployees in to par t ition s,

accor din g t o t h e cr it er ion (t h e n am e of t h e st r eet wh er e th is per son
lives). Th e select clau se com pu tes, in each par t it ion , th e aver age of
t h e salar ies of t h e em ployees belon gin g t o t h is par tit ion .
Th e r esu lt of t h e qu er y is of t ype:
Bag<struct{String street;
float average_salary;}>
3. Sor t th is set by salar y
define sorted_salary_map as
select s from s in salary_map
order by s.average_salary

3 OQL Rationale
Th e r esu lt is of t ype:
List<struct{String street;
float average_salary;}>
4. Now get t h e sm allest salar y (t h e fir st in th e list) an d t ak e t h e

cor r espon din g st r eet n am e. Th is is t h e fin al r esu lt .
sorted_salary_map[0].street
In a sin gle qu er y, we cou ld h ave wr it ten :
(select street,
average_salary: avg (select p.e.salary
from partition p)
from e in (select (Employee) p
from p in Persons
where "has a job" in p.activities)
group by e.lives_in.building.address.street
order by avg (select p.e.salary from partition p))
[0]. street

4
4 O QL Re fer ence
Th is ch apt er gives t h e fu ll r efer en cial in for m at ion of t h e object qu er y

lan gu age OQL.
Th e ch apt er is divided in t o t h e followin g sect ion s:

• In t r odu ct ion
• Pr in ciples
• Lan gu age D efin it ion
• Syn t act ical Abbr eviation s
• OQL BNF
Th e in for m ation given below is th e sam e as th at of th e OD MG stan dar d 1

wit h n ot es added on h ow t o u se th is lan gu age wit h O2 .
1. Th e Object Dat abase St an dar d: ODMG - 93. At wood, Du h l, Ferr an , Loom is an d Wade.
Edit ed by R.G.G. Catt ell. © 1996 M organ Kau fm an Pu blish ers.

4
4.1 Introduction
In t h is ch apt er , a for m al an d com plet e defin it ion of t h e lan gu age is

given . For each featu r e of t h e lan gu age, we give t h e syn t ax, it s
sem an t ics, an d an exam ple. Alt er n at e syn t ax for som e feat u r es ar e
descr ibed in Sect ion 4.4, wh ich com plet es OQL in or der t o accept an y
syn t act ical for m of SQL.
Th e ch apter en ds with t h e for m al syn t ax wh ich is given in Sect ion 4.5
4.2 Principles
Ou r design is based on t h e followin g pr in ciples an d assu m pt ion s:

• OQL r elies on t h e ODMG object m odel.
• OQL is a su per set of t h e st an dar d SQL par t wh ich allows you t o qu er y
a dat abase. Th u s, an y select SQL sen t en ce wh ich r u n s on r elat ion al
t ables, wor k s with t h e sam e syn t ax an d sem an t ics on collect ion s of
ODMG object s. Ext en sion s con cer n Object Or ien ted n ot ion s, lik e
com plex object s, object iden t it y, pat h expr ession , polym or ph ism ,
oper at ion in vocat ion , lat e bin din g et c...
• OQL pr ovides h igh -level pr im it ives t o deal wit h set s of object s bu t
does n ot r est r ict it s at ten tion t o t h is collection con st r u ct . Th u s, it
also pr ovides pr im it ives t o deal wit h str u ct u r es, list s, ar r ays, an d
t r eat s all su ch con st r u ct s wit h t h e sam e efficien cy.
• OQL is a fu n ct ion al lan gu age wh er e oper at or s can fr eely be com posed,
as soon as t h e oper an ds r espect th e t ype syst em . Th is is a
con sequ en ce of t h e fact t h at t h e r esu lt of an y qu er y h as a t ype wh ich
belon gs t o t h e ODMG t ype m odel, an d t h u s can be qu er ied again .
• OQL is n ot com pu t at ion ally com plet e. It is an easy to u se qu er y
lan gu age wh ich pr ovides easy access t o an object database.
• Based on t h e sam e t ype syst em , OQL can be in vok ed dir ect ly fr om
wit h in pr ogr am m in g lan gu ages for wh ich an OD MG bin din g is
defin ed, e.g., C++. Con ver sely, OQL can in vok e oper at ion s
pr ogr am m ed in t h ese lan gu ages.
• OQL does n ot pr ovide explicit u pdate oper at or s bu t r at h er can in vok e
oper at ion s defin ed on objects for th at pu r pose, an d th u s does n ot
br each t h e sem an t ics of an Object D at abase wh ich , by defin ition , is
m an aged by t h e "m et h ods" defin ed on t h e objects.
• OQL pr ovides declar at ive access to object s. Th u s OQL qu er ies can be
easily opt im ized by vir t u e of t h is declar at ive n atu r e.
• Th e for m al sem an t ics of OQL can easily be defin ed.

Language Definition : Query Program
4.3 Language Definition
OQL is an "expr ession " lan gu age. A qu er y expr ession is bu ilt fr om t yped
oper an ds com posed r ecu r sively by oper ator s. We will u se th e t er m
expression t o design at e a valid qu er y in t h is sect ion .
4.3.1 Query Program
A qu er y pr ogr am con sist s of a (possibly em pt y) set of qu er y defin it ion

expr ession s followed by an expr ession , wh ich is evalu at ed as t h e qu er y
it self. Th e set of qu er y defin it ion expr ession s is n on r ecu r sive (alt h ou gh
a qu er y m ay call an oper ation wh ich issu es a qu er y r ecu r sively).
For exam ple:
define jones as select distinct x from Students x

where x.name = "Jones";
select distinct student_id from jones
Th is defin es th e set jones of st u den t s n am ed J on es, an d evalu ates t h e

set of t h eir student_ids.
O2 note
Wit h t h e O2 qu er y in t er pr et er you u se CTRL -D (on Un ix) or CTRL-Z (On
Win dows) bet ween t wo qu er ies r at h er t h at ";".
4.3.2 Named Query Definition

If q is an iden t ifier an d e is a qu er y expr ession , t h en define q as e is
a qu er y defin it ion expr ession wh ich defin es t h e qu er y wit h n am e q.
Exam ple:
define Does as select x from Student x
where x.name ="Doe"

4
Th is st at em en t defin es Does as a qu er y r et u r n in g a bag con tain in g all t h e

st u den t s wh ose n am e is Doe.
define Doe as element(select x from Student x
where x.name="Doe")
Th is st at em en t defin es Doe as a qu er y wh ich r et u r n s t h e st u den t wh ose

n am e is D oe (if t h er e is on ly on e, ot h er wise an except ion is r aised).
O2 note
• def i n e oper at ion is available on ly wit h t h e in ter act ive qu er y
in t er pr et er . It h as n o m ean in g for OQL em bedded in pr ogr am m in g
lan gu ages (C++, Sm allt alk , O 2 C) becau se st an dar d pr ogr am m in g
lan gu age var iables can be u sed for t h at pu r pose.
• A defin ed n am e is valid u p t o t h e n ext com m it or abor t
• You can get t h e list of cu r r en t defin ed qu er ies by t ypin g t h e qu er y:
d i spl ay qu er i es
4.3.3 Elementary Expressions
4.3.3.1 Atomic Literals

If l is an at om ic lit er al, t h en l is an expr ession wh ose valu e is t h e lit er al
it self.
Lit er als h ave t h e u su al syn tax:
• Object Lit er al: n il
• Boolean Liter al: false, tr u e
• In t eger Lit er al: sequ en ce of digit s, e.g, 27
• Float Lit er al: m an t issa/ expon en t . Th e expon en t is opt ion al, e.g., 3.14
or 314.16e-2
• Ch ar act er Lit er al: ch ar act er bet ween sim ple qu ot es, e.g., ’z’
• St r in g Lit er al: ch ar act er st r in g bet ween dou ble qu ot e, e.g.,"a st r in g"
4.3.3.2 Named Objects

If e is a n am ed object , t h en e is an expr ession . It defin es th e en t it y
at t ach ed t o th e n am e.

Language Definition : Construction Expressions
Exam ple:
Students
Th is qu er y defin es t h e set of st u den t s. We h ave assu m ed h er e t h at t h e

n am e Students exist s wh ich cor r espon ds t o t h e ext en t of objects of t h e
class Student.
4.3.3.3 Iterator Variable

If x is a var iable declar ed in a fr om par t of a select -fr om -wh er e..., t h en x
is an expr ession wh ose valu e is t h e cu r r en t elem en t of t h e it er at ion over
t h e cor r espon din g collect ion .
4.3.3.4 Named Query

If define q as e is a qu er y defin it ion expr ession , t h en q is an
expr ession .
Exam ple:
Doe
Th is qu er y r et u r n s t h e st u den t wit h n am e Doe. It r efer s t o t h e qu er y

defin ition expr ession declar ed in Sect ion 4.3.2.
4.3.4 Construction Expressions
4.3.4.1 Constructing Objects

If t is a t ype n am e, p1, p2, ...,pn ar e pr oper t ies of t, an d e1, e2,
...,en ar e expr ession s, th en t ( p1: e1..., pn: en ) is an expr ession .
Th is defin es a n ew object of t ype t wh ose pr oper t ies p1, p2, ...,pn
ar e in it ialized wit h t h e expr ession s e1, e2, ...,en. Th e t ype of ei m u st
be com pat ible wit h t h e t ype of pi.
If t is a t ype n am e of a collection an d e is a collect ion lit er al, t h en t(e)
is a collection object . Th e t ype of e m u st be com pat ible wit h t.
Exam ples:
Employee (name: "Peter", boss: Chairman)
Th is cr eat es a m u t able Em ployee object .

4
vectint (set(1,3,10))
Th is cr eates a m u t able set object (assu m in g t h at vect i n t is t h e n am e of

a class wh ose type is Bag<in t>).
4.3.4.2 Constructing Structures

If p1, p2, ...,pn ar e pr oper t y n am es, an d e1, e2, ..., en ar e
expr ession s, t h en
struct (p1: e1, p2: e2, ..., pn: en)
is an expr ession . It defin es t h e st r u ct u r e t ak in g valu es e1, e2, ..., en
on pr oper ties p1, p2, ...,pn.
Not e t h at t h is dyn am ically cr eates an in stan ce of t h e t ype struct(p1:
t1, p2: t2, ..., pn: tn) if ti is t h e t ype of ei.
Exam ple:
struct(name: "Peter", age: 25);
Th is r et u r n s a st r u ct u r e with t wo at t r ibu t es name an d age t ak in g

r espect ive valu es Peter an d 25.
See also abbr eviat ed syn tax in som e con t ext s, in Sect ion 4.4.1.
4.3.4.3 Constructing Sets

If e1, e2, ..., en ar e expr ession s, t h en set(e1, e2, ..., en) is an
expr ession . It defin es t h e set con tain in g t h e elem en t s e1, e2, ..., en.
It cr eat es a set in st an ce.
Exam ple:
set(1,2,3)
Th is r et u r n s a set con sist in g of t h e t h r ee elem en t s 1, 2, an d 3.
4.3.4.4 Constructing Lists

If e1, e2, ..., en ar e expr ession s, t h en
list(e1, e2, ..., en) or sim ply (e1, e2, ..., en)
ar e expr ession s. Th ey defin e th e list h avin g elem en t s e1, e2, ..., en.
Th ey cr eat e a list in st an ce.
If m in , m ax ar e t wo expr ession s of in t eger or ch ar act er t ypes, su ch t h at
m in < m ax, t h en

Language Definition : Construction Expressions
list(min .. max) or sim ply (min .. max)

ar e expr ession s wh ose valu e is: list (m in , m in +1, ... m ax-1, m ax)
Exam ple:
list(1,2,2,3)
Th is r et u r n s a list of fou r elem en t s.
Exam ple:
list(3 .. 5)
Th is r et u r n s t h e list (3,4,5)
O2 note
In O2 t h e k eywor d l i st is m an dat or y.
4.3.4.5 Constructing Bags

If e1, e2, ..., en ar e expr ession s, t h en bag(e1, e2, ..., en) is an
expr ession . It defin es t h e bag h avin g elem en t s e1, e2, ..., en. It
cr eat es a bag in st an ce.
Exam ple:
bag(1,1,2,3,3)
Th is r et u r n s a bag of five elem en t s.
4.3.4.6 Constructing Arrays

If e1, e2, ..., en ar e expr ession s, t h en array(e1, e2, ..., en) is
an expr ession . It defin es an ar r ay h avin g elem en t s e1, e2, ..., en. It
cr eat es an ar r ay in st an ce.
Exam ple:
array(3,4,2,1,1)
Th is r et u r n s an ar r ay of five elem en t s.

4
4.3.5 Atomic Types Expressions
4.3.5.1 Unary Expressions

If e is an expr ession an d <op> is a u n ar y oper at ion valid for th e t ype of
e, t h en <op> e is an expr ession . It defin es t h e r esu lt of applyin g <op> to
e.
Ar it h m et ic u n ar y oper at or s ar e: +, -, abs
Boolean u n ar y oper at or is: n ot.
Exam ple:
not true
Th is r et u r n s false.
4.3.5.2 Binary Expressions
If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s an d <op> is a bin ar y oper at ion , t h en

e1<op>e2 is an expr ession . It defin es th e r esu lt of applyin g <op> t o e1
an d e2.
Ar it h m et ic in t eger bin ar y oper at or s ar e: +, -, *, / , m od (m odu lo)
Float in g poin t bin ar y oper at or s ar e: +, -, *, /
Relat ion al bin ar y oper at or s ar e: =, !=. <. <=, >, >=
Th ese oper at or s ar e defin ed on all at om ic t ypes.
Boolean bin ar y oper at or s ar e: an d, or
Exam ple:
count(Students) - count(TA)
Th is r et u r n s t h e differ en ce bet ween t h e n u m ber of st u den t s an d th e

n u m ber of TAs.
4.3.5.3 String Expressions
If s1 an d s2 ar e expr ession s of type st r in g, th en
s1 || s2, an d s1 + s2
ar e equ ivalen t expr ession s of type st r in g wh ose valu e is t h e

con cat en ation of t h e t wo st r in gs.

Language Definition : Atomic Types Expressions
O2 note
In O2 t h e oper ator | | is n ot accept ed. To con cat en at e 2 st r in gs u se "+".
If c is an expr ession of type ch ar act er , an d s an expr ession of t ype

st r in g, t h en
c in s
is an expr ession of t ype boolean wh ose valu e is t r u e if t h e ch ar act er

belon gs to t h e st r in g, else false.
If s is an expr ession of type st r in g, an d i is an expr ession of t ype

in t eger , t h en
s[i]
is an expr ession of t ype ch ar act er wh ose valu e is t h e i+1t h ch ar act er of

t h e st r in g.
If s is an expr ession of type st r in g, an d low an d up ar e expr ession s of

t ype in t eger , t h en
s[low:up]
is an expr ession of t ype st r in g wh ose valu e is t h e su bst r in g of s fr om th e

low+1 t h ch ar act er u p t o t h e u p+1 t h ch ar acter .
If s is an expr ession of type st r in g, an d pattern a st r in g lit er al wh ich

m ay in clu de t h e wildcar d ch ar act er s: "?" or "_", m ean in g an y ch ar act er ,
an d "*" or "%", m ean in g an y su bst r in g in clu din g an em pt y su bst r in g,
t h en
s like pattern
is an expr ession of t ype boolean wh ose valu e is t r u e if s m at ch es t h e

pat t er n , else false.
Exam ple:
’a nice string’ like ’%nice%str_ng’
is t r u e.

4
O2 note
In O2 t h e on ly su ppor ted wildcar d is "*".
4.3.6 Object Expressions
4.3.6.1 Comparison of Mutable Objects

If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s wh ich den ot e m u t able object s (objects wit h
iden tit y) of t h e sam e t ype, t h en
e 1 = e2 an d e1 != e2
ar e expr ession s wh ich r et u r n a boolean . Th e secon d expr ession is
equ ivalen t t o not(e1 = e2).
e1 = e2 is t r u e if th ey design at e t h e sam e object .
Exam ple:
Doe = element(select s from Students s
where s.name = "Doe")
is tr u e.
4.3.6.2 Comparison of Immutable Objects

If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s wh ich den ot e im m u t able object s (lit er als) of
t h e sam e t ype, t h en
e1 = e2 an d e1 != e2
ar e expr ession s wh ich r et u r n a boolean . th e secon d expr ession is
equ ivalen t t o
not(e1 = e2).
e1 = e2 is t r u e if th e valu e e1 is equ al t o t h e valu e e2.
4.3.6.3 Extracting an Attribute or Traversing a Relationship from an Object

If e is an expr ession , if p is a pr oper t y n am e, t h en e->p an d e.p ar e
expr ession s. Th ese ar e alter n at e syn t ax t o extr act t h e pr oper t y p of an
object e.
If e h appen s t o design at e a delet ed or a n on exist in g object , i.e. nil, an
at t em pt t o access t h e at t r ibu t e or t o t r aver se t h e r elat ion sh ip r aises an
except ion . However , a qu er y m ay t est explicit ly if an object is differ en t
fr om nil befor e accessin g a pr oper t y.

Language Definition : Object Expressions
Exam ple:
Doe.name
Th is r et u r n s Doe.
Exam ple:
Doe->spouse != nil and Doe->spouse->name = "Carol"
Th is r et u r n s true, if Doe h as a spou se wh ose n am e is Car ol, or else

false.
O2 note
Accor din g to a r ecen t evolu t ion of t h e ODM G st an dar d, OQL does n ot
n ow r aise an except ion wh en it t r aver ses a pat h wh ich con t ain s a nil.
In st ead of t h is, a pr edicat e in volvin g su ch a pat h is always false. Th is
m ean s th at OQL n ow sk ips su ch elem en t s an d th u s t h e explicit test t o
nil is n ot yet m an dat or y.
4.3.6.4 Applying an Operation to an Object

If e is an expr ession , if f is an oper at ion n am e, t h en
e->f an d e.f
ar e expr ession s. Th ese ar e alt er n ate syn t ax t o apply on oper at ion on an
object . Th e valu e of t h e expr ession is t h e on e r et u r n ed by t h e oper ation
or else t h e object nil, if t h e oper at ion r et u r n s n ot h in g.
Exam ple:
jones->number_of_students
Th is applies th e oper at ion number_of_students to jones.
4.3.6.5 Applying an Operation with Parameters to an Object
If e is an expr ession , if e1, e2 , ..., en ar e expr ession s, if f is an

oper ation n am e, t h en
e->f(e1, e2, ..., en) an d e.f(e1, e2, ..., en)
ar e expr ession s t h at apply oper at ion f wit h par am et er s e1, e2, ...,
en to object e. Th e valu e of t h e expr ession is t h e on e r et u r n ed by th e
oper ation or else t h e object n il, if t h e oper at ion r et u r n s n ot h in g.
In both cases, if e h appen s t o design at e a deleted or a n on exist in g object ,
i.e. nil, an at t em pt to apply an oper at ion t o it r aises an except ion .

4
H owever , a qu er y m ay t est explicit ly if an object is differ en t fr om nil

befor e applyin g an oper at ion .
Exam ple:
Doe->apply_course("Maths", Turing)->number
Th is qu er y calls t h e oper ation apply_course on class St u den t for t h e

object D oe. It passes t wo par am et er s, a st r in g an d an object of class
Pr ofessor . Th e oper at ion r et u r n s an object of t ype Cou r se an d t h e qu er y
r et u r n s t h e n u m ber of t h is cou r se.
4.3.6.6 Dereferencing an Object

If e is an expr ession wh ich den ot es an object wit h iden t ity (a m u t able
object ), t h en *e is an expr ession wh ich deliver s t h e valu e of t h e object (a
lit er al).
Exam ple:
Given t wo var iables of t ype Per son , p1 an d p2, th e pr edicat e
p1 = p2
is tr u e if bot h var iables r efer t o t h e sam e object , wh ile
*p1 =*p2
is t r u e if t h e objects h ave th e sam e valu es, even if t h ey ar e n ot th e sam e

object s.
4.3.7 Collections Expressions
4.3.7.1 Universal Quantification

If x is a var iable n am e, e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s, e1 den ot es a collect ion
an d e2 a pr edicat e, t h en
for all x in e1: e2
is an expr ession . It r et u r n s true if all t h e elem en t s of collect ion e1 sat isfy
e2 an d false ot h er wise.
Exam ple:
for all x in Students: x.student_id > 0
Th is r et u r n s true if all t h e object s in t h e Students set h ave a posit ive

valu e for t h eir student_id att r ibu t e. Ot h er wise it r et u r n s false.

Language Definition : Collections Expressions
4.3.7.2 Existential Quantification

If x is a var iable n am e, if e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s, e1 den ot es a
collection an d e2 a pr edicate, t h en
exists x in e1: e2
is an expr ession . It r et u r n s true if t h er e is at least on e elem en t of
collection e1 t h at sat isfies e2 an d false ot h er wise.
Exam ple:
exists x in Doe.takes: x.taught_by.name = "Turing"
Th is r et u r n s true if at least on e cou r se Doe t ak es is t au gh t by som eon e

n am ed Tu r in g.
If e is a collect ion expr ession , t h en
exists(e) an d unique(e)
ar e expr ession s wh ich r et u r n a boolean valu e. Th e fir st on e r et u r n s t r u e
if t h er e exist s at least on e elem en t in t h e collect ion , wh ile th e secon d on e
r et u r n s t r u e, if t h er e exists on ly on e elem en t in t h e collect ion .
Not ice t h at t h ese oper at or s allow th e accept an ce of t h e SQL syn t ax for
n est ed qu er ies su ch as:
select ... from col where exists ( select ... from col1
where predicate)
Th e n est ed qu er y r et u r n s a bag to wh ich t h e oper at or exist s is applied.
Th is is of cou r se t h e t ask of an opt im izer t o r ecogn ize t h at it is u seless to
com pu te effect ively t h e in t er m ediat e bag r esu lt .
O2 note
In O 2 t h ese t wo last oper at ion s ar e n ot su ppor ted. On ly t h e for m "ex i st s
x i n e1 : e2 " is valid.
4.3.7.3 Membership Testing

If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s, e2 is a collect ion , e1 h as th e t ype of it s
elem en t s, th en
e1 in e2
is an expr ession . It r et u r n s true if elem en t e1 belon gs to collect ion e2.
Exam ple:
Doe in Does
Th is r et u r n s true.

4
4.3.7.4 Aggregate Operators

If e is an expr ession wh ich den ot es a collection , if <op> is an oper at or
fr om {min, max, count, sum, avg}, t h en <op>(e) is an expr ession .
Exam ple:
max (select salary from Professors)
Th is r et u r n s t h e m axim u m salar y of t h e Pr ofessor s.
4.3.8 Select From Where

If e1, e2, ..., en ar e expr ession s wh ich den ot e collect ion s, an d x1, x2,
..., xn ar e var iable n am es, if e’ is an expr ession of t ype boolean , an d
if projection is an expr ession or t h e ch ar act er *, t h en
select projection from e1 as x1, e2 as x2 .., en as xn where e’
an d
select distinct projection from e1 as x1, e2 as x2 ..., en as
xn where e
ar e expr ession s.
Th e r esu lt of t h e qu er y is a set for a select distinct or a bag for a
select.
If you assu m e e1, e2, ..., en ar e all set an d bag expr ession s, t h en
t h e r esu lt is obtain ed as follows: t ak e t h e car t esian pr odu ct 1 of th e set s
e1, e2, ..., en; filt er t h at pr odu ct by expr ession e’ (i.e., elim in at e fr om
t h e r esu lt all object s th at do n ot sat isfy boolean expr ession e’); apply
t h e projection t o each on e of t h e elem en t s of t h is filt er ed set an d get t h e
r esu lt. Wh en t h e r esu lt is a set (dist in ct case) du plicat es ar e
au tom at ically elim in at ed.
Th e situ at ion wh er e on e or m or e of t h e collect ion s e1, e2, ..., en is
an in dexed collect ion is a lit t le m or e com plex. Th e select oper at or fir st
con ver t s all th ese collect ion s in to set s an d applies t h e pr eviou s
oper at ion . Th e r esu lt is a set (dist in ct case) or else a bag. So, in t h is case,
we sim ply t r an sfor m each of t h e ei’s in t o a set an d apply t h e pr eviou s
defin it ion .
4.3.8.1 Projection
Befor e t h e pr oject ion , t h e r esu lt of t h e it er at ion over t h e from var iables is
of t ype
1. Th e car tesian pr odu ct bet ween a set an d a bag is defin ed by fir st con vert in g t h e set in t o
a bag, an d t h en get tin g t h e resu ltin g bag wh ich is t h e cart esian pr odu ct of th e t wo bags.

Language Definition : Select From Where
bag< struct(x1: type_of(e1 elements), ... xn: type_of(en

elements)) >
Th e pr oject ion is con st r u ct ed by an expr ession wh ich can th en r efer
im plicit ly t o th e "cu r r en t " elem en t of th is bag, u sin g t h e var iables xi. If
for ei n eit h er explicit n or im plicit var iable is declar ed, t h en xi is given an
in t er n al syst em n am e (wh ich is n ot accessible by t h e qu er y an yway).
By con ven t ion , if t h e pr oject ion is sim ply "*", t h en t h e r esu lt of t h e
select ion is t h e sam e as t h e r esu lt of th e it er at ion .
If t h e pr oject ion is "dist in ct *", t h e r esu lt of t h e select is t h is bag
con ver t ed in t o a set .
In all ot h er cases, t h e pr oject ion is explicitly com pu t ed by t h e given
expr ession .
Exam ple:
select couple(student: x.name, professor: z.name)

from Students as x,
x.takes as y,
y.taught_by as z
where z.rank = "full professor"
Th is r et u r n s a bag of object s of t ype couple givin g st u den t n am es an d

t h e n am es of t h e fu ll pr ofessor s fr om wh ich t h ey t ak e classes.
Exam ple:
select *
from Students as x,
x.takes as y,
y.taught_by as z
where z.rank = "full professor"select *
Th is r et u r n s a bag of st r u ct u r es, givin g for each st u den t "object ", t h e

sect ion object followed by t h e st u den t an d t h e fu ll pr ofessor "object "
t each in g in t h is sect ion :
bag< struct(x: Student, y: Section, z: Professor) >
4.3.8.2 Iterator Variables

A var iable, xi, declar ed in t h e from par t r an ges over th e collect ion ei an d
t h u s h as t h e t ype of t h e elem en t s of t h is collect ion . Su ch a var iable can
be u sed in an y oth er par t of t h e qu er y t o evalu at e an y oth er expr ession s
(see t h e Scope Ru les in Section 4.3.15). Syn t actical var iat ion s ar e

4
accept ed for declar in g t h ese var iables, exact ly as with SQL. Th e as

k eywor d m ay be om it t ed. Mor eover , t h e var iable it self can be om it t ed,
an d in t h is case, t h e n am e of t h e collect ion it self ser ves as a var iable
n am e t o r an ge over it.
Exam ple:
select couple(student: Students.name, professor: z.name)

from Students,
Students.takes y,
y.taught_by z
where z.rank = "full professor"
O2 note
In O2 an addit ion al syn t ax is allowed t o declar e a var iable x:
"... f r om x i n collect ion ...".
Th is syn t ax will also be in clu ded in t h e n ext r elease of t h e ODM G

stan dar d.
4.3.8.3 Predicate
In a select -fr om -wh er e qu er y, t h e w here clau se can be om it t ed, wit h t h e
m ean in g of a t r u e pr edicat e.
4.3.9 Group-by Operator

If select_query is a select -fr om -wh er e qu er y, partition_attributes is a
st r u ct u r e expr ession an d pred icate a boolean expr ession , t h en
select_query group by partition_attributes
is an expr ession an d
select_query group by partition_attributes having pred icate
is an expr ession .
Th e car tesian pr odu ct visit ed by t h e select oper at or is split in t o
par t it ion s. For each elem en t of t h e car t esian pr odu ct, t h e par t it ion
at t r ibu t es ar e evalu at ed. All elem en t s wh ich m at ch t h e sam e valu es
accor din g t o t h e given par t it ion at tr ibu t es, belon g t o t h e sam e par tit ion .
Th u s t h e par t it ion ed set , aft er t h e gr ou pin g oper at ion is a set of
st r u ct u r es: each st r u ct u r e h as t h e valu ed pr oper t ies for t h is par t ition
(t h e valu ed partition_attributes), com plet ed by a pr oper t y wh ich is

Language Definition : Group-by Operator
con ven tion ally called partition an d wh ich is t h e bag of all object s
m atch in g t h is par t icu lar valu ed par t it ion .
If t h e par t it ion att r ibu t es ar e:

att1: e1, att2: e2, ... , attn: en ,
t h en t h e r esu lt of t h e gr ou pin g is of t ype
set< struct(att1: type_of(e1), att2: type_of(e2),...,
attn: type_of(en),
partition: bag< type_of(grouped elements) >)
Th e type of gr ou ped elem en t s is defin ed as follows.
If t h e from clau se declar es t h e var iables v1 on collect ion col1, v2 on
col2, ..., vn on coln, t h e gr ou ped elem en t s for m a st r u ct u r e wit h on e
at t r ibu t e "vk" for each collect ion h avin g t h e type of th e elem en t s of t h e
cor r espon din g collect ion .
partition: bag< struct(v1: type_of(col1 elements), ... ,
vn: type_of(coln elements))>.
If a collection colk h as n o var iable declar ed t h e cor r espon din g att r ibu t e
h as an in t er n al syst em n am e.
Th is par t it ion ed set m ay t h en be filt er ed by t h e pr edicate of a having
clau se. Fin ally, th e r esu lt is com pu ted by evalu at in g t h e select clau se for
t h is par t it ion ed an d filt er ed set .
Th e having clau se can t h u s apply aggr egat e fu n ct ion s on partition,
lik ewise t h e select clau se can r efer t o partition t o com pu t e t h e fin al
r esu lt . Bot h clau ses can r efer also t o th e par t ition at t r ibu t es.
Exam ple:
select *
from Employees e
group by low: e.salary < 1000,
medium: e.salary >= 1000 and salary < 10000,
high: e.salary >= 10000
Th is gives a set of t h r ee elem en t s, each of wh ich h as a pr oper t y called

partition wh ich con t ain s t h e bag of em ployees t h at en t er in t h is
cat egor y. So t h e t ype of t h e r esu lt is:
set<struct(low: boolean, medium: boolean, high: boolean,
partition: bag<struct(e: Employee)>)>
Th e secon d for m en h an ces th e fir st on e with a having clau se wh ich
en ables you t o filt er t h e r esu lt u sin g aggr egat ive fu n ct ion s wh ich oper at e
on each par t it ion .

4
Exam ple:
select department,
avg_salary: avg(select p.e.salary from partition p)
from Employees e
group by department: e.deptno
having avg(select p.e.salary from partition p) > 30000
Th is gives a set of cou ples: depar t m en t an d aver age of t h e salar ies of t h e

em ployees wor k in g in t h is depar t m en t , wh en t h is aver age is m or e th an
30000. So t h e t ype of t h e r esu lt is:
bag<struct(department: integer, avg_salary: float)>
O2 note
In O2 t h e syn t ax of partition_attributes does n ot accept t h e k eywor d
st r u c t an d t h u s is always given as a list of cr iter ia separ at ed by
com m as. See Sect ion 4.4.1.
4.3.10 Order-by Operator

If select_query is a select -fr om -wh er e or a select -fr om -wh er e-gr ou p_by
qu er y, an d if e1, e2, ..., en ar e expr ession s, t h en
select_query order by e1, e2, ..., en
is an expr ession . It r et u r n s a list of t h e selected elem en t s sor t ed by th e
fu n ct ion e1, an d in side each su bset yieldin g t h e sam e e1, sor t ed by e2,
... , an d t h e fin al su bsu b...set , sor t ed by en.
Exam ple:
select p from Persons p order by p.age, p.name
Th is sor t s t h e set of per son s on t h eir age, t h en on t h eir n am e an d pu t s

t h e sor t ed object s in t o th e r esu lt as a list .
Each sor t expr ession cr it er ion can be followed by t h e k eywor d asc or
d esc, specifyin g r espect ively an ascen din g or descen din g or der . Th e
defau lt or der is t h at of t h e pr eviou s declar at ion . For t h e fir st expr ession ,
t h e defau lt is ascen din g.

Language Definition : Indexed Collection
Exam ple:
select * from p in Persons

order by p.age desc, p.name asc, p.department
4.3.11 Indexed Collection Expressions
4.3.11.1 Getting the i-th Element of an Indexed Collection

If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s, e1 is a list or an ar r ay, e2 is an in t eger , t h en
e1[e2] is an expr ession . Th is ext r act s th e e2+1 th elem en t of t h e
in dexed collect ion e1. Not ice t h at t h e fir st elem en t h as t h e r an k 0.
Exam ple:
list (a,b,c,d) [1]
Th is r et u r n s b.
Exam ple:
element (select x
from Courses x
where x.name = "math" and
x.number ="101").requires[2]
Th is r et u r n s t h e t h ir d pr er equ isite of M at h 101.
4.3.11.2 Extracting a Subcollection of an Indexed Collection.

If e1, e2, an d e3 ar e expr ession s, e1 is a list or an ar r ay, e2 an d e3 ar e
in t eger s, th en e1[e2:e3] is an expr ession . Th is ext r act s th e
su bcollect ion of e1 st ar t in g at posit ion e2 an d en din g at posit ion e3.
Exam ple:
list (a,b,c,d) [1:3]
Th is r et u r n s list (b,c,d).

4
Exam ple:
element (select x
from Courses x
where x.name="math" and
x.number="101").requires[0:2]
Th is r et u r n s t h e list con sist in g of t h e fir st t h r ee pr er equ isit es of Mat h

101.
4.3.11.3 Getting the First and Last Elements of an Indexed Collection

If e is an expr ession , if <op> is an oper at or fr om {first, last}, e is a
list or an ar r ay, th en <op>(e) is an expr ession . Th is extr acts t h e fir st an d
last elem en t of a collection .
Exam ple:
first(element(select x
from Courses x
where x.name="math" and
x.number="101").requires)
Th is r et u r n s t h e fir st pr er equ isit e of Mat h 101.
4.3.11.4 Concatenating Two Indexed Collections

If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s, if e1 an d e2 ar e bot h lists or both ar r ays,
t h en e1+e2 is an expr ession . Th is com pu t es th e con cat en at ion of e1 an d
e 2.
Exam ple:
list (1,2) + list( 2,3)
Th is qu er y gen er at es list (1,2,2,3).

Language Definition : Binary Set Expressions
4.3.12 Binary Set Expressions
4.3.12.1 Union, Intersection, Difference

If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s, if <op> is an oper at or fr om {union,
except, intersect}, if e1 an d e2 ar e set s or bags, t h en e1 <op> e2
is an expr ession . Th is com pu t es set t h eor et ic oper ation s, u n ion ,
differ en ce, an d in t er sect ion on e1 an d e2, as defin ed in Ch apt er 2.
Wh en th e collection k in ds of t h e oper an ds ar e differ en t (bag an d set ), t h e
set is con ver t ed in t o a bag befor eh an d an d t h e r esu lt is a bag.
Exam ples:
Student except Ta
Th is r et u r n s t h e set of st u den ts wh o ar e n ot Teach in g Assist an t s.
bag(2,2,3,3,3) union bag(2,3,3,3)
Th is bag expr ession r etu r n s bag(2,2,3,3,3,2,3,3,3)
bag(2,2,3,3) intersect bag(2,3,3,3)
Th e in ter sect ion of 2 bags yields a bag th at con t ain s th e m in im u m for

each of th e m u lt iply valu es. So t h e r esu lt is: bag(2,3,3)
bag(2,2,3,3,3) except bag(2,3,3,3)
Th is bag expr ession r etu r n s bag(2)
4.3.12.2 Inclusion
If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s wh ich den ote set s or bags, if <op> is an

oper ator fr om {<, <=, >, >=}, th en e1 <op> e2 is an expr ession wh ose
valu e is a boolean .
Wh en t h e oper an ds ar e differ en t k in ds of collect ion s (bag an d set ), t h e
set is fir st con ver t ed in t o a bag.

4
e1 < e2 is t r u e if e1 is in clu ded in t o e2 bu t n ot equ al t o e2

e1 <= e2 is t r u e if e1 is in clu ded in t o e2
Exam ple:
set(1,2,3) < set(3,4,2,1)
is t r u e.
4.3.13 Conversion Expressions
4.3.13.1 Extracting the Element of a Singleton

If e is a collect ion -valu ed expr ession , element(e) is an expr ession . Th is
t ak es t h e sin glet on e an d r et u r n s it s elem en t . If e is n ot a sin glet on t h is
r aises an exception .
Exam ple:
element(select x from Professors x

where x.name ="Turing")
Th is r et u r n s t h e pr ofessor wh ose n am e is Turing (if t h er e is on ly on e).
4.3.13.2 Turning a List into a Set

If e is a list expr ession , listtoset(e) is an expr ession . Th is con ver ts
t h e list in t o a set, by for m in g th e set con t ain in g all t h e elem en t s of t h e
list .
Exam ple:
listtoset (list(1,2,3,2))
Th is r et u r n s t h e set con t ain in g 1, 2, an d 3.
O2 note
To car r y ou t t h e r ever se oper at ion (set t o list ) you u se th e or der by
oper at or . If you ar e n ot in t er est ed in a given or der you can u se "*" as
sh own in t h e followin g qu er y:
select e from e in aSet order by *

Language Definition : Conversion Expressions
4.3.13.3 Removing Duplicates

If e is an expr ession wh ose valu e is a collect ion , t h en
distinct(e)
is an expr ession wh ose valu e is th e sam e collect ion aft er r em ovin g t h e
du plicat ed elem en t s. If e is a bag, distinct(e) is a set . If e is an or der ed
collection , t h e r elat ive or der in g of t h e r em ain in g elem en t s is pr eser ved.
4.3.13.4 Flattening Collection of Collections

If e is a collect ion -valu ed expr ession , flatten(e) is an expr ession . Th is
con ver t s a collect ion of collect ion s of t in t o a collect ion of t. So th is
flat t en in g oper at es at t h e fir st level on ly.
Assu m in g t h e type of e to be col1<col2<t>>,
t h e r esu lt of flatten(e) is:
• If col2 is a set (r esp. a bag), th e u n ion of all col2<t> is don e an d th e
r esu lt is a set<t> (r esp. bag<t>)
• If col2 is a list (r esp. an ar r ay) an d col1 is a list (r esp. an ar r ay) as
well, t h e con cat en at ion of all col2<t> is don e followin g t h e or der in
col1 an d t h e r esu lt is col2<t>, wh ich is t h u s a list (r esp. an ar r ay).
Of cou r se du plicates, if an y, ar e m ain t ain ed by t h is oper ation .
• If col2 is a list or an ar r ay an d col1 is a set or a bag, t h e list s or
ar r ays ar e con ver t ed in to set s, t h e u n ion of all t h ese set s is don e an d
th e r esu lt is a set<t>, t h er efor e with ou t du plicat es.
Exam ples:
flatten(list(set(1,2,3), set(3,4,5,6), set(7)))
Th is r et u r n s t h e set con t ain in g 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.
flatten(list(list(1,2), list(1,2,3)))
Th is r et u r n s list(1,2,1,2,3).
flatten(set(list(1,2), list(1,2,3)))

4
Th is r et u r n s t h e set con t ain in g 1,2,3.
4.3.13.5 Typing an Expression

If e is an expr ession , if c is a t ype n am e, t h en (c)e is an expr ession . Th is
asser ts t h at e is an object of class t ype c.
If it tu r n s ou t t h at it is n ot t r u e, an except ion is r aised at r u n t im e. Th is
is u sefu l to access a pr oper t y of an object wh ich is st at ically k n own t o be
of a su per class of t h e specified class.
Exam ple:
select ((Employee) s).salary

from Students s
where s in (select sec.assistant from Sections sec)
Th is r et u r n s t h e set of salar ies of all stu den t s wh o ar e teach in g

assist an t s, assu m in g th at Students an d Sections ar e th e exten ts of t h e
classes Student an d Section.
4.3.14 Function Call

If f is a fu n ct ion n am e, if e1 , e2 , ..., en ar e expr ession s, t h en
f() and f(e1, e2, ... , en)
ar e expr ession s wh ose valu e is th e valu e r et u r n ed by t h e fu n ct ion , or t h e
object nil, wh en t h e fu n ct ion does n ot r etu r n an y valu e. Th e fir st for m
allows you to call a fu n ct ion wit h ou t a par am et er , wh ile t h e secon d on e
calls a fu n ct ion wit h t h e par am et er s e1, e2, ..., en.
OQL does n ot defin e in wh ich lan gu age t h e body of su ch a fu n ct ion is
wr it t en . Th is feat u r e allows you t o sm ooth ly ext en d t h e fu n ct ion alit y of
OQL wit h ou t ch an gin g t h e lan gu age.
4.3.15 Scope Rules

Th e from par t of a select -fr om -wh er e qu er y in t r odu ces explicit or im plicit
var iables t o r an ge over t h e filt er ed collection s. An exam ple of an explicit
var iable is:
select ... from Persons p ...
wh ile an im plicit declar at ion wou ld be:
select ... from Persons ...
Th e scope of t h ese var iables r each es all par t s of t h e select -fr om -wh er e
expr ession in clu din g n est ed su b-expr ession s.

Language Definition : Scope Rules
Th e group by par t of a select-fr om -wh er e-gr ou p_by qu er y in t r odu ces t h e

n am e partition alon g wit h possible explicit at t r ibu t e n am es wh ich
ch ar act er ize t h e par t ition . Th ese n am es ar e visible in t h e cor r espon din g
having an d select par ts, in clu din g n ested su b-expr ession s wit h in th ese
par ts.
In side a scope, you u se th ese var iable n am es t o con st r u ct path
expr ession s an d r each pr oper t ies (at t r ibu t es an d oper at ion s) wh en t h ese
var iables den ot e com plex object s. For in st an ce, in t h e scope of t h e fir st
fr om clau se above, you access th e age of a per son by p.age.
Wh en t h e var iable is im plicit , as in t h e secon d fr om clau se, you u se t h e
n am e of t h e collection dir ect ly, Persons.age.
However , wh en t h er e is n o am bigu it y, you can u se t h e pr oper ty n am e
dir ect ly as a sh or tcu t , wit h ou t u sin g t h e var iable n am e t o open t h e scope
(t h is is m ade im plicit ly), wr it in g sim ply: age. Th er e is n o am bigu ity wh en
a pr oper t y n am e is defin ed for on e an d on ly on e object den ot ed by a
visible var iable.
To su m m ar ize, a n am e appear in g in a (n est ed) qu er y is look ed u p in th e
followin g or der :
• a var iable in th e cu r r en t scope, or
• a n am ed qu er y in t r odu ced by t h e d efine clau se, or
• a n am ed object , i.e., an en t r y poin t in t h e database, or
• an at tr ibu t e n am e or an oper at ion n am e of a var iable in t h e cu r r en t
scope, wh en t h er e is n o am bigu it y, i.e., t h is pr oper t y n am e belon gs t o
on ly on e var iable in t h e scope.
Exam ple:
Assu m in g t h at in th e cu r r en t sch em a t h e n am es Per son s an d Cit ies ar e
defin ed.
select scop e1
from Persons,
Cities c
where exists(select scop e2 from children as child)
or count (select scop e3 , (select scop e4 from
partition)
fromchildren p,
scop e5 v
group by age: scop e6
)
In scope1 , we see t h e n am es: Per son s, c, Cit ies, all pr oper t y n am es of

class Per son an d class Cit y as soon as t h ey ar e n ot pr esen t in bot h
classes, an d t h ey ar e n ot called "Per son s", "c", n or "Cit ies".

4
In scope2 , we see t h e n am es: ch ild, Per son s, c, Cit ies, t h e pr oper t y

n am es of th e class Cit y wh ich ar e n ot pr oper t y of t h e class Per son . No
at t r ibu t e of t h e class Per son can be accessed dir ect ly sin ce th ey ar e
am bigu ou s bet ween "ch ild" an d "Per son s".
In scope3 , we see t h e n am es: age, par t it ion , an d t h e sam e n am es fr om
scope1, except "age" an d "par t ition ", if th ey exist.
In scope4 , we see t h e n am es: age, par t it ion , p, v, an d t h e sam e n am es
fr om scope1, except "age", "par t ition ", "p" an d "v", if t h ey exist .
In scope5 , we see t h e n am es: p, an d t h e sam e n am es fr om scope1, except
"p", if it exist s.
In scope6 , we see t h e n am es: p, v, Per son s, c, Cit ies, t h e pr oper t y n am es
of t h e class Cit y wh ich ar e n ot pr oper t y of t h e class Per son . No att r ibu t e
of t h e class Per son can be accessed dir ectly sin ce t h ey ar e am bigu ou s
between "ch ild" an d "Per son s".
O2 note
Im plicit at t r ibu t e scope is n ot available wit h O2 . You m u st always access
an at t r ibu t e with t h e dot n otation : v.att.
4.4 Syntactical Abbreviations

OQL defin es an or t h ogon al expr ession lan gu age, in t h e sen se t h at all
oper at or s can be com posed with each ot h er s as soon as t h e types of t h e
oper an ds ar e cor r ect . To ach ieve t h is pr oper t y, we h ave defin ed a
fu n ct ion al lan gu age with sim ple (lik e +) or com posit e oper at or s (lik e
select fr om wh er e gr ou p_by or der _by) wh ich always deliver a r esu lt in t h e
sam e t ype syst em an d wh ich t h u s can be r ecu r sively oper at ed wit h ot h er
oper at ion s in t h e sam e qu er y.
In or der t o accept th e wh ole DM L qu er y par t of SQL, as a valid syn t ax for
OQL, OQL is added som e ad-h oc con st r u ct ion s each t im e SQL in t r odu ces
a syn t ax wh ich can n ot en t er in t h e cat egor y of t r u e oper at or s. Th is
sect ion gives t h e list of t h ese con st r u ct ion s t h at we call "abbr eviat ion s",
sin ce t h ey ar e com plet ely equ ivalen t t o a fu n ction al OQL expr ession
wh ich is also given . Doin g t h at , we t h u s give at t h e sam e tim e t h e
sem an t ics of t h ese con st r u ct ion s, sin ce all oper ator s u sed for t h is
descr iption h ave alr eady been defin ed.

Syntactical Abbreviations : Structure Construction
4.4.1 Structure Construction

Th e st r u ct u r e con st r u ctor was in t r odu ced in Sect ion 4.3.4.2. Alt er n at e
syn t ax ar e allowed in t wo con text s: select clau se an d gr ou p-by clau se.
In both con t exts, t h e SQL syn t ax is accept ed, alon g wit h t h e on e alr eady
defin ed.
sel ec t projection {, projection } ...
select ... gr ou p by projection {, projection }
wh er e projection is in on e of t h e followin g for m s:
• (i) expr ession as iden t ifier
• (ii) iden t ifier : expr ession
• (iii) expr ession
Th is is an alt er n ate syn t ax for :
st r u c t (iden t ifier : expr ession {, iden t ifier : expr ession })
If t h er e is on ly on e projection an d t h e syn t ax (iii) is u sed in a select clau se,
t h en it is n ot in t er pr et ed as a st r u ct u r e con st r u ction bu t r at h er t h e
expr ession st an ds as it is. Fu r t h er m or e, a (iii) expr ession is on ly valid if
it is possible t o in fer t h e n am e of t h e cor r espon din g at t r ibu t e (t h e
iden t ifier ). Th is r equ ir es t h at t h e expr ession den otes a path expr ession
(possibly of len gt h on e) en din g in a pr oper t y wh ose n am e is th en ch osen
as t h e iden t ifier .
Exam ple:
select p.name, salary, student_id
from Professors p, p.teaches
Th is qu er y r et u r n s a bag of st r u ct u r es:
bag<struct(name: string, salary: float, student_id:
integer)>
O2 note
O2 accept s t h e 3 alt er n atives of t h e projection syn t ax in th e select par t ,
as well as t h e struct syn t ax. In t h e group by par t , O 2 accepts t h e 3
alt er n at ives bu t does n ot accept t h e struct syn t ax.

4
4.4.2 Aggregate Operators

Th ese oper at or s wer e in t r odu ced in Sect ion 4.3.7.4. SQL adopt s a
n ot at ion wh ich is n ot fu n ction n al for t h em . So OQL accept s t h is syn t ax
t oo.
If we defin e aggregate as on e of m i n , m ax , cou n t , su m an d av g,
select count(*) from ...
is equ ivalen t t o: count(select * from ...)
select aggregate(query) from ...

is equ ivalen t t o: aggregate(select query from ...)
select aggregate(distinct query) from ...

is equ ivalen t t o: aggregate(distinct( select query from ...)
O2 note
O2 does n ot su ppor t Aggr egat e Oper at or abbr eviat ion s.
4.4.3 Composite Predicates

If e1 an d e2 ar e expr ession s, e2 is a collect ion , e1 h as t h e t ype of it s
elem en t s, if relation
is a r elat ion al oper at or (=, !=, <, <=, > , >=), th en
e1 relation some e2 an d e1 relation any e2 an d e1 relation all e2
ar e expr ession s wh ose valu e is a boolean .
Th e t wo fir st pr edicat es ar e equ ivalen t t o:
exists x in e2: e1 relation x
Th e last pr edicat e is equ ivalen t t o:
for all x in e2: e1 relation x
Exam ple:
10 < some (8,15, 7, 22)
is t r u e

OQL BNF : String Literal
O2 note
In O2 Com posite Pr edicat e abbr eviat ion s ar e n ot su ppor t ed.
4.4.4 String Literal

OQL accept s sim ple qu ot es as well t o delim it a st r in g (see Sect ion
4.3.3.1), as SQL does. Th is in t r odu ces an am bigu it y for a st r in g wit h on e
ch ar act er wh ich t h en h as t h e sam e syn t ax as a ch ar act er lit er al. Th is
am bigu it y is solved by con t ext .
O2 note
In O2 a st r in g m u st be delim it ed by dou ble qu ot es.
4.5 OQL BNF

Th e OQL gr am m ar is given u sin g a BNF-lik e n ot at ion .
• { sym bol } m ean s a sequ en ce of 0 or m or e sym bol(s).
• [sym bol ] m ean s an opt ion al sym bol. Do n ot con fu se wit h t h e
separ at or s [ ]
• keyword is a t er m in al of t h e gr am m ar . Keywor ds ar e n ot case
sen sitive.
• xxx_n am e h as t h e syn t ax of an iden t ifier
• xxx_lit er al is self explan at or y, e.g., "a st r in g" is a st r in g_lit er al
• bin d_ar gu m en t stan ds for a par am et er wh en em bedded in a
pr ogr am m in g lan gu age, e.g., $3i.
Th e n on t er m in al query st an ds for a valid qu er y expr ession . Th e
gr am m ar is pr esen t ed as r ecu r sive r u les pr odu cin g valid qu er ies. Th is
explain s wh y m ost of t h e t im e t h is n on t er m in al appear s on t h e left side
of ::=. Of cou r se, all oper at or s expect t h eir "qu er y" oper an ds t o be of t h e
r igh t t ype. Type con st r ain t s wer e discu ssed in t h e pr eviou s sect ion s.
Th ese r u les m u st be com pleted by t h e pr ior it y of OQL oper at or s wh ich is
given aft er t h e gr am m ar . Som e syn t act ical am bigu it ies ar e solved
sem an t ically fr om t h e t ypes of t h e oper an ds.

4
4.5.1 Grammar
4.5.1.1 Axiom (see Sections 4.3.1, 4.3.2)

query_program ::={define_query;} query
define_query ::=define identifier as query
4.5.1.2 Basic (see Section 4.3.3)

query ::= nil
query ::= true
query ::= false
query ::= integer_literal
query ::= float_literal
query ::= character_literal
query ::= string_literal
query ::= entry_name
query ::= query_name
query ::= bind_argument1
query ::= from_variable_name
query ::= (query)
4.5.1.3 Simple Expression (see Section 4.3.5)

query ::= query + query2
query ::= query - query
query ::= query * query
query ::= query / query
query ::= - query
query ::= query mod query
query ::= abs (query)
query ::= query || query
4.5.1.4 Comparison (see Section 4.3.5)

query ::= query comparison_operator query
query ::= query like string_literal
comparison_operator ::= =
comparison_operator ::= !=
comparison_operator ::= >
comparison_operator ::= <
comparison_operator ::= >=
1. A bin d ar gu m en t allows to bin d expr ession s fr om a pr ogr am m in g lan gu age to a qu er y

wh en em bedded in to th is lan gu age (see Ch apters on lan gu age bin din gs).
2. Th e oper at or + is also u sed for list an d ar ray con cat en at ion .

OQL BNF : Grammar
comparison_operator ::= <=
4.5.1.5 Boolean Expression (see Section 4.3.5)

query ::= not query
query ::= query and query
query ::= query or query
4.5.1.6 Constructor (see Section 4.3.4)

query ::= type_name ([query] )
query ::= type_name (identifier:query {, identifier: query})
query ::= struct (identifier: query {, identifier: query})
query ::= set ([query {, query}])
query ::= bag ([query {,query}])
query ::= list ([query {,query}])
query ::= (query, query {, query})
query ::=[ list](query .. query)
query ::= array ([query {,query}])
4.5.1.7 Accessor (see Sections 4.3.6, 4.3.11, 4.3.14, 4.3.15)

query ::= query dot attribute_name
query ::= query dot relationship_name
query ::= query dot operation_name
query ::= query dot operation_name( query {,query} )
dot ::= . | ->
query ::= * query
query ::= query [query]
query ::= query [query:query]
query ::= first (query)
query ::= last (query)
query ::= function_name( [ query {,query} ] )
4.5.1.8 Collection Expression (see Sections 4.3.7, 4.4.3)

query ::= for all identifier in query: query
query ::= exists identifier in query: query
query ::= exists(query)
query ::= unique(query)
query ::= query in query
query ::= query comparison_operator quantifier query
quantifier ::= some
quantifier ::= any
quantifier ::= all
query ::= count (query)

4
query ::= count (*)

query ::= sum (query)
query ::= min (query)
query ::= max (query)
query ::= avg (query)
4.5.1.9 Select Expression (see Sections 4.3.8, 4.3.9, 4.3.10)

query ::= select [ distinct ] projection_attributes
from variable_declaration {, variable_declaration}
[where query]
[group by partition_attributes]
[having query]
[order by sort_criterion {, sort_criterion}]
projection_attributes ::= projection {, projection}
projection_attributes ::= *
projection ::= query
projection ::= identifier: query
projection ::= query as identifier
variable_declaration ::= query [ [ as ] identifier]
partition_attributes ::= projection {, projection}
sort_criterion ::= query [ordering]
ordering ::= asc
ordering ::= desc
4.5.1.10 Set Expression (see Section 4.3.12)

query ::= query intersect query
query ::= query union query
query ::= query except query
4.5.1.11 Conversion (see Section 4.3.13)

query ::= listtoset (query)
query ::= element (query)
query ::= distinct(e)
query ::= flatten (query)
query ::= (class_name) query
4.5.2 Operator Priorities

Th e followin g oper at or s ar e sor t ed by decr easin g pr ior it y. Oper at or s on
t h e sam e lin e h ave t h e sam e pr ior it y an d gr ou p left -t o-r igh t .
() [] . ->

OQL BNF : Operator Priorities
n ot - (u n ar y) + (u n ar y)
in
* / m od i n t er sect
+ - u n i on ex cep t ||
< > <= >= < som e < an y < al l (et c ... for all com par ison
oper ator s)
= != lik e
an d ex i st s for all
or
.. :
,
(iden t ifier ) th is is t h e cast oper at or
order
having
group by
where
from
select

4

IN DEX

INDEX
Sym bol s C
+ 36 C 11
C++
In t er face 11
C++ bin din g 44, 45
A Class in dicat or 54
Collection 22, 44, 49, 79
in dexed expr ession 75
Nam ed 39
Accessor 87 Collection expr ession 87
Addit ion of set s 36 Com bin in g oper at or s 28, 38
Aggr egat ive oper at or s 54 Com par ison 86
Ar ch itect u r e con cat en ation 76
O2 10 Con st r u ction
Ar it h m etic 86 Ar r ay 51
Ar r ay 21, 22, 25 Bag 51
Con st r u ctin g 63 List 51
Set con ver sion 37 Set 51
Str u ct 51
array 27, 29, 51
Ar r ay valu e 21 Con st r u ctor 27, 51, 87
Atom ic valu e 20 Con ver sion 37, 78, 88
Att r ibu t e 66 count 30, 54, 70
avg 30, 54, 70 Cr eat in g object s 29
B D
Bag 22, 29 Data m an ipu lat ion 51

Con st r u ctin g 63 Database en t r y poin t 20
bag 27, 29, 51 define 30, 36, 54
Boolean 87 differ en ce 77
Br owser In t er face 12 distinct 23, 49
Un ix 12
Win dows NT 13
by 35

INDEX
E I
element 31, 78 intersect 36, 54, 77

except 36, 54, 77 in t er sect ion 77
Exist en t ial qu an t ificat ion 38, 54, 69
exists 31, 54
J
F
J ava 11
J ava bin din g 44
first 76 J oin 50
flatten 38 J oin qu er y 24
Flatt en in g 79
forall ... in 54
from 50
L
G
last 76
Lat e bin din g 53
like 35
group ... by 32, 54, 55, 72 List 21, 22, 25
Con st r u ct in g 62
Set con ver sion 37
Valu es 21
H list 27, 51, 78

listtoset 37
H yper t ext lin k s 13

M
max 30, 54, 70

Mem ber sh ip 69

INDEX
M et h od call 22, 52 Oper at ion 67

M et h od in vok in g 52 Oper at or 30, 54
min 30, 54, 70 - 36
* 36
M ot if 13
+ 36
Aggr egat ive 54
avg 30, 54, 70
Com bin in g 28, 38
N Com position 54
count 30, 54, 70
define 30, 54
element 31
name 31 except 36, 54
exists 31, 54
Nam ed
Collection 39 flatten 38
Object s 20 forall...in 54
Qu er y 30 group...by 32, 54, 55, 72
Valu es 20 intersect 36, 54
like 35
max 30, 54, 70
min 30, 54, 70
order by 35, 74
O Set 36, 38, 54
sum 30, 54, 70
union 36, 54
Wild-car d 38
O2 OQL 11, 12, 17
Ar ch it ectu r e 10 Oper at or s 30
O 2 C 11 Rat ion al 43
Resu lt 27
O 2 Cor ba 11
or der by 35, 54, 74
O 2 DBAccess 11
O 2 En gin e 10
O 2 Gr aph 11
O 2 Kit 11
O 2 Look 11, 12
P
O 2 OD BC 11
O 2 Stor e 10
O 2 Tools 11 partition 33
O 2 Web 11 Pat h expr ession s 24, 49
Object Polym or ph ism 53
Cr eat ion 29
Pr edicat e 50
Nam ed 20
Object s 61
ODMG m odel 44
ODMG stan dar d 44, 57

INDEX
Q T
Qu er y Test in g on n il 25
Basic 18, 86 Typin g 80
Nam ed 30
Resu lt 27, 30
U
R
union 36, 54, 77
Un iver sal qu an t ificat ion 38, 54, 68
Ref 44
Un ix 12
Relation sh ip 44, 49, 66
S V
Valu e
select 55 Ar r ay 21
Select fr om wh er e 70 At om ic 20
select from where 22, 49 List 21
Set 22, 22 Nam ed 20
Con st r u ctin g 62 Str u ct 21
List con ver sion 37
Oper at or s 36, 54
set 27, 29, 51, 77, 78
Set expr ession 88 W
struct 27, 29, 29, 51
St r u ct valu e 21
st r u ct u r e 62
Su bcollect ion 75, 75 where 50
sum 30, 54, 70 Win dows NT 13
Syst em
Ar ch it ectu r e 10

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ODMG OQL

Th e soft war e descr ibed in th is docu m en t is deliver ed u n der a

Th e soft war e can on ly be u sed or copied in accor dan ce wit h t h e

Copyr igh t 1992-1998 O2 Tech n ology.

All r igh t s r eser ved. No par t of t h is pu blicat ion can be

O2 , O 2 En gin e API, O2 C, O2 DBAccess, O2 En gin e, O2 Gr aph ,

SQL an d AIX ar e r egist er ed t r adem ar k s of In t er n at ion al

Su n , Su n OS, an d SOLARIS ar e r egist er ed t r adem ar k s of Su n

X Win dow System is a r egist er ed tr adem ar k of t h e

Un ix is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of Un ix Syst em Labor at or ies, In c.

HPUX is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of H ewlet t -Pack ar d Com pan y.

BOSX is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of Bu ll S.A.

IRIX is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of Siem en s Nixdor f, A.G.

NeXTSt ep is a r egister ed t r adem ar k of t h e NeXT Com pu t er , In c.

Pu r ify, Qu an t ify ar e r egist er ed tr adem ar k s of Pu r e Soft war e In c.

Win dows is a r egist er ed t r adem ar k of Micr osoft Cor por ation .

All oth er com pan y or pr odu ct n am es qu ot ed ar e t r adem ar k s or

OQL is an object -or ien t ed SQL-lik e qu er y lan gu age, t h e ODM G

Oth er docu m en t s available ar e ou t lin ed, click below.

See O2 Documentation set.

Th is m an u al is divided in t o t h e followin g ch apt er s:

ODM G OQL User Man u al 5

1.1 System Overview......................................................................10

2.1 Basic queries ............................................................................18

2.8 Indexes ..................................................................................... 39

3.1 The ODMG standard ................................................................ 44

3.2 The ODMG model..................................................................... 44

3.3 OQL by example ...................................................................... 49

4.3 Language Definition ................................................................ 59

4.4 Syntactical Abbreviations ...................................................... 82

4.5 OQL BNF.................................................................................. 85

ODM G OQL User Man u al 7

8 ODM G OQL User Man u al

Con gr at u lat ion s! You ar e n ow a u ser of t h e object-or ien t ed qu er y

O2 is a r evolu t ion ar y syst em t h at is par t icu lar ly well adapt ed for

Th is ch apt er in t r odu ces t h e O2 syst em an d t h e OQL qu er y lan gu age.

Th e ch apt er is divided in t o t h e followin g sect ion s :

• Syst em Over view

ODM G OQL User Man u al 9

1.1 System Overview

Development Tools External

10 ODM G OQL User Man u al

Pr ogr am m in g Lan gu ages:

St an dar d Developm en t Tools:

ODM G OQL User Man u al 11

OQL is an object-or ien t ed SQL-lik e qu er y lan gu age. OQL is t h e qu er y

You can u se OQL as a fu n ct ion called fr om O 2 C, C, C++, Sm allt alk or

OQL can also be u sed in t er act ively as an ad h oc qu er y lan gu age

Th e br owser in t er face you see depen ds on t h e oper at in g syst em you ar e

In Un ix, th e O2 Look gr aph ical u ser in t er face gen er at or is u sed t o

12 ODM G OQL User Man u al

Fi gu r e 1 .2 : T y p i ca l OQL qu er y r esu l t i n gr a p h i ca l f or m , a s gen er a t ed i n Un i x

In addition t o t h e u su al Motif bu t ton s a gr aph ical qu er y r esu lt h as an

In Win dows NT, t h e qu er y r esu lt is displayed in a win dow in t ext u al

Th e label for a specific lin k m ay be obt ain ed by applyin g t h e title

Click in g on a h yper t ext lin k , with t h e r igh t m ou se bu t t on , r eplaces t h e

Figu r e 1.3 sh ows a t ypical qu er y r esu lt in gr aph ical for m , as gen er at ed

ODM G OQL User Man u al 13

Fi gu r e 1 .3 : Ty p i ca l OQL qu er y r esu l t i n gr a p h i ca l f or m , a s gen er a t ed i n Wi n d ow s NT

Th e br owser sh own in Figu r e 1.3 h as th e followin g bu t t on s:

Ba ck th is bu tt on displays t h e pr eviou s object .

For w a r d th is bu tt on displays t h e n ext su b-object. It is on ly valid if

New Wi n d ow Th is bu tt on displays t h e cu r r en t object in a n ew win dow.