cjbottaro

cjbottaro

Ecto.Query.API.fragment and string interpolation

I know this has been asked before, but I still can’t get it to work. I have code like this…

def case_stmt(input) do
  [c1, c2, c3, c4] = generate_clauses(input)

  Ecto.Query.dynamic([foo: a, bar: b], fragment("""
    CASE WHEN ? THEN 1 ELSE 0 END +
    CASE WHEN ? THEN 1 ELSE 0 END +
    CASE WHEN ? THEN 1 ELSE 0 END +
    CASE WHEN ? THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
  """, ^c1, ^c2, ^c3, ^c4))
end

Which works fine when the number of generated clauses is exactly 4. What about when it’s an unknown amount? I want to build up the SQL string using reduce.

There is a really good blog post about making SQL case statements with Ecto:

The problem is that it doesn’t work when you pass it a variable; it only works when you pass a literal.

Any ideas on how to make this work? My use case is user defined queries that are stored in a database. All the user input is validated before making the db records of course. “Just make a case clause for each field the user can search on.” doesn’t work because the schema itself is user defined.

Thanks for the help!

Marked As Solved

cjbottaro

cjbottaro

Figured it out after chasing down those ideas, but ultimately went a different route (I think).

clauses = generate_clauses(input)

clause_count = Enum.reduce(clauses, nil, fn clause, acc ->
  q = Ecto.Query.dynamic(
    [foo: a, bar: b],
    fragment("CASE WHEN ? THEN 1 ELSE 0 END", ^clause)
  )
  
  if acc do
    Ecto.Query.dynamic([foo: a, bar: b], ^q + ^acc)
  else
    q
  end
end)

Ecto.Query.from(..., select_merge: ^%{clause_count: clause_count})

I need it done in SQL because I’m going to use that count in a where clause.

Very cool! I had been knee deep in Ecto docs for the past couple of days and still managed to miss that. Going to have to tuck that away in my head for later use. I tried using it here with a like a fragment("sum(?)", splice(clauses)) but it didn’t work cuz that’s not how sql sum works… :grimacing:

Also Liked

dimitarvp

dimitarvp

Why not separate them and do the summing in Elixir? You can also just use select_merge with dummy map keys and then use the resulting map’s values and sum that, similarly to this thread: Aggregate multiple dynamically selected columns in Ecto (without group by) - #3 by zackmichener

def case_stmt(input) do
   clauses = generate_clauses(input)
   bindings = [foo: a, bar: b]

   Enum.reduce(clauses, false, fn clause, query ->
     Ecto.Query.dynamic(
       bindings,
       fragment("CASE WHEN ? THEN 1 ELSE 0 END", ^clause) or ^query
     )
   end)
end
LostKobrakai

LostKobrakai

This might help with variable number of elements, where you don‘t know the number of elements at compile time. Not sure if it works with CASE though.

dimitarvp

dimitarvp

Oh that’s pretty clever. Nice job!

Where Next?

Popular in Questions Top

RisingFromAshes
I’ve read in another post that it may be possible with a router helper - but I couldn’t find an appropriate one, and tbh, I’m still just ...
New
jononomo
I am trying to figure out how Mix knows whether the environment is test, dev, or prod – where is this set? Thanks.
New
jononomo
For some reason my phoenix channels are working for me in my local dev environment, but as soon as I deploy via Docker, I get a 403 error...
New
Darmani72
If I have a post route which an argument: post /my_post_route/:my_param1, MyController.my_post_handler How would get the post params ...
New
stefanluptak
Hello everybody, usually, I use a 29" ultra-wide monitor for VSCode which can easily accomodate explorer (files panel) + file with code ...
New
siddhant3030
Hi, I have to write a raw query for one of my project. But till now I have used ecto queries and don’t have much experience writing raw ...
New
albydarned
Hello all! I am typing this post from my new MacBook Pro with the M1 chip. I’m loving it so far, and will probably use it as my daily dr...
New

Other popular topics Top

Qqwy
Update: How to use the Blogs & Podcasts section You can post links to your blog posts or podcasts either in one of the Official Blog...
3271 131117 1222
New
minhajuddin
I have seen a lot of code which picks the first element from a list using Enum.at(0) instead of List.first. Is there a reason why people ...
New
vonH
When I run the Plug and I recompile I wind up having to use Ctrl C to quit iex and start again. Witht the help of rlwrap I can use the cu...
New
AstonJ
Seen any cool LiveView demos, sample apps or examples? Please post them here! :003:
New
sergio
Kind of like when jquery came out, it was super necessary. Existing drag and drop libraries have a bunch of baggage to support old browse...
New
jason.o
In the code below, if the create action is not set to accept “extra_key” as an input, it errors out with a message shown above. Is there ...
New

We're in Beta

About us Mission Statement