Relax a column in a query append job

Change a column from required to nullable in a query append job.

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For detailed documentation that includes this code sample, see the following:

Code sample

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the BigQuery quickstart using client libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Go API reference documentation .

To authenticate to BigQuery, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  import 
  
 ( 
  
 "context" 
  
 "fmt" 
  
 "cloud.google.com/go/bigquery" 
 ) 
 // relaxTableQuery demonstrates relaxing the schema of a table by appending query results to 
 // enable the table to allow NULL values. 
 func 
  
 relaxTableQuery 
 ( 
 projectID 
 , 
  
 datasetID 
 , 
  
 tableID 
  
 string 
 ) 
  
 error 
  
 { 
  
 // projectID := "my-project-id" 
  
 // datasetID := "mydataset" 
  
 // tableID := "mytable" 
  
 ctx 
  
 := 
  
 context 
 . 
 Background 
 () 
  
 client 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
 NewClient 
 ( 
 ctx 
 , 
  
 projectID 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 fmt 
 . 
 Errorf 
 ( 
 "bigquery.NewClient: %w" 
 , 
  
 err 
 ) 
  
 } 
  
 defer 
  
 client 
 . 
 Close 
 () 
  
 sampleSchema 
  
 := 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
  Schema 
 
 { 
  
 { 
 Name 
 : 
  
 "full_name" 
 , 
  
 Type 
 : 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
  StringFieldType 
 
 , 
  
 Required 
 : 
  
 true 
 }, 
  
 { 
 Name 
 : 
  
 "age" 
 , 
  
 Type 
 : 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
  IntegerFieldType 
 
 , 
  
 Required 
 : 
  
 true 
 }, 
  
 } 
  
 meta 
  
 := 
  
& bigquery 
 . 
  TableMetadata 
 
 { 
  
 Schema 
 : 
  
 sampleSchema 
 , 
  
 } 
  
 tableRef 
  
 := 
  
 client 
 . 
 Dataset 
 ( 
 datasetID 
 ). 
 Table 
 ( 
 tableID 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 tableRef 
 . 
 Create 
 ( 
 ctx 
 , 
  
 meta 
 ); 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 err 
  
 } 
  
 // Now, append a query result that includes nulls, but allow the job to relax 
  
 // all required columns. 
  
 q 
  
 := 
  
 client 
 . 
 Query 
 ( 
 "SELECT \"Beyonce\" as full_name" 
 ) 
  
 q 
 . 
  QueryConfig 
 
 . 
 Dst 
  
 = 
  
 client 
 . 
 Dataset 
 ( 
 datasetID 
 ). 
 Table 
 ( 
 tableID 
 ) 
  
 q 
 . 
 SchemaUpdateOptions 
  
 = 
  
 [] 
 string 
 { 
 "ALLOW_FIELD_RELAXATION" 
 } 
  
 q 
 . 
 WriteDisposition 
  
 = 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
  WriteAppend 
 
  
 q 
 . 
  Location 
 
  
 = 
  
 "US" 
  
 job 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 q 
 . 
 Run 
 ( 
 ctx 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 err 
  
 } 
  
 _ 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 = 
  
 job 
 . 
 Wait 
 ( 
 ctx 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 err 
  
 } 
  
 return 
  
 nil 
 } 
 

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in the BigQuery quickstart using client libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Java API reference documentation .

To authenticate to BigQuery, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. BigQuery 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. BigQueryException 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. BigQueryOptions 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. Job 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. JobInfo 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. JobInfo 
. SchemaUpdateOption 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. JobInfo 
. WriteDisposition 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. QueryJobConfiguration 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. TableId 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. TableResult 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList 
 ; 
 public 
  
 class 
 RelaxTableQuery 
  
 { 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 void 
  
 main 
 ( 
 String 
 [] 
  
 args 
 ) 
  
 throws 
  
 Exception 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample. 
  
 String 
  
 projectId 
  
 = 
  
 "MY_PROJECT_ID" 
 ; 
  
 String 
  
 datasetName 
  
 = 
  
 "MY_DATASET_NAME" 
 ; 
  
 String 
  
 tableName 
  
 = 
  
 "MY_TABLE_NAME" 
 ; 
  
 relaxTableQuery 
 ( 
 projectId 
 , 
  
 datasetName 
 , 
  
 tableName 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 // To relax all columns in a destination table when you append data to it during a query job 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 void 
  
 relaxTableQuery 
 ( 
 String 
  
 projectId 
 , 
  
 String 
  
 datasetName 
 , 
  
 String 
  
 tableName 
 ) 
  
 throws 
  
 Exception 
  
 { 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created 
  
 // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. 
  
 BigQuery 
  
 bigquery 
  
 = 
  
 BigQueryOptions 
 . 
 getDefaultInstance 
 (). 
 getService 
 (); 
  
 TableId 
  
 tableId 
  
 = 
  
 TableId 
 . 
 of 
 ( 
 datasetName 
 , 
  
 tableName 
 ); 
  
 String 
  
 sourceTable 
  
 = 
  
 "`" 
  
 + 
  
 projectId 
  
 + 
  
 "." 
  
 + 
  
 datasetName 
  
 + 
  
 "." 
  
 + 
  
 tableName 
  
 + 
  
 "`" 
 ; 
  
 String 
  
 query 
  
 = 
  
 "SELECT word FROM " 
  
 + 
  
 sourceTable 
  
 + 
  
 " WHERE word like '%is%'" 
 ; 
  
 QueryJobConfiguration 
  
 queryConfig 
  
 = 
  
 QueryJobConfiguration 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 ( 
 query 
 ) 
  
 // Use standard SQL syntax for queries. 
  
 // See: https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/sql-reference/ 
  
 . 
 setUseLegacySql 
 ( 
 false 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setSchemaUpdateOptions 
 ( 
 ImmutableList 
 . 
 of 
 ( 
 SchemaUpdateOption 
 . 
 ALLOW_FIELD_RELAXATION 
 )) 
  
 . 
 setWriteDisposition 
 ( 
 WriteDisposition 
 . 
 WRITE_APPEND 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setDestinationTable 
 ( 
 tableId 
 ) 
  
 . 
 build 
 (); 
  
 Job 
  
 queryJob 
  
 = 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
 create 
 ( 
 JobInfo 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 ( 
 queryConfig 
 ). 
 build 
 ()); 
  
 queryJob 
  
 = 
  
 queryJob 
 . 
 waitFor 
 (); 
  
 // Check for errors 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 queryJob 
  
 == 
  
 null 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 throw 
  
 new 
  
 Exception 
 ( 
 "Job no longer exists" 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 else 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 queryJob 
 . 
 getStatus 
 (). 
 getError 
 () 
  
 != 
  
 null 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // You can also look at queryJob.getStatus().getExecutionErrors() for all 
  
 // errors, not just the latest one. 
  
 throw 
  
 new 
  
 Exception 
 ( 
 queryJob 
 . 
 getStatus 
 (). 
 getError 
 (). 
 toString 
 ()); 
  
 } 
  
 // Get the results. 
  
 TableResult 
  
 results 
  
 = 
  
 queryJob 
 . 
 getQueryResults 
 (); 
  
 // Print all pages of the results. 
  
 results 
  
 . 
 iterateAll 
 () 
  
 . 
 forEach 
 ( 
  
 rows 
  
 - 
>  
 { 
  
 rows 
 . 
 forEach 
 ( 
 row 
  
 - 
>  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "row: " 
  
 + 
  
 row 
 . 
 toString 
 ())); 
  
 }); 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Successfully relaxed all columns in destination table during query job" 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
  BigQueryException 
 
  
 | 
  
 InterruptedException 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Columns not relaxed during query job \n" 
  
 + 
  
 e 
 . 
 toString 
 ()); 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 } 
 

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in the BigQuery quickstart using client libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Node.js API reference documentation .

To authenticate to BigQuery, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  const 
  
 { 
 BigQuery 
 } 
  
 = 
  
 require 
 ( 
 ' @google-cloud/bigquery 
' 
 ); 
 const 
  
 bigquery 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
  BigQuery 
 
 (); 
 async 
  
 function 
  
 relaxColumnQueryAppend 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // Change required to null in query append job 
  
 /** 
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment the following lines before running the sample. 
 */ 
  
 // const projectId = "my_project" 
  
 // const datasetId = "my_dataset" 
  
 // const tableId = "my_table" 
  
 // Retrieve the destination table and checks the number of required fields. 
  
 const 
  
 dataset 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
 dataset 
 ( 
 datasetId 
 ); 
  
 const 
  
 table 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 dataset 
 . 
 table 
 ( 
 tableId 
 ); 
  
 const 
  
 [ 
 metaData 
 ] 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 table 
 . 
 getMetadata 
 (); 
  
 const 
  
 requiredFields 
  
 = 
  
 metaData 
 . 
 schema 
 . 
 fields 
 . 
 filter 
 ( 
  
 ({ 
 mode 
 }) 
  
 = 
>  
 mode 
  
 === 
  
 'REQUIRED' 
 , 
  
 ). 
 length 
 ; 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 ` 
 ${ 
 requiredFields 
 } 
 fields in the schema are required.` 
 ); 
  
 // Create destination table reference 
  
 const 
  
 tableRef 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 projectId 
 , 
  
 tableId 
 , 
  
 datasetId 
 , 
  
 }; 
  
 /* Configure the query to append the results to a destination table, 
 * allowing field relaxation. In this example, the existing table 
 * contains 'age' as a required column. 
 * 
 * For all options, see https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/docs/reference/rest/v2/Job#JobConfigurationQuery 
 */ 
  
 const 
  
 queryJobConfig 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 query 
 : 
  
 `SELECT age FROM \` 
 ${ 
 projectId 
 } 
 . 
 ${ 
 datasetId 
 } 
 . 
 ${ 
 tableId 
 } 
 \`` 
 , 
  
 destinationTable 
 : 
  
 tableRef 
 , 
  
 schemaUpdateOptions 
 : 
  
 [ 
 'ALLOW_FIELD_RELAXATION' 
 ], 
  
 writeDisposition 
 : 
  
 [ 
 'WRITE_APPEND' 
 ], 
  
 useLegacySql 
 : 
  
 false 
 , 
  
 }; 
  
 // Configure the job. 
  
 const 
  
 jobConfig 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 configuration 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 query 
 : 
  
 queryJobConfig 
 , 
  
 }, 
  
 }; 
  
 // Start the query, passing in the extra configuration. 
  
 const 
  
 response 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
  createJob 
 
 ( 
 jobConfig 
 ); 
  
 const 
  
 job 
  
 = 
  
 response 
 [ 
 0 
 ]; 
  
 // Wait for job to complete. 
  
 await 
  
  job 
 
 . 
  getQueryResults 
 
 ( 
 job 
 ); 
  
 // Check the updated number of required fields. 
  
 const 
  
 updatedTable 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 dataset 
 . 
 table 
 ( 
 tableId 
 ); 
  
 const 
  
 [ 
 updatedMetaData 
 ] 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 updatedTable 
 . 
 getMetadata 
 (); 
  
 const 
  
 updatedRequiredFields 
  
 = 
  
 updatedMetaData 
 . 
 schema 
 . 
 fields 
 . 
 filter 
 ( 
  
 ({ 
 mode 
 }) 
  
 = 
>  
 mode 
  
 === 
  
 'REQUIRED' 
 , 
  
 ). 
 length 
 ; 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
  
 ` 
 ${ 
 updatedRequiredFields 
 } 
 fields in the schema are now required.` 
 , 
  
 ); 
 } 
 

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the BigQuery quickstart using client libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Python API reference documentation .

To authenticate to BigQuery, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  from 
  
 google.cloud 
  
 import 
  bigquery 
 
 # Construct a BigQuery client object. 
 client 
 = 
  bigquery 
 
 . 
  Client 
 
 () 
 # TODO(developer): Set table_id to the ID of the destination table. 
 # table_id = "your-project.your_dataset.your_table_name" 
 # Retrieves the destination table and checks the number of required fields. 
 table 
 = 
 client 
 . 
  get_table 
 
 ( 
 table_id 
 ) 
 # Make an API request. 
 original_required_fields 
 = 
 sum 
 ( 
 field 
 . 
 mode 
 == 
 "REQUIRED" 
 for 
 field 
 in 
 table 
 . 
 schema 
 ) 
 # In this example, the existing table has 2 required fields. 
 print 
 ( 
 " 
 {} 
 fields in the schema are required." 
 . 
 format 
 ( 
 original_required_fields 
 )) 
 # Configures the query to append the results to a destination table, 
 # allowing field relaxation. 
 job_config 
 = 
  bigquery 
 
 . 
  QueryJobConfig 
 
 ( 
 destination 
 = 
 table_id 
 , 
 schema_update_options 
 = 
 [ 
  bigquery 
 
 . 
  SchemaUpdateOption 
 
 . 
  ALLOW_FIELD_RELAXATION 
 
 ], 
 write_disposition 
 = 
  bigquery 
 
 . 
  WriteDisposition 
 
 . 
  WRITE_APPEND 
 
 , 
 ) 
 # Start the query, passing in the extra configuration. 
 client 
 . 
  query_and_wait 
 
 ( 
 # In this example, the existing table contains 'full_name' and 'age' as 
 # required columns, but the query results will omit the second column. 
 'SELECT "Beyonce" as full_name;' 
 , 
 job_config 
 = 
 job_config 
 , 
 ) 
 # Make an API request and wait for job to complete 
 # Checks the updated number of required fields. 
 table 
 = 
 client 
 . 
  get_table 
 
 ( 
 table_id 
 ) 
 # Make an API request. 
 current_required_fields 
 = 
 sum 
 ( 
 field 
 . 
 mode 
 == 
 "REQUIRED" 
 for 
 field 
 in 
 table 
 . 
 schema 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 " 
 {} 
 fields in the schema are now required." 
 . 
 format 
 ( 
 current_required_fields 
 )) 
 

What's next

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