Objectives
This tutorial walks you through the following steps using the Spanner database/sql driver:
- Create a Spanner instance and database.
- Write, read, and execute SQL queries on data in the database.
- Update the database schema.
- Update data using a read-write transaction.
- Add a secondary index to the database.
- Use the index to read and execute SQL queries on data.
- Retrieve data using a read-only transaction.
Costs
This tutorial uses Spanner, which is a billable component of the Google Cloud. For information on the cost of using Spanner, see Pricing .
Before you begin
Complete the steps described in Set up , which cover creating and setting a default Google Cloud project, enabling billing, enabling the Cloud Spanner API, and setting up OAuth 2.0 to get authentication credentials to use the Cloud Spanner API.
In particular, make sure that you run gcloud auth
application-default login
to set up your local development environment with authentication
credentials.
Prepare your local database/sql environment
-
Download and install Go on your development machine if it isn't already installed.
-
Clone the sample repository to your local machine:
git clone https : // github . com / googleapis / go - sql - spanner . git
-
Change to the directory that contains the Spanner sample code:
cd go - sql - spanner / snippets
Create an instance
When you first use Spanner, you must create an instance, which is an allocation of resources that are used by Spanner databases. When you create an instance, you choose an instance configuration , which determines where your data is stored, and also the number of nodes to use, which determines the amount of serving and storage resources in your instance.
See Create an instance
to learn how to create a Spanner instance using any of the
following methods. You can name your instance test-instance
to use it with
other topics in this document that reference an instance named test-instance
.
- The Google Cloud CLI
- The Google Cloud console
- A client library (C++, C#, Go, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python, or Ruby)
Look through sample files
The samples repository contains a sample that shows how to use Spanner with database/sql.
Take a look through thegetting_started_guide.go
file, which shows how to use
Spanner. The code shows how to create and use a new database. The data
uses the example schema shown in the Schema and data model
page. Create a database
GoogleSQL
gcloud
spanner
databases
create
example
-
db
--instance=test-instance
PostgreSQL
gcloud
spanner
databases
create
example
-
db
--instance=test-instance \
--database-dialect=POSTGRESQL
You should see:
Creating
database
...
done
.
Create tables
The following code creates two tables in the database.
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the sample with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
createtables
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
createtablespg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
The next step is to write data to your database.
Create a connection
Before you can do reads or writes, you must create asql.DB
. sql.DB
contains a connection pool
that can be used to interact with Spanner. The database name and
other connection properties are specified in the database/sql data source name. GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Write data with DML
You can insert data using Data Manipulation Language (DML) in a read-write transaction.
You use the ExecContext
function to execute a DML statement.
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the sample with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
dmlwrite
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
dmlwritepg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
The result shows:
4
records
inserted
.
Write data with mutations
You can also insert data using mutations .
A Mutation
is
a container for mutation operations. A Mutation
represents a sequence of
inserts, updates, and deletes that Spanner applies atomically to
different rows and tables in a Spanner database.
Use Mutation.InsertOrUpdate()
to construct an INSERT_OR_UPDATE
mutation, which adds a new row or updates
column values if the row already exists. Alternatively, use the Mutation.Insert()
method to construct an INSERT
mutation, which adds a new row.
conn.Raw
function to get a reference to the underlying
Spanner connection. The SpannerConn.Apply
function applies
mutations atomically to the database. The following code shows how to write the data using mutations:
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the following example using the write
argument:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
write
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
writepg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
Query data using SQL
Spanner supports a SQL interface for reading data, which you can access on the command line using the Google Cloud CLI or programmatically using the Spanner database/sql driver.
On the command line
Execute the following SQL statement to read the values of all columns from the Albums
table:
GoogleSQL
gcloud
spanner
databases
execute
-
sql
example
-
db
--instance=test-instance \
--sql='SELECT SingerId, AlbumId, AlbumTitle FROM Albums'
PostgreSQL
gcloud
spanner
databases
execute
-
sql
example
-
db
--instance=test-instance \
--sql='SELECT singer_id, album_id, album_title FROM albums'
The result shows:
SingerId
AlbumId
AlbumTitle
1
1
Total
Junk
1
2
Go
,
Go
,
Go
2
1
Green
2
2
Forever
Hold
Your
Peace
2
3
Terrified
Use the Spanner database/sql driver
In addition to executing a SQL statement on the command line, you can issue the same SQL statement programmatically using the Spanner database/sql driver.
The following functions and structs are used to execute a SQL query:- The
QueryContext
function in theDB
struct: use this to execute a SQL statement that returns rows, such as a query or a DML statement with aTHEN RETURN
clause. - The
Rows
struct: use this to access the data returned by a SQL statement.
The following example uses the QueryContext
function:
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
query
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
querypg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
The result shows:
1
1
Total
Junk
1
2
Go
,
Go
,
Go
2
1
Green
2
2
Forever
Hold
Your
Peace
2
3
Terrified
Query using a SQL parameter
If your application has a frequently executed query, you can improve its performance by parameterizing it. The resulting parametric query can be cached and reused, which reduces compilation costs. For more information, see Use query parameters to speed up frequently executed queries .
Here is an example of using a parameter in the WHERE
clause to
query records containing a specific value for LastName
.
The Spanner database/sql driver supports both positional and named
query parameters. A ?
in a SQL statement indicates a positional query
parameter. Pass the query parameter values as additional arguments to the QueryContext
function. For example:
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
querywithparameter
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
querywithparameterpg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
The result shows:
12
Melissa
Garcia
Update the database schema
Assume you need to add a new column called MarketingBudget
to the Albums
table. Adding a new column to an existing table requires an update to your
database schema. Spanner supports schema updates to a database while the
database continues to serve traffic. Schema updates don't require taking the
database offline and they don't lock entire tables or columns; you can continue
writing data to the database during the schema update. Read more about supported
schema updates and schema change performance in Make schema updates
.
Add a column
You can add a column on the command line using the Google Cloud CLI or programmatically using the Spanner database/sql driver.
On the command line
Use the following ALTER TABLE
command to
add the new column to the table:
GoogleSQL
gcloud
spanner
databases
ddl
update
example
-
db
--instance=test-instance \
--ddl='ALTER TABLE Albums ADD COLUMN MarketingBudget INT64'
PostgreSQL
gcloud
spanner
databases
ddl
update
example
-
db
--instance=test-instance \
--ddl='alter table albums add column marketing_budget bigint'
You should see:
Schema
updating
...
done
.
Use the Spanner database/sql driver
Use theExecContext
function to
modify the schema: GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
addcolumn
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
addcolumnpg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
The result shows:
Added
MarketingBudget
column
.
Execute a DDL batch
We recommend that you execute multiple schema modifications in one batch. Use
the START BATCH DDL
and RUN BATCH
commands to execute a DDL batch. The
following example creates two tables in one batch:
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
ddlbatch
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
ddlbatchpg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
The result shows:
Added
Venues
and
Concerts
tables
.
Write data to the new column
The following code writes data to the new column. It sets MarketingBudget
to 100000
for the row keyed by Albums(1, 1)
and to 500000
for the row keyed
by Albums(2, 2)
.
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
update
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
updatepg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
The result shows:
Updated
2
albums
You can also execute a SQL query to fetch the values that you just wrote.
The following example uses the QueryContext
function to execute a query:
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
To execute this query, run the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
querymarketingbudget
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
querymarketingbudgetpg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
You should see:
1
1
100000
1
2
null
2
1
null
2
2
500000
2
3
null
Update data
You can update data using DML in a read-write transaction.
Call DB.BeginTx
to execute read-write
transactions in database/sql.
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
writewithtransactionusingdml
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
writewithtransactionusingdmlpg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
Transaction tags and request tags
Use transaction tags and request tags
to troubleshoot transactions and queries in Spanner. You can pass
additional transaction options to the spannerdriver.BeginReadWriteTransaction
function.
Use spannerdriver.ExecOptions
to pass additional query options for a SQL
statement. For example:
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
tags
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
tagspg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
Retrieve data using read-only transactions
Suppose you want to execute more than one read at the same timestamp. Read-only
transactions
observe a consistent
prefix of the transaction commit history, so your application always gets
consistent data.
Set the TxOptions.ReadOnly
field to true
to execute a read-only transaction.
The following shows how to run a query and perform a read in the same read-only transaction:
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
readonlytransaction
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
readonlytransactionpg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
The result shows:
1
1
Total
Junk
1
2
Go
,
Go
,
Go
2
1
Green
2
2
Forever
Hold
Your
Peace
2
3
Terrified
2
2
Forever
Hold
Your
Peace
1
2
Go
,
Go
,
Go
2
1
Green
2
3
Terrified
1
1
Total
Junk
Partitioned queries and Data Boost
The partitionQuery
API divides a query into smaller pieces, or partitions, and uses multiple
machines to fetch the partitions in parallel. Each partition is identified by a
partition token. The partitionQuery API has higher latency than the standard query API
,
because it's only intended for bulk operations such as exporting or scanning the
whole database.
Data Boost lets you execute analytics queries and data exports with near-zero impact to existing workloads on the provisioned Spanner instance. Data Boost only supports partitioned queries .
The following example shows how to execute a partitioned query with Data Boost with the database/sql driver:
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
databoost
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
databoostpg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
Partitioned DML
Partitioned Data Manipulation Language (DML) is designed for the following types of bulk updates and deletes:
- Periodic cleanup and garbage collection.
- Backfilling new columns with default values.
GoogleSQL
PostgreSQL
Run the example with the following command:
GoogleSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
pdml
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
PostgreSQL
go
run
getting_started_guide
.
go
pdmlpg
projects
/
GCLOUD_PROJECT
/
instances
/
test
-
instance
/
databases
/
example
-
db
Cleanup
To avoid incurring additional charges to your Cloud Billing account for the resources used in this tutorial, drop the database and delete the instance that you created.
Delete the database
If you delete an instance, all databases within it are automatically deleted. This step shows how to delete a database without deleting an instance (you would still incur charges for the instance).
On the command line
gcloud
spanner
databases
delete
example
-
db
--instance=test-instance
Using the Google Cloud console
-
Go to the Spanner Instancespage in the Google Cloud console.
-
Click the instance.
-
Click the database that you want to delete.
-
In the Database detailspage, click Delete.
-
Confirm that you want to delete the database and click Delete.
Delete the instance
Deleting an instance automatically drops all databases created in that instance.
On the command line
gcloud
spanner
instances
delete
test
-
instance
Using the Google Cloud console
-
Go to the Spanner Instancespage in the Google Cloud console.
-
Click your instance.
-
Click Delete.
-
Confirm that you want to delete the instance and click Delete.
What's next
-
Learn how to access Spanner with a virtual machine instance .
-
Learn about authorization and authentication credentials in Authenticate to Cloud services using client libraries .
-
Learn more about Spanner Schema design best practices .