Set Operations (`UNION`, `INTERSECT`, and `MINUS`)¶

You can combine multiple queries using the set operators UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, and MINUS. All set operators have equal precedence. If a nGQL statement contains multiple set operators, then Nebula Graph evaluates them from the left to right unless parentheses explicitly specify another order.

The return results in the GO lists of a compound query must match in number and must be in the same datatype group (such as numeric or character).

UNION, UNION DISTINCT, and UNION ALL¶

Operator UNION DISTINCT (or by short UNION) returns the union of two sets A and B (denoted by A ⋃ B in mathematics), with the distinct element belongs to set A or set B, or both.

Meanwhile, operation UNION ALL returns the union set with duplicated elements. The UNION syntax is

<left> UNION [DISTINCT | ALL] <right> [ UNION [DISTINCT | ALL] <right> ...]

where <left> and <right> must have the same number of columns and pair-wise data types. If the data types are different, Nebula Graph will convert according to Type Conversion.

Example¶

The following statement

nebula> GO FROM 1 OVER e1 \
        UNION \
        GO FROM 2 OVER e1

returns the neighbors' id of vertex 1 and 2 (along with edge e1) without duplication.

While

nebula> GO FROM 1 OVER e1 \
        UNION ALL\
        GO FROM 2 OVER e1

returns all the neighbors of vertex 1 and 2, with all possible duplications.

UNION can also work with the YIELD statement. For example, let's suppose the results of the following two queries.

nebula> GO FROM 1 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2; -- query 1
=======================
| id  | col_1| col_2  |
=======================
| 104 |   1  |    2   |    -- line 1
-----------------------
| 215 |   4  |    3   |    -- line 3
-----------------------

nebula> GO FROM 2,3 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2;  -- query 2
======================
| id  | col_1| col_2 |
======================
| 104 |   1  |    2  |    -- line 1
----------------------
| 104 |   2  |    2  |    -- line 2
----------------------

And the following statement

nebula> GO FROM 1 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2   \
        UNION /* DISTINCT */     \
        GO FROM 2,3 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2;

will return as follows:

=======================
| id  | col_1| col_2  |    -- UNION or UNION DISTINCT. The column names come from query 1
=======================
| 104 |  1   |    2   |    -- line 1
-----------------------
| 104 |  2   |    2   |    -- line 2
-----------------------
| 215 |  4   |    3   |    -- line 3
-----------------------

Notice that line 1 and line 2 return the same id (104) with different column values. The DISTINCT check duplication by all the columns for every line. So line 1 and line 2 are different.

You can expect the UNION ALL result

nebula> GO FROM 1 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2   \
        UNION ALL   \
        GO FROM 2,3 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2;

======================
| id  | col_1| col_2 |    -- UNION ALL
======================
| 104 |   1  |   2   |    -- line 1
----------------------
| 104 |   1  |   2   |    -- line 1
----------------------
| 104 |   2  |   2   |    -- line 2
----------------------
| 215 |   4  |   3   |    -- line 3
----------------------

INTERSECT¶

Operator INTERSECT returns the intersection of two sets A and B (denoted by A ⋂ B), if the elements belong both to set A and set B.

<left> INTERSECT <right>

Alike UNION, <left> and <right> must have the same number of columns and data types. Besides, only the same line of <left> and <right> will be returned.

For example, the following query

nebula> GO FROM 1 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2
INTERSECT
GO FROM 2,3 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2;

returns

=======================
| id  | col_1 | col_2 |
=======================
| 104 |   1   |    2  |    -- line 1
-----------------------

MINUS¶

The set subtraction (or difference), A - B, consists of elements that are in A but not in B. So the operation order matters.

For example, the following query

nebula> GO FROM 1 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2
MINUS
GO FROM 2,3 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2;

comes out

========================
| id  | col_1 | col_2  |
========================
| 215 |   4   |    3   |     -- line 3
------------------------

And if we reverse the MINUS order, the query

nebula> GO FROM 2,3 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2
MINUS
GO FROM 1 OVER e1 YIELD e1._dst AS id, e1.prop1 AS col_1, $$.tag.prop2 AS col_2;

returns

=======================
| id  | col_1 | col_2 |    -- column named from query 2
=======================
| 104 |    2  |    2  |    -- line 2
-----------------------

Precedence of the SET Operations and Pipe¶

Please note that when a query contains pipe | and set operations, pipe takes precedence. Refer to the Pipe Doc for details. Query GO FROM 1 UNION GO FROM 2 | GO FROM 3 is the same as query GO FROM 1 UNION (GO FROM 2 | GO FROM 3).

For example:

nebula> GO FROM 100 OVER follow YIELD follow._dst AS play_dst  \
        UNION \
        GO FROM 200 OVER serve REVERSELY YIELD serve._dst AS play_dst \
        | GO FROM $-.play_dst OVER follow YIELD follow._dst AS play_dst;

The statements in the red bar are executed first concurrently, and then the statement in the green box is executed.

nebula> (GO FROM 100 OVER follow YIELD follow._dst AS play_dst  \
        UNION \
        GO FROM 200 OVER serve REVERSELY YIELD serve._dst AS play_dst) \
        | GO FROM $-.play_dst OVER follow YIELD follow._dst AS play_dst;

In the above query, the parentheses change the execution priority, and the statements within the parentheses take the precedence.

Last update: April 8, 2021

Set Operations (UNION, INTERSECT, and MINUS)¶