Value Types and Operators

ReQL supports the following value types:

int – signed integer (currently 64bit),
double – double-precision floating-point number (IEEE 754 compliant),
timestamp – UTC timestamp, similar to double,
string – sequence of Unicode characters,
boolean – binary data type of two possible values: true or false,
set – unordered collection of values.
array – ordered collection of values.

Except for set and array types, all of the types include special value of null, which, again, corresponds to the fact that null is an allowed and also default value for the item / user property values in the API.

Numbers

Notation

Expression	Equivalent	Comment
`0123.000`	`123.0`	Leading and trailing zeros are ignored.
`1.23e+3`	`1230.0`	Exponential notation may be used.
`1e9`	`1000000000`	Using simple exponential notation for huge numbers.
`123E-2`	`1.23`	Negative exponents may also be used. Case of the `e` character does not matter.

Operations

Expression	Result	Comment
`1 + 2`	`3`	Addition.
`1 + 2 + 3 + 4`	`10`	Chain of additions.
`1 - 2`	`-1`	Subtraction.
`1 - 2 - 3 - 4`	`-9`	Chain of subtractions.
`-(1 + 2)`	`-3`	Unary minus.
`2 * 3`	`6`	Multiplication.
`1 + 2 * 3 - 4`	`3`	Standard operator precedence.
`(1 + 2) * (3 - (4 + 5))`	`-18`	Bracketing.
`10 / 5`	`2.0`	Division.
`1 / 2`	`0.5`	Division always results in double, event if the operands are integers!
`5 / 0`	`NaN`	If the divisor is `0`, the result is `NaN`.
`9 % 4`	`1`	Modulo division.
`3.14 % 2.5`	`0.64`	Modulo division also works for doubles.
`5 % 0`	`NaN`	If the divisor is `0`, the result is `NaN`.

Comparison

Expression	Result	Comment
`1 < 2.0`	`true`	Integers, doubles, and timestamps may be compared using standard comparison operators.
`1 < 2 <= 2 == 2 != 1 >= 1 > 0`	`true`	Comparison operators may be arbitrarily chained.
`1 < 2 <= 2 == 3 != 1 >= 1 > 0`	`false`	Chain of comparisons returns `true` if and only if all the individual comparisons are `true`.
`2 == 2.0`	`true`	In comparison, there is no difference between integers, doubles, and timestamps.

Strings

Notation

Expression	Comment
`"foo"`	Strings constants are enclosed in double quotes.
`""`	Empty string.
`"she said \"hello\""`	Double quotes must be escaped.
`"she said 'hello'"`	Single quotes needn’t be escaped.

Comparison

Expression	Result	Comment
`"foo" == "foo"`	`true`	Strings are compared for equality with `==`.
`"Alice" != null`	`true`	Strings can be compared to `null`.
`"Alice" < "Bob"`	`true`	Strings are ordered in lexicographic order.
`"Alice" < "Bob" < "Carol" < "Dan"`	`true`	Comparisons may be chained arbitrarily.
`"Alice" < "Bob" <= "Carol" != "Dan"`	`true`	Comparisons in the chain may be of different types.
`"Alice" < "Bob" >= "Carol" != "Dan"`	`false`	All the comparisons must hold for the chain to return `true`.
`"Alice" < 5`	`error`	Strings are only comparable with strings.
`"Alice" ~ "A[a-z]+"`	`true`	Strings can be matched with regular expressions (regex).

Containment

Expression	Result	Comment
`"ice" in "Alice"`	`true`	`in` operator between strings tests whether the first string is contained in the second string.
`"Ice" in "Alice"`	`false`	Containment test is case sensitive.
`"ice" not in "Alice"`	`false`	`in` operator may be negated for better readability.
`"" in "abc"`	`true`	Empty string is contained in every string.
`"abc" in ""`	`false`	No non-empty string is contained in empty string.
`5 in "abc"`	`error`	Both operands must be strings for string containment testing.

Concatenation

Expression	Result	Comment
`"foo" + "bar"`	`"foobar"`	Strings can be concatenated using the `+` operator.
`"" + "foo" + ""`	`"foo"`	Empty string is neutral element for concatenation.
`"foo" + 123`	`"foo123"`	Strings can be concatenated with integers.
`"foo" + 123.0`	`"foo123.0"`	Strings can be concatenated with numbers.

Indexing and Slicing

Expression	Result	Comment
`"abcd"[1]`	`"b"`	A character in the string can be accessed by its index (starting from `0`).
`"abcd"[10]`	`""`	Requesting an index outside the array boundaries results in an empty string.
`"abcd"[-1]`	`"d"`	Negative indices are interpreted as counting from the end of the string. `-1` therefore means the last character.
`"abcd"[1:3]`	`"bc"`	It is possible to get a sub-string between two indices.
`"abcd"[1:]`	`"bcd"`	If the second index is omitted, all characters until the end of the string are returned.
`"abcd"[1::2]`	`"bd"`	Size of step can be provided to only take every n-th character.
`"abcd"[::-3]`	`"da"`	Size of step can be negative. If first index is omitted, the slice begins with the last character.If the second index is omitted, the slice goes until the first character (inclusive).

Sets

Notation

Expression	Comment
`{}`	Empty set.
`{1, 2, 3}`	Set containing three integers.
`{1, 2.0, false, "foo", null}`	Sets may contain values of different types. This is an extension to sets in the API, which may only contain strings.
`{{1,2}, {2,3}}`	Sets may be nested.

Properties

Expression	Result	Comment
`{ 1, 1, 1, 2 }`	`{ 1, 2 }`	Sets only contain unique elements.
`{ 1, 1.0 }`	`{ 1.0 }`	Integers, doubles, and timestamps, are merged.
`{ {1,2}, {2,1} }`	`{ {1,2} }`	Merging also works for nested sets.

Value Containment

Expression	Result	Comment
`2 in { 1, 2, 3 }`	`true`	Using `in` operator, you may test whether a value is contained in given set (the ∈ relation)
`4 not in { 1, 2, 3 }`	`true`	The `in` operator may be negated for better readability (the ∉ relation).
`2.0 in { 1, 2, 3 }`	`true`	There is no difference between integers, doubles, and timestamps when testing containment.
`"2" in { 1, 2, 3 }`	`false`	There is a difference between numbers and strings.
`{ 1, 2 } in { 1, 2, 3 }`	`false`	`in` stands for ∈, not ⊆!
`{ 1, 2 } in { {1,2}, {3,4} }`	`true`	`in` stands for ∈.

Comparison

Expression	Result	Comment
`{ 1, 2 } < { 1, 2, 3 }`	`true`	Using `<` operator, you may test whether one test is a proper subset of another set (⊂ operator in set algebra).
`{ 1, 2 } < { 1, 2 }`	`false`	No set is a proper subset of itself.
`{} < { 1, 2 }`	`true`	Empty set is a proper subset of every non-empty set.
`{} < {}`	`false`	Empty set is not a proper subset of itself.
`{ 1, 2 } <= { 1, 2, 3 }`	`true`	Using `<=` operator, you may test whether one set is a subset of another set (⊆ operator is set algebra).
`{ 1, 2 } <= { 1, 2 }`	`true`	Every set is a subset of itself.
`{ 1, 2 } == { 1, 2 }`	`true`	`==` tests whether two sets are identical.
`{ 1, 2 } != { 1, 2 }`	`false`	`!=` tests whether two sets are different.
`{ 1, 2, 3 } >= { 1, 2 }`	`true`	`>=` operator tests whether one set is a superset of another set (⊇ operator in set algebra).
`{ 1, 2 } >= { 1, 2 }`	`true`	Every set is a superset of itself.
`{ 1, 2, 3 } > { 1, 2 }`	`true`	`>` operator tests whether one set is a proper superset of another set (⊃ operator in set algebra).
`{ 1, 2 } > { 1, 2 }`	`false`	A non-empty set in not a proper superset of itself.
`{ 1, 2 } > {}`	`true`	Every non-empty set is a proper superset of an empty set.
`{} > {}`	`false`	Empty set is not a proper subset of itself.

Union

Expression	Result	Comment
`{ 1, 2 } + { 2, 3 }`	`{ 1, 2, 3 }`	Sets may be unified using the `+` operator (∪ in set algebra).
`{ 1, 2.0 } + { 2, 3 }`	`{ 1, 2.0, 3 }`	Integers, doubles, and timestamps are merged when unifying sets.
`{ 1, 2 } + { 2, 3 } + { 4 }`	`{ 1, 2, 3, 4 }`	Unions may be chained.
`{ 1, 2 } + {}`	`{ 1, 2 }`	Unification with empty set has no effect on the original set.
`{ 1, 2 } + { "2", "3" }`	`{ 1, 2, "2", "3" }`	Strings and numbers are handled as different values.

Difference

Expression	Result	Comment
`{ 1, 2 } - { 2, 3 }`	`{ 1 }`	Set difference may be obtained using the `-` operator (operator is set algebra).
`{ 1, 2 } - { 2.0, 3.0 }`	`{ 1 }`	Integers, doubles, and timestamps are considered equal if they equal in values.
`{ 1, 2 } - {}`	`{ 1, 2 }`	Subtracting an empty set has no effect.
`{ 1, 2 } - { 1 } - { 2 }`	`{}`	Chaining of set subtractions works from left to rights.
`{ 1, 2 } - ({ 1, 2 } - { 2 })`	`{ 2 }`	Parenthesizing also works.

Intersection

Expression	Result	Comment
`{ 1, 2 } & { 2, 3 }`	`{ 2 }`	Set intersection may be obtained using the `&` operator.
`{ 1, 2 } & { 2.0, 3.0 }`	`{ 2 }`	Integers, doubles, and timestamps are considered equal if they equal in values.
`{ 1, 2 } & {"1", "2"}`	`{}`	Strings and numbers are handled as different values.
`{"a", { 1, 2 }} & {"b", { 1, 2 }}`	`{{1,2}}`	Works with subsets.

Symmetric Difference

Expression	Result	Comment
`{ 1, 2 } / { 2, 3 }`	`{ 1, 3 }`	Symmetric difference of sets may be obtained using the `/` operator.
`{ 1, 2 } / { 2.0, 3.0 }`	`{ 1, 3 }`	Integers, doubles, and timestamps are considered equal if they equal in values.
`{ 1, 2 } / {"1", "2"}`	`{1, 2, "1", "2"}`	Strings and numbers are handled as different values.
`{"a", { 1, 2 }} / {"b", { 1, 2 }}`	`{"a", "b"}`	Works with subsets.

Arrays

Notation

Expression	Result	Comment
`[]`	Empty array.
`[1, 2, 3]`	Array containing three integers.
`[1, 2.0, false, "foo", null]`	Arrays may contain values of different types.
`[[1,2], [2,3]]`	Arrays may be nested.

Value Containment

Expression	Result	Comment
`2 in [ 1, 2, 3 ]`	`true`	Using the `in` operator, you may test whether a value is contained in a given array.
`4 not in [ 1, 2, 3 ]`	`true`	The `in` operator may be negated for better readability.
`2.0 in [ 1, 2, 3 ]`	`true`	There is no difference between integers, doubles, and timestamps when testing containment.
`"2" in [ 1, 2, 3 ]`	`false`	There is a difference between numbers and strings.

Comparison

Expression	Result	Comment
`[ 1, 2 ] == [ 1, 2 ]`	`true`	`==` tests whether two arrays are identical.
`[ 1, 2 ] != [ 1, 2 ]`	`false`	`!=` tests whether two arrays are different.
`[ 1, 2 ] != [ 2, 1 ]`	`true`	Order of the elements must be the same in both arrays for equality

Concatenation

Expression	Result	Comment
`[ 1, 2 ] + [ 3, 4 ]`	`[ 1, 2, 3, 4 ]`	Arrays may be concatenated using the `+` operator.
`[ 1 ] + [ 2, 3 ] + [ 4 ]`	`[ 1, 2, 3, 4 ]`	Concatenations may be chained.
`[ 1, 2 ] + []`	`[ 1, 2 ]`	Concatenating an empty array has no effect on the original array.

Indexing and Slicing

Expression	Result	Comment
`[ "a", "b", "c", "d" ][1]`	`"b"`	Value can be accessed by their index (starting from `0`).
`[ "a", "b", "c", "d" ][10]`	`null`	Requesting an index outside the array boundaries results in null.
`[ "a", "b", "c", "d" ][-1]`	`"d"`	Negative indices are interpreted as counting from the end of the array. `-1` therefore means the last element.
`[ "a", "b", "c", "d" ][1:3]`	`["b", "c"]`	It is possible to get a sub-array between two indices
`[ "a", "b", "c", "d" ][1:]`	`["b", "c", "d"]`	If the second index is omitted, all elements until the end of the array are returned.
`[ "a", "b", "c", "d" ][1::2]`	`["b", "d"]`	Size of step can be provided to only take every n-th element.
`[ "a", "b", "c", "d" ][::-3]`	`["d", "a"]`	Size of step can be negative. If first index is omitted, the slice begins with the last element. If the second index is omitted, the slice goes until the first element (inclusive).

Logical Operators

Negation (NOT)

Expression	Comment
`not 'a' == 'b'`	`'a' != 'b'`
`not 'a' > 'b'`	`'a' <= 'b'`
`not true`	`false`
`not false`	`true`

Implicit conversion to boolean (for advanced uses only!):

Expression	Result	Comment
`not -1`	`false`	Negative numbers are truthy.
`not 0`	`true`	Zero numbers are falsy.
`not 1.23`	`false`	Positive numbers are truthy.
`not ""`	`true`	Empty strings are falsy.
`not "foo"`	`false`	Non-empty strings are truthy.
`not {}`	`true`	Empty sets are falsy.
`not {1,2,3}`	`false`	Non-empty sets are truthy.
`not null`	`true`	`null` is falsy.

Disjunction (OR)

Expression	a	b	c	Result	Comment
`'a' > 'b' or 'a' > 'c'`	`1`	`2`	`3`	`false`	If both operands are false, false is returned.
`'a' > 'b' or 'a' > 'c'`	`2`	`1`	`3`	`true`	If at least one of boolean operands is `true`, the result is `true`.
`'a' > 'b' or 'a' > 'c'`	`2`	`3`	`1`	`true`	If at least one of boolean operands is `true`, the result is `true`.
`'a' > 'b' or 'a' > 'c'`	`3`	`1`	`2`	`true`	If- both the operands are `true`, the result is `true`.

Advanced uses: Implicit conversion to boolean.

Expression	Result	Comment
`"foo" or "bar"`	`"foo"`	If the first operand truthy, it is returned.
`"" or false`	`false`	If the first operand is falsy, the second operand is returned.
`false or ""`	`""`	If the first operand is falsy, the second operand is returned.

Conjunction (AND)

Expression	a	b	c	Result	Comment
`'a' > 'b' and 'a' > 'c'`	`1`	`2`	`3`	`false`	If both operands are `false`, `false` is returned.
`'a' > 'b' and 'a' > 'c'`	`2`	`1`	`3`	`false`	If at least one of boolean operands is `false`, the result is `false`.
`'a' > 'b' and 'a' > 'c'`	`2`	`3`	`1`	`false`	If at least one of boolean operands is `false`, the result is `false`.
`'a' > 'b' and 'a' > 'c'`	`3`	`1`	`2`	`true`	If both the operands are `true`, the result is `true`.

Advanced uses: Implicit conversion to boolean.

Expression	Result	Comment
`"foo" and "bar"`	`"bar"`	If the first operand truthy, the second operand is returned.
`"" and false`	`""`	If the first operand is falsy, it is returned.
`false and ""`	`false`	If the first operand is falsy, it is returned.

Conditional Operator

Expression	a	b	Result	Comment
`if 'a' > 'b' then "foo" else "bar"`	`10`	`5`	`"foo"`	`then`-value is returned if the condition is satisfied.
`if 'a' < 'b' then "foo" else "bar"`	`10`	`5`	`"bar"`	`else`-value is returned if the condition is not satisfied.
`if 'a' < 'b' then "foo"`			`error`	`else` clause must always be present.
`if 'a' < 'b' then "foo" else (if 'a' > 'b' then "bar" else "bah")`	`5`	`5`	`"bah"`	`if`-`else` statements may be nested using parentheses.

Expression	Result	Comment
`if -1 then "foo" else "bar"`	`"foo"`	Negative numbers are truthy.
`if 0 then "foo" else "bar"`	`"bar"`	Zero numbers are falsy.
`if 1.23 then "foo" else "bar"`	`"foo"`	Positive numbers are truthy.
`if "" then "foo" else "bar"`	`"bar"`	Empty strings are falsy.
`if "bah" then "foo" else "bar"`	`"foo"`	Non-empty strings are truthy.
`if {} then "foo" else "bar"`	`"bar"`	Empty sets are falsy
`if {1,2,3} then "foo" else "bar"`	`"foo"`	Non-empty sets are truthy.
`if null then "foo" else "bar"`	`"bar"`	`null` is falsy.

Comments in ReQL

For more complex expressions, you might want to add comments to your ReQL code as documentation.

ReQL uses C-style comments, // for single-line comments, and /* */ for multi-line comments:

ReQL

// explain why you want to only show thrillers
"Thriller" in 'Genres'

ReQL

[
	"apple",
	"banana",
	/*   This is a multi-line comment
		 explaining why we include "cherry"
		 in this list. */
	"cherry"
]

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