SQLAlchemy 2.0 Documentation

Selecting with Textual Column Expressions

try_cast() - an alternative to CAST that results in NULLs when the cast fails, instead of raising an error. Only supported by some dialects.

type_coerce() - an alternative to CAST that coerces the type on the Python side only, which is often sufficient to generate the correct SQL and data coercion.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.column(text: str, type_: _TypeEngineArgument[_T] | None = None, is_literal: bool = False, _selectable: FromClause | None = None) → ColumnClause[_T]¶

Produce a ColumnClause object.

The ColumnClause is a lightweight analogue to the Column class. The column() function can be invoked with just a name alone, as in:

from sqlalchemy import column

id, name = column("id"), column("name")
stmt = select(id, name).select_from("user")

The above statement would produce SQL like:

SELECT id, name FROM user

Once constructed, column() may be used like any other SQL expression element such as within select() constructs:

from sqlalchemy.sql import column

id, name = column("id"), column("name")
stmt = select(id, name).select_from("user")

The text handled by column() is assumed to be handled like the name of a database column; if the string contains mixed case, special characters, or matches a known reserved word on the target backend, the column expression will render using the quoting behavior determined by the backend. To produce a textual SQL expression that is rendered exactly without any quoting, use literal_column() instead, or pass True as the value of column.is_literal. Additionally, full SQL statements are best handled using the text() construct.

column() can be used in a table-like fashion by combining it with the table() function (which is the lightweight analogue to Table ) to produce a working table construct with minimal boilerplate:

from sqlalchemy import table, column, select

user = table("user",
        column("id"),
        column("name"),
        column("description"),
)

stmt = select(user.c.description).where(user.c.name == 'wendy')

A column() / table() construct like that illustrated above can be created in an ad-hoc fashion and is not associated with any MetaData, DDL, or events, unlike its Table counterpart.

Parameters:

text – the text of the element.
type – TypeEngine object which can associate this ColumnClause with a type.
is_literal – if True, the ColumnClause is assumed to be an exact expression that will be delivered to the output with no quoting rules applied regardless of case sensitive settings. the literal_column() function essentially invokes column() while passing is_literal=True.

See also

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.custom_op¶

Represent a ‘custom’ operator.

custom_op is normally instantiated when the Operators.op() or Operators.bool_op() methods are used to create a custom operator callable. The class can also be used directly when programmatically constructing expressions. E.g. to represent the “factorial” operation:

from sqlalchemy.sql import UnaryExpression
from sqlalchemy.sql import operators
from sqlalchemy import Numeric

unary = UnaryExpression(table.c.somecolumn,
        modifier=operators.custom_op("!"),
        type_=Numeric)

See also

ColumnElement.distinct()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.custom_op (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.OperatorType, typing.Generic)

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.distinct(expr: _ColumnExpressionArgument[_T]) → UnaryExpression[_T]¶

Produce an column-expression-level unary DISTINCT clause.

This applies the DISTINCT keyword to an individual column expression, and is typically contained within an aggregate function, as in:

from sqlalchemy import distinct, func
stmt = select(func.count(distinct(users_table.c.name)))

The above would produce an expression resembling:

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT name) FROM user

The distinct() function is also available as a column-level method, e.g. ColumnElement.distinct(), as in:

stmt = select(func.count(users_table.c.name.distinct()))

The distinct() operator is different from the Select.distinct() method of Select, which produces a SELECT statement with DISTINCT applied to the result set as a whole, e.g. a SELECT DISTINCT expression. See that method for further information.

See also

Select.distinct()

func

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.extract(field: str, expr: _ColumnExpressionArgument[Any]) → Extract¶

Return a Extract construct.

This is typically available as extract() as well as func.extract from the func namespace.

Parameters:

field – The field to extract.
expr – A column or Python scalar expression serving as the right side of the EXTRACT expression.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import extract
from sqlalchemy import table, column

logged_table = table("user",
        column("id"),
        column("date_created"),
)

stmt = select(logged_table.c.id).where(
    extract("YEAR", logged_table.c.date_created) == 2021
)

In the above example, the statement is used to select ids from the database where the YEAR component matches a specific value.

Similarly, one can also select an extracted component:

stmt = select(
    extract("YEAR", logged_table.c.date_created)
).where(logged_table.c.id == 1)

The implementation of EXTRACT may vary across database backends. Users are reminded to consult their database documentation.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.false() → False_¶

Return a False_ construct.

E.g.:

>>> fromsqlalchemyimportfalse>>> print(select(t.c.x).where(false()))SELECT x FROM t WHERE false

A backend which does not support true/false constants will render as an expression against 1 or 0:

>>> print(select(t.c.x).where(false()))SELECT x FROM t WHERE 0 = 1

The true() and false() constants also feature “short circuit” operation within an and_() or or_() conjunction:

>>> print(select(t.c.x).where(or_(t.c.x>5,true())))SELECT x FROM t WHERE true
>>> print(select(t.c.x).where(and_(t.c.x>5,false())))SELECT x FROM t WHERE false

See also

true()

sqlalchemy.sql.expression.func = <sqlalchemy.sql.functions._FunctionGenerator object>¶

Generate SQL function expressions.

func is a special object instance which generates SQL functions based on name-based attributes, e.g.:

>>> print(func.count(1))count(:param_1)

The returned object is an instance of Function, and is a column-oriented SQL element like any other, and is used in that way:

>>> print(select(func.count(table.c.id)))SELECT count(sometable.id) FROM sometable

Any name can be given to func. If the function name is unknown to SQLAlchemy, it will be rendered exactly as is. For common SQL functions which SQLAlchemy is aware of, the name may be interpreted as a generic function which will be compiled appropriately to the target database:

>>> print(func.current_timestamp())CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

To call functions which are present in dot-separated packages, specify them in the same manner:

>>> print(func.stats.yield_curve(5,10))stats.yield_curve(:yield_curve_1, :yield_curve_2)

SQLAlchemy can be made aware of the return type of functions to enable type-specific lexical and result-based behavior. For example, to ensure that a string-based function returns a Unicode value and is similarly treated as a string in expressions, specify Unicode as the type:

>>> print(func.my_string(u'hi',type_=Unicode)+' '+...       func.my_string(u'there', type_=Unicode))my_string(:my_string_1) || :my_string_2 || my_string(:my_string_3)

The object returned by a func call is usually an instance of Function. This object meets the “column” interface, including comparison and labeling functions. The object can also be passed the Connectable.execute() method of a Connection or Engine, where it will be wrapped inside of a SELECT statement first:

print(connection.execute(func.current_timestamp()).scalar())

In a few exception cases, the func accessor will redirect a name to a built-in expression such as cast() or extract(), as these names have well-known meaning but are not exactly the same as “functions” from a SQLAlchemy perspective.

Functions which are interpreted as “generic” functions know how to calculate their return type automatically. For a listing of known generic functions, see SQL and Generic Functions.

Note

The func construct has only limited support for calling standalone “stored procedures”, especially those with special parameterization concerns.

See the section Calling Stored Procedures and User Defined Functions for details on how to use the DBAPI-level callproc() method for fully traditional stored procedures.

Function

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.lambda_stmt(lmb: Callable[[], Any], enable_tracking: bool = True, track_closure_variables: bool = True, track_on: object | None = None, global_track_bound_values: bool = True, track_bound_values: bool = True, lambda_cache: MutableMapping[Tuple[Any, ...], NonAnalyzedFunction | AnalyzedFunction] | None = None) → StatementLambdaElement¶

Produce a SQL statement that is cached as a lambda.

The Python code object within the lambda is scanned for both Python literals that will become bound parameters as well as closure variables that refer to Core or ORM constructs that may vary. The lambda itself will be invoked only once per particular set of constructs detected.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import lambda_stmt

stmt = lambda_stmt(lambda: table.select())
stmt += lambda s: s.where(table.c.id == 5)

result = connection.execute(stmt)

The object returned is an instance of StatementLambdaElement.

New in version 1.4.

Parameters:

lmb – a Python function, typically a lambda, which takes no arguments and returns a SQL expression construct
enable_tracking – when False, all scanning of the given lambda for changes in closure variables or bound parameters is disabled. Use for a lambda that produces the identical results in all cases with no parameterization.
track_closure_variables – when False, changes in closure variables within the lambda will not be scanned. Use for a lambda where the state of its closure variables will never change the SQL structure returned by the lambda.
track_bound_values – when False, bound parameter tracking will be disabled for the given lambda. Use for a lambda that either does not produce any bound values, or where the initial bound values never change.
global_track_bound_values – when False, bound parameter tracking will be disabled for the entire statement including additional links added via the StatementLambdaElement.add_criteria() method.
lambda_cache – a dictionary or other mapping-like object where information about the lambda’s Python code as well as the tracked closure variables in the lambda itself will be stored. Defaults to a global LRU cache. This cache is independent of the “compiled_cache” used by the Connection object.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.literal(value: Any, type_: _TypeEngineArgument[Any] | None = None, literal_execute: bool = False) → BindParameter[Any]¶

Return a literal clause, bound to a bind parameter.

Literal clauses are created automatically when non- ClauseElement objects (such as strings, ints, dates, etc.) are used in a comparison operation with a ColumnElement subclass, such as a Column object. Use this function to force the generation of a literal clause, which will be created as a BindParameter with a bound value.

Parameters:

value – the value to be bound. Can be any Python object supported by the underlying DB-API, or is translatable via the given type argument.
type_ – an optional TypeEngine which will provide bind-parameter translation for this literal.
literal_execute –
optional bool, when True, the SQL engine will attempt to render the bound value directly in the SQL statement at execution time rather than providing as a parameter value.

New in version 2.0.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.literal_column(text: str, type_: _TypeEngineArgument[_T] | None = None) → ColumnClause[_T]¶

Produce a ColumnClause object that has the column.is_literal flag set to True.

literal_column() is similar to column(), except that it is more often used as a “standalone” column expression that renders exactly as stated; while column() stores a string name that will be assumed to be part of a table and may be quoted as such, literal_column() can be that, or any other arbitrary column-oriented expression.

Parameters:

text – the text of the expression; can be any SQL expression. Quoting rules will not be applied. To specify a column-name expression which should be subject to quoting rules, use the column() function.
type_ – an optional TypeEngine object which will provide result-set translation and additional expression semantics for this column. If left as None the type will be NullType.

See also

column()

text()

Selecting with Textual Column Expressions

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.not_(clause: _ColumnExpressionArgument[_T]) → ColumnElement[_T]¶

Return a negation of the given clause, i.e. NOT(clause).

The ~ operator is also overloaded on all ColumnElement subclasses to produce the same result.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.null() → Null¶: Return a constant Null construct.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.or_(*clauses)¶

Produce a conjunction of expressions joined by OR.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import or_

stmt = select(users_table).where(
                or_(
                    users_table.c.name == 'wendy',
                    users_table.c.name == 'jack'
                )
            )

The or_() conjunction is also available using the Python | operator (though note that compound expressions need to be parenthesized in order to function with Python operator precedence behavior):

stmt = select(users_table).where(
                (users_table.c.name == 'wendy') |
                (users_table.c.name == 'jack')
            )

The or_() construct must be given at least one positional argument in order to be valid; a or_() construct with no arguments is ambiguous. To produce an “empty” or dynamically generated or_() expression, from a given list of expressions, a “default” element of false() (or just False) should be specified:

from sqlalchemy import false
or_criteria = or_(false(), *expressions)

The above expression will compile to SQL as the expression false or 0 = 1, depending on backend, if no other expressions are present. If expressions are present, then the false() value is ignored as it does not affect the outcome of an OR expression which has other elements.

Deprecated since version 1.4: The or_() element now requires that at least one argument is passed; creating the or_() construct with no arguments is deprecated, and will emit a deprecation warning while continuing to produce a blank SQL string.

See also

and_()

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.outparam(key: str, type_: TypeEngine[_T] | None = None) → BindParameter[_T]¶

Create an ‘OUT’ parameter for usage in functions (stored procedures), for databases which support them.

The outparam can be used like a regular function parameter. The “output” value will be available from the CursorResult object via its out_parameters attribute, which returns a dictionary containing the values.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.text(text: str) → TextClause¶

Construct a new TextClause clause, representing a textual SQL string directly.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import text

t = text("SELECT * FROM users")
result = connection.execute(t)

The advantages text() provides over a plain string are backend-neutral support for bind parameters, per-statement execution options, as well as bind parameter and result-column typing behavior, allowing SQLAlchemy type constructs to play a role when executing a statement that is specified literally. The construct can also be provided with a .c collection of column elements, allowing it to be embedded in other SQL expression constructs as a subquery.

Bind parameters are specified by name, using the format :name. E.g.:

t = text("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id=:user_id")
result = connection.execute(t, user_id=12)

For SQL statements where a colon is required verbatim, as within an inline string, use a backslash to escape:

t = text(r"SELECT * FROM users WHERE name='\:username'")

The TextClause construct includes methods which can provide information about the bound parameters as well as the column values which would be returned from the textual statement, assuming it’s an executable SELECT type of statement. The TextClause.bindparams() method is used to provide bound parameter detail, and TextClause.columns() method allows specification of return columns including names and types:

t = text("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id=:user_id").\
        bindparams(user_id=7).\
        columns(id=Integer, name=String)

for id, name in connection.execute(t):
    print(id, name)

The text() construct is used in cases when a literal string SQL fragment is specified as part of a larger query, such as for the WHERE clause of a SELECT statement:

s = select(users.c.id, users.c.name).where(text("id=:user_id"))
result = connection.execute(s, user_id=12)

text() is also used for the construction of a full, standalone statement using plain text. As such, SQLAlchemy refers to it as an Executable object and may be used like any other statement passed to an .execute() method.

Parameters:

text –

the text of the SQL statement to be created. Use :<param> to specify bind parameters; they will be compiled to their engine-specific format.

Warning

The text.text argument to text() can be passed as a Python string argument, which will be treated as trusted SQL text and rendered as given. DO NOT PASS UNTRUSTED INPUT TO THIS PARAMETER.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.true() → True_¶

Return a constant True_ construct.

E.g.:

>>> fromsqlalchemyimporttrue>>> print(select(t.c.x).where(true()))SELECT x FROM t WHERE true

A backend which does not support true/false constants will render as an expression against 1 or 0:

>>> print(select(t.c.x).where(true()))SELECT x FROM t WHERE 1 = 1

The true() and false() constants also feature “short circuit” operation within an and_() or or_() conjunction:

>>> print(select(t.c.x).where(or_(t.c.x>5,true())))SELECT x FROM t WHERE true
>>> print(select(t.c.x).where(and_(t.c.x>5,false())))SELECT x FROM t WHERE false

See also

false()

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.try_cast(expression: _ColumnExpressionOrLiteralArgument[Any], type_: _TypeEngineArgument[_T]) → TryCast[_T]¶

Produce a TRY_CAST expression for backends which support it; this is a CAST which returns NULL for un-castable conversions.

In SQLAlchemy, this construct is supported only by the SQL Server dialect, and will raise a CompileError if used on other included backends. However, third party backends may also support this construct.

Tip

As try_cast() originates from the SQL Server dialect, it’s importable both from sqlalchemy. as well as from sqlalchemy.dialects.mssql.

try_cast() returns an instance of TryCast and generally behaves similarly to the Cast construct; at the SQL level, the difference between CAST and TRY_CAST is that TRY_CAST returns NULL for an un-castable expression, such as attempting to cast a string "hi" to an integer value.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import select, try_cast, Numeric

stmt = select(
    try_cast(product_table.c.unit_price, Numeric(10, 4))
)

The above would render on Microsoft SQL Server as:

SELECT TRY_CAST (product_table.unit_price AS NUMERIC(10, 4))
FROM product_table

New in version 2.0.14: try_cast() has been generalized from the SQL Server dialect into a general use construct that may be supported by additional dialects.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.tuple_(*clauses: _ColumnExpressionArgument[Any], types: Sequence[_TypeEngineArgument[Any]] | None = None) → Tuple¶

Return a Tuple.

Main usage is to produce a composite IN construct using ColumnOperators.in_()

from sqlalchemy import tuple_

tuple_(table.c.col1, table.c.col2).in_(
    [(1, 2), (5, 12), (10, 19)]
)

Changed in version 1.3.6: Added support for SQLite IN tuples.

Warning

The composite IN construct is not supported by all backends, and is currently known to work on PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite. Unsupported backends will raise a subclass of DBAPIError when such an expression is invoked.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.type_coerce(expression: _ColumnExpressionOrLiteralArgument[Any], type_: _TypeEngineArgument[_T]) → TypeCoerce[_T]¶

Associate a SQL expression with a particular type, without rendering CAST.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import type_coerce

stmt = select(type_coerce(log_table.date_string, StringDateTime()))

The above construct will produce a TypeCoerce object, which does not modify the rendering in any way on the SQL side, with the possible exception of a generated label if used in a columns clause context:

SELECT date_string AS date_string FROM log

When result rows are fetched, the StringDateTime type processor will be applied to result rows on behalf of the date_string column.

Note

the type_coerce() construct does not render any SQL syntax of its own, including that it does not imply parenthesization. Please use TypeCoerce.self_group() if explicit parenthesization is required.

In order to provide a named label for the expression, use ColumnElement.label():

stmt = select(
    type_coerce(log_table.date_string, StringDateTime()).label('date')
)

A type that features bound-value handling will also have that behavior take effect when literal values or bindparam() constructs are passed to type_coerce() as targets. For example, if a type implements the TypeEngine.bind_expression() method or TypeEngine.bind_processor() method or equivalent, these functions will take effect at statement compilation/execution time when a literal value is passed, as in:

# bound-value handling of MyStringType will be applied to the
# literal value "some string"
stmt = select(type_coerce("some string", MyStringType))

When using type_coerce() with composed expressions, note that parenthesis are not applied. If type_coerce() is being used in an operator context where the parenthesis normally present from CAST are necessary, use the TypeCoerce.self_group() method:

>>> some_integer=column("someint",Integer)>>> some_string=column("somestr",String)>>> expr=type_coerce(some_integer+5,String)+some_string>>> print(expr)someint + :someint_1 || somestr
>>> expr=type_coerce(some_integer+5,String).self_group()+some_string>>> print(expr)(someint + :someint_1) || somestr

Parameters:

expression – A SQL expression, such as a ColumnElement expression or a Python string which will be coerced into a bound literal value.
type_ – A TypeEngine class or instance indicating the type to which the expression is coerced.

See also

ColumnElement.between()

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.quoted_name¶

Represent a SQL identifier combined with quoting preferences.

quoted_name is a Python unicode/str subclass which represents a particular identifier name along with a quote flag. This quote flag, when set to True or False, overrides automatic quoting behavior for this identifier in order to either unconditionally quote or to not quote the name. If left at its default of None, quoting behavior is applied to the identifier on a per-backend basis based on an examination of the token itself.

A quoted_name object with quote=True is also prevented from being modified in the case of a so-called “name normalize” option. Certain database backends, such as Oracle, Firebird, and DB2 “normalize” case-insensitive names as uppercase. The SQLAlchemy dialects for these backends convert from SQLAlchemy’s lower-case-means-insensitive convention to the upper-case-means-insensitive conventions of those backends. The quote=True flag here will prevent this conversion from occurring to support an identifier that’s quoted as all lower case against such a backend.

The quoted_name object is normally created automatically when specifying the name for key schema constructs such as Table, Column, and others. The class can also be passed explicitly as the name to any function that receives a name which can be quoted. Such as to use the Engine.has_table() method with an unconditionally quoted name:

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
from sqlalchemy import inspect
from sqlalchemy.sql import quoted_name

engine = create_engine("oracle+cx_oracle://some_dsn")
print(inspect(engine).has_table(quoted_name("some_table", True)))

The above logic will run the “has table” logic against the Oracle backend, passing the name exactly as "some_table" without converting to upper case.

Changed in version 1.2: The quoted_name construct is now importable from sqlalchemy.sql, in addition to the previous location of sqlalchemy.sql.elements.

Members

quote

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.quoted_name (sqlalchemy.util.langhelpers.MemoizedSlots, builtins.str)

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.quoted_name.quote¶: whether the string should be unconditionally quoted

Column Element Modifier Constructors¶

Functions listed here are more commonly available as methods from any ColumnElement construct, for example, the label() function is usually invoked via the ColumnElement.label() method.

Object Name	Description
all_(expr)	Produce an ALL expression.
any_(expr)	Produce an ANY expression.
asc(column)	Produce an ascending `ORDER BY` clause element.
between(expr, lower_bound, upper_bound[, symmetric])	Produce a `BETWEEN` predicate clause.
collate(expression, collation)	Return the clause `expression COLLATE collation`.
desc(column)	Produce a descending `ORDER BY` clause element.
funcfilter(func, *criterion)	Produce a `FunctionFilter` object against a function.
label(name, element[, type_])	Return a `Label` object for the given `ColumnElement`.
nulls_first(column)	Produce the `NULLS FIRST` modifier for an `ORDER BY` expression.
nulls_last(column)	Produce the `NULLS LAST` modifier for an `ORDER BY` expression.
nullsfirst	Synonym for the `nulls_first()` function.
nullslast	Legacy synonym for the `nulls_last()` function.
over(element[, partition_by, order_by, range_, ...])	Produce an `Over` object against a function.
within_group(element, *order_by)	Produce a `WithinGroup` object against a function.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.all_(expr: _ColumnExpressionArgument[_T]) → CollectionAggregate[bool]¶

Produce an ALL expression.

For dialects such as that of PostgreSQL, this operator applies to usage of the ARRAY datatype, for that of MySQL, it may apply to a subquery. e.g.:

# renders on PostgreSQL:
# '5 = ALL (somearray)'
expr = 5 == all_(mytable.c.somearray)

# renders on MySQL:
# '5 = ALL (SELECT value FROM table)'
expr = 5 == all_(select(table.c.value))

Comparison to NULL may work using None:

None == all_(mytable.c.somearray)

The any_() / all_() operators also feature a special “operand flipping” behavior such that if any_() / all_() are used on the left side of a comparison using a standalone operator such as ==, !=, etc. (not including operator methods such as ColumnOperators.is_()) the rendered expression is flipped:

# would render '5 = ALL (column)`
all_(mytable.c.column) == 5

Or with None, which note will not perform the usual step of rendering “IS” as is normally the case for NULL:

# would render 'NULL = ALL(somearray)'
all_(mytable.c.somearray) == None

Changed in version 1.4.26: repaired the use of any_() / all_() comparing to NULL on the right side to be flipped to the left.

The column-level ColumnElement.all_() method (not to be confused with ARRAY level Comparator.all()) is shorthand for all_(col):

5 == mytable.c.somearray.all_()

See also

ColumnOperators.all_()

any_()

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.any_(expr: _ColumnExpressionArgument[_T]) → CollectionAggregate[bool]¶

Produce an ANY expression.

For dialects such as that of PostgreSQL, this operator applies to usage of the ARRAY datatype, for that of MySQL, it may apply to a subquery. e.g.:

# renders on PostgreSQL:
# '5 = ANY (somearray)'
expr = 5 == any_(mytable.c.somearray)

# renders on MySQL:
# '5 = ANY (SELECT value FROM table)'
expr = 5 == any_(select(table.c.value))

Comparison to NULL may work using None or null():

None == any_(mytable.c.somearray)

The any_() / all_() operators also feature a special “operand flipping” behavior such that if any_() / all_() are used on the left side of a comparison using a standalone operator such as ==, !=, etc. (not including operator methods such as ColumnOperators.is_()) the rendered expression is flipped:

# would render '5 = ANY (column)`
any_(mytable.c.column) == 5

Or with None, which note will not perform the usual step of rendering “IS” as is normally the case for NULL:

# would render 'NULL = ANY(somearray)'
any_(mytable.c.somearray) == None

Changed in version 1.4.26: repaired the use of any_() / all_() comparing to NULL on the right side to be flipped to the left.

The column-level ColumnElement.any_() method (not to be confused with ARRAY level Comparator.any()) is shorthand for any_(col):

5 = mytable.c.somearray.any_()

See also

ColumnOperators.any_()

all_()

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.asc(column: _ColumnExpressionOrStrLabelArgument[_T]) → UnaryExpression[_T]¶

Produce an ascending ORDER BY clause element.

e.g.:

from sqlalchemy import asc
stmt = select(users_table).order_by(asc(users_table.c.name))

will produce SQL as:

SELECT id, name FROM user ORDER BY name ASC

The asc() function is a standalone version of the ColumnElement.asc() method available on all SQL expressions, e.g.:

stmt = select(users_table).order_by(users_table.c.name.asc())

Parameters:: column – A ColumnElement (e.g. scalar SQL expression) with which to apply the asc() operation.

See also

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.between(expr: _ColumnExpressionOrLiteralArgument[_T], lower_bound: Any, upper_bound: Any, symmetric: bool = False) → BinaryExpression[bool]¶

Produce a BETWEEN predicate clause.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import between
stmt = select(users_table).where(between(users_table.c.id, 5, 7))

Would produce SQL resembling:

SELECT id, name FROM user WHERE id BETWEEN :id_1 AND :id_2

The between() function is a standalone version of the ColumnElement.between() method available on all SQL expressions, as in:

stmt = select(users_table).where(users_table.c.id.between(5, 7))

All arguments passed to between(), including the left side column expression, are coerced from Python scalar values if a the value is not a ColumnElement subclass. For example, three fixed values can be compared as in:

print(between(5, 3, 7))

Which would produce:

:param_1 BETWEEN :param_2 AND :param_3

Parameters:

expr – a column expression, typically a ColumnElement instance or alternatively a Python scalar expression to be coerced into a column expression, serving as the left side of the BETWEEN expression.
lower_bound – a column or Python scalar expression serving as the lower bound of the right side of the BETWEEN expression.
upper_bound – a column or Python scalar expression serving as the upper bound of the right side of the BETWEEN expression.
symmetric – if True, will render “ BETWEEN SYMMETRIC “. Note that not all databases support this syntax.

See also

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.collate(expression: _ColumnExpressionArgument[str], collation: str) → BinaryExpression[str]¶

Return the clause expression COLLATE collation.

e.g.:

collate(mycolumn, 'utf8_bin')

produces:

mycolumn COLLATE utf8_bin

The collation expression is also quoted if it is a case sensitive identifier, e.g. contains uppercase characters.

Changed in version 1.2: quoting is automatically applied to COLLATE expressions if they are case sensitive.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.desc(column: _ColumnExpressionOrStrLabelArgument[_T]) → UnaryExpression[_T]¶

Produce a descending ORDER BY clause element.

e.g.:

from sqlalchemy import desc

stmt = select(users_table).order_by(desc(users_table.c.name))

will produce SQL as:

SELECT id, name FROM user ORDER BY name DESC

The desc() function is a standalone version of the ColumnElement.desc() method available on all SQL expressions, e.g.:

stmt = select(users_table).order_by(users_table.c.name.desc())

Parameters:: column – A ColumnElement (e.g. scalar SQL expression) with which to apply the desc() operation.

See also

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.funcfilter(func: FunctionElement[_T], *criterion: _ColumnExpressionArgument[bool]) → FunctionFilter[_T]¶

Produce a FunctionFilter object against a function.

Used against aggregate and window functions, for database backends that support the “FILTER” clause.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import funcfilter
funcfilter(func.count(1), MyClass.name == 'some name')

Would produce “COUNT(1) FILTER (WHERE myclass.name = ‘some name’)”.

This function is also available from the func construct itself via the FunctionElement.filter() method.

FunctionElement.filter()

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.label(name: str, element: _ColumnExpressionArgument[_T], type_: _TypeEngineArgument[_T] | None = None) → Label[_T]¶

Return a Label object for the given ColumnElement.

A label changes the name of an element in the columns clause of a SELECT statement, typically via the AS SQL keyword.

This functionality is more conveniently available via the ColumnElement.label() method on ColumnElement.

Parameters:

name – label name
obj – a ColumnElement.

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.nulls_first(column: _ColumnExpressionArgument[_T]) → UnaryExpression[_T]¶

Produce the NULLS FIRST modifier for an ORDER BY expression.

nulls_first() is intended to modify the expression produced by asc() or desc(), and indicates how NULL values should be handled when they are encountered during ordering:

from sqlalchemy import desc, nulls_first

stmt = select(users_table).order_by(
    nulls_first(desc(users_table.c.name)))

The SQL expression from the above would resemble:

SELECT id, name FROM user ORDER BY name DESC NULLS FIRST

Like asc() and desc(), nulls_first() is typically invoked from the column expression itself using ColumnElement.nulls_first(), rather than as its standalone function version, as in:

stmt = select(users_table).order_by(
    users_table.c.name.desc().nulls_first())

Changed in version 1.4: nulls_first() is renamed from nullsfirst() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.nullsfirst()¶: Synonym for the nulls_first() function.

Changed in version 2.0.5: restored missing legacy symbol nullsfirst().

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.nulls_last(column: _ColumnExpressionArgument[_T]) → UnaryExpression[_T]¶

Produce the NULLS LAST modifier for an ORDER BY expression.

nulls_last() is intended to modify the expression produced by asc() or desc(), and indicates how NULL values should be handled when they are encountered during ordering:

from sqlalchemy import desc, nulls_last

stmt = select(users_table).order_by(
    nulls_last(desc(users_table.c.name)))

The SQL expression from the above would resemble:

SELECT id, name FROM user ORDER BY name DESC NULLS LAST

Like asc() and desc(), nulls_last() is typically invoked from the column expression itself using ColumnElement.nulls_last(), rather than as its standalone function version, as in:

stmt = select(users_table).order_by(
    users_table.c.name.desc().nulls_last())

Changed in version 1.4: nulls_last() is renamed from nullslast() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.nullslast()¶: Legacy synonym for the nulls_last() function.

Changed in version 2.0.5: restored missing legacy symbol nullslast().

Produce an Over object against a function.

Used against aggregate or so-called “window” functions, for database backends that support window functions.

over() is usually called using the FunctionElement.over() method, e.g.:

func.row_number().over(order_by=mytable.c.some_column)

Would produce:

ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY some_column)

Ranges are also possible using the over.range_ and over.rows parameters. These mutually-exclusive parameters each accept a 2-tuple, which contains a combination of integers and None:

func.row_number().over(
    order_by=my_table.c.some_column, range_=(None, 0))

The above would produce:

ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY some_column
RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)

A value of None indicates “unbounded”, a value of zero indicates “current row”, and negative / positive integers indicate “preceding” and “following”:

RANGE BETWEEN 5 PRECEDING AND 10 FOLLOWING:

func.row_number().over(order_by='x', range_=(-5, 10))

ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW:

func.row_number().over(order_by='x', rows=(None, 0))

RANGE BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING:

func.row_number().over(order_by='x', range_=(-2, None))

RANGE BETWEEN 1 FOLLOWING AND 3 FOLLOWING:

func.row_number().over(order_by='x', range_=(1, 3))

Parameters:

element – a FunctionElement, WithinGroup, or other compatible construct.
partition_by – a column element or string, or a list of such, that will be used as the PARTITION BY clause of the OVER construct.
order_by – a column element or string, or a list of such, that will be used as the ORDER BY clause of the OVER construct.
range_ – optional range clause for the window. This is a tuple value which can contain integer values or None, and will render a RANGE BETWEEN PRECEDING / FOLLOWING clause.
rows – optional rows clause for the window. This is a tuple value which can contain integer values or None, and will render a ROWS BETWEEN PRECEDING / FOLLOWING clause.

This function is also available from the func construct itself via the FunctionElement.over() method.

func

within_group()

function sqlalchemy.sql.expression.within_group(element: FunctionElement[_T], *order_by: _ColumnExpressionArgument[Any]) → WithinGroup[_T]¶

Produce a WithinGroup object against a function.

Used against so-called “ordered set aggregate” and “hypothetical set aggregate” functions, including percentile_cont, rank, dense_rank, etc.

within_group() is usually called using the FunctionElement.within_group() method, e.g.:

from sqlalchemy import within_group
stmt = select(
    department.c.id,
    func.percentile_cont(0.5).within_group(
        department.c.salary.desc()
    )
)

The above statement would produce SQL similar to SELECT department.id, percentile_cont(0.5) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY department.salary DESC).

Parameters:

element – a FunctionElement construct, typically generated by func.
*order_by – one or more column elements that will be used as the ORDER BY clause of the WITHIN GROUP construct.

func

over()

Column Element Class Documentation¶

The classes here are generated using the constructors listed at Column Element Foundational Constructors and Column Element Modifier Constructors.

Object Name	Description
BinaryExpression	Represent an expression that is `LEFT <operator> RIGHT`.
BindParameter	Represent a “bound expression”.
Case	Represent a `CASE` expression.
Cast	Represent a `CAST` expression.
ClauseList	Describe a list of clauses, separated by an operator.
ColumnClause	Represents a column expression from any textual string.
ColumnCollection	Collection of `ColumnElement` instances, typically for `FromClause` objects.
ColumnElement	Represent a column-oriented SQL expression suitable for usage in the “columns” clause, WHERE clause etc. of a statement.
ColumnExpressionArgument	General purpose “column expression” argument.
ColumnOperators	Defines boolean, comparison, and other operators for `ColumnElement` expressions.
Extract	Represent a SQL EXTRACT clause, `extract(field FROM expr)`.
False_	Represent the `false` keyword, or equivalent, in a SQL statement.
FunctionFilter	Represent a function FILTER clause.
Label	Represents a column label (AS).
Null	Represent the NULL keyword in a SQL statement.
Operators	Base of comparison and logical operators.
Over	Represent an OVER clause.
SQLColumnExpression	A type that may be used to indicate any SQL column element or object that acts in place of one.
TextClause	Represent a literal SQL text fragment.
True_	Represent the `true` keyword, or equivalent, in a SQL statement.
TryCast	Represent a TRY_CAST expression.
Tuple	Represent a SQL tuple.
TypeCoerce	Represent a Python-side type-coercion wrapper.
UnaryExpression	Define a ‘unary’ expression.
WithinGroup	Represent a WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY) clause.
WrapsColumnExpression	Mixin that defines a `ColumnElement` as a wrapper with special labeling behavior for an expression that already has a name.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BinaryExpression¶

Represent an expression that is LEFT <operator> RIGHT.

A BinaryExpression is generated automatically whenever two column expressions are used in a Python binary expression:

>>> fromsqlalchemy.sqlimportcolumn>>> column('a')+column('b')<sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BinaryExpression object at 0x101029dd0>>>> print(column('a')+column('b'))a + b

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BinaryExpression (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.OperatorExpression)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BindParameter¶

Represent a “bound expression”.

BindParameter is invoked explicitly using the bindparam() function, as in:

from sqlalchemy import bindparam

stmt = select(users_table).\
            where(users_table.c.name == bindparam('username'))

Detailed discussion of how BindParameter is used is at bindparam().

See also

bindparam()

Members

effective_value, inherit_cache, render_literal_execute()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BindParameter (sqlalchemy.sql.roles.InElementRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.KeyedColumnElement)

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BindParameter.effective_value¶

Return the value of this bound parameter, taking into account if the callable parameter was set.

The callable value will be evaluated and returned if present, else value.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BindParameter.inherit_cache: bool | None = True¶

Indicate if this HasCacheKey instance should make use of the cache key generation scheme used by its immediate superclass.

The attribute defaults to None, which indicates that a construct has not yet taken into account whether or not its appropriate for it to participate in caching; this is functionally equivalent to setting the value to False, except that a warning is also emitted.

This flag can be set to True on a particular class, if the SQL that corresponds to the object does not change based on attributes which are local to this class, and not its superclass.

See also

Enabling Caching Support for Custom Constructs - General guideslines for setting the HasCacheKey.inherit_cache attribute for third-party or user defined SQL constructs.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BindParameter.render_literal_execute() → BindParameter[_T]¶

Produce a copy of this bound parameter that will enable the BindParameter.literal_execute flag.

The BindParameter.literal_execute flag will have the effect of the parameter rendered in the compiled SQL string using [POSTCOMPILE] form, which is a special form that is converted to be a rendering of the literal value of the parameter at SQL execution time. The rationale is to support caching of SQL statement strings that can embed per-statement literal values, such as LIMIT and OFFSET parameters, in the final SQL string that is passed to the DBAPI. Dialects in particular may want to use this method within custom compilation schemes.

New in version 1.4.5.

See also

Caching for Third Party Dialects

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Case¶

Represent a CASE expression.

Case is produced using the case() factory function, as in:

from sqlalchemy import case

stmt = select(users_table).                    where(
                case(
                    (users_table.c.name == 'wendy', 'W'),
                    (users_table.c.name == 'jack', 'J'),
                    else_='E'
                )
            )

Details on Case usage is at case().

See also

case()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Case (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Cast¶

Represent a CAST expression.

Cast is produced using the cast() factory function, as in:

from sqlalchemy import cast, Numeric

stmt = select(cast(product_table.c.unit_price, Numeric(10, 4)))

Details on Cast usage is at cast().

See also

try_cast()

type_coerce() - an alternative to CAST that coerces the type on the Python side only, which is often sufficient to generate the correct SQL and data coercion.

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Cast (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.WrapsColumnExpression)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ClauseList¶

Describe a list of clauses, separated by an operator.

By default, is comma-separated, such as a column listing.

Members

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ClauseList (sqlalchemy.sql.roles.InElementRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.OrderByRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.ColumnsClauseRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.DMLColumnRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.DQLDMLClauseElement)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ClauseList.self_group(against=None)¶

Apply a ‘grouping’ to this ClauseElement.

This method is overridden by subclasses to return a “grouping” construct, i.e. parenthesis. In particular it’s used by “binary” expressions to provide a grouping around themselves when placed into a larger expression, as well as by select() constructs when placed into the FROM clause of another select(). (Note that subqueries should be normally created using the Select.alias() method, as many platforms require nested SELECT statements to be named).

As expressions are composed together, the application of self_group() is automatic - end-user code should never need to use this method directly. Note that SQLAlchemy’s clause constructs take operator precedence into account - so parenthesis might not be needed, for example, in an expression like x OR (y AND z) - AND takes precedence over OR.

The base self_group() method of ClauseElement just returns self.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnClause¶

Represents a column expression from any textual string.

The ColumnClause, a lightweight analogue to the Column class, is typically invoked using the column() function, as in:

from sqlalchemy import column

id, name = column("id"), column("name")
stmt = select(id, name).select_from("user")

The above statement would produce SQL like:

SELECT id, name FROM user

ColumnClause is the immediate superclass of the schema-specific Column object. While the Column class has all the same capabilities as ColumnClause, the ColumnClause class is usable by itself in those cases where behavioral requirements are limited to simple SQL expression generation. The object has none of the associations with schema-level metadata or with execution-time behavior that Column does, so in that sense is a “lightweight” version of Column.

Full details on ColumnClause usage is at column().

See also

column()

Column

Members

get_children()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnClause (sqlalchemy.sql.roles.DDLReferredColumnRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.LabeledColumnExprRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.StrAsPlainColumnRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Immutable, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.NamedColumn)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnClause.get_children(*, column_tables=False, **kw)¶

Return immediate child HasTraverseInternals elements of this HasTraverseInternals.

This is used for visit traversal.

**kw may contain flags that change the collection that is returned, for example to return a subset of items in order to cut down on larger traversals, or to return child items from a different context (such as schema-level collections instead of clause-level).

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection¶

Collection of ColumnElement instances, typically for FromClause objects.

The ColumnCollection object is most commonly available as the Table.c or Table.columns collection on the Table object, introduced at Accessing Tables and Columns.

The ColumnCollection has both mapping- and sequence- like behaviors. A ColumnCollection usually stores Column objects, which are then accessible both via mapping style access as well as attribute access style.

To access Column objects using ordinary attribute-style access, specify the name like any other object attribute, such as below a column named employee_name is accessed:

>>> employee_table.c.employee_name

To access columns that have names with special characters or spaces, index-style access is used, such as below which illustrates a column named employee ' payment is accessed:

>>> employee_table.c["employee ' payment"]

As the ColumnCollection object provides a Python dictionary interface, common dictionary method names like ColumnCollection.keys(), ColumnCollection.values(), and ColumnCollection.items() are available, which means that database columns that are keyed under these names also need to use indexed access:

>>> employee_table.c["values"]

The name for which a Column would be present is normally that of the Column.key parameter. In some contexts, such as a Select object that uses a label style set using the Select.set_label_style() method, a column of a certain key may instead be represented under a particular label name such as tablename_columnname:

>>> from sqlalchemy import select, column, table
>>> from sqlalchemy import LABEL_STYLE_TABLENAME_PLUS_COL
>>> t = table("t", column("c"))
>>> stmt = select(t).set_label_style(LABEL_STYLE_TABLENAME_PLUS_COL)
>>> subq = stmt.subquery()
>>> subq.c.t_c
<sqlalchemy.sql.elements.ColumnClause at 0x7f59dcf04fa0; t_c>

ColumnCollection also indexes the columns in order and allows them to be accessible by their integer position:

>>> cc[0]
Column('x', Integer(), table=None)
>>> cc[1]
Column('y', Integer(), table=None)

New in version 1.4: ColumnCollection allows integer-based index access to the collection.

Iterating the collection yields the column expressions in order:

>>> list(cc)
[Column('x', Integer(), table=None),
 Column('y', Integer(), table=None)]

The base ColumnCollection object can store duplicates, which can mean either two columns with the same key, in which case the column returned by key access is arbitrary:

>>> x1, x2 = Column('x', Integer), Column('x', Integer)
>>> cc = ColumnCollection(columns=[(x1.name, x1), (x2.name, x2)])
>>> list(cc)
[Column('x', Integer(), table=None),
 Column('x', Integer(), table=None)]
>>> cc['x'] is x1
False
>>> cc['x'] is x2
True

Or it can also mean the same column multiple times. These cases are supported as ColumnCollection is used to represent the columns in a SELECT statement which may include duplicates.

A special subclass DedupeColumnCollection exists which instead maintains SQLAlchemy’s older behavior of not allowing duplicates; this collection is used for schema level objects like Table and PrimaryKeyConstraint where this deduping is helpful. The DedupeColumnCollection class also has additional mutation methods as the schema constructs have more use cases that require removal and replacement of columns.

Changed in version 1.4: ColumnCollection now stores duplicate column keys as well as the same column in multiple positions. The DedupeColumnCollection class is added to maintain the former behavior in those cases where deduplication as well as additional replace/remove operations are needed.

Members

add(), as_readonly(), clear(), compare(), contains_column(), corresponding_column(), get(), items(), keys(), update(), values()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection (typing.Generic)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.add(column: ColumnElement[Any], key: _COLKEY | None = None) → None¶: Add a column to this ColumnCollection.

Note

This method is not normally used by user-facing code, as the ColumnCollection is usually part of an existing object such as a Table. To add a Column to an existing Table object, use the Table.append_column() method.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.as_readonly() → ReadOnlyColumnCollection[_COLKEY, _COL_co]¶: Return a “read only” form of this ColumnCollection.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.clear() → NoReturn¶: Dictionary clear() is not implemented for ColumnCollection.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.compare(other: ColumnCollection[Any, Any]) → bool¶: Compare this ColumnCollection to another based on the names of the keys

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.contains_column(col: ColumnElement[Any]) → bool¶: Checks if a column object exists in this collection

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.corresponding_column(column: _COL, require_embedded: bool = False) → _COL | _COL_co | None¶

Given a ColumnElement, return the exported ColumnElement object from this ColumnCollection which corresponds to that original ColumnElement via a common ancestor column.

Parameters:

column – the target ColumnElement to be matched.
require_embedded – only return corresponding columns for the given ColumnElement, if the given ColumnElement is actually present within a sub-element of this Selectable. Normally the column will match if it merely shares a common ancestor with one of the exported columns of this Selectable.

See also

Selectable.corresponding_column() - invokes this method against the collection returned by Selectable.exported_columns.

Changed in version 1.4: the implementation for corresponding_column was moved onto the ColumnCollection itself.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.get(key: str, default: _COL_co | None = None) → _COL_co | None¶: Get a ColumnClause or Column object based on a string key name from this ColumnCollection.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.items() → List[Tuple[_COLKEY, _COL_co]]¶: Return a sequence of (key, column) tuples for all columns in this collection each consisting of a string key name and a ColumnClause or Column object.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.keys() → List[_COLKEY]¶: Return a sequence of string key names for all columns in this collection.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.update(iter_: Any) → NoReturn¶: Dictionary update() is not implemented for ColumnCollection.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnCollection.values() → List[_COL_co]¶: Return a sequence of ColumnClause or Column objects for all columns in this collection.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement¶

Represent a column-oriented SQL expression suitable for usage in the “columns” clause, WHERE clause etc. of a statement.

While the most familiar kind of ColumnElement is the Column object, ColumnElement serves as the basis for any unit that may be present in a SQL expression, including the expressions themselves, SQL functions, bound parameters, literal expressions, keywords such as NULL, etc. ColumnElement is the ultimate base class for all such elements.

A wide variety of SQLAlchemy Core functions work at the SQL expression level, and are intended to accept instances of ColumnElement as arguments. These functions will typically document that they accept a “SQL expression” as an argument. What this means in terms of SQLAlchemy usually refers to an input which is either already in the form of a ColumnElement object, or a value which can be coerced into one. The coercion rules followed by most, but not all, SQLAlchemy Core functions with regards to SQL expressions are as follows:

a literal Python value, such as a string, integer or floating point value, boolean, datetime, Decimal object, or virtually any other Python object, will be coerced into a “literal bound value”. This generally means that a bindparam() will be produced featuring the given value embedded into the construct; the resulting BindParameter object is an instance of ColumnElement. The Python value will ultimately be sent to the DBAPI at execution time as a parameterized argument to the execute() or executemany() methods, after SQLAlchemy type-specific converters (e.g. those provided by any associated TypeEngine objects) are applied to the value.

any special object value, typically ORM-level constructs, which feature an accessor called __clause_element__(). The Core expression system looks for this method when an object of otherwise unknown type is passed to a function that is looking to coerce the argument into a ColumnElement and sometimes a SelectBase expression. It is used within the ORM to convert from ORM-specific objects like mapped classes and mapped attributes into Core expression objects.

The Python None value is typically interpreted as NULL, which in SQLAlchemy Core produces an instance of null().

A ColumnElement provides the ability to generate new ColumnElement objects using Python expressions. This means that Python operators such as ==, != and < are overloaded to mimic SQL operations, and allow the instantiation of further ColumnElement instances which are composed from other, more fundamental ColumnElement objects. For example, two ColumnClause objects can be added together with the addition operator + to produce a BinaryExpression. Both ColumnClause and BinaryExpression are subclasses of ColumnElement:

>>> fromsqlalchemy.sqlimportcolumn>>> column('a')+column('b')<sqlalchemy.sql.expression.BinaryExpression object at 0x101029dd0>>>> print(column('a')+column('b'))a + b

See also

Column

column()

Members

__eq__(), __le__(), __lt__(), __ne__(), all_(), allows_lambda, anon_key_label, anon_label, any_(), asc(), base_columns, between(), bitwise_and(), bitwise_lshift(), bitwise_not(), bitwise_or(), bitwise_rshift(), bitwise_xor(), bool_op(), cast(), collate(), comparator, compare(), compile(), concat(), contains(), desc(), description, distinct(), endswith(), entity_namespace, expression, foreign_keys, get_children(), icontains(), iendswith(), ilike(), in_(), inherit_cache, is_(), is_clause_element, is_distinct_from(), is_dml, is_not(), is_not_distinct_from(), is_selectable, isnot(), isnot_distinct_from(), istartswith(), key, label(), like(), match(), negation_clause, not_ilike(), not_in(), not_like(), notilike(), notin_(), notlike(), nulls_first(), nulls_last(), nullsfirst(), nullslast(), op(), operate(), params(), primary_key, proxy_set, regexp_match(), regexp_replace(), reverse_operate(), self_group(), shares_lineage(), startswith(), stringify_dialect, supports_execution, timetuple, type, unique_params(), uses_inspection

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement (sqlalchemy.sql.roles.ColumnArgumentOrKeyRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.StatementOptionRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.WhereHavingRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.BinaryElementRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.OrderByRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.ColumnsClauseRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.LimitOffsetRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.DMLColumnRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.DDLConstraintColumnRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.DDLExpressionRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.SQLColumnExpression, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.DQLDMLClauseElement)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.__eq__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__eq__ method of ColumnOperators

Implement the == operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a = b. If the target is None, produces a IS NULL.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.__le__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__le__ method of ColumnOperators

Implement the <= operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a <= b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.__lt__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__lt__ method of ColumnOperators

Implement the < operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a < b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.__ne__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__ne__ method of ColumnOperators

Implement the != operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a != b. If the target is None, produces a IS NOT NULL.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.all_() → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.all_() method of ColumnOperators

Produce an all_() clause against the parent object.

See the documentation for all_() for examples.

Note

be sure to not confuse the newer ColumnOperators.all_() method with its older ARRAY-specific counterpart, the Comparator.all() method, which a different calling syntax and usage pattern.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.allows_lambda = True¶

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.anon_key_label¶: Deprecated since version 1.4: The ColumnElement.anon_key_label attribute is now private, and the public accessor is deprecated.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.anon_label¶: Deprecated since version 1.4: The ColumnElement.anon_label attribute is now private, and the public accessor is deprecated.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.any_() → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.any_() method of ColumnOperators

Produce an any_() clause against the parent object.

See the documentation for any_() for examples.

Note

be sure to not confuse the newer ColumnOperators.any_() method with its older ARRAY-specific counterpart, the Comparator.any() method, which a different calling syntax and usage pattern.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.asc() → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.asc() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a asc() clause against the parent object.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.base_columns¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.between(cleft: Any, cright: Any, symmetric: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.between() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a between() clause against the parent object, given the lower and upper range.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.bitwise_and(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.bitwise_and() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a bitwise AND operation, typically via the & operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.bitwise_lshift(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.bitwise_lshift() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a bitwise LSHIFT operation, typically via the << operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.bitwise_not() → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.bitwise_not() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a bitwise NOT operation, typically via the ~ operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.bitwise_or(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.bitwise_or() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a bitwise OR operation, typically via the | operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.bitwise_rshift(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.bitwise_rshift() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a bitwise RSHIFT operation, typically via the >> operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.bitwise_xor(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.bitwise_xor() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a bitwise XOR operation, typically via the ^ operator, or # for PostgreSQL.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.bool_op(opstring: str, precedence: int = 0, python_impl: Callable[[...], Any] | None = None) → Callable[[Any], Operators]¶

inherited from the Operators.bool_op() method of Operators

Return a custom boolean operator.

This method is shorthand for calling Operators.op() and passing the Operators.op.is_comparison flag with True. A key advantage to using Operators.bool_op() is that when using column constructs, the “boolean” nature of the returned expression will be present for PEP 484 purposes.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.cast(type_: _TypeEngineArgument[_OPT]) → Cast[_OPT]¶

Produce a type cast, i.e. CAST(<expression> AS <type>).

This is a shortcut to the cast() function.

See also

type_coerce()

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.collate(collation: str) → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.collate() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a collate() clause against the parent object, given the collation string.

See also

collate()

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.comparator¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.compare(other: ClauseElement, **kw: Any) → bool¶

inherited from the ClauseElement.compare() method of ClauseElement

Compare this ClauseElement to the given ClauseElement.

Subclasses should override the default behavior, which is a straight identity comparison.

**kw are arguments consumed by subclass compare() methods and may be used to modify the criteria for comparison (see ColumnElement).

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.compile(bind: Engine | Connection | None = None, dialect: Dialect | None = None, **kw: Any) → Compiled¶

inherited from the CompilerElement.compile() method of CompilerElement

Compile this SQL expression.

The return value is a Compiled object. Calling str() or unicode() on the returned value will yield a string representation of the result. The Compiled object also can return a dictionary of bind parameter names and values using the params accessor.

Parameters:

bind – An Connection or Engine which can provide a Dialect in order to generate a Compiled object. If the bind and dialect parameters are both omitted, a default SQL compiler is used.
column_keys – Used for INSERT and UPDATE statements, a list of column names which should be present in the VALUES clause of the compiled statement. If None, all columns from the target table object are rendered.
dialect – A Dialect instance which can generate a Compiled object. This argument takes precedence over the bind argument.
compile_kwargs –
optional dictionary of additional parameters that will be passed through to the compiler within all “visit” methods. This allows any custom flag to be passed through to a custom compilation construct, for example. It is also used for the case of passing the literal_binds flag through:
```
from sqlalchemy.sql import table, column, select

t = table('t', column('x'))

s = select(t).where(t.c.x == 5)

print(s.compile(compile_kwargs={"literal_binds": True}))
```

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.concat(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.concat() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the ‘concat’ operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a || b, or uses the concat() operator on MySQL.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.contains(other: Any, **kw: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.contains() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the ‘contains’ operator.

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against a match for the middle of a string value:

column LIKE '%' || <other> || '%'

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.contains("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.contains.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.contains.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.contains.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.contains("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE '%' || :param || '%' ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.contains("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE '%' || :param || '%' ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.contains.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.contains("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.desc() → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.desc() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a desc() clause against the parent object.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.description¶: inherited from the ClauseElement.description attribute of ClauseElement

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.distinct() → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.distinct() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a distinct() clause against the parent object.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.endswith(other: Any, escape: str | None = None, autoescape: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.endswith() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the ‘endswith’ operator.

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against a match for the end of a string value:

column LIKE '%' || <other>

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.endswith("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.endswith.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.endswith.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.endswith.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.endswith("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE '%' || :param ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.endswith("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE '%' || :param ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.endswith.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.endswith("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.entity_namespace¶: inherited from the ClauseElement.entity_namespace attribute of ClauseElement

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.expression¶

Return a column expression.

Part of the inspection interface; returns self.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.foreign_keys: AbstractSet[ForeignKey] = frozenset({})¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.get_children(*, omit_attrs: Tuple[str, ...] = (), **kw: Any) → Iterable[HasTraverseInternals]¶

inherited from the HasTraverseInternals.get_children() method of HasTraverseInternals

Return immediate child HasTraverseInternals elements of this HasTraverseInternals.

This is used for visit traversal.

**kw may contain flags that change the collection that is returned, for example to return a subset of items in order to cut down on larger traversals, or to return child items from a different context (such as schema-level collections instead of clause-level).

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.icontains(other: Any, **kw: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.icontains() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the icontains operator, e.g. case insensitive version of ColumnOperators.contains().

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against an insensitive match for the middle of a string value:

lower(column) LIKE '%' || lower(<other>) || '%'

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.icontains("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.icontains.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.icontains.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.icontains.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.icontains("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE '%' || lower(:param) || '%' ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.icontains("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE '%' || lower(:param) || '%' ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.contains.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.icontains("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.iendswith(other: Any, escape: str | None = None, autoescape: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.iendswith() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the iendswith operator, e.g. case insensitive version of ColumnOperators.endswith().

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against an insensitive match for the end of a string value:

lower(column) LIKE '%' || lower(<other>)

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.iendswith("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.iendswith.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.iendswith.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.iendswith.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.iendswith("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE '%' || lower(:param) ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.iendswith("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE '%' || lower(:param) ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.iendswith.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.endswith("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.ilike(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.ilike() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the ilike operator, e.g. case insensitive LIKE.

In a column context, produces an expression either of the form:

lower(a) LIKE lower(other)

Or on backends that support the ILIKE operator:

a ILIKE other

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.ilike("%foobar%"))

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared
escape –
optional escape character, renders the ESCAPE keyword, e.g.:
```
somecolumn.ilike("foo/%bar", escape="/")
```

See also

ColumnOperators.is_not()

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.in_(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.in_() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the in operator.

In a column context, produces the clause column IN <other>.

The given parameter other may be:

A list of literal values, e.g.:
```
stmt.where(column.in_([1, 2, 3]))
```
In this calling form, the list of items is converted to a set of bound parameters the same length as the list given:
```
WHERE COL IN (?, ?, ?)
```

A list of tuples may be provided if the comparison is against a tuple_() containing multiple expressions:

from sqlalchemy import tuple_
stmt.where(tuple_(col1, col2).in_([(1, 10), (2, 20), (3, 30)]))

An empty list, e.g.:
```
stmt.where(column.in_([]))
```
In this calling form, the expression renders an “empty set” expression. These expressions are tailored to individual backends and are generally trying to get an empty SELECT statement as a subquery. Such as on SQLite, the expression is:
```
WHERE col IN (SELECT 1 FROM (SELECT 1) WHERE 1!=1)
```
Changed in version 1.4: empty IN expressions now use an execution-time generated SELECT subquery in all cases.
A bound parameter, e.g. bindparam(), may be used if it includes the bindparam.expanding flag:
```
stmt.where(column.in_(bindparam('value', expanding=True)))
```
In this calling form, the expression renders a special non-SQL placeholder expression that looks like:
```
WHERE COL IN ([EXPANDING_value])
```
This placeholder expression is intercepted at statement execution time to be converted into the variable number of bound parameter form illustrated earlier. If the statement were executed as:
```
connection.execute(stmt, {"value": [1, 2, 3]})
```
The database would be passed a bound parameter for each value:
```
WHERE COL IN (?, ?, ?)
```
New in version 1.2: added “expanding” bound parameters

If an empty list is passed, a special “empty list” expression, which is specific to the database in use, is rendered. On SQLite this would be:
```
WHERE COL IN (SELECT 1 FROM (SELECT 1) WHERE 1!=1)
```
New in version 1.3: “expanding” bound parameters now support empty lists

a select() construct, which is usually a correlated scalar select:

stmt.where(
    column.in_(
        select(othertable.c.y).
        where(table.c.x == othertable.c.x)
    )
)

In this calling form, ColumnOperators.in_() renders as given:

WHERE COL IN (SELECT othertable.y
FROM othertable WHERE othertable.x = table.x)

Parameters:: other – a list of literals, a select() construct, or a bindparam() construct that includes the bindparam.expanding flag set to True.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.inherit_cache: bool | None = None¶

inherited from the HasCacheKey.inherit_cache attribute of HasCacheKey

Indicate if this HasCacheKey instance should make use of the cache key generation scheme used by its immediate superclass.

The attribute defaults to None, which indicates that a construct has not yet taken into account whether or not its appropriate for it to participate in caching; this is functionally equivalent to setting the value to False, except that a warning is also emitted.

This flag can be set to True on a particular class, if the SQL that corresponds to the object does not change based on attributes which are local to this class, and not its superclass.

See also

Enabling Caching Support for Custom Constructs - General guideslines for setting the HasCacheKey.inherit_cache attribute for third-party or user defined SQL constructs.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.is_(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.is_() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the IS operator.

Normally, IS is generated automatically when comparing to a value of None, which resolves to NULL. However, explicit usage of IS may be desirable if comparing to boolean values on certain platforms.

See also

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.is_clause_element = True¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.is_distinct_from(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.is_distinct_from() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the IS DISTINCT FROM operator.

Renders “a IS DISTINCT FROM b” on most platforms; on some such as SQLite may render “a IS NOT b”.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.is_dml = False¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.is_not(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.is_not() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the IS NOT operator.

Normally, IS NOT is generated automatically when comparing to a value of None, which resolves to NULL. However, explicit usage of IS NOT may be desirable if comparing to boolean values on certain platforms.

Changed in version 1.4: The is_not() operator is renamed from isnot() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.is_not_distinct_from(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.is_not_distinct_from() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the IS NOT DISTINCT FROM operator.

Renders “a IS NOT DISTINCT FROM b” on most platforms; on some such as SQLite may render “a IS b”.

Changed in version 1.4: The is_not_distinct_from() operator is renamed from isnot_distinct_from() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.is_selectable = False¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.isnot(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.isnot() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the IS NOT operator.

Normally, IS NOT is generated automatically when comparing to a value of None, which resolves to NULL. However, explicit usage of IS NOT may be desirable if comparing to boolean values on certain platforms.

Changed in version 1.4: The is_not() operator is renamed from isnot() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.isnot_distinct_from(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.isnot_distinct_from() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the IS NOT DISTINCT FROM operator.

Renders “a IS NOT DISTINCT FROM b” on most platforms; on some such as SQLite may render “a IS b”.

Changed in version 1.4: The is_not_distinct_from() operator is renamed from isnot_distinct_from() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.istartswith(other: Any, escape: str | None = None, autoescape: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.istartswith() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the istartswith operator, e.g. case insensitive version of ColumnOperators.startswith().

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against an insensitive match for the start of a string value:

lower(column) LIKE lower(<other>) || '%'

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.istartswith("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.istartswith.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.istartswith.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.istartswith.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.istartswith("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE lower(:param) || '%' ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.istartswith("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE lower(:param) || '%' ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.istartswith.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.istartswith("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.key: str | None = None¶

The ‘key’ that in some circumstances refers to this object in a Python namespace.

This typically refers to the “key” of the column as present in the .c collection of a selectable, e.g. sometable.c["somekey"] would return a Column with a .key of “somekey”.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.label(name: str | None) → Label[_T]¶

Produce a column label, i.e. <columnname> AS <name>.

This is a shortcut to the label() function.

If ‘name’ is None, an anonymous label name will be generated.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.like(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.like() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the like operator.

In a column context, produces the expression:

a LIKE other

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.like("%foobar%"))

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared
escape –
optional escape character, renders the ESCAPE keyword, e.g.:
```
somecolumn.like("foo/%bar", escape="/")
```

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.match(other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.match() method of ColumnOperators

Implements a database-specific ‘match’ operator.

ColumnOperators.match() attempts to resolve to a MATCH-like function or operator provided by the backend. Examples include:

PostgreSQL - renders x @@ plainto_tsquery(y)

Changed in version 2.0: plainto_tsquery() is used instead of to_tsquery() for PostgreSQL now; for compatibility with other forms, see Full Text Search.
MySQL - renders MATCH (x) AGAINST (y IN BOOLEAN MODE)

See also

match - MySQL specific construct with additional features.
Oracle - renders CONTAINS(x, y)
other backends may provide special implementations.
Backends without any special implementation will emit the operator as “MATCH”. This is compatible with SQLite, for example.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.negation_clause: ColumnElement[bool]¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.not_ilike(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.not_ilike() method of ColumnOperators

implement the NOT ILIKE operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.ilike(), i.e. ~x.ilike(y).

Changed in version 1.4: The not_ilike() operator is renamed from notilike() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.not_in(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.not_in() method of ColumnOperators

implement the NOT IN operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.in_(), i.e. ~x.in_(y).

In the case that other is an empty sequence, the compiler produces an “empty not in” expression. This defaults to the expression “1 = 1” to produce true in all cases. The create_engine.empty_in_strategy may be used to alter this behavior.

Changed in version 1.4: The not_in() operator is renamed from notin_() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

Changed in version 1.2: The ColumnOperators.in_() and ColumnOperators.not_in() operators now produce a “static” expression for an empty IN sequence by default.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.not_like(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.not_like() method of ColumnOperators

implement the NOT LIKE operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.like(), i.e. ~x.like(y).

Changed in version 1.4: The not_like() operator is renamed from notlike() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.notilike(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.notilike() method of ColumnOperators

implement the NOT ILIKE operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.ilike(), i.e. ~x.ilike(y).

Changed in version 1.4: The not_ilike() operator is renamed from notilike() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.notin_(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.notin_() method of ColumnOperators

implement the NOT IN operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.in_(), i.e. ~x.in_(y).

In the case that other is an empty sequence, the compiler produces an “empty not in” expression. This defaults to the expression “1 = 1” to produce true in all cases. The create_engine.empty_in_strategy may be used to alter this behavior.

Changed in version 1.4: The not_in() operator is renamed from notin_() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

Changed in version 1.2: The ColumnOperators.in_() and ColumnOperators.not_in() operators now produce a “static” expression for an empty IN sequence by default.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.notlike(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.notlike() method of ColumnOperators

implement the NOT LIKE operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.like(), i.e. ~x.like(y).

Changed in version 1.4: The not_like() operator is renamed from notlike() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.nulls_first() → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.nulls_first() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a nulls_first() clause against the parent object.

Changed in version 1.4: The nulls_first() operator is renamed from nullsfirst() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.nulls_last() → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.nulls_last() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a nulls_last() clause against the parent object.

Changed in version 1.4: The nulls_last() operator is renamed from nullslast() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.nullsfirst() → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.nullsfirst() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a nulls_first() clause against the parent object.

Changed in version 1.4: The nulls_first() operator is renamed from nullsfirst() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.nullslast() → ColumnOperators¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.nullslast() method of ColumnOperators

Produce a nulls_last() clause against the parent object.

Changed in version 1.4: The nulls_last() operator is renamed from nullslast() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.op(opstring: str, precedence: int = 0, is_comparison: bool = False, return_type: Type[TypeEngine[Any]] | TypeEngine[Any] | None = None, python_impl: Callable[..., Any] | None = None) → Callable[[Any], Operators]¶

inherited from the Operators.op() method of Operators

Produce a generic operator function.

e.g.:

somecolumn.op("*")(5)

produces:

somecolumn * 5

This function can also be used to make bitwise operators explicit. For example:

somecolumn.op('&')(0xff)

is a bitwise AND of the value in somecolumn.

Parameters:

opstring – a string which will be output as the infix operator between this element and the expression passed to the generated function.
precedence –
precedence which the database is expected to apply to the operator in SQL expressions. This integer value acts as a hint for the SQL compiler to know when explicit parenthesis should be rendered around a particular operation. A lower number will cause the expression to be parenthesized when applied against another operator with higher precedence. The default value of 0 is lower than all operators except for the comma (,) and AS operators. A value of 100 will be higher or equal to all operators, and -100 will be lower than or equal to all operators.

See also

I’m using op() to generate a custom operator and my parenthesis are not coming out correctly - detailed description of how the SQLAlchemy SQL compiler renders parenthesis
is_comparison –
legacy; if True, the operator will be considered as a “comparison” operator, that is which evaluates to a boolean true/false value, like ==, >, etc. This flag is provided so that ORM relationships can establish that the operator is a comparison operator when used in a custom join condition.

Using the is_comparison parameter is superseded by using the Operators.bool_op() method instead; this more succinct operator sets this parameter automatically, but also provides correct PEP 484 typing support as the returned object will express a “boolean” datatype, i.e. BinaryExpression[bool].
return_type – a TypeEngine class or object that will force the return type of an expression produced by this operator to be of that type. By default, operators that specify Operators.op.is_comparison will resolve to Boolean, and those that do not will be of the same type as the left-hand operand.
python_impl –
an optional Python function that can evaluate two Python values in the same way as this operator works when run on the database server. Useful for in-Python SQL expression evaluation functions, such as for ORM hybrid attributes, and the ORM “evaluator” used to match objects in a session after a multi-row update or delete.

e.g.:
```
>>> expr = column('x').op('+', python_impl=lambda a, b: a + b)('y')
```
The operator for the above expression will also work for non-SQL left and right objects:
```
>>> expr.operator(5, 10)
15
```
New in version 2.0.

See also

Using custom operators in join conditions

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.operate(op: OperatorType, *other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → ColumnElement[Any]¶

Operate on an argument.

This is the lowest level of operation, raises NotImplementedError by default.

Overriding this on a subclass can allow common behavior to be applied to all operations. For example, overriding ColumnOperators to apply func.lower() to the left and right side:

class MyComparator(ColumnOperators):
    def operate(self, op, other, **kwargs):
        return op(func.lower(self), func.lower(other), **kwargs)

Parameters:

op – Operator callable.
*other – the ‘other’ side of the operation. Will be a single scalar for most operations.
**kwargs – modifiers. These may be passed by special operators such as ColumnOperators.contains().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.params(_ClauseElement__optionaldict: Mapping[str, Any] | None = None, **kwargs: Any) → Self¶

inherited from the ClauseElement.params() method of ClauseElement

Return a copy with bindparam() elements replaced.

Returns a copy of this ClauseElement with bindparam() elements replaced with values taken from the given dictionary:

>>> clause = column('x') + bindparam('foo')
>>> print(clause.compile().params)
{'foo':None}
>>> print(clause.params({'foo':7}).compile().params)
{'foo':7}

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.primary_key: bool = False¶

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.proxy_set: util.generic_fn_descriptor[FrozenSet[Any]]¶

set of all columns we are proxying

as of 2.0 this is explicitly deannotated columns. previously it was effectively deannotated columns but wasn’t enforced. annotated columns should basically not go into sets if at all possible because their hashing behavior is very non-performant.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.regexp_match(pattern: Any, flags: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.regexp_match() method of ColumnOperators

Implements a database-specific ‘regexp match’ operator.

E.g.:

stmt = select(table.c.some_column).where(
    table.c.some_column.regexp_match('^(b|c)')
)

ColumnOperators.regexp_match() attempts to resolve to a REGEXP-like function or operator provided by the backend, however the specific regular expression syntax and flags available are not backend agnostic.

Examples include:

PostgreSQL - renders x ~ y or x !~ y when negated.
Oracle - renders REGEXP_LIKE(x, y)
SQLite - uses SQLite’s REGEXP placeholder operator and calls into the Python re.match() builtin.
other backends may provide special implementations.
Backends without any special implementation will emit the operator as “REGEXP” or “NOT REGEXP”. This is compatible with SQLite and MySQL, for example.

Regular expression support is currently implemented for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB. Partial support is available for SQLite. Support among third-party dialects may vary.

Parameters:

pattern – The regular expression pattern string or column clause.
flags – Any regular expression string flags to apply, passed as plain Python string only. These flags are backend specific. Some backends, like PostgreSQL and MariaDB, may alternatively specify the flags as part of the pattern. When using the ignore case flag ‘i’ in PostgreSQL, the ignore case regexp match operator ~* or !~* will be used.

New in version 1.4.

Changed in version 1.4.48,: 2.0.18 Note that due to an implementation error, the “flags” parameter previously accepted SQL expression objects such as column expressions in addition to plain Python strings. This implementation did not work correctly with caching and was removed; strings only should be passed for the “flags” parameter, as these flags are rendered as literal inline values within SQL expressions.

See also

ColumnOperators.regexp_replace()

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.regexp_replace(pattern: Any, replacement: Any, flags: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.regexp_replace() method of ColumnOperators

Implements a database-specific ‘regexp replace’ operator.

E.g.:

stmt = select(
    table.c.some_column.regexp_replace(
        'b(..)',
        'XY',
        flags='g'
    )
)

ColumnOperators.regexp_replace() attempts to resolve to a REGEXP_REPLACE-like function provided by the backend, that usually emit the function REGEXP_REPLACE(). However, the specific regular expression syntax and flags available are not backend agnostic.

Regular expression replacement support is currently implemented for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL 8 or greater and MariaDB. Support among third-party dialects may vary.

Parameters:

pattern – The regular expression pattern string or column clause.
pattern – The replacement string or column clause.
flags – Any regular expression string flags to apply, passed as plain Python string only. These flags are backend specific. Some backends, like PostgreSQL and MariaDB, may alternatively specify the flags as part of the pattern.

New in version 1.4.

Changed in version 1.4.48,: 2.0.18 Note that due to an implementation error, the “flags” parameter previously accepted SQL expression objects such as column expressions in addition to plain Python strings. This implementation did not work correctly with caching and was removed; strings only should be passed for the “flags” parameter, as these flags are rendered as literal inline values within SQL expressions.

See also

ColumnOperators.regexp_match()

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.reverse_operate(op: OperatorType, other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → ColumnElement[Any]¶

Reverse operate on an argument.

Usage is the same as operate().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.self_group(against: OperatorType | None = None) → ColumnElement[Any]¶

Apply a ‘grouping’ to this ClauseElement.

This method is overridden by subclasses to return a “grouping” construct, i.e. parenthesis. In particular it’s used by “binary” expressions to provide a grouping around themselves when placed into a larger expression, as well as by select() constructs when placed into the FROM clause of another select(). (Note that subqueries should be normally created using the Select.alias() method, as many platforms require nested SELECT statements to be named).

As expressions are composed together, the application of self_group() is automatic - end-user code should never need to use this method directly. Note that SQLAlchemy’s clause constructs take operator precedence into account - so parenthesis might not be needed, for example, in an expression like x OR (y AND z) - AND takes precedence over OR.

The base self_group() method of ClauseElement just returns self.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.shares_lineage(othercolumn: ColumnElement[Any]) → bool¶: Return True if the given ColumnElement has a common ancestor to this ColumnElement.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.startswith(other: Any, escape: str | None = None, autoescape: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶

inherited from the ColumnOperators.startswith() method of ColumnOperators

Implement the startswith operator.

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against a match for the start of a string value:

column LIKE <other> || '%'

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.startswith("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.startswith.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.startswith.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.startswith.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.startswith("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE :param || '%' ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.startswith("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE :param || '%' ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.startswith.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.startswith("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.stringify_dialect = 'default'¶

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.supports_execution = False¶

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.timetuple: Literal[None] = None¶: inherited from the ColumnOperators.timetuple attribute of ColumnOperators

Hack, allows datetime objects to be compared on the LHS.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.type: TypeEngine[_T]¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.unique_params(_ClauseElement__optionaldict: Dict[str, Any] | None = None, **kwargs: Any) → Self¶

inherited from the ClauseElement.unique_params() method of ClauseElement

Return a copy with bindparam() elements replaced.

Same functionality as ClauseElement.params(), except adds unique=True to affected bind parameters so that multiple statements can be used.

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement.uses_inspection = True¶

sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnExpressionArgument¶

General purpose “column expression” argument.

New in version 2.0.13.

This type is used for “column” kinds of expressions that typically represent a single SQL column expression, including ColumnElement, as well as ORM-mapped attributes that will have a __clause_element__() method.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators¶

Defines boolean, comparison, and other operators for ColumnElement expressions.

By default, all methods call down to operate() or reverse_operate(), passing in the appropriate operator function from the Python builtin operator module or a SQLAlchemy-specific operator function from sqlalchemy.expression.operators. For example the __eq__ function:

def __eq__(self, other):
    return self.operate(operators.eq, other)

Where operators.eq is essentially:

def eq(a, b):
    return a == b

The core column expression unit ColumnElement overrides Operators.operate() and others to return further ColumnElement constructs, so that the == operation above is replaced by a clause construct.

See also

TypeEngine.comparator_factory

ColumnOperators

PropComparator

Members

__add__(), __and__(), __eq__(), __floordiv__(), __ge__(), __getitem__(), __gt__(), __hash__(), __invert__(), __le__(), __lshift__(), __lt__(), __mod__(), __mul__(), __ne__(), __neg__(), __or__(), __radd__(), __rfloordiv__(), __rmod__(), __rmul__(), __rshift__(), __rsub__(), __rtruediv__(), __sa_operate__(), __sub__(), __truediv__(), all_(), any_(), asc(), between(), bitwise_and(), bitwise_lshift(), bitwise_not(), bitwise_or(), bitwise_rshift(), bitwise_xor(), bool_op(), collate(), concat(), contains(), desc(), distinct(), endswith(), icontains(), iendswith(), ilike(), in_(), is_(), is_distinct_from(), is_not(), is_not_distinct_from(), isnot(), isnot_distinct_from(), istartswith(), like(), match(), not_ilike(), not_in(), not_like(), notilike(), notin_(), notlike(), nulls_first(), nulls_last(), nullsfirst(), nullslast(), op(), operate(), regexp_match(), regexp_replace(), reverse_operate(), startswith(), timetuple

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__add__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the + operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a + b if the parent object has non-string affinity. If the parent object has a string affinity, produces the concatenation operator, a || b - see ColumnOperators.concat().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__and__(other: Any) → Operators¶

inherited from the sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.__and__ method of Operators

Implement the & operator.

When used with SQL expressions, results in an AND operation, equivalent to and_(), that is:

a & b

is equivalent to:

from sqlalchemy import and_
and_(a, b)

Care should be taken when using & regarding operator precedence; the & operator has the highest precedence. The operands should be enclosed in parenthesis if they contain further sub expressions:

(a == 2) & (b == 4)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__eq__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the == operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a = b. If the target is None, produces a IS NULL.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__floordiv__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the // operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a / b, which is the same as “truediv”, but considers the result type to be integer.

New in version 2.0.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__ge__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the >= operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a >= b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__getitem__(index: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the [] operator.

This can be used by some database-specific types such as PostgreSQL ARRAY and HSTORE.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__gt__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the > operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a > b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__hash__()¶: Return hash(self).

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__invert__() → Operators¶

inherited from the sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.__invert__ method of Operators

Implement the ~ operator.

When used with SQL expressions, results in a NOT operation, equivalent to not_(), that is:

~a

is equivalent to:

from sqlalchemy import not_
not_(a)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__le__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the <= operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a <= b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__lshift__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

implement the << operator.

Not used by SQLAlchemy core, this is provided for custom operator systems which want to use << as an extension point.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__lt__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the < operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a < b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__mod__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the % operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a % b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__mul__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the * operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a * b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__ne__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the != operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a != b. If the target is None, produces a IS NOT NULL.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__neg__() → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the - operator.

In a column context, produces the clause -a.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__or__(other: Any) → Operators¶

inherited from the sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.__or__ method of Operators

Implement the | operator.

When used with SQL expressions, results in an OR operation, equivalent to or_(), that is:

a | b

is equivalent to:

from sqlalchemy import or_
or_(a, b)

Care should be taken when using | regarding operator precedence; the | operator has the highest precedence. The operands should be enclosed in parenthesis if they contain further sub expressions:

(a == 2) | (b == 4)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__radd__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the + operator in reverse.

See ColumnOperators.__add__().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__rfloordiv__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the // operator in reverse.

See ColumnOperators.__floordiv__().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__rmod__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the % operator in reverse.

See ColumnOperators.__mod__().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__rmul__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the * operator in reverse.

See ColumnOperators.__mul__().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__rshift__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

implement the >> operator.

Not used by SQLAlchemy core, this is provided for custom operator systems which want to use >> as an extension point.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__rsub__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the - operator in reverse.

See ColumnOperators.__sub__().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__rtruediv__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the / operator in reverse.

See ColumnOperators.__truediv__().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__sa_operate__(op: OperatorType, *other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → Operators¶

inherited from the sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.__sa_operate__ method of Operators

Operate on an argument.

This is the lowest level of operation, raises NotImplementedError by default.

Overriding this on a subclass can allow common behavior to be applied to all operations. For example, overriding ColumnOperators to apply func.lower() to the left and right side:

class MyComparator(ColumnOperators):
    def operate(self, op, other, **kwargs):
        return op(func.lower(self), func.lower(other), **kwargs)

Parameters:

op – Operator callable.
*other – the ‘other’ side of the operation. Will be a single scalar for most operations.
**kwargs – modifiers. These may be passed by special operators such as ColumnOperators.contains().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__sub__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the - operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a - b.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.__truediv__(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the / operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a / b, and considers the result type to be numeric.

Changed in version 2.0: The truediv operator against two integers is now considered to return a numeric value. Behavior on specific backends may vary.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.all_() → ColumnOperators¶

Produce an all_() clause against the parent object.

See the documentation for all_() for examples.

Note

be sure to not confuse the newer ColumnOperators.all_() method with its older ARRAY-specific counterpart, the Comparator.all() method, which a different calling syntax and usage pattern.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.any_() → ColumnOperators¶

Produce an any_() clause against the parent object.

See the documentation for any_() for examples.

Note

be sure to not confuse the newer ColumnOperators.any_() method with its older ARRAY-specific counterpart, the Comparator.any() method, which a different calling syntax and usage pattern.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.asc() → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a asc() clause against the parent object.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.between(cleft: Any, cright: Any, symmetric: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a between() clause against the parent object, given the lower and upper range.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.bitwise_and(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a bitwise AND operation, typically via the & operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.bitwise_lshift(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a bitwise LSHIFT operation, typically via the << operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.bitwise_not() → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a bitwise NOT operation, typically via the ~ operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.bitwise_or(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a bitwise OR operation, typically via the | operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.bitwise_rshift(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a bitwise RSHIFT operation, typically via the >> operator.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.bitwise_xor(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a bitwise XOR operation, typically via the ^ operator, or # for PostgreSQL.

New in version 2.0.2.

See also

Bitwise Operators

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.bool_op(opstring: str, precedence: int = 0, python_impl: Callable[[...], Any] | None = None) → Callable[[Any], Operators]¶

inherited from the Operators.bool_op() method of Operators

Return a custom boolean operator.

This method is shorthand for calling Operators.op() and passing the Operators.op.is_comparison flag with True. A key advantage to using Operators.bool_op() is that when using column constructs, the “boolean” nature of the returned expression will be present for PEP 484 purposes.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.collate(collation: str) → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a collate() clause against the parent object, given the collation string.

See also

collate()

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.concat(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the ‘concat’ operator.

In a column context, produces the clause a || b, or uses the concat() operator on MySQL.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.contains(other: Any, **kw: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the ‘contains’ operator.

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against a match for the middle of a string value:

column LIKE '%' || <other> || '%'

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.contains("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.contains.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.contains.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.contains.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.contains("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE '%' || :param || '%' ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.contains("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE '%' || :param || '%' ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.contains.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.contains("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.desc() → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a desc() clause against the parent object.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.distinct() → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a distinct() clause against the parent object.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.endswith(other: Any, escape: str | None = None, autoescape: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the ‘endswith’ operator.

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against a match for the end of a string value:

column LIKE '%' || <other>

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.endswith("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.endswith.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.endswith.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.endswith.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.endswith("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE '%' || :param ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.endswith("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE '%' || :param ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.endswith.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.endswith("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.icontains(other: Any, **kw: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the icontains operator, e.g. case insensitive version of ColumnOperators.contains().

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against an insensitive match for the middle of a string value:

lower(column) LIKE '%' || lower(<other>) || '%'

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.icontains("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.icontains.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.icontains.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.icontains.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.icontains("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE '%' || lower(:param) || '%' ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.icontains("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE '%' || lower(:param) || '%' ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.contains.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.icontains("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.iendswith(other: Any, escape: str | None = None, autoescape: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the iendswith operator, e.g. case insensitive version of ColumnOperators.endswith().

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against an insensitive match for the end of a string value:

lower(column) LIKE '%' || lower(<other>)

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.iendswith("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.iendswith.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.iendswith.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.iendswith.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.iendswith("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE '%' || lower(:param) ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.iendswith("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE '%' || lower(:param) ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.iendswith.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.endswith("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.ilike(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the ilike operator, e.g. case insensitive LIKE.

In a column context, produces an expression either of the form:

lower(a) LIKE lower(other)

Or on backends that support the ILIKE operator:

a ILIKE other

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.ilike("%foobar%"))

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared
escape –
optional escape character, renders the ESCAPE keyword, e.g.:
```
somecolumn.ilike("foo/%bar", escape="/")
```

See also

ColumnOperators.is_not()

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.in_(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the in operator.

In a column context, produces the clause column IN <other>.

The given parameter other may be:

A list of literal values, e.g.:
```
stmt.where(column.in_([1, 2, 3]))
```
In this calling form, the list of items is converted to a set of bound parameters the same length as the list given:
```
WHERE COL IN (?, ?, ?)
```

A list of tuples may be provided if the comparison is against a tuple_() containing multiple expressions:

from sqlalchemy import tuple_
stmt.where(tuple_(col1, col2).in_([(1, 10), (2, 20), (3, 30)]))

An empty list, e.g.:
```
stmt.where(column.in_([]))
```
In this calling form, the expression renders an “empty set” expression. These expressions are tailored to individual backends and are generally trying to get an empty SELECT statement as a subquery. Such as on SQLite, the expression is:
```
WHERE col IN (SELECT 1 FROM (SELECT 1) WHERE 1!=1)
```
Changed in version 1.4: empty IN expressions now use an execution-time generated SELECT subquery in all cases.
A bound parameter, e.g. bindparam(), may be used if it includes the bindparam.expanding flag:
```
stmt.where(column.in_(bindparam('value', expanding=True)))
```
In this calling form, the expression renders a special non-SQL placeholder expression that looks like:
```
WHERE COL IN ([EXPANDING_value])
```
This placeholder expression is intercepted at statement execution time to be converted into the variable number of bound parameter form illustrated earlier. If the statement were executed as:
```
connection.execute(stmt, {"value": [1, 2, 3]})
```
The database would be passed a bound parameter for each value:
```
WHERE COL IN (?, ?, ?)
```
New in version 1.2: added “expanding” bound parameters

If an empty list is passed, a special “empty list” expression, which is specific to the database in use, is rendered. On SQLite this would be:
```
WHERE COL IN (SELECT 1 FROM (SELECT 1) WHERE 1!=1)
```
New in version 1.3: “expanding” bound parameters now support empty lists

a select() construct, which is usually a correlated scalar select:

stmt.where(
    column.in_(
        select(othertable.c.y).
        where(table.c.x == othertable.c.x)
    )
)

In this calling form, ColumnOperators.in_() renders as given:

WHERE COL IN (SELECT othertable.y
FROM othertable WHERE othertable.x = table.x)

Parameters:: other – a list of literals, a select() construct, or a bindparam() construct that includes the bindparam.expanding flag set to True.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.is_(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the IS operator.

Normally, IS is generated automatically when comparing to a value of None, which resolves to NULL. However, explicit usage of IS may be desirable if comparing to boolean values on certain platforms.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.is_distinct_from(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the IS DISTINCT FROM operator.

Renders “a IS DISTINCT FROM b” on most platforms; on some such as SQLite may render “a IS NOT b”.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.is_not(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the IS NOT operator.

Normally, IS NOT is generated automatically when comparing to a value of None, which resolves to NULL. However, explicit usage of IS NOT may be desirable if comparing to boolean values on certain platforms.

Changed in version 1.4: The is_not() operator is renamed from isnot() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.is_not_distinct_from(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the IS NOT DISTINCT FROM operator.

Renders “a IS NOT DISTINCT FROM b” on most platforms; on some such as SQLite may render “a IS b”.

Changed in version 1.4: The is_not_distinct_from() operator is renamed from isnot_distinct_from() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.isnot(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the IS NOT operator.

Normally, IS NOT is generated automatically when comparing to a value of None, which resolves to NULL. However, explicit usage of IS NOT may be desirable if comparing to boolean values on certain platforms.

Changed in version 1.4: The is_not() operator is renamed from isnot() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.isnot_distinct_from(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the IS NOT DISTINCT FROM operator.

Renders “a IS NOT DISTINCT FROM b” on most platforms; on some such as SQLite may render “a IS b”.

Changed in version 1.4: The is_not_distinct_from() operator is renamed from isnot_distinct_from() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.istartswith(other: Any, escape: str | None = None, autoescape: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the istartswith operator, e.g. case insensitive version of ColumnOperators.startswith().

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against an insensitive match for the start of a string value:

lower(column) LIKE lower(<other>) || '%'

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.istartswith("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.istartswith.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.istartswith.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.istartswith.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.istartswith("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE lower(:param) || '%' ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.istartswith("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
lower(somecolumn) LIKE lower(:param) || '%' ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.istartswith.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.istartswith("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.like(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the like operator.

In a column context, produces the expression:

a LIKE other

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.like("%foobar%"))

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared
escape –
optional escape character, renders the ESCAPE keyword, e.g.:
```
somecolumn.like("foo/%bar", escape="/")
```

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.match(other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

Implements a database-specific ‘match’ operator.

ColumnOperators.match() attempts to resolve to a MATCH-like function or operator provided by the backend. Examples include:

PostgreSQL - renders x @@ plainto_tsquery(y)

Changed in version 2.0: plainto_tsquery() is used instead of to_tsquery() for PostgreSQL now; for compatibility with other forms, see Full Text Search.
MySQL - renders MATCH (x) AGAINST (y IN BOOLEAN MODE)

See also

match - MySQL specific construct with additional features.
Oracle - renders CONTAINS(x, y)
other backends may provide special implementations.
Backends without any special implementation will emit the operator as “MATCH”. This is compatible with SQLite, for example.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.not_ilike(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

implement the NOT ILIKE operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.ilike(), i.e. ~x.ilike(y).

Changed in version 1.4: The not_ilike() operator is renamed from notilike() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.not_in(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

implement the NOT IN operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.in_(), i.e. ~x.in_(y).

In the case that other is an empty sequence, the compiler produces an “empty not in” expression. This defaults to the expression “1 = 1” to produce true in all cases. The create_engine.empty_in_strategy may be used to alter this behavior.

Changed in version 1.4: The not_in() operator is renamed from notin_() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

Changed in version 1.2: The ColumnOperators.in_() and ColumnOperators.not_in() operators now produce a “static” expression for an empty IN sequence by default.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.not_like(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

implement the NOT LIKE operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.like(), i.e. ~x.like(y).

Changed in version 1.4: The not_like() operator is renamed from notlike() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.notilike(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

implement the NOT ILIKE operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.ilike(), i.e. ~x.ilike(y).

Changed in version 1.4: The not_ilike() operator is renamed from notilike() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.notin_(other: Any) → ColumnOperators¶

implement the NOT IN operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.in_(), i.e. ~x.in_(y).

In the case that other is an empty sequence, the compiler produces an “empty not in” expression. This defaults to the expression “1 = 1” to produce true in all cases. The create_engine.empty_in_strategy may be used to alter this behavior.

Changed in version 1.4: The not_in() operator is renamed from notin_() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

Changed in version 1.2: The ColumnOperators.in_() and ColumnOperators.not_in() operators now produce a “static” expression for an empty IN sequence by default.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.notlike(other: Any, escape: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

implement the NOT LIKE operator.

This is equivalent to using negation with ColumnOperators.like(), i.e. ~x.like(y).

Changed in version 1.4: The not_like() operator is renamed from notlike() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.nulls_first() → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a nulls_first() clause against the parent object.

Changed in version 1.4: The nulls_first() operator is renamed from nullsfirst() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.nulls_last() → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a nulls_last() clause against the parent object.

Changed in version 1.4: The nulls_last() operator is renamed from nullslast() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.nullsfirst() → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a nulls_first() clause against the parent object.

Changed in version 1.4: The nulls_first() operator is renamed from nullsfirst() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.nullslast() → ColumnOperators¶: Produce a nulls_last() clause against the parent object.

Changed in version 1.4: The nulls_last() operator is renamed from nullslast() in previous releases. The previous name remains available for backwards compatibility.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.op(opstring: str, precedence: int = 0, is_comparison: bool = False, return_type: Type[TypeEngine[Any]] | TypeEngine[Any] | None = None, python_impl: Callable[..., Any] | None = None) → Callable[[Any], Operators]¶

inherited from the Operators.op() method of Operators

Produce a generic operator function.

e.g.:

somecolumn.op("*")(5)

produces:

somecolumn * 5

This function can also be used to make bitwise operators explicit. For example:

somecolumn.op('&')(0xff)

is a bitwise AND of the value in somecolumn.

Parameters:

opstring – a string which will be output as the infix operator between this element and the expression passed to the generated function.
precedence –
precedence which the database is expected to apply to the operator in SQL expressions. This integer value acts as a hint for the SQL compiler to know when explicit parenthesis should be rendered around a particular operation. A lower number will cause the expression to be parenthesized when applied against another operator with higher precedence. The default value of 0 is lower than all operators except for the comma (,) and AS operators. A value of 100 will be higher or equal to all operators, and -100 will be lower than or equal to all operators.

See also

I’m using op() to generate a custom operator and my parenthesis are not coming out correctly - detailed description of how the SQLAlchemy SQL compiler renders parenthesis
is_comparison –
legacy; if True, the operator will be considered as a “comparison” operator, that is which evaluates to a boolean true/false value, like ==, >, etc. This flag is provided so that ORM relationships can establish that the operator is a comparison operator when used in a custom join condition.

Using the is_comparison parameter is superseded by using the Operators.bool_op() method instead; this more succinct operator sets this parameter automatically, but also provides correct PEP 484 typing support as the returned object will express a “boolean” datatype, i.e. BinaryExpression[bool].
return_type – a TypeEngine class or object that will force the return type of an expression produced by this operator to be of that type. By default, operators that specify Operators.op.is_comparison will resolve to Boolean, and those that do not will be of the same type as the left-hand operand.
python_impl –
an optional Python function that can evaluate two Python values in the same way as this operator works when run on the database server. Useful for in-Python SQL expression evaluation functions, such as for ORM hybrid attributes, and the ORM “evaluator” used to match objects in a session after a multi-row update or delete.

e.g.:
```
>>> expr = column('x').op('+', python_impl=lambda a, b: a + b)('y')
```
The operator for the above expression will also work for non-SQL left and right objects:
```
>>> expr.operator(5, 10)
15
```
New in version 2.0.

See also

Using custom operators in join conditions

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.operate(op: OperatorType, *other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → Operators¶

inherited from the Operators.operate() method of Operators

Operate on an argument.

This is the lowest level of operation, raises NotImplementedError by default.

Overriding this on a subclass can allow common behavior to be applied to all operations. For example, overriding ColumnOperators to apply func.lower() to the left and right side:

class MyComparator(ColumnOperators):
    def operate(self, op, other, **kwargs):
        return op(func.lower(self), func.lower(other), **kwargs)

Parameters:

op – Operator callable.
*other – the ‘other’ side of the operation. Will be a single scalar for most operations.
**kwargs – modifiers. These may be passed by special operators such as ColumnOperators.contains().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.regexp_match(pattern: Any, flags: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

Implements a database-specific ‘regexp match’ operator.

E.g.:

stmt = select(table.c.some_column).where(
    table.c.some_column.regexp_match('^(b|c)')
)

ColumnOperators.regexp_match() attempts to resolve to a REGEXP-like function or operator provided by the backend, however the specific regular expression syntax and flags available are not backend agnostic.

Examples include:

PostgreSQL - renders x ~ y or x !~ y when negated.
Oracle - renders REGEXP_LIKE(x, y)
SQLite - uses SQLite’s REGEXP placeholder operator and calls into the Python re.match() builtin.
other backends may provide special implementations.
Backends without any special implementation will emit the operator as “REGEXP” or “NOT REGEXP”. This is compatible with SQLite and MySQL, for example.

Regular expression support is currently implemented for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB. Partial support is available for SQLite. Support among third-party dialects may vary.

Parameters:

pattern – The regular expression pattern string or column clause.
flags – Any regular expression string flags to apply, passed as plain Python string only. These flags are backend specific. Some backends, like PostgreSQL and MariaDB, may alternatively specify the flags as part of the pattern. When using the ignore case flag ‘i’ in PostgreSQL, the ignore case regexp match operator ~* or !~* will be used.

New in version 1.4.

Changed in version 1.4.48,: 2.0.18 Note that due to an implementation error, the “flags” parameter previously accepted SQL expression objects such as column expressions in addition to plain Python strings. This implementation did not work correctly with caching and was removed; strings only should be passed for the “flags” parameter, as these flags are rendered as literal inline values within SQL expressions.

See also

ColumnOperators.regexp_replace()

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.regexp_replace(pattern: Any, replacement: Any, flags: str | None = None) → ColumnOperators¶

Implements a database-specific ‘regexp replace’ operator.

E.g.:

stmt = select(
    table.c.some_column.regexp_replace(
        'b(..)',
        'XY',
        flags='g'
    )
)

ColumnOperators.regexp_replace() attempts to resolve to a REGEXP_REPLACE-like function provided by the backend, that usually emit the function REGEXP_REPLACE(). However, the specific regular expression syntax and flags available are not backend agnostic.

Regular expression replacement support is currently implemented for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL 8 or greater and MariaDB. Support among third-party dialects may vary.

Parameters:

pattern – The regular expression pattern string or column clause.
pattern – The replacement string or column clause.
flags – Any regular expression string flags to apply, passed as plain Python string only. These flags are backend specific. Some backends, like PostgreSQL and MariaDB, may alternatively specify the flags as part of the pattern.

New in version 1.4.

Changed in version 1.4.48,: 2.0.18 Note that due to an implementation error, the “flags” parameter previously accepted SQL expression objects such as column expressions in addition to plain Python strings. This implementation did not work correctly with caching and was removed; strings only should be passed for the “flags” parameter, as these flags are rendered as literal inline values within SQL expressions.

See also

ColumnOperators.regexp_match()

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.reverse_operate(op: OperatorType, other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → Operators¶

inherited from the Operators.reverse_operate() method of Operators

Reverse operate on an argument.

Usage is the same as operate().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.startswith(other: Any, escape: str | None = None, autoescape: bool = False) → ColumnOperators¶

Implement the startswith operator.

Produces a LIKE expression that tests against a match for the start of a string value:

column LIKE <other> || '%'

E.g.:

stmt = select(sometable).\
    where(sometable.c.column.startswith("foobar"))

Since the operator uses LIKE, wildcard characters "%" and "_" that are present inside the <other> expression will behave like wildcards as well. For literal string values, the ColumnOperators.startswith.autoescape flag may be set to True to apply escaping to occurrences of these characters within the string value so that they match as themselves and not as wildcard characters. Alternatively, the ColumnOperators.startswith.escape parameter will establish a given character as an escape character which can be of use when the target expression is not a literal string.

Parameters:

other – expression to be compared. This is usually a plain string value, but can also be an arbitrary SQL expression. LIKE wildcard characters % and _ are not escaped by default unless the ColumnOperators.startswith.autoescape flag is set to True.
autoescape –
boolean; when True, establishes an escape character within the LIKE expression, then applies it to all occurrences of "%", "_" and the escape character itself within the comparison value, which is assumed to be a literal string and not a SQL expression.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.startswith("foo%bar", autoescape=True)
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE :param || '%' ESCAPE '/'
```
With the value of :param as "foo/%bar".
escape –
a character which when given will render with the ESCAPE keyword to establish that character as the escape character. This character can then be placed preceding occurrences of % and _ to allow them to act as themselves and not wildcard characters.

An expression such as:
```
somecolumn.startswith("foo/%bar", escape="^")
```
Will render as:
```
somecolumn LIKE :param || '%' ESCAPE '^'
```
The parameter may also be combined with ColumnOperators.startswith.autoescape:
```
somecolumn.startswith("foo%bar^bat", escape="^", autoescape=True)
```
Where above, the given literal parameter will be converted to "foo^%bar^^bat" before being passed to the database.

See also

FunctionElement.filter()

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnOperators.timetuple: Literal[None] = None¶: Hack, allows datetime objects to be compared on the LHS.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Extract¶: Represent a SQL EXTRACT clause, extract(field FROM expr).

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Extract (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.False_¶

Represent the false keyword, or equivalent, in a SQL statement.

False_ is accessed as a constant via the false() function.

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.False_ (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.SingletonConstant, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.ConstExprRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.FunctionFilter¶

Represent a function FILTER clause.

This is a special operator against aggregate and window functions, which controls which rows are passed to it. It’s supported only by certain database backends.

Invocation of FunctionFilter is via FunctionElement.filter():

func.count(1).filter(True)

See also

Members

filter(), over(), self_group()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.FunctionFilter (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.FunctionFilter.filter(*criterion)¶

Produce an additional FILTER against the function.

This method adds additional criteria to the initial criteria set up by FunctionElement.filter().

Multiple criteria are joined together at SQL render time via AND.

Produce an OVER clause against this filtered function.

Used against aggregate or so-called “window” functions, for database backends that support window functions.

The expression:

func.rank().filter(MyClass.y > 5).over(order_by='x')

is shorthand for:

from sqlalchemy import over, funcfilter
over(funcfilter(func.rank(), MyClass.y > 5), order_by='x')

See over() for a full description.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.FunctionFilter.self_group(against=None)¶

Apply a ‘grouping’ to this ClauseElement.

This method is overridden by subclasses to return a “grouping” construct, i.e. parenthesis. In particular it’s used by “binary” expressions to provide a grouping around themselves when placed into a larger expression, as well as by select() constructs when placed into the FROM clause of another select(). (Note that subqueries should be normally created using the Select.alias() method, as many platforms require nested SELECT statements to be named).

As expressions are composed together, the application of self_group() is automatic - end-user code should never need to use this method directly. Note that SQLAlchemy’s clause constructs take operator precedence into account - so parenthesis might not be needed, for example, in an expression like x OR (y AND z) - AND takes precedence over OR.

The base self_group() method of ClauseElement just returns self.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Label¶

Represents a column label (AS).

Represent a label, as typically applied to any column-level element using the AS sql keyword.

Members

foreign_keys, primary_key, self_group()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Label (sqlalchemy.sql.roles.LabeledColumnExprRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.NamedColumn)

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Label.foreign_keys: AbstractSet[ForeignKey]¶

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Label.primary_key: bool¶

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Label.self_group(against=None)¶

Apply a ‘grouping’ to this ClauseElement.

This method is overridden by subclasses to return a “grouping” construct, i.e. parenthesis. In particular it’s used by “binary” expressions to provide a grouping around themselves when placed into a larger expression, as well as by select() constructs when placed into the FROM clause of another select(). (Note that subqueries should be normally created using the Select.alias() method, as many platforms require nested SELECT statements to be named).

As expressions are composed together, the application of self_group() is automatic - end-user code should never need to use this method directly. Note that SQLAlchemy’s clause constructs take operator precedence into account - so parenthesis might not be needed, for example, in an expression like x OR (y AND z) - AND takes precedence over OR.

The base self_group() method of ClauseElement just returns self.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Null¶

Represent the NULL keyword in a SQL statement.

Null is accessed as a constant via the null() function.

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Null (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.SingletonConstant, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.ConstExprRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators¶

Base of comparison and logical operators.

Implements base methods Operators.operate() and Operators.reverse_operate(), as well as Operators.__and__(), Operators.__or__(), Operators.__invert__().

Members

__and__(), __invert__(), __or__(), __sa_operate__(), bool_op(), op(), operate(), reverse_operate()

Usually is used via its most common subclass ColumnOperators.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.__and__(other: Any) → Operators¶

Implement the & operator.

When used with SQL expressions, results in an AND operation, equivalent to and_(), that is:

a & b

is equivalent to:

from sqlalchemy import and_
and_(a, b)

Care should be taken when using & regarding operator precedence; the & operator has the highest precedence. The operands should be enclosed in parenthesis if they contain further sub expressions:

(a == 2) & (b == 4)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.__invert__() → Operators¶

Implement the ~ operator.

When used with SQL expressions, results in a NOT operation, equivalent to not_(), that is:

~a

is equivalent to:

from sqlalchemy import not_
not_(a)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.__or__(other: Any) → Operators¶

Implement the | operator.

When used with SQL expressions, results in an OR operation, equivalent to or_(), that is:

a | b

is equivalent to:

from sqlalchemy import or_
or_(a, b)

Care should be taken when using | regarding operator precedence; the | operator has the highest precedence. The operands should be enclosed in parenthesis if they contain further sub expressions:

(a == 2) | (b == 4)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.__sa_operate__(op: OperatorType, *other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → Operators¶

Operate on an argument.

This is the lowest level of operation, raises NotImplementedError by default.

Overriding this on a subclass can allow common behavior to be applied to all operations. For example, overriding ColumnOperators to apply func.lower() to the left and right side:

class MyComparator(ColumnOperators):
    def operate(self, op, other, **kwargs):
        return op(func.lower(self), func.lower(other), **kwargs)

Parameters:

op – Operator callable.
*other – the ‘other’ side of the operation. Will be a single scalar for most operations.
**kwargs – modifiers. These may be passed by special operators such as ColumnOperators.contains().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.bool_op(opstring: str, precedence: int = 0, python_impl: Callable[[...], Any] | None = None) → Callable[[Any], Operators]¶

Return a custom boolean operator.

This method is shorthand for calling Operators.op() and passing the Operators.op.is_comparison flag with True. A key advantage to using Operators.bool_op() is that when using column constructs, the “boolean” nature of the returned expression will be present for PEP 484 purposes.

See also

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.op(opstring: str, precedence: int = 0, is_comparison: bool = False, return_type: Type[TypeEngine[Any]] | TypeEngine[Any] | None = None, python_impl: Callable[..., Any] | None = None) → Callable[[Any], Operators]¶

Produce a generic operator function.

e.g.:

somecolumn.op("*")(5)

produces:

somecolumn * 5

This function can also be used to make bitwise operators explicit. For example:

somecolumn.op('&')(0xff)

is a bitwise AND of the value in somecolumn.

Parameters:

opstring – a string which will be output as the infix operator between this element and the expression passed to the generated function.
precedence –
precedence which the database is expected to apply to the operator in SQL expressions. This integer value acts as a hint for the SQL compiler to know when explicit parenthesis should be rendered around a particular operation. A lower number will cause the expression to be parenthesized when applied against another operator with higher precedence. The default value of 0 is lower than all operators except for the comma (,) and AS operators. A value of 100 will be higher or equal to all operators, and -100 will be lower than or equal to all operators.

See also

I’m using op() to generate a custom operator and my parenthesis are not coming out correctly - detailed description of how the SQLAlchemy SQL compiler renders parenthesis
is_comparison –
legacy; if True, the operator will be considered as a “comparison” operator, that is which evaluates to a boolean true/false value, like ==, >, etc. This flag is provided so that ORM relationships can establish that the operator is a comparison operator when used in a custom join condition.

Using the is_comparison parameter is superseded by using the Operators.bool_op() method instead; this more succinct operator sets this parameter automatically, but also provides correct PEP 484 typing support as the returned object will express a “boolean” datatype, i.e. BinaryExpression[bool].
return_type – a TypeEngine class or object that will force the return type of an expression produced by this operator to be of that type. By default, operators that specify Operators.op.is_comparison will resolve to Boolean, and those that do not will be of the same type as the left-hand operand.
python_impl –
an optional Python function that can evaluate two Python values in the same way as this operator works when run on the database server. Useful for in-Python SQL expression evaluation functions, such as for ORM hybrid attributes, and the ORM “evaluator” used to match objects in a session after a multi-row update or delete.

e.g.:
```
>>> expr = column('x').op('+', python_impl=lambda a, b: a + b)('y')
```
The operator for the above expression will also work for non-SQL left and right objects:
```
>>> expr.operator(5, 10)
15
```
New in version 2.0.

See also

Using custom operators in join conditions

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.operate(op: OperatorType, *other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → Operators¶

Operate on an argument.

This is the lowest level of operation, raises NotImplementedError by default.

Overriding this on a subclass can allow common behavior to be applied to all operations. For example, overriding ColumnOperators to apply func.lower() to the left and right side:

class MyComparator(ColumnOperators):
    def operate(self, op, other, **kwargs):
        return op(func.lower(self), func.lower(other), **kwargs)

Parameters:

op – Operator callable.
*other – the ‘other’ side of the operation. Will be a single scalar for most operations.
**kwargs – modifiers. These may be passed by special operators such as ColumnOperators.contains().

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Operators.reverse_operate(op: OperatorType, other: Any, **kwargs: Any) → Operators¶

Reverse operate on an argument.

Usage is the same as operate().

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Over¶

Represent an OVER clause.

This is a special operator against a so-called “window” function, as well as any aggregate function, which produces results relative to the result set itself. Most modern SQL backends now support window functions.

Members

element

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Over (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Over.element: ColumnElement[_T]¶: The underlying expression object to which this Over object refers.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.SQLColumnExpression¶

A type that may be used to indicate any SQL column element or object that acts in place of one.

SQLColumnExpression is a base of ColumnElement, as well as within the bases of ORM elements such as InstrumentedAttribute, and may be used in PEP 484 typing to indicate arguments or return values that should behave as column expressions.

New in version 2.0.0b4.

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.SQLColumnExpression (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.SQLCoreOperations, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.ExpressionElementRole, sqlalchemy.util.langhelpers.TypingOnly)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TextClause¶

Represent a literal SQL text fragment.

E.g.:

from sqlalchemy import text

t = text("SELECT * FROM users")
result = connection.execute(t)

The TextClause construct is produced using the text() function; see that function for full documentation.

See also

text()

Members

bindparams(), columns(), self_group()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TextClause (sqlalchemy.sql.roles.DDLConstraintColumnRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.DDLExpressionRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.StatementOptionRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.WhereHavingRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.OrderByRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.FromClauseRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.SelectStatementRole, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.InElementRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Generative, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Executable, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.DQLDMLClauseElement, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.BinaryElementRole, sqlalchemy.inspection.Inspectable)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TextClause.bindparams(*binds: BindParameter[Any], **names_to_values: Any) → Self¶

Establish the values and/or types of bound parameters within this TextClause construct.

Given a text construct such as:

from sqlalchemy import text
stmt = text("SELECT id, name FROM user WHERE name=:name "
            "AND timestamp=:timestamp")

the TextClause.bindparams() method can be used to establish the initial value of :name and :timestamp, using simple keyword arguments:

stmt = stmt.bindparams(name='jack',
            timestamp=datetime.datetime(2012, 10, 8, 15, 12, 5))

Where above, new BindParameter objects will be generated with the names name and timestamp, and values of jack and datetime.datetime(2012, 10, 8, 15, 12, 5), respectively. The types will be inferred from the values given, in this case String and DateTime.

When specific typing behavior is needed, the positional *binds argument can be used in which to specify bindparam() constructs directly. These constructs must include at least the key argument, then an optional value and type:

from sqlalchemy import bindparam
stmt = stmt.bindparams(
                bindparam('name', value='jack', type_=String),
                bindparam('timestamp', type_=DateTime)
            )

Above, we specified the type of DateTime for the timestamp bind, and the type of String for the name bind. In the case of name we also set the default value of "jack".

Additional bound parameters can be supplied at statement execution time, e.g.:

result = connection.execute(stmt,
            timestamp=datetime.datetime(2012, 10, 8, 15, 12, 5))

The TextClause.bindparams() method can be called repeatedly, where it will re-use existing BindParameter objects to add new information. For example, we can call TextClause.bindparams() first with typing information, and a second time with value information, and it will be combined:

stmt = text("SELECT id, name FROM user WHERE name=:name "
            "AND timestamp=:timestamp")
stmt = stmt.bindparams(
    bindparam('name', type_=String),
    bindparam('timestamp', type_=DateTime)
)
stmt = stmt.bindparams(
    name='jack',
    timestamp=datetime.datetime(2012, 10, 8, 15, 12, 5)
)

The TextClause.bindparams() method also supports the concept of unique bound parameters. These are parameters that are “uniquified” on name at statement compilation time, so that multiple text() constructs may be combined together without the names conflicting. To use this feature, specify the BindParameter.unique flag on each bindparam() object:

stmt1 = text("select id from table where name=:name").bindparams(
    bindparam("name", value='name1', unique=True)
)
stmt2 = text("select id from table where name=:name").bindparams(
    bindparam("name", value='name2', unique=True)
)

union = union_all(
    stmt1.columns(column("id")),
    stmt2.columns(column("id"))
)

The above statement will render as:

select id from table where name=:name_1
UNION ALL select id from table where name=:name_2

New in version 1.3.11: Added support for the BindParameter.unique flag to work with text() constructs.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TextClause.columns(*cols: _ColumnExpressionArgument[Any], **types: TypeEngine[Any]) → TextualSelect¶

Turn this TextClause object into a TextualSelect object that serves the same role as a SELECT statement.

The TextualSelect is part of the SelectBase hierarchy and can be embedded into another statement by using the TextualSelect.subquery() method to produce a Subquery object, which can then be SELECTed from.

This function essentially bridges the gap between an entirely textual SELECT statement and the SQL expression language concept of a “selectable”:

from sqlalchemy.sql import column, text

stmt = text("SELECT id, name FROM some_table")
stmt = stmt.columns(column('id'), column('name')).subquery('st')

stmt = select(mytable).\
        select_from(
            mytable.join(stmt, mytable.c.name == stmt.c.name)
        ).where(stmt.c.id > 5)

Above, we pass a series of column() elements to the TextClause.columns() method positionally. These column() elements now become first class elements upon the TextualSelect.selected_columns column collection, which then become part of the Subquery.c collection after TextualSelect.subquery() is invoked.

The column expressions we pass to TextClause.columns() may also be typed; when we do so, these TypeEngine objects become the effective return type of the column, so that SQLAlchemy’s result-set-processing systems may be used on the return values. This is often needed for types such as date or boolean types, as well as for unicode processing on some dialect configurations:

stmt = text("SELECT id, name, timestamp FROM some_table")
stmt = stmt.columns(
            column('id', Integer),
            column('name', Unicode),
            column('timestamp', DateTime)
        )

for id, name, timestamp in connection.execute(stmt):
    print(id, name, timestamp)

As a shortcut to the above syntax, keyword arguments referring to types alone may be used, if only type conversion is needed:

stmt = text("SELECT id, name, timestamp FROM some_table")
stmt = stmt.columns(
            id=Integer,
            name=Unicode,
            timestamp=DateTime
        )

for id, name, timestamp in connection.execute(stmt):
    print(id, name, timestamp)

The positional form of TextClause.columns() also provides the unique feature of positional column targeting, which is particularly useful when using the ORM with complex textual queries. If we specify the columns from our model to TextClause.columns(), the result set will match to those columns positionally, meaning the name or origin of the column in the textual SQL doesn’t matter:

stmt = text("SELECT users.id, addresses.id, users.id, "
     "users.name, addresses.email_address AS email "
     "FROM users JOIN addresses ON users.id=addresses.user_id "
     "WHERE users.id = 1").columns(
        User.id,
        Address.id,
        Address.user_id,
        User.name,
        Address.email_address
     )

query = session.query(User).from_statement(stmt).options(
    contains_eager(User.addresses))

The TextClause.columns() method provides a direct route to calling FromClause.subquery() as well as SelectBase.cte() against a textual SELECT statement:

stmt = stmt.columns(id=Integer, name=String).cte('st')

stmt = select(sometable).where(sometable.c.id == stmt.c.id)

Parameters:

*cols – A series of ColumnElement objects, typically Column objects from a Table or ORM level column-mapped attributes, representing a set of columns that this textual string will SELECT from.
**types – A mapping of string names to TypeEngine type objects indicating the datatypes to use for names that are SELECTed from the textual string. Prefer to use the *cols argument as it also indicates positional ordering.

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TextClause.self_group(against=None)¶

Apply a ‘grouping’ to this ClauseElement.

This method is overridden by subclasses to return a “grouping” construct, i.e. parenthesis. In particular it’s used by “binary” expressions to provide a grouping around themselves when placed into a larger expression, as well as by select() constructs when placed into the FROM clause of another select(). (Note that subqueries should be normally created using the Select.alias() method, as many platforms require nested SELECT statements to be named).

As expressions are composed together, the application of self_group() is automatic - end-user code should never need to use this method directly. Note that SQLAlchemy’s clause constructs take operator precedence into account - so parenthesis might not be needed, for example, in an expression like x OR (y AND z) - AND takes precedence over OR.

The base self_group() method of ClauseElement just returns self.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TryCast¶

Represent a TRY_CAST expression.

Details on TryCast usage is at try_cast().

See also

try_cast()

Members

inherit_cache

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TryCast (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Cast)

attribute sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TryCast.inherit_cache: bool | None = True¶

Indicate if this HasCacheKey instance should make use of the cache key generation scheme used by its immediate superclass.

The attribute defaults to None, which indicates that a construct has not yet taken into account whether or not its appropriate for it to participate in caching; this is functionally equivalent to setting the value to False, except that a warning is also emitted.

This flag can be set to True on a particular class, if the SQL that corresponds to the object does not change based on attributes which are local to this class, and not its superclass.

See also

Enabling Caching Support for Custom Constructs - General guideslines for setting the HasCacheKey.inherit_cache attribute for third-party or user defined SQL constructs.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Tuple¶

Represent a SQL tuple.

Members

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Tuple (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ClauseList, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

Class signature

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.Tuple.self_group(against=None)¶

Apply a ‘grouping’ to this ClauseElement.

This method is overridden by subclasses to return a “grouping” construct, i.e. parenthesis. In particular it’s used by “binary” expressions to provide a grouping around themselves when placed into a larger expression, as well as by select() constructs when placed into the FROM clause of another select(). (Note that subqueries should be normally created using the Select.alias() method, as many platforms require nested SELECT statements to be named).

As expressions are composed together, the application of self_group() is automatic - end-user code should never need to use this method directly. Note that SQLAlchemy’s clause constructs take operator precedence into account - so parenthesis might not be needed, for example, in an expression like x OR (y AND z) - AND takes precedence over OR.

The base self_group() method of ClauseElement just returns self.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.WithinGroup¶

Represent a WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY) clause.

This is a special operator against so-called “ordered set aggregate” and “hypothetical set aggregate” functions, including percentile_cont(), rank(), dense_rank(), etc.

It’s supported only by certain database backends, such as PostgreSQL, Oracle and MS SQL Server.

The WithinGroup construct extracts its type from the method FunctionElement.within_group_type(). If this returns None, the function’s .type is used.

Members

over()

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.WithinGroup (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.WithinGroup.over(partition_by=None, order_by=None, range_=None, rows=None)¶

Produce an OVER clause against this WithinGroup construct.

This function has the same signature as that of FunctionElement.over().

class sqlalchemy.sql.elements.WrapsColumnExpression¶: Mixin that defines a ColumnElement as a wrapper with special labeling behavior for an expression that already has a name.

New in version 1.4.

See also

Improved column labeling for simple column expressions using CAST or similar

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.WrapsColumnExpression (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.True_¶

Represent the true keyword, or equivalent, in a SQL statement.

True_ is accessed as a constant via the true() function.

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.True_ (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.SingletonConstant, sqlalchemy.sql.roles.ConstExprRole, sqlalchemy.sql.expression.ColumnElement)

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TypeCoerce¶

Represent a Python-side type-coercion wrapper.

TypeCoerce supplies the type_coerce() function; see that function for usage details.

See also

type_coerce()

Members

Class signature

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TypeCoerce (sqlalchemy.sql.expression.WrapsColumnExpression)

method sqlalchemy.sql.expression.TypeCoerce.self_group(against=None)¶

Apply a ‘grouping’ to this ClauseElement.

This method is overridden by subclasses to return a “grouping” construct, i.e. parenthesis. In particular it’s used by “binary” expressions to provide a grouping around themselves when placed into a larger expression, as well as by select() constructs when placed into the FROM clause of another select(). (Note that subqueries should be normally created using the Select.alias() method, as many platforms require nested SELECT statements to be named).

As expressions are composed together, the application of self_group() is automatic - end-user code should never need to use this method directly. Note that SQLAlchemy’s clause constructs take operator precedence into account - so parenthesis might not be needed, for example, in an expression like x OR (y AND z) - AND takes precedence over OR.

The base self_group() method of ClauseElement just returns self.

class sqlalchemy.sql.expression.UnaryExpression¶

Define a ‘unary’ expression.

A unary expression has a single column expression and an operator. The operator can be placed on the left (where it is called the ‘operator’) or right (where it is called the ‘modifier’) of the column expression.

UnaryExpression is the basis for several unary operators including those used by desc(), asc(), distinct(), nulls_first() and nulls_last().

Members