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Functions Changes in v0.0.39

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In Malloy version 0.0.39, treatment of functions changed dramatically.

The Old Way ("SQL Functions")

Prior to v0.0.39:

  • Any function call of the form SOME_NAME(arg1, arg2, ..., argN) was translated directly into SQL as-is.

  • If the dialect had no function called SOME_NAME a dialect SQL error would be generated.

  • Arguments were not typechecked, meaning you could call SIN('seven') or BYTE_LENGTH(42).

  • The Malloy return type was inferred to be the same as the first argument's type, except in special cases where the type was known.

  • There was no way to tell Malloy that the return type was different than the inferred type, except to cast the result, e.g. TIMESTAMP_SECONDS(num_seconds)::timestamp.

  • Sources and other top-level model objects could have the same name as functions.

The New Way ("Malloy Functions")

Starting in v0.0.39:

  • There is a list of "built-in" functions available in Malloy.

  • Some functions, such as sin(x) are translated to SQL as-is.

  • Other functions are translated with compatibility transformations; e.g. starts_with(val, 'prefix') is translated into SQL as COALESCE(STARTS_WITH(val, 'prefix'), FALSE) to abide by Malloy's guarantees about nullability of boolean comparisons; or, log(value, base) in Postgres is translated to LOG(base, value) so that Malloy has a consistent argument order across dialects. See the function documentation for specifics on a function-by-function basis.

  • Function arguments are typechecked, making sin('seven') an error, 'No matching overload for function sin(string).'

  • Return types of all Malloy functions are known.

  • Functions not known to Malloy may be called like cbrt!(x) or timestamp_seconds!timestamp(value), the latter form instructing Malloy that the function call yields a value of type timestamp. When called in this way, functions are translated into SQL as-is, and the return type is inferred to be the same as the first argument (or number if there are no arguments) unless specified.

  • Sources and other top-level model objects can not have the same name as functions.