Row value expressions and the BETWEEN predicate

Now this is a simple example of how SQL clause simulation can get nasty if you want to make use of some more advanced SQL clauses that aren’t supported in all databases. Consider the following predicate and equivalent transformations thereof:

The BETWEEN predicate

The BETWEEN predicate is a convenient form of expressing the fact that one expression A should be in BETWEEN two other expressions B and C. This predicate was defined already in §8.4 of SQL-1992, and then refined in SQL-1999 (adding ASYMMETRIC/SYMMETRIC):

8.3 <between predicate>

Function
    Specify a range comparison.

Format
    <between predicate> ::=
        <row value expression> [ NOT ] BETWEEN 
          [ ASYMMETRIC | SYMMETRIC ]
          <row value expression> AND <row value expression>

While ASYMMETRIC is just a verbose way of expressing the default behaviour of the BETWEEN predicate, SYMMETRIC has the useful property of indicating that the order of B and C is irrelevant. Knowing this, the following transformations can be established:

BETWEEN predicate transformations

The following statements are all equivalent:

A BETWEEN SYMMETRIC B AND C
(A BETWEEN B AND C) OR (A BETWEEN C AND B)
(A >= B AND A <= C) OR (A >= C AND A <= B)

While this is still somewhat readable, try adding row value expressions:

-- The original statement
(A1, A2) BETWEEN SYMMETRIC (B1, B2) AND (C1, C2)

-- Transforming away BETWEEN SYMMETRIC
   (     (A1, A2) >= (B1, B2) 
     AND (A1, A2) <= (C1, C2) )
OR (     (A1, A2) >= (C1, C2) 
     AND (A1, A2) <= (B1, B2) )

-- Transforming away the row value expressions
   (     ((A1 > B1) OR (A1 = B1 AND A2 > B2) OR (A1 = B1 AND A2 = B2))
     AND ((A1 < C1) OR (A1 = C1 AND A2 < C2) OR (A1 = C1 AND A2 = C2)) )
OR (     ((A1 > C1) OR (A1 = C1 AND A2 > C2) OR (A1 = C1 AND A2 = C2))
     AND ((A1 < B1) OR (A1 = B1 AND A2 < B2) OR (A1 = B1 AND A2 = B2)) )

In the lowest expression, some parts could’ve been factored out for “simplicity”. The example is just to give you a picture of what the BETWEEN [SYMMETRIC] predicate really does to row value expressions.

Native SQL support for row value expressions and BETWEEN SYMMETRIC

Here’s a comprehensive list of the 14 SQL dialects supported by jOOQ, and what is natively supported by them:

Explanation:

• The BETWEEN SYMMETRIC column indicates, whether the database supports the SYMMETRIC keyword in general
• The RVE = RVE column indicates, whether the database supports row value expressions in general (e.g. in equal comparison predicates)
• The RVE < RVE column indicates, whether the database supports “ordering” comparison predicates (<, <=, >, >=) along with row value expressions
• The RVE BETWEEN column indicates, whether the database supports the BETWEEN predicates along with row value expressions

Footnotes:

• [1]: CUBRID doesn’t really support row value expressions. What looks like a RVE is in fact a SET in CUBRID
• [2]: H2 doesn’t really support row value expressions. What looks like a RVE is in fact an ARRAY in H2