Rendering Parameterized SQL and Translation to Dialects

A rendering tool for parameterized SQL that also translates into different SQL dialects. These dialects include Sql Server, Oracle, PostgreSql, Amazon RedShift, Impala, IBM Netezza, Google BigQuery, and Microsoft PDW.

SqlRender

Introduction

This is an R package for rendering parameterized SQL, and translating it to different SQL dialects. SqlRender can also be used as a stand-alone Java library and a command-line executable.

Features

• Supports a simple markup syntax for making SQL parameterized, and renders parameterized SQL (containing the markup syntax) to executable SQL
• The syntax supports defining default parameter values
• The syntax supports if-then-else structures
• Has functions for translating SQL from one dialect (Microsoft SQL Server) to other dialects (Oracle, PostgreSQL, Amazon RedShift, Impala, IBM Netezza, Google BigQuery, and Microsoft PDW)
• Can be used as R package, Java library, or as stand-alone executable through a command-line interface

Examples

This exampe shows the use of parameters, as well as SqlRender's {if} ? {then} : {else} syntax:

sql <- renderSql("SELECT * FROM @a; {@b != ''}?{USE @b;}", a = "my_table", b = "my_schema")$sql

will produce the variable sql containing this value:

"SELECT * FROM my_table; USE my_schema;"

subsequently running this code

sql <- translateSql(sql, "sql server", "oracle")$sql

will produce the variable sql containing this value:

"SELECT * FROM my_table; ALTER SESSION SET current_schema =  my_schema;"

Technology

The SqlRender package is an R package wrapped around a Java library. The rJava package is used as interface.

The Java library is available as a JAR file.

System Requirements

Running the package requires R with the package rJava installed. Also requires Java 1.6 or higher.

Dependencies

• There are no dependencies.

Getting Started

In R, use the following commands to install the latest stable version from CRAN:

install.packages("SqlRender")

To install the latest development version directly from GitHub, use:

install.packages("devtools")
library(devtools)
install_github("ohdsi/SqlRender")

Once installed, you can try out SqlRender in a Shiny app that comes with the package:

library(SqlRender)
launchSqlRenderDeveloper()

Java library

You can fetch the JAR file in the inst/java folder of this repository, or use Maven:

1. First add the SqlRender repository so that maven can find and download the SqlRender artifact automatically:

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>ohdsi</id>
        <name>repo.ohdsi.org</name>
        <url>http://repo.ohdsi.org:8085/nexus/content/repositories/releases</url>
    </repository>
    <repository>
        <id>ohdsi.snapshots</id>
        <name>repo.ohdsi.org-snapshots</name>
        <url>http://repo.ohdsi.org:8085/nexus/content/repositories/snapshots</url>
        <releases>
            <enabled>false</enabled>
        </releases>
        <snapshots>
            <enabled>true</enabled>
        </snapshots>
    </repository>
</repositories>

2: Include the SqlRender dependency in your pom.xml

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.ohdsi.sql</groupId>
    <artifactId>SqlRender</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>

Command-line executable

You can fetch the JAR file in the inst/java folder of this repository, or use Maven as described above. Run this from the command line to get a list of options:

java -jar SqlRender.jar ?

Getting Involved

• Vignette: Using SqlRender
• Package manual: SqlRender manual
• Developer questions/comments/feedback: OHDSI Forum
• We use the GitHub issue tracker for all bugs/issues/enhancements

License

SqlRender is licensed under Apache License 2.0

Development

SqlRender is being developed in R Studio.

Development status

Stable. The code is actively being used in several projects.

Acknowledgements

• This project is supported in part through the National Science Foundation grant IIS 1251151.