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Function Support for Queries in OData Extension

In a previous post I was talking about the URL Syntax for OData Query Extension. In the current installment, I will present an enhancement to the URL $filter option parser that will allow us to use custom functions. These functions will give us even more possibilities to specify Criterias in RESTful URLs.

The new version is available as JAR distributable (odata-query-extension-1.2.jar) and also as source code.

One of the limitations in the previous OData Query Extension parser was the inability to specify the CustomMetaValue and CustomMetaKey criteria, as they pretty much need to appear nested in one-another:

CustomMetaValue(CustomMetaKey(theKey), theValue[, operator])

Another tricky point are the criterias that accept several parameters, such as

TaxonomyKeywordName(publicationId, taxonomyId, keywordName, includeBranches, operator)

Therefore, I enhanced the parser logic to allow functions in the following syntax:

function(parameter [, field_operator] [, parameter [, field_operator] ]

,where
  • function - a predefined name corresponding to one of the criterias described further down in this post;
  • parameter - a string, number, boolean or 'function name' denoting the value corresponding to a parameter in the function's arguments;
  • field_operator - optional FieldOperator to apply to the previous parameter. Can be one of eq, neq, gt, ge, lt, le, like.
The additional LL(1) grammar rules are:

and_term -> FUNCTION func_op
and_term -> argument
field_op -> FIELD_OPERATOR value
func_op -> OPEN_BRACKET parameter CLOSE_BRACKET

parameter -> FUNCTION func_op param_op
parameter -> value param_op

param_op -> SEPARATOR FIELD_OPERATOR param_op
param_op -> SEPARATOR parameter
param_op -> EPSILON

Using the new enhanced parser, I implemented the following functions:

CustomMetaKey

CustomMetaKey(keyName[, field_operator])

Specifies a CustomMetaKeyCriteria for a given custom meta key field, optionally with a field_operator.

Example: CustomMetaKey('doc%', like)

CustomMetaValue

CustomMetaValue(CustomMetaKey(keyName), value[, field_operator])

Specifies a combined CustomMetaKey / CustomMetaValue criteria where the keyName and value belong to the same item's custom meta.
The value can be one of string, float or date (for date, expected format is yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS)

Example: CustomMetaValue(CustomMetaKey('color'), 'red')

CustomMetaDateRange

CustomMetaDateRange(beginRange, endRange)
CustomMetaDateRange(beginRange, endRange, includeRange)
CustomMetaDateRange(metaFieldName, beginRange, endRange, includeRange)

Specifies a date range for a metadata field. If metadataFieldName is specified, the date range criteria is applied to this field, otherwise to any field of type date. Date format is yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS

Example: CustomMetaDateRange('expiredate', '2012-10-01 12:00:00.000', '2013-03-15 12:00:00.000', false)

CustomMetaStringRange

CustomMetaStringRange(beginRange, endRange)
CustomMetaStringRange(beginRange, endRange, includeRange)
CustomMetaStringRange(metaFieldName, beginRange, endRange, includeRange)

Specifies a string range for a metadata field. If metadataFieldName is specified, the string range criteria is applied to this field, otherwise to any field of type string.

Example: CustomMetaStringRange('author', 'Adam', 'John', false)

NumericalRange

NumericalRange(beginRange, endRange)
NumericalRange(beginRange, endRange, includeRange)
NumericalRange(metaFieldName, beginRange, endRange, includeRange)

Specifies a numeric range for a metadata field. If metadataFieldName is specified, the numeric range criteria is applied to this field, otherwise to any field of type numeric.

Example: NumericalRange('price', 1.25, 9.99, false)

StructureGroup

StructureGroup(sgUri)
StructureGroup(sgUri, includeChildSGs)

Specifies a Structure Group such that returned results are only Pages within that Structure Group. By specifying includeChildSGs boolean, it is possible to restrict results to an explicit SG or to an entire branch.

Example: StructureGroup('tcm:3-12-4', true)

StructureGroupDirectory

StructureGroupDirectory(directory)
StructureGroupDirectory(directory, field_operator)
StructureGroupDirectory(directory, field_operator, includeChildSGs)

Specifies a criteria such that returned Pages are only within a Structure Group whose property directory matches parameter directory. By specifying includeChildSGs boolean, it is possible to restrict results to the top matched SG or to the whole branch.

Example: StructureGroupDirectory('product%', like, true)

StructureGroupTitle

StructureGroupTitle(title)
StructureGroupTitle(title, field_operator)
StructureGroupTitle(title, field_operator, includeChildSGs)

Specifies a criteria such that returned Pages are only within a Structure Group whose title matches parameter title. By specifying includeChildSGs boolean, it is possible to restrict results to the top matched SG or to the whole branch.

Example: StructureGroupTitle('010 Home', eq, false)

TaxonomyKeyword

TaxonomyKeyword(taxonomyUri, keywordUri, includeKeywordBranches)
TaxonomyKeyword(publicationId, taxonomyId, keywordId, includeKeywordBranches)

Specifies a criteria that returns items classified against a keyword in a taxonomy, and where search is performed on the keyword id.

Example: TaxonomyKeyword(1, 3, 5, false)

TaxonomyKeywordDescription

TaxonomyKeywordDescription(publicationId, taxonomyId, keywordDescription[, field_operator], includeKeywordBranches)

Specifies a criteria that returns items classified against a keyword in a taxonomy, and where search is performed on the keyword description field.

Example: TaxonomyKeywordDescription(1, 3, 'Result%', like, false)

TaxonomyKeywordKey

TaxonomyKeywordKey(publicationId, taxonomyId, keywordKey[, field_operator], includeKeywordBranches)

Specifies a criteria that returns items classified against a keyword in a taxonomy, and where search is performed on the keyword key field.

Example: TaxonomyKeywordKey(1, 3, 'Result Q1', false)

TaxonomyKeywordName

TaxonomyKeywordName(publicationId, taxonomyId, keywordName[, field_operator], includeKeywordBranches)

Specifies a criteria that returns items classified against a keyword in a taxonomy, and where search is performed on the keyword name (a.k.a. title).

Example: TaxonomyKeywordName(1, 3, 'Press%', like, true)


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