Range of Possibilities

Release Notes

New Feature: Temporary Ranges (Subqueries)

ObjectQuel now supports temporary ranges, enabling inline subqueries that create intermediate result sets for advanced query composition.

What's New

Temporary Range Syntax

• Define subqueries inline using the familiar range syntax
• Create intermediate result sets that can be joined with other ranges
• Compute derived values, perform aggregations, or pre-filter data before joining

Intelligent JOIN Optimization

• Automatic nullability analysis determines optimal JOIN types
• LEFT JOIN for potentially NULL fields (aggregates, nullable columns)
• INNER JOIN for guaranteed non-NULL fields (performance optimization)
• Aggregate functions (MAX, MIN, AVG, etc.) correctly handled as nullable

Example Usage

// Find products priced above their category average
$results = $entityManager->executeQuery("
    range of avgPrices is (
        range of p is App\\Entity\\ProductEntity
        retrieve (categoryId=p.categoryId, avg=AVG(p.price))
    )
    range of p is App\\Entity\\ProductEntity via p.categoryId=avgPrices.categoryId
    retrieve (p.name, p.price, avgPrices.avg)
    where p.price > avgPrices.avg
");

Technical Details

• Subqueries execute first, creating temporary tables in the database
• JOIN type selection based on field nullability from source columns
• Complex expressions conservatively treated as nullable
• Automatic removal of unreferenced temporary ranges during optimization

Use Cases

• Pre-filtering large datasets before joining
• Computing derived values (profit margins, percentages, ratios)
• Combining aggregated data with detail records
• Multi-stage data transformations

Performance Considerations

• Each temporary range creates a database temporary table
• Use appropriate indexes on joined columns
• Keep subqueries focused for optimal performance
• Very large result sets may impact memory usage