Analytical data processing

Abstract

Systems and apparatuses are provided for integrating user defined functions into an analytical data processing framework. A query compiler ( 22 ) identifies a call to a user defined function ( 28 ) and one of a GROUP BY expression and a defined online analytics processing (OLAP) window associated with the user defined function. A database engine ( 24 ) executes the user defined function ( 28 ) with a partition set defined by the one of the GROUP BY expression and the defined OLAP window, such that the user defined function operates on the partition set to produce a function output.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An analytical data processing system ( 10 ) comprising:
 a processor ( 12 ); and   a non-transitory computer readable medium ( 14 ) storing machine readable instructions, the machine readable instructions comprising:
 a query compiler ( 22 ) to identify a call to a user defined function ( 28 ) and one of a GROUP BY expression and a defined online analytics processing (OLAF) window associated with the user defined function; and 
 a processing engine ( 24 ) to execute the user defined function ( 28 ) with a partition set defined by the one of the GROUP BY expression and the defined OLAP window, such that the user defined function operates on the partition set to produce a function output. 
   
     
     
         2 . The analytical data processing system of  claim 1 , the user defined function ( 28 ) having metadata ( 69 ) exposed to the query compiler and the processing engine ( 24 ), the metadata ( 69 ) indicating that the user defined function ( 28 ) is executable within the one of the GROUP BY expression and the defined OLAP window. 
     
     
         3 . The analytical data processing system of  claim 2 , the exposed metadata ( 69 ) comprising an application programming interface, the application programming interface comprising rules for validating and resolving arguments within the call to the user defined function ( 28 ). 
     
     
         4 . The analytical data processing system of  claim 1 , the call to the user defined function ( 28 ) being one of a plurality of calls to respective user defined functions identified by the query compiler ( 22 ) within a query, and the processing engine ( 24 ) executing the plurality of user defined functions as part of the query. 
     
     
         5 . The analytical data processing system of  claim 4 , the user defined function ( 28 ) consuming afield output by another of the plurality of user defined functions as an input. 
     
     
         6 . The analytical data processing system of  claim 4 , the partition set being a first partition set in a query, and the query compiler ( 22 ) further identifying a second partition set associated with another of the plurality of user defined functions, the first partition set differing from the second partition set. 
     
     
         7 . The analytical data processing system of  claim 4 , another of the plurality of user defined functions having metadata ( 69 ) exposed to the query compiler ( 22 ) indicating that the user defined function should be executed without reference to either of a GROUP BY expression and an OLAP window. 
     
     
         8 . The analytical data processing system of  claim 1 , the query compiler ( 22 ) identifying the one of the GROUP BY expression and the defined online analytics processing (OLAP) window from an OLAP window expression associated with the call to the user defined function. 
     
     
         9 . An analytical processing system comprising:
 a processor ( 12 ); and   a non-transitory computer readable medium ( 14 ) storing machine readable instructions, the machine readable instructions comprising:
 a query compiler ( 22 ) to identify respective calls to a plurality of user defined functions ( 68 ) within a structured query language (SQL) query, the query compiler ( 22 ) identifying a plurality of data partitions, each associated with one of the plurality of user defined functions and being identified from one of a GROUP BY expression and an OLAP window expression, such that one of the plurality of data partitions differs from another of the plurality of data partitions; and 
 a processing engine ( 24 ) to execute the plurality of user defined functions as part of the SQL query such that one of the plurality of user defined functions consumes, as an input, a field output by another of the plurality of user defined functions; 
   wherein each user defined function ( 68 ) has metadata ( 69 ) exposed to the query compiler ( 22 ) and the processing engine ( 24 ) indicating that the user defined function is executable within the one of the GROUP BY expression and the OLAP expression.   
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine executable instructions, the machine executable instructions comprising:
 a query compiler ( 62 ) to identify a call to a plurality of user defined functions ( 68 ) and one of a GROUP BY expression and a defined online analytics processing (OLAP) window associated with the user defined function within an SQL query; and   a database engine ( 64 ) to execute the plurality of user defined functions ( 68 ) with a data partition defined by the one of the GROUP BY expression and the defined OLAP window, such that a user defined function of the plurality of user defined function operates on the data partition to produce a function output.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 10 , one of the plurality of user defined functions ( 68 ) consuming, as an input, a field output by another of the plurality of user defined functions. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 10 , the query compiler ( 62 ) identifying the one of a GROUP BY expression and a defined online analytics processing (OLAP) window from an OLAP window expression associated with the call to one of the plurality of user defined functions. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 10 , each of the plurality of user defined functions ( 68 ) having metadata ( 69 ) exposed to the query compiler ( 62 ) and the database engine ( 64 ), the metadata ( 69 ) for each function indicating that the user defined functions are executable within the one of the GROUP BY expression and the defined OLAP window. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 13 , the metadata ( 69 ) comprising a generalized application programming interface function pointer for validating and resolving arguments within the call to the one of the plurality of user defined functions. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 10 , the defined data partition being a first data partition associated with one of the plurality of user defined functions ( 68 ) in the SQL query, and the query compiler ( 62 ) further identifying a second data partition defined by another OLAP window associated with another of the plurality of user defined functions, the first data partition differing from the second data partition.