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Introduce PRIMARY KEY constraint predicate
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- Rename `constrait-expr` to `constraint-predicate`
- Limit scope of `UNIQUE` to single properties only
- Update examples to reflect `PRIMARY KEY`
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Mats-SX committed Mar 6, 2017
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79 changes: 53 additions & 26 deletions cip/1.accepted/CIP2016-12-14-Constraint-syntax.adoc
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Expand Up @@ -32,23 +32,25 @@ The constraint syntax is defined as follows:
.Grammar definition for constraint syntax.
[source, ebnf]
----
constraint command = create-constraint | drop-constraint ;
create-constraint = "CREATE", "CONSTRAINT", constraint-name, "FOR", pattern, "REQUIRE", constraint-expr, { "REQUIRE", constraint-expr } ;
constraint-name = symbolic-name
constraint-expr = uniqueness-expr | expression ;
uniquness-expr = "UNIQUE", property-expression, { ",", property-expression }
drop-constraint = "DROP", "CONSTRAINT", constraint-name ;
constraint command = create-constraint | drop-constraint ;
create-constraint = "CREATE", "CONSTRAINT", [ constraint-name ], "FOR", pattern, "REQUIRE", constraint-predicate, { "REQUIRE", constraint-predicate } ;
constraint-name = symbolic-name
constraint-predicate = expression | unique | primary-key ;
unique = "UNIQUE", property-expression
primary-key = "PRIMARY KEY", property-expression, { ",", property-expression }
drop-constraint = "DROP", "CONSTRAINT", constraint-name ;
----

The constraint expression (`constraint-expr` above) is any expression that evaluates to a boolean value.
This allows for very complex concrete constraint definitions within the specified syntax.
The `REQUIRE` clause works exactly like the `WHERE` clause in a standard Cypher query, with the addition of also supporting the special constraint operators `UNIQUE` and `PRIMARY KEY`.
This allows for very complex concrete constraint definitions (using custom predicates) within the specified syntax.

To that set of valid expressions, this CIP further specifies a special prefix operator `UNIQUE`, which is used to assert uniqueness of one or more property expressions (see <<uniqueness>> for details).
For details on `UNIQUE` and `PRIMARY KEY`, see the dedicated sections below: <<uniqueness>>, <<primary-key>>.

==== Constraint names

All constraints require the user to specify a nonempty _name_ at constraint creation time.
All constraints provide the user the option to specify a nonempty _name_ at constraint creation time.
This name is subsequently the handle with which a user may refer to the constraint, for example when dropping it.
In the case where a name is not provided, the system will generate a unique name.

==== Removing constraints

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -87,26 +89,50 @@ Should a user wish to change its definition, it has to be dropped and recreated
[[uniqueness]]
==== Uniqueness

The new operator `UNIQUE` is only valid as part of a constraint expression.
The new operator `UNIQUE` is only valid as part of a constraint predicate.
It takes as argument a single property expression, and asserts that this property is unique across the domain of the constraint.
Following on rule <<domain-exception,3.>> above, entities for which the property is not defined (is `null`) are not part of the constraint domain.

.Example of a constraint definition using `UNIQUE`, over the domain of nodes labeled with `:Person`:
[source, cypher]
----
CREATE CONSTRAINT only_one_person_per_name
FOR (p:Person)
REQUIRE UNIQUE p.name
----

[[primary-key]]
==== Primary key

The new operator `PRIMARY KEY` is only valid as part of a constraint predicate.
It takes as argument one or more property expressions, and asserts that the combination of the evaluated values of the expressions (forming a tuple) is unique across the constraint domain.
It further asserts that the property expressions all exist on the entities of the domain, and thus avoids applicability of rule <<domain-exception, 3.>> above. The domain of a primary key constraint is thus exactly defined as all entities which fit the constraint pattern.

The domain of the uniqueness expression is limited to entities for which _all_ properties defined as arguments to the `UNIQUE` operator exist.
In other words, property expressions which evaluate to `null` are not considered for uniqueness (see <<domain-exception,3.>>) above.
.Example of a constraint definition using `PRIMARY KEY`, over the domain of nodes labeled with `:Person`:
[source, cypher]
----
CREATE CONSTRAINT person_details
FOR (p:Person)
REQUIRE PRIMARY KEY p.name, p.email, p.address
----

.Example of a constraint definition using `UNIQUE`, over the domain of nodes labeled with `:Person`:
A semantically equivalent constraint is achieved by composing the use of the `UNIQUE` operator with `exists()` predicates, as exemplified by:

.Example of a constraint definition equivalent to the above `PRIMARY KEY` example:
[source, cypher]
----
CREATE CONSTRAINT unique_person_details
CREATE CONSTRAINT person_details
FOR (p:Person)
REQUIRE UNIQUE p.name, p.email, p.address
REQUIRE UNIQUE p.name
REQUIRE UNIQUE p.email
REQUIRE UNIQUE p.address
REQUIRE exists(p.name) AND exists(p.email) AND exists(p.address)
----

==== Compositionality

It is possible to define multiple `REQUIRE` clauses within the scope of the same constraint.
The semantics between these is that of a conjunction between the constraint expressions of the clauses, such that the constraint is upheld if and only if for all `REQUIRE` clauses, the expression evaluates to `true`.

This is useful not only for readability and logical separation of different aspects of the same constraint, but also for combining the use of the `UNIQUE` operator with other constraint expressions.
The semantics between these is that of a conjunction (under standard 2-valued boolean logic) between the constraint predicates of the clauses, such that the constraint is upheld if and only if for all `REQUIRE` clauses, the joint predicate evaluates to `true`.

=== Examples

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -144,7 +170,8 @@ We could then use the following constraint, without modifying our data:
----
CREATE CONSTRAINT unique_color_nodes
FOR (c:Color)
REQUIRE UNIQUE c.rgb, c.name
REQUIRE UNIQUE c.rgb
REQUIRE UNIQUE c.name
----

Now, consider the following query which retrieves the RGB value of a color with a given `name`:
Expand All @@ -168,17 +195,16 @@ REQUIRE exists(c.rgb)

Any updating statement that would create a `:Color` node without specifying an `rgb` property for it would now fail.

Alternatively, we could extend our previous constraint definition with this new requirement:
If we also want to mandate the existence of the `name` property, we could use a `PRIMARY KEY` operator to capture all these requirements in a single constraint:

[source, cypher]
----
CREATE CONSTRAINT color_schema
FOR (c:Color)
REQUIRE UNIQUE c.rgb, c.name
REQUIRE exists(c.rgb)
REQUIRE PRIMARY KEY c.rgb, c.name
----

This composite constraint will make sure that all `:Color` nodes has a value for their `rgb` property, and that its value is unique for each `name`.
This constraint will make sure that all `:Color` nodes has a value for their `rgb` and `name` properties, and that the combination is unique across all the nodes.

More complex constraint definitions are considered below:

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -269,8 +295,9 @@ In SQL, the following constraints exist (inspired by http://www.w3schools.com/sq
* `CHECK` - Ensures that the value in a column meets a specific condition
* `DEFAULT` - Specifies a default value for a column.

The property existence constraints correspond to the `NOT NULL` SQL constraint.
The node property uniqueness constraint corresponds to the `PRIMARY KEY` SQL constraint.
The `NOT NULL` SQL constraint is expressible using an `exists()` constraint predicate.
The `UNIQUE` SQL constraint is exactly as Cypher's `UNIQUE` constraint predicate.
The `PRIMARY KEY` SQL constraint is exactly as Cypher's `PRIMARY KEY` constraint predicate.

SQL constraints may be introduced at table creation time in a `CREATE TABLE` statement, or in an `ALTER TABLE` statement:

Expand Down

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