Selecting Nested Data for a Column

The following queries show how to access the nested data inside the parts of the record that are not flat (such as topping). To isolate and return nested data, use the [n] notation, where n is a number that points to a specific position in an array. Arrays use a 0-based index, so topping[3] points to the fourth element in the array under topping, not the third.

0: jdbc:drill:zk=local> select topping[3] as top from dfs.`/Users/brumsby/drill/donuts.json`;

|------------|
|    top     |
|------------|
| {"id":"5007","type":"Powdered Sugar"} |
|------------
1 row selected (0.137 seconds)

Note that this query produces one column for all of the data that is nested inside the topping segment of the file. The query as written does not unpack the id and type name/value pairs. Also note the use of an alias for the column name. (Without the alias, the default column name would be EXPR$0.)

Some JSON files store arrays within arrays. If your data has this characteristic, you can probe into the inner array by using the following notation: [n][n]

For example, assume that a segment of the JSON file looks like this:

...
group:
[
  [1,2,3],

  [4,5,6],

  [7,8,9]
]
...

The following query would return 6 (the third value of the second inner array).

select group[1][2]