Tableau Software, Inc.

Alfons Kemper

Thomas Neumann

Viktor Leis

Jan Finis

Tobias Muehlbauer

Michael Schreier

Manuel Then

Moritz Kaufmann

Sebastian Hofstetter

A method executes at a computer system to retrieve data from a database. Upon receiving a database query, the computer system translates the query into an intermediate representation, and estimates a compilation time to compile the intermediate representation into machine executable code. The query execution time to retrieve a result set is also estimated. In accordance with a determination that the query execution time and compilation time satisfy an interpretation criterion, the computer system invokes a byte code interpreter to interpret the intermediate representation and retrieve the result set from the database. In accordance with a determination that the query execution and compilation times satisfy one of a plurality of compilation criteria, the computer system compiles the intermediate representation to form machine code and executes the machine code to retrieve the result set from the database. In some cases, the query intermediate representation is optimized prior to compilation.

Adaptive interpretation and compilation of database queries

A method is executed at a computer system to retrieve data from a database. Upon receiving a database query, a database engine of the computer system parses the query to form an operator tree including a plurality of join operators. For one of the plurality of clauses, the database engine adds to the operator tree a respective node that specifies a mark join operator, a single join operator, an inner join operator, or an outer join operator. Specifically, the database engine adds the mark join operator when the clause includes one of a predetermined set of predicate subqueries, and adds the single join operator when the clause includes a scalar subquery. The database engine performs one or more optimization passes on the operator tree to form an optimized execution plan, and executes the optimized execution plan to retrieve a result set from the database.

Optimizing database query execution by extending the relational algebra to include non-standard join operators

A method dynamically selects query execution operators. A database engine receives a query, parses the query to form a query execution tree, and compiles the tree to form a first executable plan that includes in-memory operators. The database engine executes the first plan, including executing in-memory operators in parallel. While executing a first in-memory operator, insufficient memory is detected. In response, the database engine aborts the execution, and recompiles the query tree in two ways, forming a second executable plan that replaces the first in-memory operator with a first spooling operator. The first spooling operator executes within a fixed volatile memory budget and swaps to non-volatile memory according to the budget. A third executable plan retains the first in-memory operator, but schedules it to run serially. The database engine selects either the second plan or the third plan, and executes the selected plan to return results for the query.

Dynamic rebuilding of query execution trees and reselection of query execution operators

A method implements optimization of database queries by computing domain cardinality estimates. A client sends a database query to a server. The method parses the query to identify data columns. For each of the data columns, the method computes a lower bound and an upper bound of distinct data values using a pre-computed table size. The method also computes a patch factor by applying a pre-computed function to a ratio between a number of distinct data values that appear exactly once in a data sample and a number of distinct data values in the sample. Based on the patch factor, the lower bound, and the upper bound, the method computes an estimate of distinct values for each of the data columns. The method subsequently generates an execution plan for the query according to the computed estimates, executes the execution plan, and returns a result set to the client.

Computing domain cardinality estimates for optimizing database query execution

A method compares text strings having Unicode encoding. The method receives a first string S=ss. . . sand a second string T=tt. . . t, where s, s, . . . , sand t, t, . . . , tare Unicode characters. The method computes a first string weight for the first string S according to a weight function &#x192;. When S consists of ASCII characters, &#x192;(S)=S. when S includes one or more non-replaceable non-ASCII characters, the first string weight &#x192;(S) is a concatenation of an ASCII weight prefix &#x192;(S) and a Unicode weight suffix &#x192;(S). The method also computes a second string weight for the second text string T. Equality of the strings is tested using the string weights.

Hybrid comparison for unicode text strings consisting primarily of ASCII characters

A method is executed at a computer system to retrieve data from a database. Upon receiving a database query, a database engine of the computer system parses the query to form an operator tree including a plurality of join operators. For each of the plurality of clauses, the database engine adds to the operator tree a respective node that specifies a mark join operator, a single join operator, an inner join operator, or an outer join operator. Specifically, the database engine adds the mark join operator when the respective clause includes one of a predetermined set of predicate subqueries, and adds the single join operator when the respective clause includes a scalar subquery. The database engine performs one or more optimization passes on the operator tree to form an optimized execution plan, and executes the optimized execution plan to retrieve a result set from the database.

A database engine receives a query and parses the query to form a first intermediate query. The engine compiles the first intermediate query to form a first executable plan that includes in-memory operators that execute within memory without swapping to secondary memory. While executing a first in-memory operator in the first executable plan, the engine detects insufficient memory and aborts execution of the first executable plan. The engine optimizes the first intermediate query to form a second intermediate query, and compiles the second intermediate query to form a second executable plan. The second plan includes spooling operators that execute within fixed memory budgets and are configured to swap to the secondary memory when needed. The engine executes the second executable plan, including the spooling operators, to retrieve results from the database that are responsive to the query. The engine then returns the retrieved results.

A method compares text strings having Unicode encoding. The method receives a first string S=ss. . . sand a second string T=tt. . . t, where s, s, . . . , sand t, t, . . . , tare Unicode characters. The method computes a first string weight for the first string S according to a weight function &#x192;. When S consists of ASCII characters, &#x192;(S)=S. When S consists of ASCII characters and some accented ASCII characters that are replaceable by ASCII characters, &#x192;(S)=g(s)g(s) . . . g(s), where g(s)=swhen sis an ASCII character and g(s)=s'when sis an accented ASCII character that is replaceable by the corresponding ASCII character s&#x2032;. The method also computes a second string weight for the second text string T. Equality of the strings is tested using the string weights.

A database engine receives a human-readable database query that includes a subquery, and parses the database query to build an operator tree. The operator tree includes a subtree corresponding to the subquery. The database engine estimates the number of rows that will accessed when the subtree is executed and estimates the fraction of the cardinality of rows that will be filtered out by subsequent operations in the operator tree. In accordance with a determination that the estimated fraction exceeds a first threshold, the database engine inserts a domain constraint into the subtree that restricts rows retrieved by execution of the subtree, thereby forming a modified operator tree. The database engine executes the modified operator tree to form a final result set corresponding to the database query and returns the final result set.

Reducing the domain of a subquery by retrieving constraints from the outer query

A method compares text strings having Unicode encoding. The method receives a first string S=ss. . . sand a second string T=tt. . . t, where s, s, . . . , sand t, t, . . . , tare Unicode characters. The method computes a first string weight for the first string S according to a weight function &#x192;. When S consists of ASCII characters, &#x192;(S)=S. When S consists of ASCII characters and some accented ASCII characters that are replaceable by ASCII characters, &#x192;(S)=g(s) g(s) . . . g(s), where g(s)=swhen sis an ASCII character and g(s)=s' when sis an accented ASCII character that is replaceable by the corresponding ASCII character s&#x2032;. When S includes one or more non-replaceable non-ASCII characters, the first string weight concatenates an ASCII weight prefix &#x192;(S) and a Unicode weight suffix &#x192;(S). The method also computes a second string weight for the second text string T. Equality of the strings is tested using the string weights.

A method dynamically selects query execution operators for a database engine. The database engine receives a query and parses the query to form a query execution tree. The engine creates a first executable plan that includes in-memory operators, which execute within the volatile memory. While executing a first in-memory operator, the engine detects insufficient memory to complete the execution and aborts the execution. The engine then recompiles the query execution tree to form a second executable plan, which includes spooling operators. Each spooling operator executes within a fixed volatile memory budget. The engine executes the second executable plan, including the plurality of spooling operators, to identify a set of results from the database that is responsive to the query, and returns the results.

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Alfons Kemper