Execute a query on a given database connection

The dbSendQuery() method only submits and synchronously executes the SQL query to the database engine. It does not extract any records — for that you need to use the dbFetch() method, and then you must call dbClearResult() when you finish fetching the records you need. For interactive use, you should almost always prefer dbGetQuery(). Use dbSendQueryArrow() or dbGetQueryArrow() instead to retrieve the results as an Arrow object.

Methods in other packages

This documentation page describes the generics. Refer to the documentation pages linked below for the documentation for the methods that are implemented in various backend packages.

• adbi::dbSendQuery("AdbiConnection", "character")

• AzureKusto::dbSendQuery("AzureKustoConnection", "ANY")

• bigrquery::dbSendQuery("BigQueryConnection", "character")

• DatabaseConnector::dbSendQuery("DatabaseConnectorDbiConnection", "character")

• DatabaseConnector::dbSendQuery("DatabaseConnectorJdbcConnection", "character")

• dittodb::dbSendQuery("DBIMockConnection", "character")

• dittodb::dbSendQuery("DBIMockConnection", "SQL")

• duckdb::dbSendQuery("duckdb_connection", "character")

• lazysf::dbSendQuery("SFSQLConnection", "ANY")

• odbc::dbSendQuery("OdbcConnection", "character")

• pool::dbSendQuery("Pool", "ANY")

• RAthena::dbSendQuery("AthenaConnection", "character")

• RH2::dbSendQuery("H2Connection", "character")

• RJDBC::dbSendQuery("JDBCConnection", "character")

• RMariaDB::dbSendQuery("MariaDBConnection", "character")

• RMySQL::dbSendQuery("MySQLConnection", "character")

• RPostgres::dbSendQuery("PqConnection", "ANY")

• RPostgreSQL::dbSendQuery("PostgreSQLConnection", "character")

• RPresto::dbSendQuery("PrestoConnection", "character")

• RSQLite::dbSendQuery("SQLiteConnection", "character")

• sergeant::dbSendQuery("DrillConnection", "ANY")

• sparklyr::dbSendQuery("spark_connection", "ANY")

Usage

dbSendQuery(conn, statement, ...)

Arguments

conn

A DBIConnection object, as returned by dbConnect().

statement

a character string containing SQL.

...

Other parameters passed on to methods.

Value

dbSendQuery() returns an S4 object that inherits from DBI::DBIResult. The result set can be used with DBI::dbFetch() to extract records. Once you have finished using a result, make sure to clear it with DBI::dbClearResult().

Details

This method is for SELECT queries only. Some backends may support data manipulation queries through this method for compatibility reasons. However, callers are strongly encouraged to use dbSendStatement() for data manipulation statements.

The query is submitted to the database server and the DBMS executes it, possibly generating vast amounts of data. Where these data live is driver-specific: some drivers may choose to leave the output on the server and transfer them piecemeal to R, others may transfer all the data to the client – but not necessarily to the memory that R manages. See individual drivers' dbSendQuery() documentation for details.

The data retrieval flow

This section gives a complete overview over the flow for the execution of queries that return tabular data as data frames.

Most of this flow, except repeated calling of dbBind() or dbBindArrow(), is implemented by dbGetQuery(), which should be sufficient unless you want to access the results in a paged way or you have a parameterized query that you want to reuse. This flow requires an active connection established by dbConnect(). See also vignette("dbi-advanced") for a walkthrough.

1. Use dbSendQuery() to create a result set object of class DBIResult.

2. Optionally, bind query parameters with dbBind() or dbBindArrow(). This is required only if the query contains placeholders such as ? or $1, depending on the database backend.

3. Optionally, use dbColumnInfo() to retrieve the structure of the result set without retrieving actual data.

4. Use dbFetch() to get the entire result set, a page of results, or the remaining rows. Fetching zero rows is also possible to retrieve the structure of the result set as a data frame. This step can be called multiple times. Only forward paging is supported, you need to cache previous pages if you need to navigate backwards.

5. Use dbHasCompleted() to tell when you're done. This method returns TRUE if no more rows are available for fetching.

6. Repeat the last four steps as necessary.

7. Use dbClearResult() to clean up the result set object. This step is mandatory even if no rows have been fetched or if an error has occurred during the processing. It is good practice to use on.exit() or withr::defer() to ensure that this step is always executed.

Failure modes

An error is raised when issuing a query over a closed or invalid connection, or if the query is not a non-NA string. An error is also raised if the syntax of the query is invalid and all query parameters are given (by passing the params argument) or the immediate argument is set to TRUE.

Additional arguments

The following arguments are not part of the dbSendQuery() generic (to improve compatibility across backends) but are part of the DBI specification:

• params (default: NULL)

• immediate (default: NULL)

They must be provided as named arguments. See the "Specification" sections for details on their usage.

Specification

No warnings occur under normal conditions. When done, the DBIResult object must be cleared with a call to DBI::dbClearResult(). Failure to clear the result set leads to a warning when the connection is closed.

If the backend supports only one open result set per connection, issuing a second query invalidates an already open result set and raises a warning. The newly opened result set is valid and must be cleared with dbClearResult().

The param argument allows passing query parameters, see DBI::dbBind() for details.

Specification for the immediate argument

The immediate argument supports distinguishing between "direct" and "prepared" APIs offered by many database drivers. Passing immediate = TRUE leads to immediate execution of the query or statement, via the "direct" API (if supported by the driver). The default NULL means that the backend should choose whatever API makes the most sense for the database, and (if relevant) tries the other API if the first attempt fails. A successful second attempt should result in a message that suggests passing the correct immediate argument. Examples for possible behaviors:

1. DBI backend defaults to immediate = TRUE internally

   1. A query without parameters is passed: query is executed

   2. A query with parameters is passed:

      1. params not given: rejected immediately by the database because of a syntax error in the query, the backend tries immediate = FALSE (and gives a message)

      2. params given: query is executed using immediate = FALSE

2. DBI backend defaults to immediate = FALSE internally

   1. A query without parameters is passed:

      1. simple query: query is executed

      2. "special" query (such as setting a config options): fails, the backend tries immediate = TRUE (and gives a message)

   2. A query with parameters is passed:

      1. params not given: waiting for parameters via DBI::dbBind()

      2. params given: query is executed

See also

For updates: dbSendStatement() and dbExecute().

Other DBIConnection generics: DBIConnection-class, dbAppendTable(), dbAppendTableArrow(), dbCreateTable(), dbCreateTableArrow(), dbDataType(), dbDisconnect(), dbExecute(), dbExistsTable(), dbGetException(), dbGetInfo(), dbGetQuery(), dbGetQueryArrow(), dbIsReadOnly(), dbIsValid(), dbListFields(), dbListObjects(), dbListResults(), dbListTables(), dbQuoteIdentifier(), dbReadTable(), dbReadTableArrow(), dbRemoveTable(), dbSendQueryArrow(), dbSendStatement(), dbUnquoteIdentifier(), dbWriteTable(), dbWriteTableArrow()

Other data retrieval generics: dbBind(), dbClearResult(), dbFetch(), dbFetchArrow(), dbFetchArrowChunk(), dbGetQuery(), dbGetQueryArrow(), dbHasCompleted(), dbSendQueryArrow()

Examples

con <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), ":memory:")

dbWriteTable(con, "mtcars", mtcars)
rs <- dbSendQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM mtcars WHERE cyl = 4")
dbFetch(rs)
#>     mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
#> 1  22.8   4 108.0  93 3.85 2.320 18.61  1  1    4    1
#> 2  24.4   4 146.7  62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
#> 3  22.8   4 140.8  95 3.92 3.150 22.90  1  0    4    2
#> 4  32.4   4  78.7  66 4.08 2.200 19.47  1  1    4    1
#> 5  30.4   4  75.7  52 4.93 1.615 18.52  1  1    4    2
#> 6  33.9   4  71.1  65 4.22 1.835 19.90  1  1    4    1
#> 7  21.5   4 120.1  97 3.70 2.465 20.01  1  0    3    1
#> 8  27.3   4  79.0  66 4.08 1.935 18.90  1  1    4    1
#> 9  26.0   4 120.3  91 4.43 2.140 16.70  0  1    5    2
#> 10 30.4   4  95.1 113 3.77 1.513 16.90  1  1    5    2
#> 11 21.4   4 121.0 109 4.11 2.780 18.60  1  1    4    2
dbClearResult(rs)

# Pass one set of values with the param argument:
rs <- dbSendQuery(
  con,
  "SELECT * FROM mtcars WHERE cyl = ?",
  params = list(4L)
)
dbFetch(rs)
#>     mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
#> 1  22.8   4 108.0  93 3.85 2.320 18.61  1  1    4    1
#> 2  24.4   4 146.7  62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
#> 3  22.8   4 140.8  95 3.92 3.150 22.90  1  0    4    2
#> 4  32.4   4  78.7  66 4.08 2.200 19.47  1  1    4    1
#> 5  30.4   4  75.7  52 4.93 1.615 18.52  1  1    4    2
#> 6  33.9   4  71.1  65 4.22 1.835 19.90  1  1    4    1
#> 7  21.5   4 120.1  97 3.70 2.465 20.01  1  0    3    1
#> 8  27.3   4  79.0  66 4.08 1.935 18.90  1  1    4    1
#> 9  26.0   4 120.3  91 4.43 2.140 16.70  0  1    5    2
#> 10 30.4   4  95.1 113 3.77 1.513 16.90  1  1    5    2
#> 11 21.4   4 121.0 109 4.11 2.780 18.60  1  1    4    2
dbClearResult(rs)

# Pass multiple sets of values with dbBind():
rs <- dbSendQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM mtcars WHERE cyl = ?")
dbBind(rs, list(6L))
dbFetch(rs)
#>    mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
#> 1 21.0   6 160.0 110 3.90 2.620 16.46  0  1    4    4
#> 2 21.0   6 160.0 110 3.90 2.875 17.02  0  1    4    4
#> 3 21.4   6 258.0 110 3.08 3.215 19.44  1  0    3    1
#> 4 18.1   6 225.0 105 2.76 3.460 20.22  1  0    3    1
#> 5 19.2   6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.30  1  0    4    4
#> 6 17.8   6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.90  1  0    4    4
#> 7 19.7   6 145.0 175 3.62 2.770 15.50  0  1    5    6
dbBind(rs, list(8L))
dbFetch(rs)
#>     mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
#> 1  18.7   8 360.0 175 3.15 3.440 17.02  0  0    3    2
#> 2  14.3   8 360.0 245 3.21 3.570 15.84  0  0    3    4
#> 3  16.4   8 275.8 180 3.07 4.070 17.40  0  0    3    3
#> 4  17.3   8 275.8 180 3.07 3.730 17.60  0  0    3    3
#> 5  15.2   8 275.8 180 3.07 3.780 18.00  0  0    3    3
#> 6  10.4   8 472.0 205 2.93 5.250 17.98  0  0    3    4
#> 7  10.4   8 460.0 215 3.00 5.424 17.82  0  0    3    4
#> 8  14.7   8 440.0 230 3.23 5.345 17.42  0  0    3    4
#> 9  15.5   8 318.0 150 2.76 3.520 16.87  0  0    3    2
#> 10 15.2   8 304.0 150 3.15 3.435 17.30  0  0    3    2
#> 11 13.3   8 350.0 245 3.73 3.840 15.41  0  0    3    4
#> 12 19.2   8 400.0 175 3.08 3.845 17.05  0  0    3    2
#> 13 15.8   8 351.0 264 4.22 3.170 14.50  0  1    5    4
#> 14 15.0   8 301.0 335 3.54 3.570 14.60  0  1    5    8
dbClearResult(rs)

dbDisconnect(con)