The QueryBuilder

Leaf and Factory Nodes

The query builder is a tree structure composed of two different categories of nodes. Factory nodes and Leaf nodes. Factory nodes create and add new nodes to the query builder tree and then return the newly created node. Factory methods accept no arguments and always have children. A factory node has zero arguments.

Leaf nodes have no children and always return the parent node after adding themselves to the query builder tree. The parent node is always a factory node and the leaf node always has arguments:

// the query builder is a factory node
$qb = $dm->createQueryBuilder();

// from() returns a new factory node
$from = $qb->from();

// document() is a leaf node, it returns the parent factory
$from = $from->document('Post', 'p');

// end() returns the parent, in this case the query builder.
$qb = $from->end();

Fluent Interface

The API makes use of a fluent API which enables an entire query to be constructed in a single, unbroken, statement.

Factory node methods append nodes as children to themselves and return either other factory nodes or, if the factory method returns a leaf, the method will return its owning class instance:

$qb->where()->eq()->field('p.title', 'p')->literal('My Post');

In the example above:

• The where method of the QueryBuilder adds and returns a ConstraintFactory which provides the eq() method.
• The eq() method adds and returns an OperandFactory which contains the field() and literal() methods.

Up to this point the return values have all been factory classes.

• The field() and literal() methods add leaf nodes and they return the same class of which they are part - the OperandFactory - the same node which provides the eq() method.

This model presents a problem when we want to proceed to a previous node without breaking the chain, this is where the end() method comes in.

The end() method is a special method that will always return the parent of the current node, allowing us to construct the query in full without breaking the chain. A practical application of this is when we do more complicated things, such as chaining operands:

$qb->where()->eq()->lowerCase()->field('p.title')->end()->literal('my post');

Here the lowerCase() method would return the LowerCase operand, which will transform the value of its child member to lowercase. Because field() will return its parent we need to call end() to go back once more to the ConstraintFactory (as returned by eq()).

Types and Cardinality

Each node has an associated node type:

$qb->getNodeType(); // returns "builder"
$qb->where()->getNodeType(); // returns "where"
$qb->andWhere()->getNodeType(); // returns "where"
$qb->where()->eq()->getNodeType(); // returns "constraint"
$qb->where()->eq()->field()->getNodeType(); // returns "operand"

Node types (not to be confused with PHPCR node types) are used to validate the query builder trees structure. Each factory node declares how many children of each type it is allowed, this is the node child cardinality map. The Query Builder Reference document lists the cardinalities of all the factory nodes.

Exceeding or not achieving the minimum or maximum child cardinality for a given node type will cause an exception to be thrown when retrieving the query, for example:

// throws exception, query builder node needs at least one "from".
$qb->getQuery();

// throws exception, eq() needs one dynamic and one static operand
$qb->where()->eq()->field('p.title');
$qb->getQuery();

// throws exception, eq() needs one dynamic and one static operand
$qb->where()->eq()->field('p.title')->field('p.name');
$qb->getQuery();

// ok
$qb->where()->eq()->field('p.title')->literal('My Post');
$qb->getQuery();

The cardinality for each node is documented in the Query Builder Reference, for an example see Query Builder Reference.

Aliases and fields

The term alias refers to the string that is assigned to a document source, either a SourceFrom or a SourceJoin:

$qb->from(Post::class, 'post');

In the example above, post is the alias. The alias is subsequently used whenever the source is referenced. The following example show some instances where we reference the alias:

$qb->where()->eq()->field('post.title')->literal('foobar');
// or
$qb->where()->fieldIsset('post.username');
// or
$qb->where()->child('/blog', 'post');

The term field refers to the property of an aliased document. In the first of the above examples we reference the property $post on the dcoument Blog\Post. Note that the alias and property name are delimited by a dot ..

Via the document manager

You can instantiate the QueryBuilder with the DocumentManager using the createQueryBuilder method:

$qb = $documentManager->createQueryBuilder();

Via a document repository

You can also instantiate a QueryBuilder from a DocumentRepsitory instance, doing so will automatically select only those records which are associated with the DocumentRepository:

$postsRepository = $dm->getRepository(Post::class);
$qb = $postsRepository->createQueryBuilder('p');
$posts = $qb->getQuery()->execute();

The above code block will select all documents in the document tree of class Blog\Post. This feature is especially useful within a document repository class.

Example showing the use of the query builder in a DocumentRepository:

namespace Blog;

use Doctrine\ODM\PHPCR\DocumentRepository;

class PostRepository extends DocumentRepository
{
    public function getPostsByAuthor($authorName)
    {
        $qb = $this->createQueryBuilder('p');
        $qb->where()->eq()->field('p.author')->literal('dtl');

        return $qb->getQuery()->execute();
    }
}

Note that we specify the string a as an argument to createQueryBuilder - this is the alias name (analagous to alias in Doctrine ORM terms), more on these later.

Specifying the document source - from

The ODM query builder requires you to specify a source from which records should be selected. This source can either be a specified document or a join. Joins join two sources using a given join condition.

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$qb->from()->document(Post::class, 'p');

// select documents from a join
$qb->from('p')->joinInner()
    ->left()->document(Post::class, 'p')->end()
    ->right()->document(User::class', 'u')->end()
    ->condition()->equi('p.username', 'u.username');

$qb->where()
    ->eq()->field('u.status')->literal('active');

$posts = $qb->getQuery()->execute();

use Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsAddress;
use Doctrine\Tests\Models\CMS\CmsUser;

$qb->fromDocument(CmsUser::class, 'u');
    ->addJoinInner()
    ->right()->document(CmsAddress::class, 'a')->end()
    ->condition()->equi('u.address', 'a.uuid');
    ->where()->eq()->field('a.city')->literal('Lyon');
$users = $qb->getQuery()->execute();

Selecting specific properties - select

You can specify fields to populate with values using the select factory node, this is currently only useful when hydrating to PHPCR nodes. The default (object) hydration will always hydrate all fields regardless of what you specify:

$qb->from(User::class, 'u');
$qb->select()
  ->field('u.firstname')
  ->field('u.lastname');

$query = $qb->getQuery();

// field selection only used when hydrating to nodes
$node = $query->getSingleResult(Query::HYDRATE_PHPCR);
$node->getProperty('firstname');

Limiting the number of results

You can specify a maximum number of results and the index of the first result (the offset):

// select a maximum of 10 records.
$qb->from()->document('User')
   ->setMaxResults(10);

// select a maximum of 10 records from the position of the 20th record.
$qb->from()->document('User')
   ->setMaxResults(10)
   ->setFirstResult(20);

Specifying selection criteria

You can specify selection criteria using the where factory node:

// setup our document source with alias "u"
$qb->from(User::class, 'u');

// where name is "daniel"
$qb->where()
  ->eq()->field('u.name')->literal('daniel');

// where username is "dtl" AND name is "daniel"
$qb->where()->eq()->field('u.username')->literal('dtl');
$qb->andWhere()->eq()->field('u.name')->literal('daniel');

// which is equivalent to
$qb->where()->andX()
  ->eq()->field('u.username')->literal('dtl')->end()
  ->eq()->field('u.name')->literal('daniel');

// where username is "dtl" OR name is "daniel"
$qb->where()->eq()->field('u.username')->literal('dtl');
$qb->orWhere()->eq()->field('u.name')->literal('daniel');

// which is equivalent to
$qb->where()->orX()
  ->eq()->field('u.username')->literal('dtl')->end()
  ->eq()->field('u.name')->literal('daniel');

// where the lowercase value of node name is equal to dtl
$qb->where()
    ->eq()
        ->lowercase()->localName('a')->end()
        ->literal('dtl');

// where the lowercase value of node name is NOT equal to dtl
$qb->where()
    ->eq()
        ->lowercase()->localName('a')->end()
        ->literal('dtl');

Ordering results

You can specify the property or properties by which to order the queries results with the orderBy factory node. You can specify additional orderings with addOrderBy.

Add a single ordering:

$qb->orderBy()
  ->asc()->field('u.username'); // username asc

Descending:

$qb->orderBy()
  ->desc()->field('u.username');

Add three orderings - equivilent to the SQL ORDER BY username ASC, name ASC, website DESC:

$qb->orderBy()
  ->asc()->field('u.username')->end()
  ->asc()->field('u.name')->end()
  ->desc()->field('u.website');

Adding multiple orderings using addOrderBy:

$qb->orderBy()->asc()->field('u.username');
$qb->addOrderBy()->asc()->field('u.name');

Querying translated documents

If your documents contain translated fields, the query builder automatically handles them both for where and orderBy when using the attribute or child translation strategy.

It will use the current locale according to the LocaleChooser. If you want to query in a different locale, you can also specify the locale explicitly:

$qb = $dm->createQueryBuilder();
$qb
    ->setLocale('fr')
    ->from()
        ->document(Document::class, 'd')
    ->end()
    ->where()->fieldIsset('d.title')->end()
    ->orderBy()
        ->asc()->field('d.title')->end()
    ->end();

Querying multivalue fields

Multivalue fields can be queried using either `eq()` or `like()` in the same way as you would for a single value field:

// Find all posts which have a tag "general"
$qb->where()->eq()->field('p.tags')->literal('general');

// Find all posts which have a tag containing the string "foo"
$qb->where()->like()->field('p.tags')->literal('%foo%');

Using the Query Builder in Tests

Mocking the query builder in a unit test is not easy - it requires that you mock the node classes and setup the methods to return the correct node classes at the correct time. In short, we recommend that you use the real query builder class and a special companion class, the QueryBuilderTester.

The QueryBuilderTester provides a couple of methods:

• getNode: Retrieve a node from the query builder by its "node type" path.
• dumpNodePaths: Dump all the "node type" paths in the query builder instance.

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use Doctrine\ODM\PHPCR\Query\Builder\QueryBuilder;
use Doctrine\ODM\PHPCR\Tools\Test\QueryBuilderTester;

$test = // pretend we have a PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
$qb = new QueryBuilder;
$qb->where()->eq()->field('p.title')->literal('Foobar');

$qbTester = new QueryBuilderTester($qb);

// ->getNode - retrieve node by its nodetype path.
$literalNode = $qbTester->getNode('where.constraint.operand_statuc');
$fieldNode = $qbTester->getNode('where.constraint.operand_dynamic');

$test->assertEquals('Foobar', $literalNode->getValue());
$test->assertEquals('p', $fieldNode->getSelectorName());
$test->assertEquals('title', $fieldNode->getPropertyName());

$qb->where()->andX()
    ->eq()->field('p.title')->literal('Foobar')->end()
    ->fieldIsset('p.username');

// first constraint is the "andX", the second constraint node of "andX" is "fieldIsset"
$fieldIsset = $qbTester->getNode('where.constraint.constraint[1]');

// ->dumpNodePaths - dump all the node paths of the query builder
$res = $qbTester->dumpNodePaths();
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