[Qgis-developer] Aggregates within expression engine

[Neumann, Andreas]

Hi Paolo, 

Thank you for your feedback.  

Why do you think SQL aggregate syntax (e.g. as outlined at
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/interactive/functions-aggregate.html)
is a no-go? Can you explain this in detail? QGIS is much closer to a
database then it is to a spreadsheet - in fact for most serious QGIS
work you store your data in a SQL database. 

It was my impression that QGIS tries to maintain expression syntax
compatible with SQL wherever possible. I think it would be a good thing.


The question is how we can specify grouping. I'd like to see support for
the following grouping mechanisms: 

 	* whole record set
 	* given grouping field or expression
 	* current selection
 	* grouping based on relations (very important to my employer) - also
our initial trigger for funding this work
 	* current set of symbology rules or classes (not so important to me,
but maybe useful to some)

Andreas 

On 2016-03-16 08:11, Paolo Cavallini wrote:

> Hi Nyall,
> 
> Il 16/03/2016 07:17, Nyall Dawson ha scritto:
> 
>> I'm also torn regarding the best syntax to use for aggregates within
>> expressions. I'm unsure if the traditional SQL "group by" clauses
>> would be a good fit within the existing QGIS expression syntax (eg
>> "sum("some_field") group by "some_other_field"). To me it doesn't fit
>> with the existing functional approach that the expressions take. But
>> on the other hand, trying to implement this as functions would result
>> in some very clumsy expressions: "aggregate('sum', "some_field",
>> "some_other_field")" or "sum("some_field", "some_other_field") ". Has
>> anyone got any other ideas for syntax which would be a good fit?
> 
> Good news, thanks for sharing.
> IMHO having a syntax that is easy to use for the average user is a
> crucial point. I think using SQL is a no go. Why not using the
> spreadsheet syntax? Not that I find it particularly attractive, but at
> least everybody is more or less familiar with it.
> All the best.

  
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