Date comparision in Studio using LQL query

Question

Hi All
I would like to compare date attributes(columns) loaded in MDEX engine on Studio page using LQL. Can anyone help me in providing a LQL query to compare date attributes.
For Example:-
I have following attributes with Data Integrator data types as Date loaded into MDEX engine
1) PLANNED_DEPARTURE_DATE
2) ACTUAL_DEPARTURE_DATE
If i use following LQL queryin MetricBar on Studio page it does NOT error out
DEFINE trip_data AS
select
TRUNC(ACTUAL_DEPARTURE_DATE, DATE) as "A_DD",
TRUNC(PLANNED_DEPARTURE_DATE, DATE) as "P_DD"
group by NAME;
return statement as
select count(1) where A_DD < *1* as "EarlyShippedTrips"
from trip_data
group
However if use following LQL query it errors
DEFINE trip_data AS
select
TRUNC(ACTUAL_DEPARTURE_DATE, DATE) as "A_DD",
TRUNC(PLANNED_DEPARTURE_DATE, DATE) as "P_DD"
group by NAME;
return statement as
select count(1) where A_DD < P_DD as "EarlyShippedTrips"
from trip_data
group
Error Message
LQL statement is invalid.
Errors encountered while processing the LQL query:
Syntax error: unexpected token: P_DD
Also is there a LQL function which returns CURRENT_DATE similar to SYSDATE function available in Oracle Database.
Thanks in Advance
Uma Shankar

Answer 1

Hi Uma,
I think the issue you're hitting is that, in Latitude 2.2 (and earlier releases), the LQL analytics language only allows constants on the right side of a comparator in a WHERE/HAVING clause. So you can do "foo < 1", but you can't do "foo < bar." This has actually changed as part of a large number of EQL enhancement (LQL has been renamed EQL just as Latitude has been renamed Endeca Information Discovery) in the 2.3 release that just went out. So in the latest version of EID, you'd be able to do what you showed below.
In earlier releases, the common trick to accomplish the same behavior you're looking for is to do something like "A_DD - P_DD < 0".
(For anyone following along on a 2.3 install, it may be worth noting that you'd need to tweak a few things in 2.3, since the EQL language is now richer, but also stricter about certain syntax constraints and type checking. For example, the in-attribute WHERE clause below would need to be wrapped in parentheses -- select count(1) where (A_DD < P_DD) as "EarlyShippedTrips" -- to be valid. And the trick above would require casting the constant to an appropriate type for the comparison -- select count(1) where (A_DD - P_DD < TO_DURATION(0)) as "EarlyShippedTrips")
- Sasha