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Overview

SereneDB can read multiple files of different types (CSV, Parquet, JSON files) at the same time using either the glob syntax, or by providing a list of files to read. See the combining schemas page for tips on reading files with different schemas.

CSV​

Read all files with a name ending in .csv in the folder dir:

SQL
SELECT *FROM 'dir/*.csv';
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  3 | gamma |    30

Read all files with a name ending in .csv, two directories deep:

SQL
SELECT *FROM '*/*/*.csv';
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

Read all files with a name ending in .csv, at any depth in the folder dir:

SQL
SELECT *FROM 'dir/**/*.csv';
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

Read the CSV files flights1.csv and flights2.csv:

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_csv(['flights1.csv', 'flights2.csv']);
 FlightDate | UniqueCarrier | OriginCityName | DestCityName | Distance
------------+---------------+----------------+--------------+----------
 2024-02-01 | DL            | Boston, MA     | Chicago, IL  |      867
 2024-02-01 | DL            | Boston, MA     | Chicago, IL  |      867

Read the CSV files flights1.csv and flights2.csv, unifying schemas by name and outputting a filename column:

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_csv(['flights1.csv', 'flights2.csv'], union_by_name = true, filename = true);
 FlightDate | UniqueCarrier | OriginCityName | DestCityName | Distance | filename
------------+---------------+----------------+--------------+----------+--------------
 2024-02-01 | DL            | Boston, MA     | Chicago, IL  |      867 | flights1.csv
 2024-02-01 | DL            | Boston, MA     | Chicago, IL  |      867 | flights2.csv

Parquet​

Read all files that match the glob pattern:

SQL
SELECT *FROM 'test/*.parquet';
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

Read three Parquet files and treat them as a single table:

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_parquet(['file1.parquet', 'file2.parquet', 'file3.parquet']);
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

Read all Parquet files from two specific folders:

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_parquet(['folder1/*.parquet', 'folder2/*.parquet']);
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

Read all Parquet files that match the glob pattern at any depth:

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_parquet('dir/**/*.parquet');
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

Multi-File Reads and Globs​

SereneDB can also read a series of Parquet files and treat them as if they were a single table. Note that this only works if the Parquet files have the same schema. You can specify which Parquet files you want to read using a list parameter, glob pattern matching syntax, or a combination of both.

List Parameter​

The read_parquet function can accept a list of filenames as the input parameter.

Read three Parquet files and treat them as a single table:

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_parquet(['file1.parquet', 'file2.parquet', 'file3.parquet']);
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

Glob Syntax​

Any file name input to the read_parquet function can either be an exact filename, or use a glob syntax to read multiple files that match a pattern.

WildcardDescription
*Matches any number of any characters (including none)
**Matches any number of subdirectories (including none)
?Matches any single character
[abc]Matches one character given in the bracket
[a-z]Matches one character from the range given in the bracket

Note that the ? wildcard in globs is not supported for reads over S3 due to HTTP encoding issues.

Here is an example that reads all the files that end with .parquet located in the test folder:

Read all files that match the glob pattern:

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_parquet('test/*.parquet');
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

List of Globs​

The glob syntax and the list input parameter can be combined to scan files that meet one of multiple patterns.

Read all Parquet files from 2 specific folders.

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_parquet(['folder1/*.parquet', 'folder2/*.parquet']);
 id | name  | value
----+-------+-------
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20
  1 | alpha |    10
  2 | beta  |    20

SereneDB can read multiple CSV files at the same time using either the glob syntax, or by providing a list of files to read.

Filename​

The filename argument can be used to add an extra filename column to the result that indicates which row came from which file. For example:

SQL
SELECT *FROM read_csv(['flights1.csv', 'flights2.csv'], union_by_name = true, filename = true);
 FlightDate | UniqueCarrier | OriginCityName | DestCityName | Distance | filename
------------+---------------+----------------+--------------+----------+--------------
 2024-02-01 | DL            | Boston, MA     | Chicago, IL  |      867 | flights1.csv
 2024-02-01 | DL            | Boston, MA     | Chicago, IL  |      867 | flights2.csv

Glob Function to Find Filenames​

The glob pattern matching syntax can also be used to search for filenames using the glob table function. It accepts one parameter: the path to search (which may include glob patterns).

Search the current directory for all files.

SQL
SELECT *FROM glob('*');
 file
--------------
 flights1.csv
 flights2.csv
 notes.txt