.. _gettingstartedref: Getting Started =============== To get started with *SQLFluff* you'll need python and pip installed on your machine, if you're already set up, you can skip straight to `Installing sqlfluff`_. Installing Python ----------------- How to install *python* and *pip* depends on what operating system you're using. In any case, the python wiki provides up to date `instructions for all platforms here`_. There's a chance that you'll be offered the choice between python versions. Support for python 2 was dropped in early 2020, so you should always opt for a version number starting with a 3. As for more specific options beyond that, *SQLFluff* aims to be compatible with all current python versions, and so it's best to pick the most recent. You can confirm that python is working as expected by heading to your terminal or console of choice and typing :code:`python --version` which should give you a sensible read out and not an error. .. code-block:: bash $ python --version Python 3.6.7 For most people, their installation of python will come with :code:`pip` (the python package manager) preinstalled. To confirm this you can type :code:`pip --version` similar to python above. .. code-block:: bash $ pip --version pip 10.0.1 from ... If however, you do have python installed but not :code:`pip`, then the best instructions for what to do next are `on the python website`_. .. _`instructions for all platforms here`: https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Download .. _`on the python website`: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/ Installing SQLFluff ------------------- Assuming that python and pip are already installed, then installing *SQLFluff* is straight forward. .. code-block:: bash $ pip install sqlfluff You can confirm its installation by getting *SQLFluff* to show its version number. .. code-block:: bash $ sqlfluff version 0.3.1 Basic Usage ----------- To get a feel for how to use *SQLFluff* it helps to have a small :code:`.sql` file which has a simple structure and some known issues for testing. Create a file called :code:`test.sql` in the same folder that you're currently in with the following content: .. code-block:: sql SELECT a+b AS foo, c AS bar from my_table You can then run :code:`sqlfluff lint test.sql` to lint this file. .. code-block:: bash $ sqlfluff lint test.sql == [test.sql] FAIL L: 1 | P: 1 | L036 | Select targets should be on a new line unless there is | only one select target. L: 1 | P: 8 | L034 | Use wildcards then simple select targets before | calculations and aggregates. L: 1 | P: 9 | L006 | Missing whitespace before + L: 1 | P: 9 | L006 | Missing whitespace after + L: 1 | P: 11 | L039 | Unnecessary whitespace found. L: 2 | P: 1 | L003 | Indent expected and not found compared to line #1 L: 2 | P: 10 | L010 | Inconsistent capitalisation of keywords. L: 2 | P: 15 | L009 | Files must end with a trailing newline. You'll see that *SQLFluff* has failed the linting check for this file. On each of the following lines you can see each of the problems it has found, with some information about the location and what kind of problem there is. One of the errors has been found on *line 1*, *position * (as shown by :code:`L: 1 | P: 9`) and it's a problem with rule *L006* (for a full list of rules, see :ref:`ruleref`). From this (and the following error) we can see that the problem is that there is no space either side of the :code:`+` symbol in :code:`a+b`. Head into the file, and correct this issue so that the file now looks like this: .. code-block:: sql SELECT a + b AS foo, c AS bar from my_table Rerun the same command as before, and you'll see that the original error (violation of *L006*) no longer shows up. .. code-block:: bash $ sqlfluff lint test.sql == [test.sql] FAIL L: 1 | P: 1 | L036 | Select targets should be on a new line unless there is | only one select target. L: 1 | P: 8 | L034 | Use wildcards then simple select targets before | calculations and aggregates. L: 1 | P: 13 | L039 | Unnecessary whitespace found. L: 2 | P: 1 | L003 | Indent expected and not found compared to line #1 L: 2 | P: 10 | L010 | Inconsistent capitalisation of keywords. L: 2 | P: 15 | L009 | Files must end with a trailing newline. To fix the remaining issues, we're going to use one of the more advanced features of *SQLFluff*, which is the *fix* command. This allows more automated fixing of some errors, to save you time in sorting out your sql files. Not all rules can be fixed in this way and there may be some situations where a fix may not be able to be applied because of the context of the query, but in many simple cases it's a good place to start. For now, we only want to fix the following rules: *L003*, *L009*, *L010* .. code-block:: bash $ sqlfluff fix test.sql --rules L003,L009,L010 ==== finding violations ==== == [test.sql] FAIL L: 2 | P: 1 | L003 | Indent expected and not found compared to line #1 L: 2 | P: 10 | L010 | Inconsistent capitalisation of keywords. L: 2 | P: 15 | L009 | Files must end with a trailing newline. ==== fixing violations ==== 3 fixable linting violations found Are you sure you wish to attempt to fix these? [Y/n] ...at this point you'll have to confirm that you want to make the changes by pressing :code:`y` on your keyboard... .. code-block:: bash Are you sure you wish to attempt to fix these? [Y/n] ... Attempting fixes... Persisting Changes... == [test.sql] PASS Done. Please check your files to confirm. If we now open up :code:`test.sql`, we'll see the content is now different. .. code-block:: sql SELECT a + b AS foo, c AS bar FROM my_table In particular: * The second line has been indented to reflect being inside the :code:`SELECT` statement. * The :code:`FROM` keyword has been capitalised to match the other keywords. * A final newline character has been added at the end of the file (which may not be obvious in the snippet above). We could also fix *all* of the fixable errors by not specifying :code:`--rules`. .. code-block:: bash $ sqlfluff fix test.sql ==== finding violations ==== == [test.sql] FAIL L: 1 | P: 1 | L036 | Select targets should be on a new line unless there is | only one select target. L: 1 | P: 8 | L034 | Use wildcards then simple select targets before | calculations and aggregates. L: 1 | P: 13 | L039 | Unnecessary whitespace found. ==== fixing violations ==== 3 fixable linting violations found Are you sure you wish to attempt to fix these? [Y/n] ... Attempting fixes... Persisting Changes... == [test.sql] PASS Done. Please check your files to confirm. If we now open up :code:`test.sql`, we'll see the content has been updated again. .. code-block:: sql SELECT c AS bar, a + b AS foo FROM my_table The SQL statement is now well formatted according to all the rules defined in SQLFluff. The :code:`--rules` argument is optional, and could be useful when you or your organisation follows a slightly different convention than what we have defined. Custom Usage ------------ So far we've covered the stock settings of *SQLFluff*, but there are many different ways that people style their sql, and if you or your organisation have different conventions, then many of these behaviours can be configured. For example, given the example above, what if we actually think that indents should only be two spaces, and rather than uppercase keywords, they should all be lowercase? To achieve this we create a configuration file named :code:`.sqlfluff` and place it in the same directory as the current file. In that file put the following content: .. code-block:: ini [sqlfluff:rules] tab_space_size = 2 [sqlfluff:rules:L010] capitalisation_policy = lower Then rerun the same command as before. .. code-block:: bash $ sqlfluff fix test.sql --rules L003,L009,L010,L034,L036,L039 Then examine the file again, and you'll notice that the file has been fixed accordingly. .. code-block:: sql select c as bar, a + b as foo from my_table For a full list of configuration options check out :ref:`defaultconfig`. To see how these options apply to specific rules check out the "Configuration" section within each rule's documentation in :ref:`ruleref`. Going further ------------- From here, there are several more things to explore. * To understand how *SQLFluff* is interpreting your file explore the :code:`parse` command. You can learn more about that command and more by running :code:`sqlfluff --help` or :code:`sqlfluff parse --help`. * To start linting more than just one file at a time, experiment with passing SQLFluff directories rather than just single files. Try running :code:`sqlfluff lint .` (to lint every sql file in the current folder) or :code:`sqlfluff lint path/to/my/sqlfiles`. * To find out more about which rules are available, see :ref:`ruleref`. * To find out more about configuring *SQLFluff* and what other options are available, see :ref:`config`. One last thing to note is that *SQLFluff* is a relatively new project and you may find bugs or strange things while using it. If you do find anything, the most useful thing you can do is to `post the issue on github`_ where the maintainers of the project can work out what to do with it. The project is in active development and so updates and fixes may come out regularly. .. _`post the issue on github`: https://github.com/sqlfluff/sqlfluff/issues