GQL Query with __key__ in List of KEYs

5
votes

In the GQL reference, it is encouraged to use the IN keyword with a list of values, and to construct a Key from hand the GQL query

SELECT * FROM MyModel WHERE __key__ = KEY('MyModel', 'my_model_key')

will succeed. However, using the code you would expect to work:

SELECT * FROM MyModel WHERE __key__ IN (KEY('MyModel', 'my_model_key1'),
                                        KEY('MyModel', 'my_model_key2'))

in the Datastore Viewer, there is a complaint of "Invalid GQL query string."

What is the correct way to format such a query?

UPDATE: This is not possible to do with the current SDK. As I note in my comment, when using a list, only a reference (e.g. :1 or :email) or an int, float, string, boolean or null literal are acceptable list entries.

SECOND UPDATE: I fixed the bug and it is now possible to perform such queries. Fix can be found in Google Code Hosting diff.

PS I know there are more efficient ways to do this in Python (without constructing a GQL query) and using the remote_api, but each call to the remote_api counts against quota. In an environment where quota is not (necessarily) free, quick and dirty queries are very helpful.

2
google-app-enginegql
Do you really think that the number of entities you fetch by hand in the console is going to add to a significant amount of consumed quota if you did it via remote_api? – Nick Johnson
No. Again, I'm just wondering how to structure the query correctly. The second snippet in my post looks like it would not be an "Invalid GQL query string". Is it the case that WHERE __key__ IN is invalid GQL? – bossylobster
I'm still confused why you want to do this, though. It's a particularly inefficient way to fetch entities. – Nick Johnson
It was really a proof of concept, nothing more. I guess we can agree to let the question die due to lack of practicality. – bossylobster
This would be useful to me when debugging from the Data Viewer in the admin console. – Chris Dutrow

2 Answers

2
votes

I don't understand. Your objective is to view a specific list of entities in the Datastore Viewer to avoid consuming quota? I don't know of a way to do this with GQL, but you can access entities directly if you know their key, e.g.:

https://appengine.google.com/datastore/edit?app_id=myapp&key=key1

https://appengine.google.com/datastore/edit?app_id=myapp&key=key2

If you're doing this in code, please don't try use GQL. Use db.get(keys) or something similar.

1
votes

After the fix was implemented, the code snippet from the original post will suffice:

SELECT * FROM MyModel WHERE __key__ IN (KEY('MyModel', 'my_model_key1'),
                                        KEY('MyModel', 'my_model_key2'))

PS I realized my comment on the original post may not be sufficiently clear as an answer to future viewers.