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  <div class="section" id="data-definition">
<span id="id1"></span><h1>Data Definition<a class="headerlink" href="#data-definition" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>CQL stores data in <em>tables</em>, whose schema defines the layout of said data in the table, and those tables are grouped in
<em>keyspaces</em>. A keyspace defines a number of options that applies to all the tables it contains, most prominently of
which is the <a class="reference internal" href="../architecture/dynamo.html#replication-strategy"><span class="std std-ref">replication strategy</span></a> used by the keyspace. It is generally encouraged to use
one keyspace by <em>application</em>, and thus many cluster may define only one keyspace.</p>
<p>This section describes the statements used to create, modify, and remove those keyspace and tables.</p>
<div class="section" id="common-definitions">
<h2>Common definitions<a class="headerlink" href="#common-definitions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The names of the keyspaces and tables are defined by the following grammar:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-keyspace-name">keyspace_name</strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">name</span></code></a>
<strong id="grammar-token-table-name">table_name   </strong> ::=  [ <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-keyspace-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">keyspace_name</span></code></a> '.' ] <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">name</span></code></a>
<strong id="grammar-token-name">name         </strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-unquoted-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">unquoted_name</span></code></a> | <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-quoted-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">quoted_name</span></code></a>
<strong id="grammar-token-unquoted-name">unquoted_name</strong> ::=  re('[a-zA-Z_0-9]{1, 48}')
<strong id="grammar-token-quoted-name">quoted_name  </strong> ::=  '&quot;' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-unquoted-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">unquoted_name</span></code></a> '&quot;'
</pre>
<p>Both keyspace and table name should be comprised of only alphanumeric characters, cannot be empty and are limited in
size to 48 characters (that limit exists mostly to avoid filenames (which may include the keyspace and table name) to go
over the limits of certain file systems). By default, keyspace and table names are case insensitive (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">myTable</span></code> is
equivalent to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mytable</span></code>) but case sensitivity can be forced by using double-quotes (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&quot;myTable&quot;</span></code> is different from
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mytable</span></code>).</p>
<p>Further, a table is always part of a keyspace and a table name can be provided fully-qualified by the keyspace it is
part of. If is is not fully-qualified, the table is assumed to be in the <em>current</em> keyspace (see <a class="reference internal" href="#use-statement"><span class="std std-ref">USE statement</span></a>).</p>
<p>Further, the valid names for columns is simply defined as:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-column-name">column_name</strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html#grammar-token-identifier"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">identifier</span></code></a>
</pre>
<p>We also define the notion of statement options for use in the following section:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-options">options</strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-option"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">option</span></code></a> ( AND <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-option"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">option</span></code></a> )*
<strong id="grammar-token-option">option </strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html#grammar-token-identifier"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">identifier</span></code></a> '=' ( <a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html#grammar-token-identifier"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">identifier</span></code></a> | <a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html#grammar-token-constant"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">constant</span></code></a> | <a class="reference internal" href="types.html#grammar-token-map-literal"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">map_literal</span></code></a> )
</pre>
</div>
<div class="section" id="create-keyspace">
<span id="create-keyspace-statement"></span><h2>CREATE KEYSPACE<a class="headerlink" href="#create-keyspace" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>A keyspace is created using a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CREATE</span> <span class="pre">KEYSPACE</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-create-keyspace-statement">create_keyspace_statement</strong> ::=  CREATE KEYSPACE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-keyspace-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">keyspace_name</span></code></a> WITH <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">options</span></code></a>
</pre>
<p>For instance:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excelsior</span>
    <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;SimpleStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;replication_factor&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">3</span><span class="p">};</span>

<span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span>
    <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;NetworkTopologyStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC1&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC2&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">3</span><span class="p">}</span>
    <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">durable_writes</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">false</span><span class="p">;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Attempting to create a keyspace that already exists will return an error unless the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IF</span> <span class="pre">NOT</span> <span class="pre">EXISTS</span></code> option is used. If
it is used, the statement will be a no-op if the keyspace already exists.</p>
<p>The supported <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">options</span></code> are:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="16%" />
<col width="9%" />
<col width="9%" />
<col width="8%" />
<col width="58%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head">name</th>
<th class="head">kind</th>
<th class="head">mandatory</th>
<th class="head">default</th>
<th class="head">description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">replication</span></code></td>
<td><em>map</em></td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>&#160;</td>
<td>The replication strategy and options to use for the keyspace (see
details below).</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">durable_writes</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>no</td>
<td>true</td>
<td>Whether to use the commit log for updates on this keyspace
(disable this option at your own risk!).</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">replication</span></code> property is mandatory and must at least contains the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'class'</span></code> sub-option which defines the
<a class="reference internal" href="../architecture/dynamo.html#replication-strategy"><span class="std std-ref">replication strategy</span></a> class to use. The rest of the sub-options depends on what replication
strategy is used. By default, Cassandra support the following <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'class'</span></code>:</p>
<div class="section" id="simplestrategy">
<h3><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SimpleStrategy</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#simplestrategy" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>A simple strategy that defines a replication factor for data to be spread
across the entire cluster. This is generally not a wise choice for production
because it does not respect datacenter layouts and can lead to wildly varying
query latency. For a production ready strategy, see
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NetworkTopologyStrategy</span></code>. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SimpleStrategy</span></code> supports a single mandatory argument:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="30%" />
<col width="7%" />
<col width="8%" />
<col width="54%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head">sub-option</th>
<th class="head">type</th>
<th class="head">since</th>
<th class="head">description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'replication_factor'</span></code></td>
<td>int</td>
<td>all</td>
<td>The number of replicas to store per range</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div class="section" id="networktopologystrategy">
<h3><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NetworkTopologyStrategy</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#networktopologystrategy" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>A production ready replication strategy that allows to set the replication
factor independently for each data-center. The rest of the sub-options are
key-value pairs where a key is a data-center name and its value is the
associated replication factor. Options:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="39%" />
<col width="6%" />
<col width="6%" />
<col width="48%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head">sub-option</th>
<th class="head">type</th>
<th class="head">since</th>
<th class="head">description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'&lt;datacenter&gt;'</span></code></td>
<td>int</td>
<td>all</td>
<td>The number of replicas to store per range in
the provided datacenter.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'replication_factor'</span></code></td>
<td>int</td>
<td>4.0</td>
<td>The number of replicas to use as a default
per datacenter if not specifically provided.
Note that this always defers to existing
definitions or explicit datacenter settings.
For example, to have three replicas per
datacenter, supply this with a value of 3.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Note that when <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALTER</span></code> ing keyspaces and supplying <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">replication_factor</span></code>,
auto-expansion will only <em>add</em> new datacenters for safety, it will not alter
existing datacenters or remove any even if they are no longer in the cluster.
If you want to remove datacenters while still supplying <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">replication_factor</span></code>,
explicitly zero out the datacenter you want to have zero replicas.</p>
<p>An example of auto-expanding datacenters with two datacenters: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DC1</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DC2</span></code>:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span>
    <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;NetworkTopologyStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;replication_factor&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">3</span><span class="p">}</span>

<span class="k">DESCRIBE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span>
    <span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span> <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;NetworkTopologyStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC1&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;3&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC2&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;3&#39;</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">durable_writes</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">true</span><span class="p">;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>An example of auto-expanding and overriding a datacenter:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span>
    <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;NetworkTopologyStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;replication_factor&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC2&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">2</span><span class="p">}</span>

<span class="k">DESCRIBE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span>
    <span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span> <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;NetworkTopologyStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC1&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;3&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC2&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;2&#39;</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">durable_writes</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">true</span><span class="p">;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>An example that excludes a datacenter while using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">replication_factor</span></code>:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span>
    <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;NetworkTopologyStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;replication_factor&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC2&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">0</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="p">;</span>

<span class="k">DESCRIBE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span>
    <span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">excalibur</span> <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;NetworkTopologyStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC1&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;3&#39;</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">durable_writes</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">true</span><span class="p">;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If <a class="reference internal" href="../architecture/dynamo.html#transient-replication"><span class="std std-ref">transient replication</span></a> has been enabled, transient replicas can be configured for both
SimpleStrategy and NetworkTopologyStrategy by defining replication factors in the format <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'&lt;total_replicas&gt;/&lt;transient_replicas&gt;'</span></code></p>
<p>For instance, this keyspace will have 3 replicas in DC1, 1 of which is transient, and 5 replicas in DC2, 2 of which are transient:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">some_keysopace</span>
           <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;NetworkTopologyStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;DC1&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;3/1&#39;&#39;, &#39;</span><span class="n">DC2</span><span class="s1">&#39; : &#39;</span><span class="mf">5</span><span class="o">/</span><span class="mf">2</span><span class="s1">&#39;};</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="use">
<span id="use-statement"></span><h2>USE<a class="headerlink" href="#use" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">USE</span></code> statement allows to change the <em>current</em> keyspace (for the <em>connection</em> on which it is executed). A number
of objects in CQL are bound to a keyspace (tables, user-defined types, functions, …) and the current keyspace is the
default keyspace used when those objects are referred without a fully-qualified name (that is, without being prefixed a
keyspace name). A <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">USE</span></code> statement simply takes the keyspace to use as current as argument:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-use-statement">use_statement</strong> ::=  USE <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-keyspace-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">keyspace_name</span></code></a>
</pre>
</div>
<div class="section" id="alter-keyspace">
<span id="alter-keyspace-statement"></span><h2>ALTER KEYSPACE<a class="headerlink" href="#alter-keyspace" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>An <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALTER</span> <span class="pre">KEYSPACE</span></code> statement allows to modify the options of a keyspace:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-alter-keyspace-statement">alter_keyspace_statement</strong> ::=  ALTER KEYSPACE <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-keyspace-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">keyspace_name</span></code></a> WITH <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">options</span></code></a>
</pre>
<p>For instance:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">ALTER</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">Excelsior</span>
    <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">replication</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;SimpleStrategy&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;replication_factor&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">4</span><span class="p">};</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The supported options are the same than for <a class="reference internal" href="#create-keyspace-statement"><span class="std std-ref">creating a keyspace</span></a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="drop-keyspace">
<span id="drop-keyspace-statement"></span><h2>DROP KEYSPACE<a class="headerlink" href="#drop-keyspace" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Dropping a keyspace can be done using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DROP</span> <span class="pre">KEYSPACE</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-drop-keyspace-statement">drop_keyspace_statement</strong> ::=  DROP KEYSPACE [ IF EXISTS ] <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-keyspace-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">keyspace_name</span></code></a>
</pre>
<p>For instance:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">DROP</span> <span class="k">KEYSPACE</span> <span class="n">Excelsior</span><span class="p">;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Dropping a keyspace results in the immediate, irreversible removal of that keyspace, including all the tables, UTD and
functions in it, and all the data contained in those tables.</p>
<p>If the keyspace does not exists, the statement will return an error, unless <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IF</span> <span class="pre">EXISTS</span></code> is used in which case the
operation is a no-op.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="create-table">
<span id="create-table-statement"></span><h2>CREATE TABLE<a class="headerlink" href="#create-table" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Creating a new table uses the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CREATE</span> <span class="pre">TABLE</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-create-table-statement">create_table_statement</strong> ::=  CREATE TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-table-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_name</span></code></a>
                            '('
                                <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-definition"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_definition</span></code></a>
                                ( ',' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-definition"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_definition</span></code></a> )*
                                [ ',' PRIMARY KEY '(' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-primary-key"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">primary_key</span></code></a> ')' ]
                            ')' [ WITH <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-table-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_options</span></code></a> ]
<strong id="grammar-token-column-definition">column_definition     </strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> <a class="reference internal" href="types.html#grammar-token-cql-type"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cql_type</span></code></a> [ STATIC ] [ PRIMARY KEY]
<strong id="grammar-token-primary-key">primary_key           </strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-partition-key"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">partition_key</span></code></a> [ ',' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-clustering-columns"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">clustering_columns</span></code></a> ]
<strong id="grammar-token-partition-key">partition_key         </strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a>
                            | '(' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> ( ',' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> )* ')'
<strong id="grammar-token-clustering-columns">clustering_columns    </strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> ( ',' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> )*
<strong id="grammar-token-table-options">table_options         </strong> ::=  COMPACT STORAGE [ AND <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-table-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_options</span></code></a> ]
                            | CLUSTERING ORDER BY '(' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-clustering-order"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">clustering_order</span></code></a> ')' [ AND <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-table-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_options</span></code></a> ]
                            | <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">options</span></code></a>
<strong id="grammar-token-clustering-order">clustering_order      </strong> ::=  <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> (ASC | DESC) ( ',' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> (ASC | DESC) )*
</pre>
<p>For instance:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">monkeySpecies</span> <span class="p">(</span>
    <span class="n">species</span> <span class="nb">text</span> <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">common_name</span> <span class="nb">text</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">population</span> <span class="nb">varint</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">average_size</span> <span class="nb">int</span>
<span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">comment</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;Important biological records&#39;</span><span class="p">;</span>

<span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">timeline</span> <span class="p">(</span>
    <span class="n">userid</span> <span class="nb">uuid</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">posted_month</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">posted_time</span> <span class="nb">uuid</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">body</span> <span class="nb">text</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">posted_by</span> <span class="nb">text</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">userid</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">posted_month</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">posted_time</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">compaction</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span> <span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span> <span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;LeveledCompactionStrategy&#39;</span> <span class="p">};</span>

<span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">loads</span> <span class="p">(</span>
    <span class="n">machine</span> <span class="nb">inet</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">cpu</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">mtime</span> <span class="nb">timeuuid</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">load</span> <span class="nb">float</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">((</span><span class="n">machine</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">cpu</span><span class="p">),</span> <span class="n">mtime</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="k">CLUSTERING</span> <span class="k">ORDER</span> <span class="k">BY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">mtime</span> <span class="k">DESC</span><span class="p">);</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>A CQL table has a name and is composed of a set of <em>rows</em>. Creating a table amounts to defining which <a class="reference internal" href="#column-definition"><span class="std std-ref">columns</span></a> the rows will be composed, which of those columns compose the <a class="reference internal" href="#primary-key"><span class="std std-ref">primary key</span></a>, as
well as optional <a class="reference internal" href="#create-table-options"><span class="std std-ref">options</span></a> for the table.</p>
<p>Attempting to create an already existing table will return an error unless the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IF</span> <span class="pre">NOT</span> <span class="pre">EXISTS</span></code> directive is used. If
it is used, the statement will be a no-op if the table already exists.</p>
<p>Every rows in a CQL table has a set of predefined columns defined at the time of the table creation (or added later
using an <a class="reference internal" href="#alter-table-statement"><span class="std std-ref">alter statement</span></a>).</p>
<p>A <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-definition"><code class="xref std std-token docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_definition</span></code></a> is primarily comprised of the name of the column defined and it’s <a class="reference internal" href="types.html#data-types"><span class="std std-ref">type</span></a>,
which restrict which values are accepted for that column. Additionally, a column definition can have the following
modifiers:</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STATIC</span></code></dt>
<dd>it declares the column as being a <a class="reference internal" href="#static-columns"><span class="std std-ref">static column</span></a>.</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span></code></dt>
<dd>it declares the column as being the sole component of the <a class="reference internal" href="#primary-key"><span class="std std-ref">primary key</span></a> of the table.</dd>
</dl>
<p>Some columns can be declared as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STATIC</span></code> in a table definition. A column that is static will be “shared” by all the
rows belonging to the same partition (having the same <a class="reference internal" href="#partition-key"><span class="std std-ref">partition key</span></a>). For instance:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="p">(</span>
    <span class="n">pk</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">t</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">v</span> <span class="nb">text</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">s</span> <span class="nb">text</span> <span class="k">static</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">pk</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">);</span>

<span class="k">INSERT</span> <span class="k">INTO</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">pk</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">v</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">s</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">VALUES</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="mf">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mf">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;val0&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;static0&#39;</span><span class="p">);</span>
<span class="k">INSERT</span> <span class="k">INTO</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">pk</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">v</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">s</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">VALUES</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="mf">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mf">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;val1&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;static1&#39;</span><span class="p">);</span>

<span class="k">SELECT</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="k">FROM</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">;</span>
   <span class="n">pk</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="n">v</span>      <span class="o">|</span> <span class="n">s</span>
  <span class="c1">----+---+--------+-----------</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span>  <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="s1">&#39;val0&#39;</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="s1">&#39;static1&#39;</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span>  <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">1</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="s1">&#39;val1&#39;</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="s1">&#39;static1&#39;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>As can be seen, the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">s</span></code> value is the same (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">static1</span></code>) for both of the row in the partition (the partition key in
that example being <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pk</span></code>, both rows are in that same partition): the 2nd insertion has overridden the value for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">s</span></code>.</p>
<p>The use of static columns as the following restrictions:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>tables with the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">COMPACT</span> <span class="pre">STORAGE</span></code> option (see below) cannot use them.</li>
<li>a table without clustering columns cannot have static columns (in a table without clustering columns, every partition
has only one row, and so every column is inherently static).</li>
<li>only non <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span></code> columns can be static.</li>
</ul>
<p>Within a table, a row is uniquely identified by its <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span></code>, and hence all table <strong>must</strong> define a PRIMARY KEY
(and only one). A <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span></code> definition is composed of one or more of the columns defined in the table.
Syntactically, the primary key is defined the keywords <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span></code> followed by comma-separated list of the column
names composing it within parenthesis, but if the primary key has only one column, one can alternatively follow that
column definition by the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span></code> keywords. The order of the columns in the primary key definition matter.</p>
<p>A CQL primary key is composed of 2 parts:</p>
<ul>
<li><p class="first">the <a class="reference internal" href="#partition-key"><span class="std std-ref">partition key</span></a> part. It is the first component of the primary key definition. It can be a
single column or, using additional parenthesis, can be multiple columns. A table always have at least a partition key,
the smallest possible table definition is:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">k</span> <span class="nb">text</span> <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span><span class="p">);</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><p class="first">the <a class="reference internal" href="#clustering-columns"><span class="std std-ref">clustering columns</span></a>. Those are the columns after the first component of the primary key
definition, and the order of those columns define the <em>clustering order</em>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Some example of primary key definition are:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span> <span class="pre">(a)</span></code>: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">a</span></code> is the partition key and there is no clustering columns.</li>
<li><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span> <span class="pre">(a,</span> <span class="pre">b,</span> <span class="pre">c)</span></code> : <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">a</span></code> is the partition key and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">b</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">c</span></code> are the clustering columns.</li>
<li><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIMARY</span> <span class="pre">KEY</span> <span class="pre">((a,</span> <span class="pre">b),</span> <span class="pre">c)</span></code> : <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">a</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">b</span></code> compose the partition key (this is often called a <em>composite</em> partition
key) and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">c</span></code> is the clustering column.</li>
</ul>
<p>Within a table, CQL defines the notion of a <em>partition</em>. A partition is simply the set of rows that share the same value
for their partition key. Note that if the partition key is composed of multiple columns, then rows belong to the same
partition only they have the same values for all those partition key column. So for instance, given the following table
definition and content:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="p">(</span>
    <span class="n">a</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">b</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">c</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">d</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">((</span><span class="n">a</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">b</span><span class="p">),</span> <span class="n">c</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">d</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">);</span>

<span class="k">SELECT</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="k">FROM</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">;</span>
   <span class="n">a</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="n">b</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="n">c</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="n">d</span>
  <span class="c1">---+---+---+---</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">0</span>    <span class="c1">// row 1</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">1</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">1</span>    <span class="c1">// row 2</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">1</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">2</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">2</span>    <span class="c1">// row 3</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">1</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">3</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">3</span>    <span class="c1">// row 4</span>
   <span class="mf">1</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">1</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">4</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">4</span>    <span class="c1">// row 5</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">row</span> <span class="pre">1</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">row</span> <span class="pre">2</span></code> are in the same partition, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">row</span> <span class="pre">3</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">row</span> <span class="pre">4</span></code> are also in the same partition (but a
different one) and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">row</span> <span class="pre">5</span></code> is in yet another partition.</p>
<p>Note that a table always has a partition key, and that if the table has no <a class="reference internal" href="#clustering-columns"><span class="std std-ref">clustering columns</span></a>, then every partition of that table is only comprised of a single row (since the primary key
uniquely identifies rows and the primary key is equal to the partition key if there is no clustering columns).</p>
<p>The most important property of partition is that all the rows belonging to the same partition are guarantee to be stored
on the same set of replica nodes. In other words, the partition key of a table defines which of the rows will be
localized together in the Cluster, and it is thus important to choose your partition key wisely so that rows that needs
to be fetch together are in the same partition (so that querying those rows together require contacting a minimum of
nodes).</p>
<p>Please note however that there is a flip-side to this guarantee: as all rows sharing a partition key are guaranteed to
be stored on the same set of replica node, a partition key that groups too much data can create a hotspot.</p>
<p>Another useful property of a partition is that when writing data, all the updates belonging to a single partition are
done <em>atomically</em> and in <em>isolation</em>, which is not the case across partitions.</p>
<p>The proper choice of the partition key and clustering columns for a table is probably one of the most important aspect
of data modeling in Cassandra, and it largely impact which queries can be performed, and how efficiently they are.</p>
<p>The clustering columns of a table defines the clustering order for the partition of that table. For a given
<a class="reference internal" href="#partition-key"><span class="std std-ref">partition</span></a>, all the rows are physically ordered inside Cassandra by that clustering order. For
instance, given:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="p">(</span>
    <span class="n">a</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">b</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">c</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">a</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">b</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">);</span>

<span class="k">SELECT</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="k">FROM</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">;</span>
   <span class="n">a</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="n">b</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="n">c</span>
  <span class="c1">---+---+---</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">4</span>     <span class="c1">// row 1</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">1</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">9</span>     <span class="c1">// row 2</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">2</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">2</span>     <span class="c1">// row 3</span>
   <span class="mf">0</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">3</span> <span class="o">|</span> <span class="mf">3</span>     <span class="c1">// row 4</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>then the rows (which all belong to the same partition) are all stored internally in the order of the values of their
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">b</span></code> column (the order they are displayed above). So where the partition key of the table allows to group rows on the
same replica set, the clustering columns controls how those rows are stored on the replica. That sorting allows the
retrieval of a range of rows within a partition (for instance, in the example above, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SELECT</span> <span class="pre">*</span> <span class="pre">FROM</span> <span class="pre">t</span> <span class="pre">WHERE</span> <span class="pre">a</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">0</span> <span class="pre">AND</span> <span class="pre">b</span>
<span class="pre">&gt;</span> <span class="pre">1</span> <span class="pre">and</span> <span class="pre">b</span> <span class="pre">&lt;=</span> <span class="pre">3</span></code>) to be very efficient.</p>
<p>A CQL table has a number of options that can be set at creation (and, for most of them, <a class="reference internal" href="#alter-table-statement"><span class="std std-ref">altered</span></a> later). These options are specified after the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">WITH</span></code> keyword.</p>
<p>Amongst those options, two important ones cannot be changed after creation and influence which queries can be done
against the table: the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">COMPACT</span> <span class="pre">STORAGE</span></code> option and the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CLUSTERING</span> <span class="pre">ORDER</span></code> option. Those, as well as the other
options of a table are described in the following sections.</p>
<div class="admonition warning">
<p class="first admonition-title">Warning</p>
<p class="last">Since Cassandra 3.0, compact tables have the exact same layout internally than non compact ones (for the
same schema obviously), and declaring a table compact <strong>only</strong> creates artificial limitations on the table definition
and usage. It only exists for historical reason and is preserved for backward compatibility And as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">COMPACT</span>
<span class="pre">STORAGE</span></code> cannot, as of Cassandra 4.0-alpha3, be removed, it is strongly discouraged to create new table with the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">COMPACT</span> <span class="pre">STORAGE</span></code> option.</p>
</div>
<p>A <em>compact</em> table is one defined with the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">COMPACT</span> <span class="pre">STORAGE</span></code> option. This option is only maintained for backward
compatibility for definitions created before CQL version 3 and shouldn’t be used for new tables. Declaring a
table with this option creates limitations for the table which are largely arbitrary (and exists for historical
reasons). Amongst those limitation:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>a compact table cannot use collections nor static columns.</li>
<li>if a compact table has at least one clustering column, then it must have <em>exactly</em> one column outside of the primary
key ones. This imply you cannot add or remove columns after creation in particular.</li>
<li>a compact table is limited in the indexes it can create, and no materialized view can be created on it.</li>
</ul>
<p>The clustering order of a table is defined by the <a class="reference internal" href="#clustering-columns"><span class="std std-ref">clustering columns</span></a> of that table. By
default, that ordering is based on natural order of those clustering order, but the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CLUSTERING</span> <span class="pre">ORDER</span></code> allows to
change that clustering order to use the <em>reverse</em> natural order for some (potentially all) of the columns.</p>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CLUSTERING</span> <span class="pre">ORDER</span></code> option takes the comma-separated list of the clustering column, each with a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ASC</span></code> (for
<em>ascendant</em>, e.g. the natural order) or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DESC</span></code> (for <em>descendant</em>, e.g. the reverse natural order). Note in particular
that the default (if the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CLUSTERING</span> <span class="pre">ORDER</span></code> option is not used) is strictly equivalent to using the option with all
clustering columns using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ASC</span></code> modifier.</p>
<p>Note that this option is basically a hint for the storage engine to change the order in which it stores the row but it
has 3 visible consequences:</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt># it limits which <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ORDER</span> <span class="pre">BY</span></code> clause are allowed for <a class="reference internal" href="dml.html#select-statement"><span class="std std-ref">selects</span></a> on that table. You can only</dt>
<dd>order results by the clustering order or the reverse clustering order. Meaning that if a table has 2 clustering column
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">a</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">b</span></code> and you defined <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">WITH</span> <span class="pre">CLUSTERING</span> <span class="pre">ORDER</span> <span class="pre">(a</span> <span class="pre">DESC,</span> <span class="pre">b</span> <span class="pre">ASC)</span></code>, then in queries you will be allowed to use
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ORDER</span> <span class="pre">BY</span> <span class="pre">(a</span> <span class="pre">DESC,</span> <span class="pre">b</span> <span class="pre">ASC)</span></code> and (reverse clustering order) <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ORDER</span> <span class="pre">BY</span> <span class="pre">(a</span> <span class="pre">ASC,</span> <span class="pre">b</span> <span class="pre">DESC)</span></code> but <strong>not</strong> <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ORDER</span> <span class="pre">BY</span> <span class="pre">(a</span>
<span class="pre">ASC,</span> <span class="pre">b</span> <span class="pre">ASC)</span></code> (nor <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ORDER</span> <span class="pre">BY</span> <span class="pre">(a</span> <span class="pre">DESC,</span> <span class="pre">b</span> <span class="pre">DESC)</span></code>).</dd>
<dt># it also change the default order of results when queried (if no <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ORDER</span> <span class="pre">BY</span></code> is provided). Results are always returned</dt>
<dd>in clustering order (within a partition).</dd>
<dt># it has a small performance impact on some queries as queries in reverse clustering order are slower than the one in</dt>
<dd>forward clustering order. In practice, this means that if you plan on querying mostly in the reverse natural order of
your columns (which is common with time series for instance where you often want data from the newest to the oldest),
it is an optimization to declare a descending clustering order.</dd>
</dl>
<div class="admonition-todo admonition" id="index-0">
<p class="first admonition-title">Todo</p>
<p class="last">review (misses cdc if nothing else) and link to proper categories when appropriate (compaction for instance)</p>
</div>
<p>A table supports the following options:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="28%" />
<col width="9%" />
<col width="11%" />
<col width="52%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head">option</th>
<th class="head">kind</th>
<th class="head">default</th>
<th class="head">description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">comment</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>none</td>
<td>A free-form, human-readable comment.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">speculative_retry</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>99PERCENTILE</td>
<td><a class="reference internal" href="#speculative-retry-options"><span class="std std-ref">Speculative retry options</span></a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">additional_write_policy</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>99PERCENTILE</td>
<td><a class="reference internal" href="#speculative-retry-options"><span class="std std-ref">Speculative retry options</span></a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gc_grace_seconds</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>864000</td>
<td>Time to wait before garbage collecting tombstones
(deletion markers).</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bloom_filter_fp_chance</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>0.00075</td>
<td>The target probability of false positive of the sstable
bloom filters. Said bloom filters will be sized to provide
the provided probability (thus lowering this value impact
the size of bloom filters in-memory and on-disk)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">default_time_to_live</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>The default expiration time (“TTL”) in seconds for a
table.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">compaction</span></code></td>
<td><em>map</em></td>
<td><em>see below</em></td>
<td><a class="reference internal" href="#cql-compaction-options"><span class="std std-ref">Compaction options</span></a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">compression</span></code></td>
<td><em>map</em></td>
<td><em>see below</em></td>
<td><a class="reference internal" href="#cql-compression-options"><span class="std std-ref">Compression options</span></a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">caching</span></code></td>
<td><em>map</em></td>
<td><em>see below</em></td>
<td><a class="reference internal" href="#cql-caching-options"><span class="std std-ref">Caching options</span></a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">memtable_flush_period_in_ms</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Time (in ms) before Cassandra flushes memtables to disk.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">read_repair</span></code></td>
<td><em>simple</em></td>
<td>BLOCKING</td>
<td>Sets read repair behavior (see below)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>By default, Cassandra read coordinators only query as many replicas as necessary to satisfy
consistency levels: one for consistency level <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ONE</span></code>, a quorum for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">QUORUM</span></code>, and so on.
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">speculative_retry</span></code> determines when coordinators may query additional replicas, which is useful
when replicas are slow or unresponsive.  <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">additional_write_policy</span></code> specifies the threshold at which
a cheap quorum write will be upgraded to include transient replicas.  The following are legal values (case-insensitive):</p>
<p>This setting does not affect reads with consistency level <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALL</span></code> because they already query all replicas.</p>
<p>Note that frequently reading from additional replicas can hurt cluster performance.
When in doubt, keep the default <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">99PERCENTILE</span></code>.</p>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">compaction</span></code> options must at least define the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'class'</span></code> sub-option, that defines the compaction strategy class
to use. The default supported class are <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'SizeTieredCompactionStrategy'</span></code> (<a class="reference internal" href="../operating/compaction.html#stcs"><span class="std std-ref">STCS</span></a>),
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'LeveledCompactionStrategy'</span></code> (<a class="reference internal" href="../operating/compaction.html#lcs"><span class="std std-ref">LCS</span></a>) and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'TimeWindowCompactionStrategy'</span></code> (<a class="reference internal" href="../operating/compaction.html#twcs"><span class="std std-ref">TWCS</span></a>) (the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'DateTieredCompactionStrategy'</span></code> is also supported but is deprecated and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'TimeWindowCompactionStrategy'</span></code> should be
preferred instead). Custom strategy can be provided by specifying the full class name as a <a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html#constants"><span class="std std-ref">string constant</span></a>.</p>
<p>All default strategies support a number of <a class="reference internal" href="../operating/compaction.html#compaction-options"><span class="std std-ref">common options</span></a>, as well as options specific to
the strategy chosen (see the section corresponding to your strategy for details: <a class="reference internal" href="../operating/compaction.html#stcs-options"><span class="std std-ref">STCS</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="../operating/compaction.html#lcs-options"><span class="std std-ref">LCS</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="../operating/compaction.html#twcs"><span class="std std-ref">TWCS</span></a>).</p>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">compression</span></code> options define if and how the sstables of the table are compressed. The following sub-options are
available:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="21%" />
<col width="13%" />
<col width="66%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head">Option</th>
<th class="head">Default</th>
<th class="head">Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">class</span></code></td>
<td>LZ4Compressor</td>
<td>The compression algorithm to use. Default compressor are: LZ4Compressor,
SnappyCompressor and DeflateCompressor. Use <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'enabled'</span> <span class="pre">:</span> <span class="pre">false</span></code> to disable
compression. Custom compressor can be provided by specifying the full class
name as a “string constant”:#constants.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">enabled</span></code></td>
<td>true</td>
<td>Enable/disable sstable compression.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">chunk_length_in_kb</span></code></td>
<td>64</td>
<td>On disk SSTables are compressed by block (to allow random reads). This
defines the size (in KB) of said block. Bigger values may improve the
compression rate, but increases the minimum size of data to be read from disk
for a read</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">crc_check_chance</span></code></td>
<td>1.0</td>
<td>When compression is enabled, each compressed block includes a checksum of
that block for the purpose of detecting disk bitrot and avoiding the
propagation of corruption to other replica. This option defines the
probability with which those checksums are checked during read. By default
they are always checked. Set to 0 to disable checksum checking and to 0.5 for
instance to check them every other read   |</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>For instance, to create a table with LZ4Compressor and a chunk_lenth_in_kb of 4KB:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">simple</span> <span class="p">(</span>
   <span class="n">id</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
   <span class="k">key</span> <span class="nb">text</span><span class="p">,</span>
   <span class="n">value</span> <span class="nb">text</span><span class="p">,</span>
   <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="k">key</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">value</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">compression</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;class&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;LZ4Compressor&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;chunk_length_in_kb&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">4</span><span class="p">};</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">caching</span></code> options allows to configure both the <em>key cache</em> and the <em>row cache</em> for the table. The following
sub-options are available:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="21%" />
<col width="8%" />
<col width="72%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head">Option</th>
<th class="head">Default</th>
<th class="head">Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">keys</span></code></td>
<td>ALL</td>
<td>Whether to cache keys (“key cache”) for this table. Valid values are: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALL</span></code> and
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NONE</span></code>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rows_per_partition</span></code></td>
<td>NONE</td>
<td>The amount of rows to cache per partition (“row cache”). If an integer <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">n</span></code> is
specified, the first <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">n</span></code> queried rows of a partition will be cached. Other
possible options are <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALL</span></code>, to cache all rows of a queried partition, or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NONE</span></code>
to disable row caching.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>For instance, to create a table with both a key cache and 10 rows per partition:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">simple</span> <span class="p">(</span>
<span class="n">id</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="k">key</span> <span class="nb">text</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">value</span> <span class="nb">text</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="k">key</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">value</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">caching</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s1">&#39;keys&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;ALL&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;rows_per_partition&#39;</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="mf">10</span><span class="p">};</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">read_repair</span></code> options configures the read repair behavior to allow tuning for various performance and
consistency behaviors. Two consistency properties are affected by read repair behavior.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Monotonic Quorum Reads: Provided by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">BLOCKING</span></code>. Monotonic quorum reads prevents reads from appearing to go back
in time in some circumstances. When monotonic quorum reads are not provided and a write fails to reach a quorum of
replicas, it may be visible in one read, and then disappear in a subsequent read.</li>
<li>Write Atomicity: Provided by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NONE</span></code>. Write atomicity prevents reads from returning partially applied writes.
Cassandra attempts to provide partition level write atomicity, but since only the data covered by a SELECT statement
is repaired by a read repair, read repair can break write atomicity when data is read at a more granular level than it
is written. For example read repair can break write atomicity if you write multiple rows to a clustered partition in a
batch, but then select a single row by specifying the clustering column in a SELECT statement.</li>
</ul>
<p>The available read repair settings are:</p>
<p>The default setting. When <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">read_repair</span></code> is set to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">BLOCKING</span></code>, and a read repair is triggered, the read will block
on writes sent to other replicas until the CL is reached by the writes. Provides monotonic quorum reads, but not partition
level write atomicity</p>
<p>When <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">read_repair</span></code> is set to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NONE</span></code>, the coordinator will reconcile any differences between replicas, but will not
attempt to repair them. Provides partition level write atomicity, but not monotonic quorum reads.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Adding new columns (see <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALTER</span> <span class="pre">TABLE</span></code> below) is a constant time operation. There is thus no need to try to
anticipate future usage when creating a table.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="alter-table">
<span id="alter-table-statement"></span><h2>ALTER TABLE<a class="headerlink" href="#alter-table" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Altering an existing table uses the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALTER</span> <span class="pre">TABLE</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-alter-table-statement">alter_table_statement  </strong> ::=  ALTER TABLE <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-table-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_name</span></code></a> <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-alter-table-instruction"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">alter_table_instruction</span></code></a>
<strong id="grammar-token-alter-table-instruction">alter_table_instruction</strong> ::=  ADD <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> <a class="reference internal" href="types.html#grammar-token-cql-type"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cql_type</span></code></a> ( ',' <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> <a class="reference internal" href="types.html#grammar-token-cql-type"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cql_type</span></code></a> )*
                             | DROP <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> ( <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-column-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">column_name</span></code></a> )*
                             | WITH <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">options</span></code></a>
</pre>
<p>For instance:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">ALTER</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">addamsFamily</span> <span class="k">ADD</span> <span class="n">gravesite</span> <span class="nb">varchar</span><span class="p">;</span>

<span class="k">ALTER</span> <span class="k">TABLE</span> <span class="n">addamsFamily</span>
       <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">comment</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s1">&#39;A most excellent and useful table&#39;</span><span class="p">;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALTER</span> <span class="pre">TABLE</span></code> statement can:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Add new column(s) to the table (through the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ADD</span></code> instruction). Note that the primary key of a table cannot be
changed and thus newly added column will, by extension, never be part of the primary key. Also note that <a class="reference internal" href="#compact-tables"><span class="std std-ref">compact
tables</span></a> have restrictions regarding column addition. Note that this is constant (in the amount of
data the cluster contains) time operation.</li>
<li>Remove column(s) from the table. This drops both the column and all its content, but note that while the column
becomes immediately unavailable, its content is only removed lazily during compaction. Please also see the warnings
below. Due to lazy removal, the altering itself is a constant (in the amount of data removed or contained in the
cluster) time operation.</li>
<li>Change some of the table options (through the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">WITH</span></code> instruction). The <a class="reference internal" href="#create-table-options"><span class="std std-ref">supported options</span></a> are the same that when creating a table (outside of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">COMPACT</span> <span class="pre">STORAGE</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CLUSTERING</span>
<span class="pre">ORDER</span></code> that cannot be changed after creation). Note that setting any <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">compaction</span></code> sub-options has the effect of
erasing all previous <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">compaction</span></code> options, so you need to re-specify all the sub-options if you want to keep them.
The same note applies to the set of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">compression</span></code> sub-options.</li>
</ul>
<div class="admonition warning">
<p class="first admonition-title">Warning</p>
<p class="last">Dropping a column assumes that the timestamps used for the value of this column are “real” timestamp in
microseconds. Using “real” timestamps in microseconds is the default is and is <strong>strongly</strong> recommended but as
Cassandra allows the client to provide any timestamp on any table it is theoretically possible to use another
convention. Please be aware that if you do so, dropping a column will not work correctly.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonition warning">
<p class="first admonition-title">Warning</p>
<p class="last">Once a column is dropped, it is allowed to re-add a column with the same name than the dropped one
<strong>unless</strong> the type of the dropped column was a (non-frozen) column (due to an internal technical limitation).</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="drop-table">
<span id="drop-table-statement"></span><h2>DROP TABLE<a class="headerlink" href="#drop-table" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Dropping a table uses the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DROP</span> <span class="pre">TABLE</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-drop-table-statement">drop_table_statement</strong> ::=  DROP TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-table-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_name</span></code></a>
</pre>
<p>Dropping a table results in the immediate, irreversible removal of the table, including all data it contains.</p>
<p>If the table does not exist, the statement will return an error, unless <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IF</span> <span class="pre">EXISTS</span></code> is used in which case the
operation is a no-op.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="truncate">
<span id="truncate-statement"></span><h2>TRUNCATE<a class="headerlink" href="#truncate" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>A table can be truncated using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TRUNCATE</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-truncate-statement">truncate_statement</strong> ::=  TRUNCATE [ TABLE ] <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-table-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_name</span></code></a>
</pre>
<p>Note that <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TRUNCATE</span> <span class="pre">TABLE</span> <span class="pre">foo</span></code> is allowed for consistency with other DDL statements but tables are the only object
that can be truncated currently and so the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TABLE</span></code> keyword can be omitted.</p>
<p>Truncating a table permanently removes all existing data from the table, but without removing the table itself.</p>
</div>
</div>


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