---
layout: docpage

title: "Documentation"

is_homepage: false
is_sphinx_doc: true

doc-parent: "The Cassandra Query Language (CQL)"

doc-title: "Materialized Views"
doc-header-links: '
  <link rel="top" title="Apache Cassandra Documentation v4.0-alpha5" href="../index.html"/>
      <link rel="up" title="The Cassandra Query Language (CQL)" href="index.html"/>
      <link rel="next" title="Security" href="security.html"/>
      <link rel="prev" title="Secondary Indexes" href="indexes.html"/>
'
doc-search-path: "../search.html"

extra-footer: '
<script type="text/javascript">
    var DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS = {
      URL_ROOT:    "",
      VERSION:     "",
      COLLAPSE_INDEX: false,
      FILE_SUFFIX: ".html",
      HAS_SOURCE:  false,
      SOURCELINK_SUFFIX: ".txt"
    };
</script>
'

---
<div class="container-fluid">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-3">
      <div class="doc-navigation">
        <div class="doc-menu" role="navigation">
          <div class="navbar-header">
            <button type="button" class="pull-left navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".sidebar-navbar-collapse">
              <span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span>
              <span class="icon-bar"></span>
              <span class="icon-bar"></span>
              <span class="icon-bar"></span>
            </button>
          </div>
          <div class="navbar-collapse collapse sidebar-navbar-collapse">
            <form id="doc-search-form" class="navbar-form" action="../search.html" method="get" role="search">
              <div class="form-group">
                <input type="text" size="30" class="form-control input-sm" name="q" placeholder="Search docs">
                <input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" />
                <input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" />
              </div>
            </form>
            
            
            <ul class="current">
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../getting_started/index.html">Getting Started</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../new/index.html">New Features in Apache Cassandra 4.0</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../architecture/index.html">Architecture</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1 current"><a class="reference internal" href="index.html">The Cassandra Query Language (CQL)</a><ul class="current">
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html">Definitions</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="types.html">Data Types</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="ddl.html">Data Definition</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="dml.html">Data Manipulation</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="indexes.html">Secondary Indexes</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2 current"><a class="current reference internal" href="#">Materialized Views</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="#create-materialized-view">CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="#alter-materialized-view">ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="#drop-materialized-view">DROP MATERIALIZED VIEW</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="security.html">Security</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="functions.html">Functions</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="operators.html">Arithmetic Operators</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="json.html">JSON Support</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="triggers.html">Triggers</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="appendices.html">Appendices</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="changes.html">Changes</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../data_modeling/index.html">Data Modeling</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../configuration/index.html">Configuring Cassandra</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../operating/index.html">Operating Cassandra</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../tools/index.html">Cassandra Tools</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../troubleshooting/index.html">Troubleshooting</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../development/index.html">Contributing to Cassandra</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../faq/index.html">Frequently Asked Questions</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../plugins/index.html">Third-Party Plugins</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../bugs.html">Reporting Bugs</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../contactus.html">Contact us</a></li>
</ul>

            
          </div><!--/.nav-collapse -->
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="col-md-8">
      <div class="content doc-content">
        <div class="content-container">
          
  <div class="section" id="materialized-views">
<span id="id1"></span><h1>Materialized Views<a class="headerlink" href="#materialized-views" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>Materialized views names are defined by:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-view-name">view_name</strong> ::=  re('[a-zA-Z_0-9]+')
</pre>
<div class="section" id="create-materialized-view">
<span id="create-materialized-view-statement"></span><h2>CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW<a class="headerlink" href="#create-materialized-view" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>You can create a materialized view on a table using a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CREATE</span> <span class="pre">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="pre">VIEW</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-create-materialized-view-statement">create_materialized_view_statement</strong> ::=  CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-view-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">view_name</span></code></a> AS
                                            <a class="reference internal" href="dml.html#grammar-token-select-statement"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">select_statement</span></code></a>
                                            PRIMARY KEY '(' <a class="reference internal" href="ddl.html#grammar-token-primary-key"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">primary_key</span></code></a> ')'
                                            WITH <a class="reference internal" href="ddl.html#grammar-token-table-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_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">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="k">VIEW</span> <span class="n">monkeySpecies_by_population</span> <span class="k">AS</span>
    <span class="k">SELECT</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="k">FROM</span> <span class="n">monkeySpecies</span>
    <span class="k">WHERE</span> <span class="n">population</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">species</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">population</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">species</span><span class="p">)</span>
    <span class="k">WITH</span> <span class="n">comment</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;Allow query by population instead of species&#39;</span><span class="p">;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CREATE</span> <span class="pre">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="pre">VIEW</span></code> statement creates a new materialized view. Each such view is a set of <em>rows</em> which
corresponds to rows which are present in the underlying, or base, table specified in the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SELECT</span></code> statement. A
materialized view cannot be directly updated, but updates to the base table will cause corresponding updates in the
view.</p>
<p>Creating a materialized view has 3 main parts:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>The <a class="reference internal" href="#mv-select"><span class="std std-ref">select statement</span></a> that restrict the data included in the view.</li>
<li>The <a class="reference internal" href="#mv-primary-key"><span class="std std-ref">primary key</span></a> definition for the view.</li>
<li>The <a class="reference internal" href="#mv-options"><span class="std std-ref">options</span></a> for the view.</li>
</ul>
<p>Attempting to create an already existing materialized view 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 materialized view already exists.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last">By default, materialized views are built in a single thread. The initial build can be parallelized by
increasing the number of threads specified by the property <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">concurrent_materialized_view_builders</span></code> in
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cassandra.yaml</span></code>. This property can also be manipulated at runtime through both JMX and the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">setconcurrentviewbuilders</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">getconcurrentviewbuilders</span></code> nodetool commands.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="mv-select-statement">
<span id="mv-select"></span><h3>MV select statement<a class="headerlink" href="#mv-select-statement" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The select statement of a materialized view creation defines which of the base table is included in the view. That
statement is limited in a number of ways:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>the <a class="reference internal" href="dml.html#selection-clause"><span class="std std-ref">selection</span></a> is limited to those that only select columns of the base table. In other
words, you can’t use any function (aggregate or not), casting, term, etc. Aliases are also not supported. You can
however use <cite>*</cite> as a shortcut of selecting all columns. Further, <a class="reference internal" href="ddl.html#static-columns"><span class="std std-ref">static columns</span></a> cannot be
included in a materialized view (which means <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SELECT</span> <span class="pre">*</span></code> isn’t allowed if the base table has static columns).</li>
<li>the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">WHERE</span></code> clause have the following restrictions:<ul>
<li>it cannot include any <a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html#grammar-token-bind-marker"><code class="xref std std-token docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bind_marker</span></code></a>.</li>
<li>the columns that are not part of the <em>base table</em> primary key can only be restricted by an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IS</span> <span class="pre">NOT</span> <span class="pre">NULL</span></code>
restriction. No other restriction is allowed.</li>
<li>as the columns that are part of the <em>view</em> primary key cannot be null, they must always be at least restricted by a
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IS</span> <span class="pre">NOT</span> <span class="pre">NULL</span></code> restriction (or any other restriction, but they must have one).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>it cannot have neither an <a class="reference internal" href="dml.html#ordering-clause"><span class="std std-ref">ordering clause</span></a>, nor a <a class="reference internal" href="dml.html#limit-clause"><span class="std std-ref">limit</span></a>, nor <a class="reference internal" href="dml.html#allow-filtering"><span class="std std-ref">ALLOW
FILTERING</span></a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="mv-primary-key">
<span id="id2"></span><h3>MV primary key<a class="headerlink" href="#mv-primary-key" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>A view must have a primary key and that primary key must conform to the following restrictions:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>it must contain all the primary key columns of the base table. This ensures that every row of the view correspond to
exactly one row of the base table.</li>
<li>it can only contain a single column that is not a primary key column in the base table.</li>
</ul>
<p>So for instance, give the following base table definition:</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">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">c1</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">c2</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">v1</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span>
    <span class="n">v2</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">k</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c2</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>then the following view definitions are allowed:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="k">VIEW</span> <span class="n">mv1</span> <span class="k">AS</span>
    <span class="k">SELECT</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="k">FROM</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="k">WHERE</span> <span class="n">k</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">c1</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">c2</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">c1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">k</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c2</span><span class="p">)</span>

<span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="k">VIEW</span> <span class="n">mv1</span> <span class="k">AS</span>
    <span class="k">SELECT</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="k">FROM</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="k">WHERE</span> <span class="n">k</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">c1</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">c2</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">v1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">k</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c2</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>but the following ones are <strong>not</strong> allowed:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1">// Error: cannot include both v1 and v2 in the primary key as both are not in the base table primary key</span>
<span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="k">VIEW</span> <span class="n">mv1</span> <span class="k">AS</span>
    <span class="k">SELECT</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="k">FROM</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="k">WHERE</span> <span class="n">k</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">c1</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">c2</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">v1</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">v1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">v2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">k</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c2</span><span class="p">)</span>

<span class="c1">// Error: must include k in the primary as it&#39;s a base table primary key column</span>
<span class="k">CREATE</span> <span class="k">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="k">VIEW</span> <span class="n">mv1</span> <span class="k">AS</span>
    <span class="k">SELECT</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="k">FROM</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="k">WHERE</span> <span class="n">c1</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span> <span class="k">AND</span> <span class="n">c2</span> <span class="k">IS</span> <span class="k">NOT</span> <span class="k">NULL</span>
    <span class="k">PRIMARY</span> <span class="k">KEY</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">c1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">c2</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="mv-options">
<span id="id3"></span><h3>MV options<a class="headerlink" href="#mv-options" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>A materialized view is internally implemented by a table and as such, creating a MV allows the <a class="reference internal" href="ddl.html#create-table-options"><span class="std std-ref">same options than
creating a table</span></a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="alter-materialized-view">
<span id="alter-materialized-view-statement"></span><h2>ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW<a class="headerlink" href="#alter-materialized-view" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>After creation, you can alter the options of a materialized view using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ALTER</span> <span class="pre">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="pre">VIEW</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-alter-materialized-view-statement">alter_materialized_view_statement</strong> ::=  ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-view-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">view_name</span></code></a> WITH <a class="reference internal" href="ddl.html#grammar-token-table-options"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">table_options</span></code></a>
</pre>
<p>The options that can be updated are the same than at creation time and thus the <a class="reference internal" href="ddl.html#create-table-options"><span class="std std-ref">same than for tables</span></a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="drop-materialized-view">
<span id="drop-materialized-view-statement"></span><h2>DROP MATERIALIZED VIEW<a class="headerlink" href="#drop-materialized-view" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Dropping a materialized view users the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DROP</span> <span class="pre">MATERIALIZED</span> <span class="pre">VIEW</span></code> statement:</p>
<pre>
<strong id="grammar-token-drop-materialized-view-statement">drop_materialized_view_statement</strong> ::=  DROP MATERIALIZED VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] <a class="reference internal" href="#grammar-token-view-name"><code class="xref docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">view_name</span></code></a>;
</pre>
<p>If the materialized view 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 class="section" id="mv-limitations">
<h3>MV Limitations<a class="headerlink" href="#mv-limitations" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last">Removal of columns not selected in the Materialized View (via <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">UPDATE</span> <span class="pre">base</span> <span class="pre">SET</span> <span class="pre">unselected_column</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">null</span></code> or
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DELETE</span> <span class="pre">unselected_column</span> <span class="pre">FROM</span> <span class="pre">base</span></code>) may shadow missed updates to other columns received by hints or repair.
For this reason, we advise against doing deletions on base columns not selected in views until this is
fixed on CASSANDRA-13826.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


          <div class="doc-prev-next-links" role="navigation" aria-label="footer navigation">
            
            <a href="security.html" class="btn btn-default pull-right " role="button" title="Security" accesskey="n">Next <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-circle-arrow-right" aria-hidden="true"></span></a>
            
            
            <a href="indexes.html" class="btn btn-default" role="button" title="Secondary Indexes" accesskey="p"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-circle-arrow-left" aria-hidden="true"></span> Previous</a>
            
          </div>
          
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>