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KEEP

Stack Serverless

The KEEP processing command enables you to specify what columns are returned and the order in which they are returned.

Syntax

KEEP columns

Parameters

columns
A comma-separated list of columns to keep. Supports wildcards. See below for the behavior in case an existing column matches multiple given wildcards or column names.

Description

The KEEP processing command enables you to specify what columns are returned and the order in which they are returned.

Precedence rules are applied when a field name matches multiple expressions. Fields are added in the order they appear. If one field matches multiple expressions, the following precedence rules apply (from highest to lowest priority):

  1. Complete field name (no wildcards)
  2. Partial wildcard expressions (for example: fieldNam*)
  3. Wildcard only (*)

If a field matches two expressions with the same precedence, the rightmost expression wins.

Refer to the examples for illustrations of these precedence rules.

Examples

The columns are returned in the specified order:

FROM employees
| KEEP emp_no, first_name, last_name, height
emp_no:integer first_name:keyword last_name:keyword height:double
10001 Georgi Facello 2.03
10002 Bezalel Simmel 2.08
10003 Parto Bamford 1.83
10004 Chirstian Koblick 1.78
10005 Kyoichi Maliniak 2.05

Rather than specify each column by name, you can use wildcards to return all columns with a name that matches a pattern:

FROM employees
| KEEP h*
height:double height.float:double height.half_float:double height.scaled_float:double hire_date:date

The asterisk wildcard (*) by itself translates to all columns that do not match the other arguments.

This query will first return all columns with a name that starts with h, followed by all other columns:

FROM employees
| KEEP h*, *
height:double height.float:double height.half_float:double height.scaled_float:double hire_date:date avg_worked_seconds:long birth_date:date emp_no:integer first_name:keyword gender:keyword is_rehired:boolean job_positions:keyword languages:integer languages.byte:integer languages.long:long languages.short:integer last_name:keyword salary:integer salary_change:double salary_change.int:integer salary_change.keyword:keyword salary_change.long:long still_hired:boolean

The following examples show how precedence rules work when a field name matches multiple expressions.

Complete field name has precedence over wildcard expressions:

FROM employees
| KEEP first_name, last_name, first_name*
first_name:keyword last_name:keyword

Wildcard expressions have the same priority, but last one wins (despite being less specific):

FROM employees
| KEEP first_name*, last_name, first_na*
last_name:keyword first_name:keyword

A simple wildcard expression * has the lowest precedence. Output order is determined by the other arguments:

FROM employees
| KEEP *, first_name
avg_worked_seconds:long birth_date:date emp_no:integer gender:keyword height:double height.float:double height.half_float:double height.scaled_float:double hire_date:date is_rehired:boolean job_positions:keyword languages:integer languages.byte:integer languages.long:long languages.short:integer last_name:keyword salary:integer salary_change:double salary_change.int:integer salary_change.keyword:keyword salary_change.long:long still_hired:boolean first_name:keyword