Impala - how to set a variable in a query?

Question

How can I set a variable in an Impala query?

In SQL:

select * from users where id=(@id:=123)

In Impala:

impala-shell> ?

Impala version is v2.0.0. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!

Solution 1

impala-shell> set var:id=123;select * from users where id=${VAR:id};

 

This variable can also be passed from command-line using --var

impala-shell --var id=123
impala-shell> select * from users where id=${VAR:id};

Solution 2

There's an open feature request for adding variable substitution support to impala-shell: IMPALA-1067, to mimic Hive's similar feature (hive --hivevar param=60 substitutes ${hivevar:param} inside a query with 60).

Variables that you can use in other SQL contexts (e.g. from a JDBC client) are not supported either, and I couldn't even find an open request for it... You might want to open a request for it: https://issues.cloudera.org/browse/IMPALA