Documentation / Query and relations
Query and relations
One statement surface, checked against SQLite at every step, and two ways to walk a relation graph.
SQLSEL, and what it covers
Runtime-proven SQLSEL runs SELECT over open work areas: selection, projection, WHERE,
ORDER BY, LIMIT, and COUNT(*). The word SQL on its own is reserved and runs nothing.
| Capability | Proof |
|---|---|
| SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, LIMIT, COUNT(*) | Runtime-proven default suite |
| INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL, CROSS joins | Runtime-proven default suite |
| Self-joins, compound ON, three-table chains | Runtime-proven explicit run |
| GROUP BY, HAVING, COUNT/SUM/AVG/MIN/MAX | Runtime-proven explicit run |
| Scalar, IN, EXISTS subqueries, correlated or not | Runtime-proven explicit run |
| DISTINCT, UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, EXCEPT | Runtime-proven explicit run |
| INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, cross-table transactions | Runtime-proven explicit run |
| SET PARALLEL partitioned read-only scans | Runtime-proven default suite |
Default suite means the engine re-proves it on every REGRESSION ALL. Explicit run
means a registered spec proves it on demand while it waits for soak and review. Spec names are on
the status board.
The referee
Each of those specs compares SQLSEL's row sets with an in-process SQLite implementation. SQLite is compiled in both as a companion carrier and as the referee: competing with it and testing against it are the same decision, made on purpose. The join proofs also assert the path the query took, not only the answer it returned.
One graph, two walkers
Runtime-proven A declared relation graph can be walked positionally -- the child cursor follows the
parent, classic SET RELATION -- or as a set through SQLSEL. On 2026-08-10 both
answered the same question over a 34-table schema with 58 foreign-key relations and agreed down to
the record. The relation store is scoped to its workspace.
A whole database posture in one file
Runtime-proven WORKSPACE SAVE captures open areas, attached indexes, selected orders,
aliases, and declared relations into a plain-text snapshot; WORKSPACE LOAD restores
it. Several workspaces can be open at once, each owning its own areas and environment.