Query the Data Delivery Network
Query the DDNThe easiest way to query any data on Splitgraph is via the "Data Delivery Network" (DDN). The DDN is a single endpoint that speaks the PostgreSQL wire protocol. Any Splitgraph user can connect to it at data.splitgraph.com:5432 and query any version of over 40,000 datasets that are hosted or proxied by Splitgraph.
For example, you can query the permits table in this repository, by referencing it like:
"norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4:latest"."permits"or in a full query, like:
SELECT
":id", -- Socrata column ID
"use_class", -- The classification indicating whether the permit pertains to a commercial or residential property.
"tax_abatement", -- Indicates if the permit project includes a tax abatement: https://www.norfolk.gov/4816/Tax-Abatement-Program
"use_type", -- The classification specifying the intended use of the permit, including commercial, manufactured homes, manufactured office, multifamily dwelling, one/two family dwelling, etc.
"code_edition", -- The year edition of the code book being referenced for compliance (2003, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018)
"location", -- A combination of Longitude and Latitude to allow for mapping in the Open Data Portal.
"use_group", -- The designation indicating how the structure will be utilized, such as R-5 Single Family Residence, A-2 N Nightclubs, R-1 Hotel/motel, R-2 Apts/Dormitories, F-2 Low-hazard factory, etc.
"total_fee", -- The sum of all fees associated with the permit.
"longitude", -- The longitude of the parcel.
"address", -- The physical location or street address to which the permit is assigned.
"gpin", -- A specific identifier for the parcel or land associated with the permit within the City's grid system.
"status", -- The current stage or status of the permit within the approval process, including "New", "Issued", "Finaled", "Approved", "Withdrawn", "Pending", "Incomplete", "Overdue", "Revoked", etc.
"code_book", -- The specific building code book or set of regulations governing the permit (NEC, VA Rehab, VCC, VEBC, VMC, VPC, VRC).
"construction_type", -- A code indicating the level of fire resistance and structural elements incorporated into the construction of the building or structure (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4, 5A, 5B).
"permit_number", -- A unique identifier assigned to the permit for tracking and reference purposes.
"parent_permit_number", -- The identifier of any overarching permit, if applicable, which may encompass multiple individual permits.
"tax_account", -- The tax account number linked to the property or parcel associated with the permit for tax assessment purposes.
"latitude", -- The latitude of the parcel.
"type", -- The category or nature of the permit, such as building, demolition, electrical, plumbing, sign, etc.
"work_type", -- The specific type of work that the permit authorizes, such as new construction, replacement, minor addition, demolition, asbestos abatement, etc.
"structure", -- The type of structure for which the permit is issued, such as building, driveway, fence, day care home, elevator, accessory structure, sprinkler system, tent, underground tank, etc.
"application_date", -- The date when the initial permit application was submitted.
"issue_date", -- The date when the permit was officially issued, allowing construction or related activities to commence.
"expiration_date", -- The date until which the issued building permit remains valid.
"finaled_date", -- The date when the permit was finalized, indicating that all required inspections have been completed and approved.
"total_payments", -- The total payments made to date for the permit.
"total_balance", -- The total balance due on the permit.
"project_cost", -- An estimate of the overall cost of the project or construction work for which the permit was issued.
"square_footage", -- The total area, measured in square feet, of the project or structure to which the permit pertains.
"next_annual_inspection", -- If required, the date of the next scheduled annual inspection for the permit.
"next_five_year_inspection", -- The date on which the next five-year inspection is due for the permit.
":@computed_region_25t2_rbz7", -- This column was automatically created in order to record in what polygon from the dataset 'US Counties' (25t2-rbz7) the point in column 'location' is located. This enables the creation of region maps (choropleths) in the visualization canvas and data lens.
":@computed_region_x6fk_ihs5" -- This column was automatically created in order to record in what polygon from the dataset 'Civic Leagues' (x6fk-ihs5) the point in column 'location' is located. This enables the creation of region maps (choropleths) in the visualization canvas and data lens.
FROM
"norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4:latest"."permits"
LIMIT 100;Connecting to the DDN is easy. All you need is an existing SQL client that can connect to Postgres. As long as you have a SQL client ready, you'll be able to query norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4 with SQL in under 60 seconds.
Query Your Local Engine
bash -c "$(curl -sL https://github.com/splitgraph/splitgraph/releases/latest/download/install.sh)"Read the installation docs.
Splitgraph Cloud is built around Splitgraph Core (GitHub), which includes a local Splitgraph Engine packaged as a Docker image. Splitgraph Cloud is basically a scaled-up version of that local Engine. When you query the Data Delivery Network or the REST API, we mount the relevant datasets in an Engine on our servers and execute your query on it.
It's possible to run this engine locally. You'll need a Mac, Windows or Linux system to install sgr, and a Docker installation to run the engine. You don't need to know how to actually use Docker; sgrcan manage the image, container and volume for you.
There are a few ways to ingest data into the local engine.
For external repositories, the Splitgraph Engine can "mount" upstream data sources by using sgr mount. This feature is built around Postgres Foreign Data Wrappers (FDW). You can write custom "mount handlers" for any upstream data source. For an example, we blogged about making a custom mount handler for HackerNews stories.
For hosted datasets (like this repository), where the author has pushed Splitgraph Images to the repository, you can "clone" and/or "checkout" the data using sgr cloneand sgr checkout.
Cloning Data
Because norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4:latest is a Splitgraph Image, you can clone the data from Spltgraph Cloud to your local engine, where you can query it like any other Postgres database, using any of your existing tools.
First, install Splitgraph if you haven't already.
Clone the metadata with sgr clone
This will be quick, and does not download the actual data.
sgr clone norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4Checkout the data
Once you've cloned the data, you need to "checkout" the tag that you want. For example, to checkout the latest tag:
sgr checkout norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4:latestThis will download all the objects for the latest tag of norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4 and load them into the Splitgraph Engine. Depending on your connection speed and the size of the data, you will need to wait for the checkout to complete. Once it's complete, you will be able to query the data like you would any other Postgres database.
Alternatively, use "layered checkout" to avoid downloading all the data
The data in norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4:latest is 0 bytes. If this is too big to download all at once, or perhaps you only need to query a subset of it, you can use a layered checkout.:
sgr checkout --layered norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4:latestThis will not download all the data, but it will create a schema comprised of foreign tables, that you can query as you would any other data. Splitgraph will lazily download the required objects as you query the data. In some cases, this might be faster or more efficient than a regular checkout.
Read the layered querying documentation to learn about when and why you might want to use layered queries.
Query the data with your existing tools
Once you've loaded the data into your local Splitgraph Engine, you can query it with any of your existing tools. As far as they're concerned, norfolk-gov/permits-fahm-yuh4 is just another Postgres schema.