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Function calls Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

When you call a function, specific rules may apply. To learn more, see the next sections.

Function call rules

The following rules apply to all built-in GoogleSQL functions unless explicitly indicated otherwise in the function description:

Chained function calls

Writing nested expressions in GoogleSQL is common, particularly when you're cleaning or transforming data. Deeply nested expressions can be hard to read and maintain.

Here's an example of an expression with deep nesting. The nesting makes it difficult to read:

SELECT
  REPLACE(
    REPLACE(
      REPLACE(
        REPLACE(
          REPLACE('one two three four five', 'one', '1'),
          'two', '2'),
        'three', '3'),
      'four', '4'),
    'five', '5');

Here is the same example rewritten using chained function syntax:

SELECT
  ('one two three four five')
  .REPLACE('one', '1')
  .REPLACE('two', '2')
  .REPLACE('three', '3')
  .REPLACE('four', '4')
  .REPLACE('five', '5');

Chained function calls provide a syntax for simplifying nested function calls. Chained function calls have the following properties:

Chained function calls are generally easier to read, understand, and maintain than deeply nested function calls because they're applied in the order in which they're written.

Chained function requirements

You can write function calls in chained call syntax if the functions meet these requirements:

There are a few additional special cases. Chained function calls are allowed for these functions:

Chained function calls aren't allowed for these functions:

Example chained function calls

The following examples show the chained function call equivalent of some standard syntax calls:

UPPER(x)
(x).UPPER()  # Chained function call equivalent; the x must be within ()

SUBSTR(x, 1, 4)
(x).SUBSTR(1, 4)  # Chained function call equivalent

STRPOS(x, 'pattern string')
(x).STRPOS('pattern string')  # Chained function call equivalent

ARRAY_CONCAT(array1, array2)
(array1).ARRAY_CONCAT(array2)  # Chained function call equivalent

Here are chained function call examples with multiple function calls:

SELECT "Two birds and one mouse"
  .REPLACE("bird", "dog")
  .REPLACE("mouse", "cat") AS result;

/*----------------------+
 |      result          |
 +----------------------+
 | Two dogs and one cat |
 +----------------------*/

The following examples result in errors because the function being called doesn't meet the necessary requirements.

CAST(x AS INT64)
(x).CAST(AS INT64)  # Error: CAST syntax isn't supported in chained function calls.

GROUPING(x)
(x).GROUPING()  # Error: The argument isn't an expression.
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Last updated 2026-09-22 UTC.

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