neo4j
  1. neo4j-with-clause

With Clause - (Neo4j General Clauses)

The WITH clause is used to define a subquery that can be referenced later in the current and subsequent clauses of the query in Neo4j. The primary use of the WITH clause is to simplify complex queries by factoring out portions of the query and assigning them to named aliases.

Syntax

WITH <expression> [AS <alias>], ...

In this syntax, <expression> is the expression that defines the subquery, and <alias> is the name assigned to the subquery result.

Example

MATCH (u:User)-[:FRIENDS_WITH]->(f:User)
WITH u, count(f) AS numFriends
WHERE numFriends > 10
RETURN u.name, numFriends
ORDER BY numFriends DESC
LIMIT 10

In this example, we use the WITH clause to factor out the calculation of the number of friends each user has. The WITH clause assigns the alias numFriends to this expression, and we later use this alias in the WHERE clause to filter results based on the number of friends. Finally, we return the names of the users and their friend counts, ordered by friend counts in descending order.

Output

The output of a WITH clause is a subquery result that can be used in subsequent portions of the query. In the example above, the output of the WITH clause is a list of users and their corresponding friend counts.

Explanation

The WITH clause is used to define a subquery that can be referenced later in the current and subsequent clauses of the query. By factoring out complex portions of the query and assigning them to named aliases, the WITH clause can simplify and streamline the query.

Use

The WITH clause can be used to simplify complex queries by factoring out portions of the query and assigning them to named aliases. This can help to improve query performance, reduce query length, and make the query easier to read and understand.

Important Points

  • The WITH clause is used to define a subquery that can be referenced later in the current and subsequent clauses of the query.
  • WITH clauses can assign result sets to one or many aliases for use later in the query.
  • WITH clauses can be chained together.
  • WITH clauses can be used to pass in data between sub-queries and other clauses.

Summary

The WITH clause is a powerful tool in the Cypher query language that can be used to factor out complex portions of a query and assign them to named aliases. This can help to simplify and streamline the query, improve query performance, and make the query easier to read and understand. By using the right aliases in combination with WITH clause, complex combinations of data can be achieved easily and quicker.

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