--- schema_version: "1" id: e171dfba7bab5016f0d1139e62c47edfe75d5871f59e39428ff5f73159af371f title: Pass-Through Functions (RAWSQL) collection: tableau version: current locale: en-gb portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/tableau/current/en-gb/pro/desktop/functions_functions_passthrough.md canonical_url: https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/functions_functions_passthrough.htm source_site: help.tableau.com content_type: documentation content_hash: bbbd0820d9fa9e7941e02a1379e1ab62434f68d34df6c22ac94bf45e4f07f379 description: Reference for RAWSQL pass-through functions that send SQL directly to the database. --- [Skip to main content](#main-content) # Pass-Through Functions (RAWSQL) These RAWSQL pass-through functions send SQL expressions directly to the database, without first being interpreted by Tableau. If you have custom database functions that Tableau doesn't know about, you can use pass-through functions to call these custom functions. Because Tableau doesn't interpret the expression, you must define the aggregation when necessary. You can use the `RAWSQLAGG` version of a function when you need to pass an aggregated expression. RAWSQL pass-through functions may not work with federated (combined across different databases) or published data sources. ## RAWSQL Syntax RAWSQL functions have two types, disaggregated and aggregated. This is specified in the first part of the function name, _RAWSQL_ or _RAWSQLAGG_. The final portion of the function name is the output type, such as _BOOL_, _STR_ or _INT_. In all RAWSQL functions, the argument is `"sql_expr", [arg1], ...[arg2]`. When writing the function, you can use a substitution syntax `%n` to insert the correct field name or expression. ### %n substitution syntax Your database won't usually understand the field names that are shown in Tableau. Because Tableau doesn't interpret the SQL expressions in the pass-through functions, using the Tableau field names in your expression may cause errors. Use `%n` to insert the correct field name or expression for a Tableau calculation into pass-through SQL. For example, if you had a function that computed the median of a set of values, you could call that function on the Tableau column \[Sales\] like this: RAWSQLAGG\_REAL("MEDIAN(%1)", \[Sales\]) - `REALSQLAGG` because you want to specify the aggregation. - `REAL` because the output is numeric and not necessarily an integer. - `MEDIAN` is the aggregation. - `%1` is the placeholder for `[Sales]`. ## RAWSQL Functions The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. The following RAWSQL functions are available in Tableau: ### RAWSQL\_BOOL

Syntax	`RAWSQL_BOOL("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Boolean
Definition	Returns a Boolean result from a given SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQL_BOOL("%1 > %2", [Sales], [Profit]) In the example, %1 is equal to [Sales] and %2 is equal to [Profit].

### RAWSQLAGG\_BOOL

Syntax	`RAWSQLAGG_BOOL("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Boolean
Definition	Returns a Boolean result from a given aggregate SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQLAGG_BOOL("SUM( %1) >SUM( %2)", [Sales], [Profit]) In the example, %1 is equal to [Sales] and %2 is equal to [Profit].

### RAWSQL\_DATE

Syntax	`RAWSQL_DATE("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Date
Definition	Returns a date result from a given SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQL_DATE("%1", [Order Date]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Order Date].

### RAWSQLAGG\_DATE

Syntax	`RAWSQLAGG_DATE("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Date
Definition	Returns a date result from a given aggregate SQL expression
Example	RAWSQLAGG_DATE("MAX(%1)", [Order Date]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Order Date].

### RAWSQL\_DATETIME

Syntax	`RAWSQL_DATETIME("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Datetime
Definition	Returns a datetime result from a given SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQL_DATETIME("%1", [Order Date]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Order Date].

### RAWSQLAGG\_DATETIME

Syntax	`RAWSQLAGG_DATETIME("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Datetime
Definition	Returns a datetime result from a given aggregate SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQLAGG_DATETIME("MIN(%1)", [Order Date]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Order Date].

### RAWSQL\_INT

Syntax	`RAWSQL_INT("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Integer
Definition	Returns an integer result from a given SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQL_INT("500 + %1", [Sales]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Sales].

### RAWSQLAGG\_INT

Syntax	`RAWSQLAGG_INT("sql_expr", [arg1,] …[argN])`
Output	Integer
Definition	Returns an integer result from a given aggregate SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQLAGG_INT("500 + SUM(%1)", [Sales]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Sales].

### RAWSQL\_REAL

Syntax	`RAWSQL_REAL("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Numeric
Definition	Returns a numeric result from a given SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQL_REAL("-123.98 * %1", [Sales]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Sales]

### RAWSQLAGG\_REAL

Syntax	`RAWSQLAGG_REAL("sql_expr", [arg1,] …[argN])`
Output	Numeric
Definition	Returns a numeric result from a given aggregate SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQLAGG_REAL("SUM( %1)", [Sales]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Sales].

### RAWSQL\_SPATIAL

Syntax	`RAWSQL_SPATIAL("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	Spatial
Definition	Returns a spatial result from a given SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQL_SPATIAL("%1", [Geometry]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Geometry].
Note	There is no `RAWSQLAGG` version of this function.

### RAWSQL\_STR

Syntax	`RAWSQL_STR("sql_expr", [arg1], …[argN])`
Output	String
Definition	Returns a string from a given SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQL_STR("%1", [Customer Name]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Customer Name].

### RAWSQLAGG\_STR

Syntax	`RAWSQLAGG_STR("sql_expr", [arg1,] …[argN])`
Output	String
Definition	Returns a string from a given aggregate SQL expression.
Example	RAWSQLAGG_STR("AVG(%1)", [Discount]) In this example, %1 is equal to [Discount].