Complex Type Queries

In scenarios such as logs, event tracking, user profiles, and order details, business data is rarely a flat relational structure. It is naturally nested or semi-structured. Apache Doris supports complex types such as Array, Map, Struct, and JSON, so this kind of data can be stored in its original structure and queried or computed with dedicated functions.

Applicable Scenarios

Complex types are suitable for the following query scenarios:

• List-style fields, such as tags, categories, or multi-valued product attributes, that need to be expressed with Array.
• Dictionary-style fields, such as configurations or attribute key-value pairs, that need to be expressed with Map.
• Structured records, such as nested objects or composite fields, that need to be expressed with Struct.
• JSON semi-structured data from upstream systems with non-fixed schemas.

Complex Type Function Index

For the complex types above, Doris provides corresponding sets of SQL functions that you can use directly in queries. For detailed function descriptions, see the SQL Functions chapter in the SQL Manual:

Complex type	Function documentation
Array	Array functions
Map	Map functions
Struct	Struct functions
JSON	JSON functions