CREATE TYPE

Create a user-defined type in Cassandra 2.1 and later.

Create a user-defined type in Cassandra 2.1 and later. A user-defined type contains one or more typed fields of related information, such as address information: street, city, and postal code.

Synopsis

CREATE TYPE [IF NOT EXISTS] 
keyspace_name.type_name(
field_name cql_datatype[,] 
[field_name cql_datatype] [,...]
)
Table 1. Legend
Syntax conventions Description
UPPERCASE Literal keyword.
Lowercase Not literal.
Italics Variable value. Replace with a user-defined value.
[] Optional. Square brackets ( [] ) surround optional command arguments. Do not type the square brackets.
( ) Group. Parentheses ( ( ) ) identify a group to choose from. Do not type the parentheses.
| Or. A vertical bar ( | ) separates alternative elements. Type any one of the elements. Do not type the vertical bar.
... Repeatable. An ellipsis ( ... ) indicates that you can repeat the syntax element as often as required.
'Literal string' Single quotation ( ' ) marks must surround literal strings in CQL statements. Use single quotation marks to preserve upper case.
{ key : value } Map collection. Braces ( { } ) enclose map collections or key value pairs. A colon separates the key and the value.
<datatype1,datatype2> Set, list, map, or tuple. Angle brackets ( < > ) enclose data types in a set, list, map, or tuple. Separate the data types with a comma.
cql_statement; End CQL statement. A semicolon ( ; ) terminates all CQL statements.
[--] Separate the command line options from the command arguments with two hyphens ( -- ). This syntax is useful when arguments might be mistaken for command line options.
' <schema> ... </schema> ' Search CQL only: Single quotation marks ( ' ) surround an entire XML schema declaration.
@xml_entity='xml_entity_type' Search CQL only: Identify the entity and literal value to overwrite the XML element in the schema and solrConfig files.
IF NOT EXISTS

Suppresses the error if the type already exists in the keyspace. UDT scope is keyspace-wide.

type_name

Unique name for the type, CQL types are reserved for a list see type names.

field_name cql_datatype

Define fields that are in the UDT in a comma separated list:

field_name cql_datatype, field_name cql_datatype
Restriction: UDTs cannot contain counter fields.

Example

This example creates a user-defined type cycling.basic_info that consists of personal data about an individual cyclist.

CREATE TYPE cycling.basic_info (
  birthday timestamp,
  nationality text,
  weight text,
  height text
);

After defining the UDT, you can create a table that has columns with the UDT. CQL collection columns and other columns support the use of user-defined types, as shown in Using CQL examples.