Tygron Query Language

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TQL

TQL is short for Tygron Query Language. It provides a means of obtaining and adjusting data of a session. For example, TQL can be used in an excel or an event. It is comprised of a number of key phrases, divided into 2 categories: statements and clauses. The statements indicate what data interaction should take place; select or update. The clauses provide a means to filter the data the interaction is applied to. A query always consists of exactly 1 statement and 0 or more clauses.

Interactions can take place with the data in 2 ways: as item data or polygon data. Item data pertains to a specific component of a project, such as individual constructions, indicators, or globals. Polygon data pertains to geographic data; surface areas in the 3D world. Such as the footprint of constructions, the surface area of neighborhoods, or calculated grids. Depending on what kind of statement is used, the query will interact with its clauses treating them as items or as polygons.

An example of a TQL query is SELECT_LOTSIZE_WHERE_CATEGORY_IS_SOCIAL_AND_STAKEHOLDERTYPE_IS_MUNICIPALITY. In this example, SELECT_LOTSIZE is the statement. CATEGORY_IS_SOCIAL is the first clause, and STAKEHOLDERTYPE_IS_MUNICIPALITY is the second clause. It would return all the land area taken up with social housing, which is also owned by a municipal stakeholder.

More examples can be found in the example section.

Usage

TQL can be used in a number of placed. The most common place is in the Excels of Custom indicators or panels. To indicate which cells should contain certain data from the session, cells in Excel can be given a name. In our case, the name would be a TQL query. When an indicator calculation takes place, the engine will obtain all queries that exist in the Excel file of the indicator. It then verifies these queries and if valid, obtains the results for these queries. Next, it places these results back into the corresponding cells. Likewise, the Engine can obtain data (i.e. scores and texts) from cells indicated by certain names, using the Excel calculation and the data that was obtained and set in the previous step. This data can then be used by the Engine to update indicator scores, descriptions, area colors etc.

TQL can also be used to quickly check data in a project. When in editor mode, it's possible to open the query tool. With this tool, queries can be made and directly executed. The result is then presented to the user. This can be especially handy when it's necessary to quickly check whether a certain type of data is present or correctly readable. The query tool also functions both in and out of testruns, allowing a user to also check data in a project during a session. It's also possible to execute TQL queries directly via the API.

TQL's biggest advantage is that it can be used to perform calculations that require some intermediate processing. For example, calculating the intersection of Buildings with an Area or Neighborhood. Other examples of this include the queries related to values of grids, or the multiplication of floor size with a related function value.

Statements

Statements are the primary part of a query. They indicate what must be done with data in a session. Statements start with either SELECT or UPDATE. SELECT statements retrieve data from a session. UPDATE statements write data into the session. All statements can interact with data, treating it as either item data or polygon data, depending on the exact statement.

Polygon statements

These SELECT statements interact with data as polygon data. This means that, depending on the clauses added to the query, they generally compute how much surface area in the world meets a certain set of conditions.

Land polygons

Land polygon statements relate to the surface area of the land itself, regardless of what is built on it. These are mostly used for getting the sizes of areas, to then divide specific uses by.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
LANDSIZE Amount of surface area. (m2)
DIKES The amount of surface area taken up by dikes. (m2)

Construction polygons

Construction polygon statements relate to surface area in use by constructions. These are mostly used for determining the amount of certain types of constructions, and their cumulative values.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
LOTSIZE Amount of surface area used by a construction. (m2)
FLOORSIZE The amount of floorspace, based on constructions' lotsize and their amount of floors. (m2)
UNITS The amount of housing units, based on construction's lotsize and their unit size.
LOTPOLYGONS Whether something meets the criteria (1) or not (0). When used in a panel and the panel is opened, the polygon is highlighted.

Grid values

Grid statements relate to calculated values of grid overlays. These are used to retrieve calculated effects of built-in spatial calculation models.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
GRIDAVG The average value of a grid.
GRIDSTDEV The standard deviation of a grid.
GRIDSVOLUME The surface area multiplied by the average grid value on that surface.
HEIGHT The average height of the terrain. (mNAP)
  • Grids (Including the value clauses)

Item statements

These SELECT statements interact with data as item data. This means that, depending on the clauses added to the query, they retrieve a specific property of value related to a single component of a project, such as an area's attribute, or the name of a stakeholder.

Numeric values

Numeric value statements relate to attributes and globals, which are both numeric values which can be created, read, and written to during a session. These are mostly used as parameters in calculations of grid overlays, and as parameters in user-ceated excel files for indicators and panels.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
ATTRIBUTE The numeric attribute value of an item.
GLOBAL The value of a global variable

IDs

ID statements are used when the identification number of a specific item is required. This is used when, for example, creating an event which affects a specific item. Another use can be to uniquely identify an item in user-defined calculations.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
IDs The numeric identifier value of an item.

Names

Name statements are used to retrieve the human-readable name of an item. This allows panels and indicators based on excels to display the same and appropriate texts throughout the entire project.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
NAME The name or human-readable version of a technical name.

Active

Active statements are used to determine whether certain polygons are active or not. The engine will not consider inactive areas or neighborhoods in its calculations. Testing whether an item is active or not is often used to exclude those polygons from excel calculations as well.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
ACTIVE Whether the item is active/under consideration (1) or not (0).

Color

Color statements are used to retrieve the color of specific items. Color's support the user's ability to differentiate between pieces of data. These statements allow for indicators andpanels to display the same information with the same colors across the entire project, such as the colors of neighborhoods.

Colors can be retrieved in 2 ways. The color statement will return a hexadecimal value representing the color. It's also possible in most cases to retrieve the color by attribute, using SELECT_ATTRIBUTE_WHERE_NAME_IS_COLOR. In these cases the color is returned as a numeric value. For more information on this value, see the attribute article.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
COLOR The color of an item (hexadecimal value).

State

State statements are used to determine what timestate an item is in, effectively testing at what point in its lifecycle of permission, construction, and demolition it currently is. This is mostly used to determine the progression of permissions and constructions; how far construction plans have progressed in the decision process of stakeholders.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
STATE What the current timestate is of an item.

Network

Network statements are used to interact with data inherent to networks, such as the length of pipes. This is mostly used for cost- and efficiency calculations related to the extent of a network.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
LENGTH The length of pipes/lines/cables of networks.

Stakeholder finances

Stakeholder finance statements are used to retrieve the financial situation of stakeholders.

To affect the stakeholder finances using TQL, it's possible to update the value of a global, which is in turn connected directly to a stakeholder's finance.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
EXPENSES The costs incurred by a stakeholder during a session.
REVENUE The income of a stakeholder during a session

Indicator

Indicator statements can be used to interact with properties of indicators, allowing excels driving indicators to make use of properties of indicators defined in the editor.

These statements mostly facilitate the retrieval of the indicator targets.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
TARGET The target set for an indicator.

Session

Session statements can be used to retrieve data regarding the session itself. These don't require any clauses.

Query Value returned Clauses for specific query Clauses for entire group
SESSIONSTATE Whether the project is currently in editor mode (0), starting a session (1), or in a session/testrun (2).
TOKEN The API token for this session.

Update statements

Update statements are a seperate kind of statement, which interact with data in the session not by reading it from the session but by altering it in the session. Update statements indicate the type of item to update, and the attribute which needs to be updated. Most update statements interact directly with item data, and a specific item must be specified to perform the update on. There are also update statements which do not affect items directly, but which affect that type of item based on whether it meets specific conditions, i.e. clauses.

Query Item updated Clauses
AREA The specific area indicated by the clause. AREA
BUILDING All buildings which meet the specified clauses.
GLOBAL The specific global with the name indicated by the clause.
INDICATOR The specific indicator indicated by the clause. INDICATOR
NEIGHBORHOOD The specific neighborhood indicated by the clause. NEIGHBORHOOD
NET_LINE The specific net line indicated by the clause. NET_LINE
NET_LINE_DEFINITION The specific net line definition indicated by the clause. NET_LINE_DEFINITION
NET_LOAD The specific net load indicated by the clause. NET_LOAD
PANEL The specific panel indicated by the clause. PANEL
ZONE The specific zone indicated by the clause. ZONE

Clauses

Clauses indicate the conditions which must be met for any data to be taken into account for a statement. In a query, they are connected to the statement using the phrase WHERE. Multiple additonal clauses can be added to a query using the phrase AND. Clauses added to a query are cumulative conditions which must all be met. When, for any data, at least one condition is not met, that data is not taken into account or affected by the query.

Clauses can be broadly grouped into 3 different groups: Common clauses, singular clauses, and modifying clauses. For any given statement, different clauses can be applied from across all these groups. The availability and function of clauses is also influenced by whether the statement dictates an interaction with polygon data or with item data. Some clauses may or may not be available at all, depending on this.

Common clauses

Common clauses are clauses which can be used by multiple statements and are commonly required.

Specific polygons

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
AREA It must intersect with this area. It must be data of this area specifically. ID indicating a specific area.
NEIGHBORHOOD It must intersect with this neighborhood. It must be data of this neighborhood specifically. ID indicating a specific neighborhood.
ZONE It must intersect with this zone. It must be data of this zone specifically. ID indicating a specific zone.
TERRAIN It must intersect with this terrain type. It must be data of this type of terrain. There are no specific "instances" of terrain. ID indicating a type of terrain.

Attribute polygons

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
AREA_WITH_ATTRIBUTE It must intersect with at least one area with this attribute. N/A Attribute name of one or more areas.
NEIGHBORHOOD_WITH_ATTRIBUTE It must intersect with at least one neighborhood with this attribute. N/A Attribute name of one or more neighborhoods.
ZONE_WITH_ATTRIBUTE It must intersect with at least one zone with this attribute. N/A Attribute name of one or more zones.
TERRAIN_WITH_ATTRIBUTE It must intersect with terrain with this attribute. N/A Attribute name of one or more terrains.

Grids

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
MAXGRIDVALUE It must intersect with at least this value on a grid overlay. N/A Decimal number.
MINGRIDVALUE It must intersect with at most this value on a grid overlay. N/A Decimal number.
GRID It must fall within this grid. It must be data of this grid overlay specifically. ID indicating a specific grid overlay.

Note that each grid automatically covers the entire map, unless a minimum gridvalue or maximum gridvalue is defined. For queries such as GRIDAVG, this can be acceptable. However, for example, a query of SELECT_LANDSIZE_WHERE_GRID_IS_2 is functionally the same as SELECT_LANDSIZE.


Constructions

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
BUILDING It must intersect with this construction. It must be data of this construction specifically. ID indicating a specific construction.
NET_LOAD It must intersect with the building of this net load. It must be data of this net load specifically. ID indicating a specific net load.
NET_CLUSTER It must intersect with buildings of net loads of this net cluster. It must be data of this net cluster specifically. ID indicating a specific net cluster.
FUNCTION It must intersect with constructions of this function. It must be data related to this function type. ID indicating a specific function.

Dikes

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
DIKE It must intersect with this dike. It must be data of this dike specifically. ID indicating a specific dike.

Building categories

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
CATEGORY It must intersect with constructions of this category. It must be related to this specific category. Technical name indicating a category.

Timestates

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
STATE It must intersect with buildings or other spatial actions, which are currently in this timestate. It must be related to this specific timestate Technical name indicating a timestate.

Attributes

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
ATTRIBUTE_MAX It must intersect with at least this value of an attribute. N/A Decimal number.
ATTRIBUTE_MIN It must intersect with at most this value of an attribute. N/A Decimal number.
ATTRIBUTE The attribute of which to test the value. N/A Attribute name of any polygonal item.

When neither a maximum or minimum value is specified, or when no attribute is specified, everything is considered

Networks

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
NET_LINE N/A It must be data of this net line specifically. ID indicating a specific net line.
NET_LINE_DEFINITION N/A It must be data of net lines of this definition. ID indicating a line definition.
NET_TYPE N/A It must be data of net lines of this type of network. ID indicating the type of network.

Stakeholders

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
STAKEHOLDER The land must be owned by this specific stakeholder. It must be data of this stakeholder specifically. ID indicating a specific stakeholder.
STAKEHOLDERTYPE The land must be owned by this type of stakeholder. N/A Technical name indicating a type of stakeholder.

Interface

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
INDICATOR N/A It must be data of this indicator specifically. ID indicating a specific indicator.
OVERLAY N/A It must be data of this overlay specifically. ID indicating a specific overlay.
PANEL N/A It must be data of this panel specifically. ID indicating a specific panel.

Singular clauses

Singular clauses are clauses which are not used as often, which are only used by specific statements, or only in specific use-cases.

Variables

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
NAME N/A The data requested must have this name. The name which identifies the requested data.

Indicators

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
INDICATORTYPE N/A It must be related to this type of indicator. Technical name indicating a type of indicator.

Terms

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
STATE N/A It must be related to this specific text (or "term") used by the Engine. Technical name indicating a term.


Modifying clauses

Modyfing clauses are clauses which, in some fashion, modify the way the query functions, either in some way changing what data is being requests (as opposed to how other clauses merely filter data), or by performing some further operation on the resulting data.

Map types

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
MAP It must be data from this moment of time in a session. It must be data from this moment of time in a session. Technical name of the original/current state or the planned/maquette state.

The precise terms vary based on the simulation type, but the terms which appear in the query are CURRENT and MAQUETTE.

Layer types

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
LAYERTYPE It must be data from this layer of the 3D world. N/A Technical name of the surface or underground layers of the 3D world.

The precise terms are SURFACE and UNDERGROUND.

Multipliers

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
ATTRIBUTE_MULT Multiply the result by the (spatial) value of an attribute. N/A Attribute name of any polygonal item.
FUNCTIONMULT Multiply the result by the (spatial) value of an attribute. N/A The name of a function value.
CATEGORYMULT Multiply the result by the (spatial) value of an attribute. N/A The name of a category value.

Relations

Clause As a polygon As an item Type
RELATION N/A Rather than data of the specified item, use the item which has this relation to it. Technical name indicating a type of relation.

Examples for common use-cases

A number of use-cases come up frequently across various projects. Queries of the following forms often provide a firm basis for using TQL to obtain required data.

Function values

Parking requirements of social housing

The parking demand is based on a function value of each function, and is defined as "parking places per m2". Parking demand is not based on the footprint of a construction, but the size of a construction. i.e. a construction 4 floors high needs more parking than a building with the same footprint 2 floors high.

SELECT_FLOORSIZE_WHERE_CATEGORY_IS_SOCIAL_AND_CATEGORYMULT_IS_PARKING_LOTS_DEMAND_PER_M2

  • SELECT_FLOORSIZE: What we are basically looking for is the floorsize of the construction.
  • CATEGORY_IS_SOCIAL: We only want to look at constructions which are of the category social housing. For that, a category clause is added.
  • CATEGORYMULT_IS_PARKING_LOTS_DEMAND_PER_M2: Lastly, we are not looking directly for the floorsize, but for the parking demand as a result of that floorsize.

Grid average

Quality of livability in a neighborhood

The livability overlay calculates, for each grid cell, the average livability. The best indication of how well a certain region performs in terms of livability would be to average these values out. That way, its possible to compare places which are not the same size. (over(In this example, the neighborhood in question has the ID 1, and the grid of livability has the ID 4.)

SELECT_GRIDAVG_WHERE_NEIGHBORHOOD_IS_1_AND_GRID_IS_4

For any given neighborhood, different points of a grid may score differently.

  • SELECT_GRIDAVG: We're looking for the average score across the entire neighborhood.
  • NEIGHBORHOOD_IS_1: We don't need the average of the entire map, but only of a specific neighborhood.
  • GRID_IS_4: We need to specify the grid we wish to use the values of.

Grid values

The area of open water which is flooded by more than 20 cm of water

The rainfall overlay calculates what amounts of water ends up where. The overlay's results are in meters. If we wish to provide some minimum value, it must be in meters as well. 20 cm is 0,2 meters. the 3D world can also contain multiple types of water. All types of have one thing in common, namely that they all have the WATER attribute, which can be tested against. (In this example, the grid of inundation has the ID 4, and has its result type set to water stress.)

SELECT_LANDSIZE_WHERE_MINGRIDVALUE_IS_0.2_AND_GRID_IS_4_AND_TERRAIN_WITH_ATTRIBUTE_IS_WATER

  • SELECT_LANDSIZE: The end result must be some area; some amount of square meters.
  • MINGRIDVALUE_IS_0.2: We only want to count the area where the value calculated is at least 0.2 (meters).
  • GRID_IS_4: We need to specifiy the grid we wish to use the values of.
  • TERRAIN_WITH_ATTRIBUTE_IS_WATER: We are only looking for the water which ends op on water, identified by the "WATER" attribute.
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