apache / apache/datafusion-sqlparser-rs

How to best add support for IDENTIFIER() clause

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Description

I am thinking about adding support for the IDENTIFIER() clause (available in Snowflake and Databricks, see docs below).

In OpenLineage, I was able to [partially support it](https://github.com/OpenLineage/OpenLineage/pull/2999) by implementing visitors, but that only worked for a couple of statement types (SELECT, MERGE, UPDATE, DELETE) - the ones where i was able to access a TableFactor and not only ObjectName.

I believe, that in order to be able to recognize every use case of IDENTIFIER clause in the visitors I'd have to modify all the statements to provide access to TableFactor or some similar struct. This specific clause if problematic as it can appear anywhere an object name is referenced, and i believe there is no single place in the parser where i could add support for such a syntax. For now I am only interested in recognizing this clause in table names, so that limits the scope a little bit.

Does anyone have some ideas on how to best approach this problem? I'd like to use the limited resources I have in the best possible way and I feel like I'm missing something obvious here.

@iffyio, maybe you have some time and idea for that? You helped me with my previous PR 😄

Docs:
[Snowflake](https://docs.snowflake.com/en/sql-reference/identifier-literal)
[Databricks](https://docs.databricks.com/en/sql/language-manual/sql-ref-names-identifier-clause.html)

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

Start by tracing the existing visitors for SELECT, MERGE, UPDATE, and DELETE, comparing where they receive a TableFactor versus only an ObjectName. Review the statement representations and parser entry points to determine how table-name IDENTIFIER() uses can be recognized consistently; done means agreeing on an approach and defining coverage for the relevant statement types.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust, sql
Domain
compilers, databases
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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