Add support for DateTime filters in PostgreSQL by ArjunNarendra · Pull Request #3728 · Azure/data-api-builder

ArjunNarendra · 2026-07-15T17:51:02Z

Why make this change?

This pull request is to address #3094, which is a bug that happens because certain date/time SQL parameters are not being parsed to their appropriate .NET type (DateTime or DateTimeOffset) and are instead being treated as raw text. This is leading to type conversion issues when executing the underlying SQL query.

What is this change?

I have provided an overridden implementation of MakeDbConnectionParam in BaseSqlQueryStructure.cs. This method does some extra pre-processing for PostgreSQL parameters specifically by parsing each parameter into its appropriate system type before calling the base class implementation of MakeDbConnectionParam in BaseQueryStructure.cs. The system type of each parameter is retrieved from metadata of the underlying column that this parameter corresponds to via the method GetColumnSystemType. This change fixes the relevant issue because now parameters which correspond to an underlying datetime column in the schema are cast to their appropriate .NET type instead of falling through as text before building the final SQL query. Furthermore, this change is limited in scope to apply this parameter casting only when the underlying database is PostgreSQL. This ensures we do not see unexpected behavior with other database types where this sort of parameter casting may be unnecessary and/or erroneous.

My original thought was to modify the method ExtractValueFromIValueNode in ExecutionHelper.cs to explicitly handle an IValueNode with a GraphQL scalar type of SupportedHotChocolateTypes.DATETIME_TYPE by parsing the IValueNode as a DateTime system type before being returned. For all practical purposes, this has the same desired effect as parsing the parameter in MakeDbConnectionParam, but the call to ExtractValueFromIValueNode happens upstream of the call to MakeDbConnectionParam.

I believe that casting the parameters to their appropriate .NET type in MakeDbConnectionParam is appropriate because the method literally builds each parameter for the SQL query and the .NET type casting can be considered a part of this parameter building process. I do not think .NET type casting is as appropriate in ExtractValueFromIValueNode because this method serves the broader purpose of extracting a value from a GraphQL IValueNode, where the IValueNode could contain a scalar but it could also contain a variable that needs to be resolved recursively. For parameters that need to be cast to a .NET type, the control flow will go from ExtractValueFromIValueNode to eventually MakeDbConnectionParam, but again, MakeDbConnectionParam serves the sole purpose of building the parameter while ExtractValueFromIValueNode serves a broader purpose.

How was this tested?

[ X] Integration Tests

Sample Request(s)

With query:

query {
  assignments(filter: { assignment_due_date: { gte: "2026-03-23T00:00:00.000Z" } }) {
    items {
      assignment_id
      assignment_name
      assignment_due_date
    }
  }
}

Before:

SELECT * FROM public."Assignments"
WHERE "Assignments"."assignment_due_date" >= '2026-03-23T00:00:00.000Z'::text;

After:

SELECT * FROM public."Assignments"
WHERE "Assignments"."assignment_due_date" >= '2026-03-23T00:00:00.000Z';

…stgreSQL

…ately describe the source of the exception

…-type-new

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR aims to fix PostgreSQL GraphQL filter failures for date/time columns (issue #3094) by ensuring filter parameter values are converted from raw GraphQL string values into the appropriate .NET types (DateTime / DateTimeOffset) before being added as DB parameters, preventing PostgreSQL from treating them as text.

Changes:

Override BaseSqlQueryStructure.MakeDbConnectionParam to pre-parse PostgreSQL column parameters from string into the column’s inferred .NET system type before delegating to the base parameter creation logic.
Minor GraphQL schema-generation refactors/cleanups (including primary key directive usage changes and DocumentNode composition changes).
Improve/clarify several metadata-provider exception messages and update related comments/constants organization.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/Service.GraphQLBuilder/Sql/SchemaConverter.cs	Adjusts schema generation docs and changes how the `primaryKey` directive is emitted for PK fields.
src/Service.GraphQLBuilder/GraphQLTypes/SupportedTypes.cs	Reorganizes date/time-related type constants and updates comments.
src/Core/Services/MetadataProviders/SqlMetadataProvider.cs	Improves exception messages and clarifies a schema-fill comment.
src/Core/Services/GraphQLSchemaCreator.cs	Refactors schema assembly and uses `WithDefinitions` when composing root `DocumentNode`.
src/Core/Resolvers/Sql Query Structures/BaseSqlQueryStructure.cs	Adds PostgreSQL-specific parameter type pre-processing in `MakeDbConnectionParam` to address date/time filter casting issues.

…on for PostgreSQL etsts

unattendedfaxmachine · 2026-07-20T23:22:58Z

Adding context that this PR continues the work initially started in #3250 and #3101

Aniruddh25 · 2026-07-23T19:05:19Z

+        /// <inheritdoc />
+        public override string MakeDbConnectionParam(object? value, string? paramName = null, bool lengthOverride = false)
+        {
+            if (MetadataProvider.GetDatabaseType() is DatabaseType.PostgreSQL &&


If we need this implementation only for PostgreSQL explicitly, please override this function into a PostgreSqlQueryStructure. If such a class doesnt exist, please create it as a derived class inheriting from BaseSqlQueryStructure.

I think there are a couple of issues with this approach. BaseSqlQueryStructure is inherited directly by 7 different concrete classes, each representing a different SQL operation. The inheritance model is based off of the SQL operation instead of the database type, and I don't think it would be worth changing it just for this method override. Even if we were to create a PostgreSqlQueryStructure class and override the MakeDbConnectionParam method, the 7 existing concrete classes would then need to derive from PostgreSqlQueryStructure instead of BaseSqlQueryStructure only when the database is PostgreSQL. The base class is fixed at compile time (it can't vary per instance/runtime), so this would not work in practice. Furthermore, we are just moving the "if PostgreSQL do this, else do this" decision to 7 different places instead of consolidating it here in one place. The codebase already uses runtime DatabaseType checks in SqlMutationEngine.cs and SqlMetadataProvider.cs, so this is nothing new.

Let me know if this makes sense or if you still have concerns.

Aniruddh25 · 2026-07-23T19:08:51Z

+        {
+            if (MetadataProvider.GetDatabaseType() is DatabaseType.PostgreSQL &&
+                !string.IsNullOrEmpty(paramName) &&
+                value is string stringValue &&


for non-string values, do we expect column system type to match the value type? If we cant be certain, shouldn't we do GetParamAsSystemType for kinds of values?

I'm not sure I'm following you here. This may need to be explored further.

So, if I am understanding correctly, the case you are bringing up is when the value is not a string. In that case, it is already coerced to some .NET type. I think that is the responsibility of the code that first coerces the value to make sure it is coerced correctly. We could verify that here but again I don't think that is our responsibility. Let me know if you still have concerns.

Aniruddh25 · 2026-07-23T19:18:56Z

                new List<DirectiveNode>(),
                new List<NamedTypeNode>(),
-                fields.Values.ToImmutableList()));
+                ImmutableList.Create(GetDbOperationResultField())));


by doing this arent we losing the key DB_OPERATION_RESULT_FIELD_NAME to value GetDbOperationResultField association?

We are, but as far as I can see that association was never utilized anywhere. Let me know if this makes sense or if you still have concerns.

Aniruddh25 · 2026-07-23T19:20:54Z

-        /// </summary>
-        [DataTestMethod]
-        [Ignore]
-        public new void QueryTypeColumnFilterAndOrderByDateTime(string type, string filterOperator, string sqlValue, string gqlValue, string queryOperator)


This test should work now. Please keep it and make it functional

All the tests are passing. I removed this code because it is ignoring the tests in the QueryTypeColumnFilterAndOrderByDateTime method specifically for PostgreSQL. Now those tests are running.

Let me know if this makes sense or if you still have concerns.

Aniruddh25

Good description on what is the change. Needs DateTime integration tests.

souvikghosh04

Approved, assuming the comments would be addressed correctly.

souvikghosh04 · 2026-07-24T12:26:53Z

            DocumentNode sqlResult = GenerateSqlGraphQLObjects(sql, inputObjects);
            // Create Root node with definitions from both cosmos and sql.
-            DocumentNode root = new(cosmosResult.Definitions.Concat(sqlResult.Definitions).ToImmutableList());
+            DocumentNode root = cosmosResult.WithDefinitions(cosmosResult.Definitions.Concat(sqlResult.Definitions).ToImmutableList());


why are we changing this? it seems we are re-wrapping the same type again..

Well, I think this is the idiomatic way to do it although both have the same effect. If you look at the implementation of the WithDefinitions method in DocumentNode.cs, it calls new under the hood.

Let me know if this makes sense or if you still have concerns.

…to this PR

… class summary comment

ArjunNarendra added 5 commits July 12, 2026 00:30

Add logic to cast each SQL query parameter to its system type

ff7be90

Add guard so that parameter casting to system type only occurs for Po…

d7e7c4e

…stgreSQL

Refine exception messages for database metadata queries to more accur…

de8b8bd

…ately describe the source of the exception

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/main' into user/an/postgres-db…

43e8d82

…-type-new

Update some comments and clean up some code

b0e0d70

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 15, 2026 17:51

ArjunNarendra requested review from Alekhya-Polavarapu, Aniruddh25, JerryNixon, RubenCerna2079, aaronburtle, anushakolan, rusamant, sourabh1007, souvikghosh04, stuartpa and vadeveka as code owners July 15, 2026 17:51

ArjunNarendra marked this pull request as draft July 15, 2026 17:51

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of ArjunNarendra July 15, 2026 17:51 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jul 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/Service.GraphQLBuilder/Sql/SchemaConverter.cs

Comment thread src/Core/Resolvers/Sql Query Structures/BaseSqlQueryStructure.cs

Comment thread src/Service.GraphQLBuilder/GraphQLTypes/SupportedTypes.cs Outdated

ArjunNarendra added 3 commits July 15, 2026 13:32

Update tests to reflect modified error messages

a654dd5

Add special parsing when the parameter is a .NET DateTime type

877e3c2

Unignore DateTime GQL tests for PostgreSQL and fix SQL query generati…

c4f7fc4

…on for PostgreSQL etsts

ArjunNarendra marked this pull request as ready for review July 21, 2026 04:59

ArjunNarendra marked this pull request as draft July 21, 2026 05:00

ArjunNarendra mentioned this pull request Jul 21, 2026

Add support for parsing DateTime values #3250

Closed

2 tasks

ArjunNarendra marked this pull request as ready for review July 21, 2026 18:07

ArjunNarendra added the assign-for-review label Jul 21, 2026

github-actions Bot assigned Aniruddh25 Jul 21, 2026

github-actions Bot assigned souvikghosh04 Jul 21, 2026

github-actions Bot removed the assign-for-review label Jul 21, 2026

Aniruddh25 reviewed Jul 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/Core/Services/MetadataProviders/SqlMetadataProvider.cs Outdated

Aniruddh25 reviewed Jul 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

Aniruddh25 requested changes Jul 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

souvikghosh04 approved these changes Jul 24, 2026

View reviewed changes

ArjunNarendra added 5 commits July 24, 2026 09:34

Fix some typos in the test comments

375d496

Revert a change made to building a DirectiveNode which was unrelated …

592c839

…to this PR

Add the DATETIMEOFFSET_TYPE into the appropriate class and update the…

fb910af

… class summary comment

Change exception message for GetSourceDefinition method

f1b3c66

Remove redundant method call in MakeDbConnectionParam

8849556

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unattendedfaxmachine commented Jul 20, 2026

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ArjunNarendra commented Jul 15, 2026 •

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