CODEWITHSUNDEEP
neo4jcyphermatchoption-type
dfd0226
dfd0226

Reputation: 331

How to write cypher statement to combine nodes when an OPTIONAL MATCH is null?

Background

Hi all, I am currently trying to write a cypher statement that allows me to find a set of paths on a map from a starting point. I want my search result to always return connecting streets within 5 nodes. Optionally, if there's a nearby hospital, I would like my search pattern to also indicate nearby hospitals.

Main Problem

Because there isn't always a nearby hospital to the current street, sometimes my optional match search pattern comes back as null. Here's the current cypher statement I'm using:

MATCH path=(a:Street {id: 123})-[:CONNECTED_TO*..5]-(b:Street)
OPTIONAL MATCH optionalPath=(b)-[:CONNECTED_TO]->(hospital:Hospital)
WHERE ALL (x IN nodes(path) WHERE (x:Street))
WITH DISTINCT nodes(path) + nodes(optionalPath) as n
UNWIND n as nodes
RETURN DISTINCT nodes;

However, this syntax only works if optionalPath contains nodes. If it doesn't, the statement nodes(path) + nodes(optionalPath) is an operation adding null and I get no records. This is true even the nodes(path) term does contain nodes.

What's the best way to get around this problem?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1026

Answers (2)

Tezra
Tezra

Reputation: 8833

It seems you don't really want the path, just all the street nodes within 5 steps, plus any connected hospitals. So I would simplify your query to just that, and then condense the 3 columns down to 1.

MATCH (a:Street {id: 123})-[:CONNECTED_TO*..5]-(b:Street)
OPTIONAL MATCH (b)-[:CONNECTED_TO]->(hospital:Hospital)
WITH collect(a) + collect(b) + collect(hospital) as n
UNWIND n as nodez
RETURN DISTINCT nodez;

If Streets can be indirectly connected (hospital in between), Than I'd adjust like this

MATCH (a:Street {id: 123})-[:CONNECTED_TO]-(b:Street)
WITH a as nodez, b as a
MATCH (a)-[:CONNECTED_TO]-(b:Street)
WITH nodez+collect(b) as nodez, b as a
MATCH (a)-[:CONNECTED_TO]-(b:Street)
WITH nodez+collect(b) as nodez, b as a
MATCH (a)-[:CONNECTED_TO]-(b:Street)
WITH nodez+collect(b) as nodez, b as a
MATCH (a)-[:CONNECTED_TO]-(b:Street)
WITH nodez+collect(b) as nodez, b as a
OPTIONAL MATCH (b)-[:CONNECTED_TO]->(hospital:Hospital)
WITH nodez + collect(hospital) as n
UNWIND n as nodez
RETURN DISTINCT nodez;

It's a bit more verbose, but just says exactly what you want (and also adds the start node to the hospital check list)

Upvotes: 0

cybersam
cybersam

Reputation: 67044

You can use COALESCE to replace a NULL with some other value. For example:

MATCH path=(:Street {id: 123})-[:CONNECTED_TO*..5]-(b:Street)
WHERE ALL (x IN nodes(path) WHERE x:Street)
OPTIONAL MATCH optionalPath=(b)-[:CONNECTED_TO]->(hospital:Hospital)
WITH nodes(path) + COALESCE(nodes(optionalPath), []) as n
UNWIND n as nodes
RETURN DISTINCT nodes;

I have also made a few other improvements:

  1. The WHERE clause was moved up right after the first MATCH. This eliminates the unwanted path values immediately. Your original query would get all path values (even unwanted ones) and always the perform the second MATCH query, and only eliminate unwanted paths afterwards. (But, it is actually not clear if you even need the WHERE clause at all; for example, if the CONNECTED_TO relationship is only used between Street nodes.)

  2. The DISTINCT in your WITH clause would have prevented duplicate n collections, but the collections internally could have had duplicate paths. This was probably not what you wanted.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions