Queries and Filters ∞
Lasair attempts to blur the line between a select query and a streaming filter.
Select Query ∞
The select query can be initiated through the Lasair web, or by using the Lasair API;
it has a SELECT clause and a WHERE clause that are entered separately, the first being
what is reported back and the second the criteria. There is also a choice of which data sources
to choose from in addition to the object table.
If I choose my own watchlist in addition to the object table, and the SELECT clause is
objects.objectId, watchlist_hits.name, objects.glatmean
and there the WHERE clause is
glatmean > 20
ORDER BY glatmean
and I click ‘Run this Query’, then I get a list of objects that are coincident with
the given watchlist, together with the watchlist’s name, and the galactic latitude.
The WHERE clause has restricted the results by galactic latitude, and the results
come in order of galactic latitude.
Multiple Tables ∞
Lasair supports queries that join multiple tables, for example a watchlist of
your favourite sources, or the TNS list of known
supernovae and other transients. In this case, you are selecting ONLY those
objects that are ALSO in the chosen table. If you make a filter that selects
objectId and you also choose a watchlist, then your filter returns only alerts
coincident with the sources in the watchlist.
Streaming Filter ∞
The query-building page has a checkbox that changes a saved query to a filter, meaning that
whenever an incoming alert satisfies the criteria, a message is sent to the user of that
query. The message can be via email (with messages bundled into a 24-hour digest), or it
can be machine-readable by a Kafka stream. In this way, a user – or their machine – can be
alerted in near-real-time, withing minutes of the telescope taking the data. This message is
repeated whenever new data comes in; in the example above, a message would be generated every
time an alert coincides with the watchlist and has glatmean > 20.
However, the results of a streaming filter are not identical to running the same stored
query from web or API. As noted above, a given object can be reported multiple times when
the streaming filter is operating, but only once in the select query. The other difference
is that the ordering of results from a streaming filter will always be by time order, so the
ORDER BY part of the WHERE clause is ignored.
Cookbook ∞
For instructions on how to make a filter, see Make a Lasair Filter.