Function literal

Marks an arbitrary scalar value (i.e. a string, number or boolean) as safe for being inlined directly into AQL queries when used in an aql template string, rather than being converted into a bind parameter.

Note: Nesting aql template strings is a much safer alternative for most use cases. This low-level helper function only exists to help with rare edge cases where a trusted AQL query fragment must be read from a string (e.g. when reading query fragments from JSON) and should only be used as a last resort.

Example

// BAD! DO NOT DO THIS!
const sortDirection = literal('ASC');

// GOOD! DO THIS INSTEAD!
const sortDirection = aql`ASC`;

Example

// BAD! DO NOT DO THIS!
const filterColor = literal('FILTER d.color == "green"');
const result = await db.query(aql`
  FOR d IN some-collection
  ${filterColor}
  RETURN d
`);

// GOOD! DO THIS INSTEAD!
const color = "green";
const filterColor = aql`FILTER d.color === ${color}`;
const result = await db.query(aql`
  FOR d IN some-collection
  ${filterColor}
  RETURN d
`);

Example

// WARNING: We explicitly trust the environment variable to be safe!
const filter = literal(process.env.FILTER_STATEMENT);
const users = await db.query(aql`
  FOR user IN users
  ${filter}
  RETURN user
`);