Skip

SKIP controls the number of tuples to skip from the start of the query result. It is often used within an ORDER BY clause to skip the top k tuples from the query result. Note: SKIP accepts any expression that can be evaluated to an integer.

We will use the example database for demonstration, whose schema and data import commands are given here.

For example, the following query skips the 2 youngest users and returns the rest of the users’ ages. Query:

MATCH (u:User)
RETURN u.name
ORDER BY u.age
SKIP 2;

┌─────────┐
│ u.name  │
│ STRING  │
├─────────┤
│ Karissa │
│ Zhang   │
└─────────┘

If you omit the ORDER BY, you would skip some k tuples in a SKIP k query but there is no guarantee about which ones will be skipped.

The number of rows to skip can either be:

1. A parameter expression when used with prepared statement:

Prepare:

auto prepared = conn->prepare("MATCH (u:User) RETURN u.name skip $sp")

Execution:

The number of rows to skip can be given at the time of execution.

conn->execute(prepared.get(), std::make_pair(std::string{"sp"}, 2))

┌────────┐
│ u.name │
│ STRING │
├────────┤
│ Zhang  │
│ Noura  │
└────────┘

2. A literal expression which can be evaluated at compile time.

MATCH (u:User)
RETURN u.name
skip 2+1

┌────────┐
│ u.name │
│ STRING │
├────────┤
│ Noura  │
└────────┘