Yes, you can directly insert, update, and delete data in your main table using BigQuery jobs, eliminating the need for a stage table. However, as you mentioned, there are some limitations to the number of DML operations that can be performed per table in a single job.
The limitation of 1,500 DML operations is not about the number of rows affected, but the number of DML statements executed against a table per day. This means that breaking your updates into batches of 1,500 rows will not help if you are executing each batch as a separate DML statement.
To work around this limitation, you can:
- Use a single DML statement to update multiple rows. For example, you could use a
WHERE
clause to filter the rows that you want to update.
- Split your DML operations into multiple jobs. For example, you could split your updates into batches of 1,500 rows and submit a separate job for each batch.
- Use streaming inserts for updates. Streaming inserts allow you to update data in BigQuery in real time, without having to wait for a job to complete. However, streaming inserts are not currently supported for deletes.
Example:
The following example shows how to use a single DML statement to update multiple rows:
UPDATE `my_dataset.my_table`
SET ip_address = REGEXP_REPLACE(ip_address, r\"(\\.[0-9]+)$\", \".0\")
WHERE country = 'US';
This statement will update the ip_address
column for all rows in the my_dataset.my_table
table where the country
column is equal to US
.
Another limitation to be aware of is the concurrent jobs quota. BigQuery limits the number of jobs that can be running concurrently per project. If you are executing many jobs in rapid succession, you might hit the concurrent jobs quota.
To avoid hitting the concurrent jobs quota, you can implement some form of rate limiting or check job completion status before submitting the next job.
It is also important to have robust error handling in place, especially when working with batch operations. If one batch fails, you need mechanisms to retry or handle that failure without affecting the entire dataset.
Each DML operation has associated costs. It is important to be aware of the costs when executing multiple DML operations, especially if they are affecting large datasets.
Directly inserting, updating, and deleting data in your main table using BigQuery jobs can be a good way to eliminate the need for a stage table. However, it is important to be aware of the limitations and costs associated with this approach.