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Alignment — Comprehensive

AS alignment, THEN alignment, SET = alignment, operator chains, and their interactions.

AS alignment — longest expression gets no extra padding​

The longest expression (count(order_id)) gets just one space before AS. Shorter expressions pad to match.

select customer_id as cust, count(order_id) as order_count, sum(total) as total_spent from orders
select
    customer_id     as cust,
    count(order_id) as order_count,
    sum(total)      as total_spent
from orders

AS alignment — items without AS don't participate​

Items without explicit AS aliases render normally. Only items with AS are padded.

select customer_id as cust, total_amount, name as n from t
select
    customer_id as cust,
    total_amount,
    name        as n
from t

THEN alignment — varying condition widths​

Longest condition gets no extra padding. Shorter conditions pad so THEN aligns.

select case when status = 'active' then 'A' when status = 'pending_review' then 'P' when s = 1 then 'X' end from t
select
    case
        when status = 'active'         then 'A'
        when status = 'pending_review' then 'P'
        when s = 1                     then 'X'
    end
from t

THEN alignment — equal-width conditions get no extra padding​

When all conditions are the same width, no padding is added.

select case when a = 1 then 'x' when b = 2 then 'y' when c = 3 then 'z' end from t
select
    case
        when a = 1 then 'x'
        when b = 2 then 'y'
        when c = 3 then 'z'
    end
from t

THEN alignment — skipped when it would exceed maxLineWidth​

When THEN alignment would push a line beyond maxLineWidth, alignment is skipped. The THEN stays on the same line — it does NOT break to a new line.

select case when very_long_column_name = 'very_long_value' then 'result_a' when x = 1 then 'result_b' end from t
select
    case
        when very_long_column_name = 'very_long_value' then 'result_a'
        when x = 1 then 'result_b'
    end
from t

SET = alignment — longest target gets no extra padding​

update t set first_name = 'John', last_name = 'Doe', email_address = 'john@example.com' where id = 1
update
    t
    set
        first_name    = 'John',
        last_name     = 'Doe',
        email_address = 'john@example.com'
where id = 1

Multiple tokens — AS and THEN simultaneously​

Both AS and THEN active at the same time. THEN aligns within CASE scope. AS aligns within SELECT scope. No extra space between END and AS.

select case when status = 'active' then 'A' when status = 'pending_review' then 'P' end as status_code, name as n from t
select
    case
        when status = 'active'         then 'A'
        when status = 'pending_review' then 'P'
    end as status_code,
    name as n
from t

Multiple tokens — AS and = simultaneously​

UPDATE with short body stays inline — no alignment fires because items don't break to separate lines.

update t set short = 1, very_long_name = 2 where id = 1
update t set short = 1, very_long_name = 2 where id = 1

WHERE = alignment across AND conditions​

WHERE fits on one line, so no breaking occurs and = alignment doesn't fire. Alignment only works when items are on separate lines.

select * from t where status = 'active' and priority = 5 and region = 'US'
select *
from t
where status = 'active' and priority = 5 and region = 'US'

WHERE = alignment — actually breaks (narrow width)​

With narrow width, WHERE conditions break to separate lines and = alignment fires. The alignment accounts for keyword width: WHERE body starts after 0 chars, AND body starts after "AND " (4 chars). So the dry-run column positions differ.

select * from t where status = 'active' and priority = 5 and region = 'US'
select *
from t
where
    status   = 'active'
    and priority = 5
    and region = 'US'

Concat operator chain — short stays flat​

select first_name || ' ' || last_name from employees
select first_name || ' ' || last_name from employees

Concat chain — breaks with leading operators​

Nested Concat AST is flattened into OpChain. Each || operator leads a new indented line.

select first_name || ' ' || middle_name || ' ' || last_name || ' (' || department || ')' as display_name from employees
select
    first_name
        || ' '
        || middle_name
        || ' '
        || last_name
        || ' ('
        || department
        || ')' as display_name
from employees

Arithmetic chain — short stays flat​

select base_price + tax_amount + shipping_fee - discount as total from orders
select base_price + tax_amount + shipping_fee - discount as total from orders

Arithmetic chain — breaks with leading operators​

TermExpr(first, rest) is flattened into OpChain. Operators lead new indented lines.

select base_price + tax_amount + shipping_fee - discount - returns_amount as total from orders
select
    base_price + tax_amount + shipping_fee
        - discount
        - returns_amount as total
from orders

CASE with ELSE — ELSE value aligned with THEN values​

When THEN alignment is active, ELSE value is padded to start at the same column as THEN values.

select case when status = 'active' then 'A' when status = 'pending_review' then 'P' when s = 1 then 'X' else 'Unknown' end from t
select
    case
        when status = 'active'         then 'A'
        when status = 'pending_review' then 'P'
        when s = 1                     then 'X'
        else                                'Unknown'
    end
from t

Alignment disabled — no padding​

select customer_id as cust, count(order_id) as order_count, sum(total) as total_spent from orders
select
    customer_id as cust,
    count(order_id) as order_count,
    sum(total) as total_spent
from orders

Single item — no alignment needed (needs 2+ siblings)​

select count(*) as cnt from t
select count(*) as cnt from t