# DQL conditional upsert with nested query value variables
**URL:** https://discuss.dgraph.io/t/dql-conditional-upsert-with-nested-query-value-variables/14809
**Category:** Dgraph
**Tags:** mutation, kind:question
**Created:** [July 2, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://discuss.dgraph.io/t/dql-conditional-upsert-with-nested-query-value-variables/14809 "2021-07-02T16:43:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Thammada](https://discuss.dgraph.io/u/Thammada)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://discuss.dgraph.io/t/dql-conditional-upsert-with-nested-query-value-variables/14809/1 "2021-07-02T16:43:17Z")
## What I want to do
I want to use DQL mutation to update my data. The choice to use DQL is because I want to bypass @auth rules
I have the following simplified GraphQL Schema
```auto
type Payment { # @auth rules omitted for simplification
id: ID!
isSuccessful: Boolean
method: String
reference: PaymentExternal
}
union PaymentExternal = ExternalXCharge | ExternalYRecord
type ExternalXCharge {
id: String! @id
# other fields specific to XCharge
}
type ExternalYRecord {
id: String! @id
# other fields specific to YRecord
}
```
with the following sample data
```auto
{
"id": "0x8",
"isSuccessFul": null,
"method": "creditcard",
"reference": {
"id": "x_charge_id_12345"
}
}
```
When querying using DQL, I get the following output
```auto
{
"uid": "0x8",
"Payment.method": "creditcard",
"Payment.reference": {
"uid": "0x7",
"ExternalXCharge.id": "chrg_test_5odblz0450uyyjfo34z"
}
}
```
I would like to update isSuccessful for the Payment record `0x8` while also checking whether reference.id value is equal to “x\_charge\_id\_12345”
## What I did
Since I have a conditional update, I tried to use Conditional Upsert, using the following RDF syntax
```auto
upsert {
query {
p as payment(func: uid(0x8)) {
uid
Payment.method
Payment.reference {
chargeId as ExternalXCharge.id
}
}
}
mutation @if(eq(val(chargeId), "x_charge_id_12345")) {
set {
uid(p) "true" .
}
}
}
```
ISSUE
When I run the above request, no update occurred. The data has not been updated, when I tried to query using GraphQL and DQL syntax.
It seems chargeId is not set properly, when I tried removing `@if` and set the values to new test predicates as follows
```auto
upsert {
query {
p as payment(func: uid(0x8)) {
uid
m as Payment.method
Payment.reference {
chargeId as ExternalXCharge.id
}
}
}
mutation {
set {
uid(p) "true" .
uid(p) val(m) .
uid(p) val(chargeId) .
}
}
}
```
Only the value of `testMethod` is set.
However, both `val(m)` and `val(chargeId)` don’t seem to work with the `@if` condition
How do I update using the predicate `ExternalXCharge.id` on `Payment.reference` as a condition?
NOTE:
When the update is successful I got the following as part of the raw response
Is extensions.txn.preds supposed to be like that?
```auto
"preds":["1-\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000Payment.isSuccessful"]
```
PS: I’m using Postman to send requests
## Dgraph metadata
> **dgraph version**
>
> Dgraph version : v21.03.0
> Dgraph codename : rocket
> Dgraph SHA-256 : b4e4c77011e2938e9da197395dbce91d0c6ebb83d383b190f5b70201836a773f
> Commit SHA-1 : a77bbe8ae
> Commit timestamp : 2021-04-07 21:36:38 +0530
> Branch : HEAD
> Go version : go1.16.2
> jemalloc enabled : true
>
> For Dgraph official documentation, visit [Overview - Dgraph](https://dgraph.io/docs).
> For discussions about Dgraph , visit [http://discuss.hypermode.com](http://discuss.hypermode.com).
> For fully-managed Dgraph Cloud , visit [Overview - Dgraph](https://dgraph.io/cloud).
>
> Licensed variously under the Apache Public License 2.0 and Dgraph Community License.
> Copyright 2015-2021 Dgraph Labs, Inc.
---
### Author:  [@dmai](https://discuss.dgraph.io/u/dmai)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2021, 5:48am UTC](https://discuss.dgraph.io/t/dql-conditional-upsert-with-nested-query-value-variables/14809/2 "2021-07-03T05:48:58Z")
Dgraph’s `@if` upserts currently do not directly support string equals in the directive itself. You’ll want to do those matches in the query and then match against the `len()` of your query variable.
Something like this will work, essentially moving your conditional check into the query section:
```plaintext
upsert {
query {
p as payment(func: uid(0x2)) {
uid
Payment.method
Payment.isSuccessful
Payment.reference {
chargeId as ExternalXCharge.id
}
}
match as var(func: eq(val(chargeId), "x_charge_id_12345"))
}
mutation @if(eq(len(match), 1)) {
set {
uid(p) "true" .
}
}
}
```
* * *
> [@Thammada](#):
>
> When the update is successful I got the following as part of the raw response
> Is extensions.txn.preds supposed to be like that?
>
> ```auto
> "preds":["1-\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000Payment.isSuccessful"]
>
> ```
Yup, that’s expected. The encoding here accounts for the multi-tenancy namespace available in the enterprise version and Dgraph Cloud.
---
### Author:  [@Thammada](https://discuss.dgraph.io/u/Thammada)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://discuss.dgraph.io/t/dql-conditional-upsert-with-nested-query-value-variables/14809/3 "2021-07-03T16:16:33Z")
Wow, that works great. Thank you!
Could you explain this part? I wonder why only `` is set and `` is not
> [@Thammada](#):
>
> ```auto
> upsert {
> query {
> p as payment(func: uid(0x8)) {
> uid
> m as Payment.method
> Payment.reference {
> chargeId as ExternalXCharge.id
> }
> }
> }
> mutation {
> set {
> uid(p) "true" .
> uid(p) val(m) .
> uid(p) val(chargeId) .
> }
> }
> }
>
> ```
>
> Only the value of `testMethod` is set.
---
### Author:  [@amaster507](https://discuss.dgraph.io/u/amaster507)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://discuss.dgraph.io/t/dql-conditional-upsert-with-nested-query-value-variables/14809/4 "2021-07-03T16:42:51Z")
This will do it:
```auto
upsert {
query {
p as payment(func: uid(0x8)) {
uid
m as Payment.method
r as Payment.reference {
chargeId as ExternalXCharge.id
}
}
}
mutation {
set {
uid(p) "true" .
uid(p) val(m) .
uid(r) val(chargeId) .
}
}
}
```
The `val` is a special function in that it is not just returning a list of values but rather a list mapped to uids. So when the uid of the value is not found in the `p variable then the value gets ignored.
---
### Author:  [@BenW](https://discuss.dgraph.io/u/BenW)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://discuss.dgraph.io/t/dql-conditional-upsert-with-nested-query-value-variables/14809/5 "2022-08-30T22:58:38Z")
Solved another one of my problems, yet again lol. Thanks