Your Search Query Is a Program: Composing Role-Based SQL With the Strategy Pattern
Every business application has this screen somewhere: a table of records, filter boxes above it, and a user who may only see part of the data. The first query is a SELECT with a WHERE on the user's office. Filters arrive one at a time, then a role that sees two offices, then an auditor who sees everything once approved. Eventually the query is a two-hundred-line method nobody wants to touch. Our…
Every business application contains a screen displaying records with filter boxes and user permissions. The initial SQL query starts with a SELECT, followed by a WHERE clause based on the user's office. Filters are added progressively, culminating in roles with varying levels of data visibility. Eventually, the query becomes a lengthy, hard-to-manage method that nobody wants to work on.
The key point is that this query was never just a string; it's application logic with a security boundary. Building it by appending text results in a testable and reviewable process, but it remains as code rather than text. The strategy pattern is employed twice: once to determine what a user can see and another to handle the user's request, neither of which constructs the entire query.
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