SQL dialect
Databricks SQL Parser for Java and .NET
General SQL Parser (GSP) parses Databricks with a dedicated, hand-tuned grammar — full AST access, offline syntax validation, formatting, rewriting, and column-level data lineage . One commercial SDK, 38 dialects, Java and .NET.
Example
Databricks SQL that GSP parses
CONVERT TO DELTA parquet.`/data/events`;
OPTIMIZE events;
RESTORE TABLE events TO VERSION AS OF 8; Parse it in Java
import gudusoft.gsqlparser.*;
TGSqlParser parser = new TGSqlParser(EDbVendor.dbvdatabricks);
parser.sqltext = sql; // the Databricks SQL above
if (parser.parse() == 0) {
System.out.println(parser.sqlstatements.size() + " statement(s) parsed");
} else {
System.out.println(parser.getErrormessage());
} The .NET edition exposes the same API in C# — see the C# quick start.
Coverage
What GSP handles in Databricks
- CONVERT TO DELTA
- OPTIMIZE tables
- RESTORE TABLE (time travel)
- Unity Catalog DDL
- GROUP BY ALL
Beyond parsing, the same AST powers table/column extraction, validation, formatting, and column-level lineage for Databricks.
Actively maintained
Recent Databricks parser updates
- 2026-04-16 [Databricks] Accept bare time units in TIMESTAMPDIFF
- 2026-04-03 [Databricks] Add ODBC escape syntax support
- 2026-01-22 Add Databricks GROUP BY ALL HAVING clause support
Full history in the release notes.
Go deeper
Databricks resources
- Databricks syntax reference — dialect documentation
- Databricks keyword compatibility — every keyword, and whether it can be an identifier
- Java quick start — Maven/Gradle setup and first parse
- C# quick start — NuGet setup for .NET
Common questions
Do I need a Databricks database connection to validate SQL?
No. GSP validates Databricks syntax completely offline. You get error line and column positions, the offending token, and a hint — with no server, driver, or credentials involved.
How complete is the Databricks grammar?
GSP uses a dedicated hand-tuned grammar for Databricks — not a generic SQL grammar with flags. The parser recognizes 585 Databricks keywords and knows which 535 of them can also be used as identifiers, which is exactly the kind of edge case that breaks generic parsers.
Can I use the Databricks parser from C# / .NET?
Yes. The .NET edition (NuGet package gudusoft.gsqlparser, .NET Standard 2.0) exposes the same API surface as the Java edition, so every Databricks parsing feature on this page works in C# and VB.NET.
Can GSP extract column-level lineage from Databricks SQL?
Yes. The built-in DataFlowAnalyzer produces column-level lineage, impact analysis, and call graphs from Databricks scripts — it is the engine behind Gudu SQLFlow and the lineage integrations for DataHub and OpenMetadata.