Overview

The FILTER statement allows you to filter out records in the current working table that do not satisfy the specified conditions. It typically references columns in the working table.

<filter statement> ::= "FILTER" [ "WHERE" ] <search condition>

The FILTER and FILTER WHERE behave the same way. The use of WHERE in this context is often a matter of style or readability. For example:

MATCH (n:User)
FILTER n.age > 25
RETURN n

is functionally identical to:

MATCH (n:User)
FILTER WHERE n.age > 25
RETURN n

In both cases, the FILTER statement will return only those nodes where the user's age is greater than 25.

FILTER vs. MATCH WHERE

The FILTER statement and the WHERE clause used in the MATCH statement are both used to apply conditions in queries, but they differ in when and how they are evaluated.

The WHERE clause can only be used as part of the MATCH statement and is evaluated as part of the graph pattern process.

MATCH (n:User)
WHERE n.age > 25
RETURN n

The FILTER statement is evaluated after the previous statements has been executed. It takes the results from the preceding statement and applies an additional condition to filter these results.

MATCH (n:User)
FILTER n.age > 25
RETURN n

Example Graph

The following examples run against this graph:

To create this graph, run the following query against an empty graph:

INSERT (rowlock:User {_id: 'U01', name: 'rowlock'}),
       (brainy:User {_id: 'U02', name: 'Brainy'}),
       (purplechalk:User {_id: 'U03', name: 'purplechalk'}),
       (mochaeach:User {_id: 'U04', name: 'mochaeach'}),
       (lionbower:User {_id: 'U05', name: 'lionbower'}),
       (c01:Club {_id: 'C01', since: 2005}),
       (c02:Club {_id: 'C02', since: 2005}),
       (rowlock)-[:Follows {createdOn: '2024-1-5'}]->(brainy),
       (mochaeach)-[:Follows {createdOn: '2024-2-10'}]->(brainy),
       (brainy)-[:Follows {createdOn: '2024-2-1'}]->(purplechalk),
       (lionbower)-[:Follows {createdOn: '2024-5-3'}]->(purplechalk),
       (brainy)-[:Joins {memberNo: 1}]->(c01),
       (lionbower)-[:Joins {memberNo: 2}]->(c01),
       (mochaeach)-[:Joins {memberNo: 9}]->(c02)

Simple Filtering

MATCH (c:Club)
FILTER c._id = "C01"
RETURN c

Result: c

Filtering with Cartesian Product

This query returns users who follow Brainy and are also members of C02:

MATCH (u1:User)-[:Follows]->(:User {name: "Brainy"})
MATCH (u2:User)-({_id: "C02"})
FILTER u1 = u2
RETURN u1

Result: u1

Note that the Cartesian product is formed between u1 and u2, which are produced by different MATCH statements, before the FILTER statement is applied to perform the filtering.