# LOAD PARQUET clause

The `LOAD PARQUET` clause enables you to load and use data from a PARQUET file of your
choosing in a row-based manner within a query.
The syntax of the clause is:

```cypher
LOAD PARQUET FROM <parquet-location> ( WITH CONFIG configs=configMap ) ? AS <variable-name>
```

* `<parquet-location>` is a string that specifies where the Parquet file is
  located.

  If the path **does not** start with `s3://`, it is treated as a local file
  path. If it **does** start with `s3://`, Memgraph retrieves the file from the
  S3-compatible storage using the provided URI. There are no restrictions on the
  file’s location within your local file system, as long as the path is valid
  and the file exists. If you are using Docker to run Memgraph, you will need to
  [copy the files from your local directory into
  Docker](https://memgraph.com/docs/getting-started/first-steps-with-docker#copy-files-to-a-docker-container)
  container where Memgraph can access them. 

* `<configs>` Represents an optional configuration map through which you can
  specify configuration options: `aws_region`, `aws_access_key`,
  `aws_secret_key` and `aws_endpoint_url`.
  - `<aws_region>`: The region in which your S3 service is being located
  - `<aws_access_key>`: Access key used to connect to S3 service
  - `<aws_secret_key>`: Secret key used to connect S3 service
  - `<aws_endpoint_url`>: Optional configuration parameter. Can be used to set
    the URL of the S3 compatible storage.
- `<variable-name>` is a symbolic name representing the variable to which the
  contents of the parsed row will be bound to, enabling access to the row
  contents later in the query. The variable doesn't have to be used in any
  subsequent clause.

The clause reads row by row from a PARQUET file and binds the contents of the parsed
row to the variable you specified.

Adding a `MATCH` or `MERGE` clause before the LOAD PARQUET allows you to match
certain entities in the graph before running LOAD PARQUET, which is an optimization
as matched entities do not need to be searched for every row in the PARQUET file.

But, the `MATCH` or `MERGE` clause can be used prior the `LOAD PARQUET` clause only
if the clause returns only one row. Returning multiple rows before calling the
`LOAD PARQUET` clause will cause a Memgraph runtime error.

> **Info**
>
> **Type handling:** 

>   The parser reads each value using its native Parquet type, so you should
>   receive the same data type inside Memgraph. The following types are supported:
>   **BOOL, INT8, INT16, INT32, INT64, UINT8, UINT16, UINT32, UINT64, HALF_FLOAT,
>   FLOAT, DOUBLE, STRING, LARGE_STRING, STRING_VIEW, DATE32, DATE64, TIME32,
>   TIME64, TIMESTAMP, DURATION, DECIMAL128, DECIMAL256, BINARY, LARGE_BINARY,
>   FIXED_SIZE_BINARY, LIST, MAP.** 

>   Any unsupported types are automatically stored as strings. Note that
>   `UINT64_T` values are cast to `INT64_T` because Memgraph does not support
>   unsigned 64-bit integers, and the Cypher standard only defines 64-bit signed
>   integers.