sql-formatter-org · nene · Jun 21, 2026 · Jun 12, 2026
diff --git a/src/dialect.ts b/src/dialect.ts
@@ -34,15 +34,17 @@ export const createDialect = (options: DialectOptions): Dialect => {
 
 const dialectFromOptions = (dialectOptions: DialectOptions): Dialect => ({
   tokenizer: new Tokenizer(dialectOptions.tokenizerOptions, dialectOptions.name),
-  formatOptions: processDialectFormatOptions(dialectOptions.formatOptions),
+  formatOptions: processDialectFormatOptions(dialectOptions),
 });
 
-const processDialectFormatOptions = (
-  options: DialectFormatOptions
-): ProcessedDialectFormatOptions => ({
+const processDialectFormatOptions = ({
+  tokenizerOptions,
+  formatOptions: options,
+}: DialectOptions): ProcessedDialectFormatOptions => ({
   alwaysDenseOperators: options.alwaysDenseOperators || [],
   onelineClauses: Object.fromEntries(options.onelineClauses.map(name => [name, true])),
   tabularOnelineClauses: Object.fromEntries(
     (options.tabularOnelineClauses ?? options.onelineClauses).map(name => [name, true])
   ),
+  identifierDashes: Boolean(tokenizerOptions.identChars?.dashes),
 });
diff --git a/src/formatter/ExpressionFormatter.ts b/src/formatter/ExpressionFormatter.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ export interface ProcessedDialectFormatOptions {
   alwaysDenseOperators: string[];
   onelineClauses: Record<string, boolean>;
   tabularOnelineClauses: Record<string, boolean>;
+  // True when the dialect allows dashes inside identifiers (e.g. BigQuery).
+  // In such dialects the "-" operator must keep its surrounding spaces,
+  // otherwise "a - b" densed to "a-b" would re-parse as a single identifier.
+  identifierDashes: boolean;
 }
 
 /** Formats a generic SQL expression */
@@ -330,7 +334,12 @@ export default class ExpressionFormatter {
   }
 
   private formatOperator({ text }: OperatorNode) {
-    if (this.cfg.denseOperators || this.dialectCfg.alwaysDenseOperators.includes(text)) {
+    // In dialects that allow dashes inside identifiers (e.g. BigQuery) the "-"
+    // operator must keep its surrounding spaces. Densing "a - b" into "a-b"
+    // would otherwise re-parse as a single dashed identifier.
+    if (text === '-' && this.dialectCfg.identifierDashes) {
+      this.layout.add(text, WS.SPACE);
+    } else if (this.cfg.denseOperators || this.dialectCfg.alwaysDenseOperators.includes(text)) {
       this.layout.add(WS.NO_SPACE, text);
     } else if (text === ':') {
       this.layout.add(WS.NO_SPACE, text, WS.SPACE);

diff --git a/test/bigquery.test.ts b/test/bigquery.test.ts
@@ -58,7 +58,10 @@ describe('BigQueryFormatter', () => {
     'EXCEPT DISTINCT',
     'INTERSECT DISTINCT',
   ]);
-  supportsOperators(format, ['&', '|', '^', '~', '>>', '<<', '||', '=>'], { any: true });
+  supportsOperators(format, ['&', '|', '^', '~', '>>', '<<', '||', '=>'], {
+    any: true,
+    identifierDashes: true,
+  });
   supportsIsDistinctFrom(format);
   supportsParams(format, { positional: true, named: ['@'], quoted: ['@``'] });
   supportsWindow(format);
@@ -80,6 +83,19 @@ describe('BigQueryFormatter', () => {
     `);
   });
 
+  // Because dashes are allowed inside identifiers, densing the "-" operator
+  // would glue its operands into a single identifier ("a - b" -> "a-b"),
+  // changing the meaning of the query. So denseOperators must keep it spaced.
+  it('keeps spaces around the - operator in dense mode', () => {
+    expect(format('SELECT a - b, x - foo(y)\nFROM t', { denseOperators: true })).toBe(dedent`
+      SELECT
+        a - b,
+        x - foo (y)
+      FROM
+        t
+    `);
+  });
+
   it('supports @@variables', () => {
     expect(format('SELECT @@error.message, @@time_zone')).toBe(dedent`
       SELECT

diff --git a/test/features/operators.ts b/test/features/operators.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ import { FormatFn } from '../../src/sqlFormatter.js';
 type OperatorsConfig = {
   logicalOperators?: string[];
   any?: boolean;
+  // True for dialects that allow dashes inside identifiers (e.g. BigQuery),
+  // where the "-" operator must keep its surrounding spaces even in dense mode.
+  identifierDashes?: boolean;
 };
 
 export default function supportsOperators(
@@ -27,7 +30,13 @@ export default function supportsOperators(
 
   operators.forEach(op => {
     it(`supports ${op} operator in dense mode`, () => {
-      expect(format(`foo ${op} bar`, { denseOperators: true })).toBe(`foo${op}bar`);
+      // In dialects with dashed identifiers, "foo-bar" would re-parse as a
+      // single identifier, so the "-" operator keeps its surrounding spaces.
+      if (op === '-' && cfg.identifierDashes) {
+        expect(format(`foo ${op} bar`, { denseOperators: true })).toBe(`foo ${op} bar`);
+      } else {
+        expect(format(`foo ${op} bar`, { denseOperators: true })).toBe(`foo${op}bar`);
+      }
     });
   });