sql-execute refactor

api/src/org/labkey/api/data/DataColumn.java

@@ -191,6 +191,12 @@ protected ColumnInfo getDisplayField(@NotNull ColumnInfo col, boolean withLookup
         return null==display ? col : display;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public void setWithLookup(boolean withLookup)
+    {
+        _displayColumn = withLookup ? getDisplayField(_boundColumn, true) : _boundColumn;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public String toString()
     {

api/src/org/labkey/api/data/DisplayColumn.java

@@ -1232,6 +1232,11 @@ public void setRequiresHtmlFiltering(boolean requiresHtmlFiltering)
         _requiresHtmlFiltering = requiresHtmlFiltering;
     }
 
+    public void setWithLookup(boolean withLookup)
+    {
+        // subclasses override as needed
+    }
+
     public void setLinkTarget(String linkTarget)
     {
         _linkTarget = linkTarget;

api/src/org/labkey/api/util/PageFlowUtil.java

@@ -2676,6 +2676,16 @@ private static boolean shouldEscapeForExport(@NotNull String value)
         return StringUtils.containsAny(value,",\"");
     }
 
+    /// Generate one row of tab-delimited output using RFC 4180 quoting rules.
+    /// Fields containing tabs, newlines, or double quotes are enclosed in double quotes,
+    /// with embedded double quotes escaped by doubling.
+    public static String joinValuesWithTabs4180(@NotNull List<String> values)
+    {
+        return values.stream()
+                .map(value -> null == value ? "" : StringUtils.containsAny(value, "\t\n\r\"") ? "\"" + Strings.CS.replace(value, "\"", "\"\"") + "\"" : value)
+                .collect(Collectors.joining("\t"));
+    }
+
 
     /**
      * Issue 52925: App export to csv/tsv ignores filter with column containing double quote

query/src/org/labkey/query/QueryModule.java

@@ -397,7 +397,8 @@ public Set<String> getSchemaNames()
             RolapReader.RolapTest.class,
             RolapTestCase.class,
             SelectRowsStreamHack.TestCase.class,
-            ServerManager.TestCase.class
+            ServerManager.TestCase.class,
+            SqlController.TestCase.class
         );
     }
 

query/src/org/labkey/query/controllers/LabKeySql.md

@@ -336,4 +336,18 @@ When writing LabKey SQL queries that work with JSON columns:
 3. **Use `jsonb_extract_path_text()` for nested field access** — this is often the clearest way to extract a deeply nested text value: `jsonb_extract_path_text(col, 'level1', 'level2', 'field')`.
 4. **Use `jsonb_build_object()` to construct JSON** — for building JSON from column values: `jsonb_build_object('id', rowid, 'name', label)`.
 5. **Check database type first** — these functions only work on PostgreSQL. If the target server may use MS SQL Server, do not use them.
-6. **The `validateSQL` MCP tool can verify syntax** — use it to check JSON function calls before the user saves a query.
+6. **The `validateSQL` MCP tool can verify syntax** — use it to check JSON function calls before the user saves a query.
+
+-----
+
+### **Fetching Live Data for LLM Inspection**
+
+The `sql-execute.view` endpoint is for **the LLM to inspect live data while generating code** — do not emit it in generated Python, R, or other scripts (use the `labkey` client API there instead). Always include `LIMIT` to avoid fetching excess rows.
+Unlike the LabKey client APIs (`selectRows`, `executeSql`), this endpoint does not automatically resolve lookups to display values — it returns exactly what the SQL selects. Use LabKey SQL's dot-notation to traverse lookups explicitly when you need a human-readable value. For example, `SELECT CreatedBy FROM lists.MyList` returns a raw integer user ID; `SELECT CreatedBy.DisplayName FROM lists.MyList` returns the display name.
+
+```bash
+curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <APIKEY>" \
+  "https://<server>/<containerPath>/sql-execute.view?schemaName=<schema>&sql=SELECT+...+LIMIT+20&format=tsv"
+```
+
+The response is RFC 4180 TSV: a header row of column names followed by one data row per result. Values are rendered via `DisplayColumn.getTsvFormattedValue()` — dates as ISO-8601, multi-value columns correctly serialized.