Documents
Overview
Document Structure
In Couchbase Lite the term 'document' refers to an entry in the database. You can compare it to a record, or a row in a table.
Each document has an ID or unique identifier. This ID is similar to a primary key in other databases.
You can specify the ID programmatically. If you omit it, it will be automatically generated as a UUID.
Couchbase documents are assigned to a Collection. The ID of a document must be unique within the Collection it is written to. You cannot change it after you have written the document. |
The document also has a value which contains the actual application data. This value is stored as a dictionary of key-value (k-v) pairs. The values can be made of up several different Data Types such as numbers, strings, arrays, and nested objects.
Data Encoding
The document body is stored in an internal, efficient, binary form called Fleece. This internal form can be easily converted into a manageable native dictionary format for manipulation in applications.
Fleece data is stored in the smallest format that will hold the value whilst maintaining the integrity of the value.
Fleece data encoding
When working with Android-Java, the Fleece encoding cycle can result in the Java type information being lost.
Therefore care should be taken with non-explicit functions such as toArray()
or toMap()
,
when storing and recovering data in a document,
or converting that document to JSON and back.
Always use explicit creation of the expected type, whenever the type of result is not itself explicit. For example:
-
Java
-
Kotlin
Document doc = collection.getDocument(someDoc.getId());
// force longVal to be type Long, even if it could be represented as an int.
long longVal = doc.getLong("test");
val doc = collection.getDocument (someDoc.id)
// force longVal to be type Long, even if it could be represented as an Int.
val longVal = doc?.getLong(("test"))
Similarly, interpreting data not stored as boolean
as a boolean value can give inconsistent results.
Data Types
The Document
class offers a set of property accessors for various scalar types, such as:
-
Boolean
-
Date
-
Double
-
Float
-
Int
-
Long
-
String
These accessors take care of converting to/from JSON encoding, and make sure you get the type you expect.
In addition to these basic data types Couchbase Lite provides for the following:
- Dictionary
-
represents a read-only key-value pair collection
- MutableDictionary
-
represents a writeable key-value pair collection
- Array
-
represents a readonly ordered collection of objects
- MutableArray
-
represents a writeable collection of objects
- Blob
-
represents an arbitrary piece of binary data
JSON
Couchbase Lite also provides for the direct handling of JSON data implemented in most cases by the provision of a toJSON()
method on appropriate API classes (for example, on MutableDocument, Dictionary, Blob and Array) — see Working with JSON Data.
Constructing a Document
An individual document often represents a single instance of an object in application code.
You can consider a document as the equivalent of a 'row' in a relational table, with each of the document’s attributes being equivalent to a 'column'.
Documents can contain nested structures. This allows developers to express many-to-many relationships without requiring a reference or join table, and is naturally expressive of hierarchical data.
Most apps will work with one or more documents, persisting them to a local database and optionally syncing them, either centrally or to the cloud.
In this section we provide an example of how you might create a hotel
document, which provides basic contact details and price data.
hotel: {
type: string (value = `hotel`)
name: string
address: dictionary {
street: string
city: string
state: string
country: string
code: string
}
phones: array
rate: float
}
Open a Database
First open your database. If the database does not already exist, Couchbase Lite will create it for you.
Couchbase documents are assigned to a Collection.
All the CRUD examples in this document operate on a collection
object (here, the Default Collection).
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// Initialize the Couchbase Lite system
CouchbaseLite.init(context)
// Get the database (and create it if it doesn’t exist).
val database = Database("getting-started")
val collection = database.getCollection("myCollection")
?: throw IllegalStateException("collection not found")
// Get the database (and create it if it doesn’t exist).
Database database = new Database("getting-started");
try (Collection collection = database.getCollection("myCollection")) {
if (collection == null) { throw new IllegalStateException("collection not found"); }
See Databases for more information
Create a Document
Now create a new document to hold your application’s data.
Use the mutable form, so that you can add data to the document.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// Create your new document
val mutableDoc = MutableDocument()
// Create your new document
MutableDocument mutableDoc = new MutableDocument();
For more on using Documents, see Document Initializers and Mutability.
Create a Dictionary
Now create a mutable dictionary (address
).
Each element of the dictionary value will be directly accessible via its own key.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// Create a new mutable dictionary and populate some keys/values
val address = MutableDictionary()
address.setString("street", "1 Main st.")
address.setString("city", "San Francisco")
address.setString("state", "CA")
address.setString("country", "USA")
address.setString("code", "90210")
// Create a new mutable dictionary and populate some keys/values
MutableDictionary address = new MutableDictionary();
address.setString("street", "1 Main st.");
address.setString("city", "San Francisco");
address.setString("state", "CA");
address.setString("country", "USA");
address.setString("code", "90210");
Learn more about Using Dictionaries.
Create an Array
Since the hotel may have multiple contact numbers, provide a field (phones
) as a mutable array.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// Create and populate mutable array
val phones = MutableArray()
phones.addString("650-000-0000")
phones.addString("650-000-0001")
// Create and populate mutable array
MutableArray phones = new MutableArray();
phones.addString("650-000-0000");
phones.addString("650-000-0001");
Learn more about Using Arrays
Populate a Document
Now add your data to the mutable document created earlier. Each data item is stored as a key-value pair.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// Initialize and populate the document
// Add document type to document properties (1)
mutableDoc.setString("type", "hotel")
// Add hotel name string to document properties (2)
mutableDoc.setString("name", "Hotel Java Mo")
// Add float to document properties (3)
mutableDoc.setFloat("room_rate", 121.75f)
// Add dictionary to document's properties (4)
mutableDoc.setDictionary("address", address)
// Add array to document's properties (5)
mutableDoc.setArray("phones", phones)
// Initialize and populate the document
// Add document type to document properties (1)
mutableDoc.setString("type", "hotel");
// Add hotel name string to document properties (2)
mutableDoc.setString("name", "Hotel Java Mo");
// Add float to document properties (3)
mutableDoc.setFloat("room_rate", 121.75F);
// Add dictionary to document's properties (4)
mutableDoc.setDictionary("address", address);
// Add array to document's properties (5)
mutableDoc.setArray("phones", phones);
Couchbase recommend using a type attribute to define each logical document type.
|
Working with Data
Checking a Document’s Properties
To check whether a given property exists in the document, use the `Document.Contains(String key) method.
If you try to access a property which doesn’t exist in the document, the call will return the default value for that getter method (0 for Document.getInt() 0.0 for Document.getFloat() etc.).
Fleece data encoding
Care should be taken when storing and recovering data in a document or converting that document to JSON and back. |
Date accessors
Couchbase Lite offers Date accessors as a convenience. Dates are a common data type, but JSON doesn’t natively support them, so the convention is to store them as strings in ISO-8601 format.
This example sets the date on the createdAt
property and reads it back using the Document.getDate() accessor method.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
doc.setValue("createdAt", Date())
val date = doc.getDate("createdAt")
newTask.setValue("createdAt", new Date());
Date date = newTask.getDate("createdAt");
Using Dictionaries
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// NOTE: No error handling, for brevity (see getting started)
val document = collection.getDocument("doc1")
// Getting a dictionary from the document's properties
val dict = document?.getDictionary("address")
// Access a value with a key from the dictionary
val street = dict?.getString("street")
// Iterate dictionary
dict?.forEach { println("${it} -> ${dict.getValue(it)}") }
// Create a mutable copy
val mutableDict = dict?.toMutable()
// NOTE: No error handling, for brevity (see getting started)
Document document = collection.getDocument("doc1");
if (document == null) { return; }
// Getting a dictionary from the document's properties
Dictionary dict = document.getDictionary("address");
if (dict == null) { return; }
// Access a value with a key from the dictionary
String street = dict.getString("street");
// Iterate dictionary
for (String key: dict.getKeys()) {
System.out.println("Key " + key + " = " + dict.getValue(key));
}
// Create a mutable copy
MutableDictionary mutableDict = dict.toMutable();
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// NOTE: No error handling, for brevity (see getting started)
// Create a new mutable dictionary and populate some keys/values
val mutableDict = MutableDictionary()
mutableDict.setString("street", "1 Main st.")
mutableDict.setString("city", "San Francisco")
// Add the dictionary to a document's properties and save the document
val mutableDoc = MutableDocument("doc1")
mutableDoc.setDictionary("address", mutableDict)
collection.save(mutableDoc)
// NOTE: No error handling, for brevity (see getting started)
// Create a new mutable dictionary and populate some keys/values
MutableDictionary mutableDict = new MutableDictionary();
mutableDict.setString("street", "1 Main st.");
mutableDict.setString("city", "San Francisco");
// Add the dictionary to a document's properties and save the document
MutableDocument mutableDoc = new MutableDocument("doc1");
mutableDoc.setDictionary("address", mutableDict);
collection.save(mutableDoc);
Using Arrays
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// NOTE: No error handling, for brevity (see getting started)
val document = collection.getDocument("doc1")
// Getting a phones array from the document's properties
val array = document?.getArray("phones")
// Get element count
val count = array?.count()
// Access an array element by index
val phone = array?.getString(1)
// Iterate array
array?.forEachIndexed { index, item -> println("Row ${index} = ${item}") }
// Create a mutable copy
val mutableArray = array?.toMutable()
// NOTE: No error handling, for brevity (see getting started)
Document document = collection.getDocument("doc1");
if (document == null) { return; }
// Getting a phones array from the document's properties
Array array = document.getArray("phones");
if (array == null) { return; }
// Get element count
int count = array.count();
// Access an array element by index
String phone = array.getString(1);
// Iterate array
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
System.out.println("Row " + i + " = " + array.getString(i));
}
// Create a mutable copy
MutableArray mutableArray = array.toMutable();
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// NOTE: No error handling, for brevity (see getting started)
// Create a new mutable array and populate data into the array
val mutableArray = MutableArray()
mutableArray.addString("650-000-0000")
mutableArray.addString("650-000-0001")
// Set the array to document's properties and save the document
val mutableDoc = MutableDocument("doc1")
mutableDoc.setArray("phones", mutableArray)
collection.save(mutableDoc)
// NOTE: No error handling, for brevity (see getting started)
// Create a new mutable array and populate data into the array
MutableArray mutableArray = new MutableArray();
mutableArray.addString("650-000-0000");
mutableArray.addString("650-000-0001");
// Set the array to document's properties and save the document
MutableDocument mutableDoc = new MutableDocument("doc1");
mutableDoc.setArray("phones", mutableArray);
collection.save(mutableDoc);
Using Blobs
For more on working with blobs, see Blobs
Document Initializers
You can use the following methods/initializers:
-
Use the MutableDocument() initializer to create a new document where the document ID is randomly generated by the database.
-
Use the MutableDocument(String id) initializer to create a new document with a specific ID.
-
Use the {url-api-method-collection-getdocument} method to get a document. If the document doesn’t exist in the collection, the method will return
null
. You can use this behavior to check if a document with a given ID already exists in the collection.
The following code example creates a document and persists it to the database.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
val doc = MutableDocument()
doc.let {
it.setString("type", "task")
it.setString("owner", "todo")
it.setDate("createdAt", Date())
}
collection.save(doc)
MutableDocument newTask = new MutableDocument();
newTask.setString("type", "task");
newTask.setString("owner", "todo");
newTask.setDate("createdAt", new Date());
collection.save(newTask);
Mutability
By default, a document is immutable when it is read from the database. Use the `Document.toMutable() to create an updatable instance of the document.
Changes to the document are persisted to the database when the save
method is called.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
collection.getDocument("xyz")?.toMutable()?.let {
it.setString("name", "apples")
collection.save(it)
}
MutableDocument mutableDocument = collection.getDocument("xyz").toMutable();
mutableDocument.setString("name", "apples");
collection.save(mutableDocument);
Any user change to the value of reserved keys (_id , _rev or _deleted ) will be detected when a document is saved and will result in an exception (Error Code 5 — CorruptRevisionData ) — see also Document Constraints.
|
Batch operations
If you’re making multiple changes to a database at once, it’s faster to group them together. The following example persists a few documents in batch.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
database.inBatch(UnitOfWork {
for (i in 0..9) {
val doc = MutableDocument()
doc.let {
it.setValue("type", "user")
it.setValue("name", "user $i")
it.setBoolean("admin", false)
}
log("saved user document: ${doc.getString("name")}")
}
})
database.inBatch(() -> {
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
MutableDocument doc = new MutableDocument();
doc.setValue("type", "user");
doc.setValue("name", "user " + i);
doc.setBoolean("admin", false);
collection.save(doc);
}
});
At the local level this operation is still transactional: no other Database
instances, including ones managed by the replicator can make changes during the execution of the block, and other instances will not see partial changes.
But Couchbase Mobile is a distributed system, and due to the way replication works, there’s no guarantee that Sync Gateway or other devices will receive your changes all at once.
Document change events
You can register for document changes.
The following example registers for changes to the document with ID user.john
and prints the verified_account
property when a change is detected.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
collection.addDocumentChangeListener("user.john") { change ->
collection.getDocument(change.documentID)?.let {
log("Status: ${it.getString("verified_account")}")
}
}
collection.addDocumentChangeListener(
"user.john",
change -> {
String docId = change.getDocumentID();
try {
Document doc = collection.getDocument(docId);
if (doc != null) {
Logger.log("Status: " + doc.getString("verified_account"));
}
}
catch (CouchbaseLiteException e) {
Logger.log("Failed getting doc : " + docId);
}
});
Using Kotlin Flows and LiveData
Kotlin users can also take advantage of Flows and LiveData to monitor for changes.
The following methods show how to watch for document changes in a given database or for changes to a specific document.
-
Database Changes
-
Document Changes
return collection.collectionChangeFlow(null)
.map { it.documentIDs }
.asLiveData()
return collection.documentChangeFlow("1001")
.mapNotNull { change ->
change.takeUnless {
collection.getDocument(it.documentID)?.getString("owner").equals(owner)
}
}
.asLiveData()
Document Expiration
Document expiration allows users to set the expiration date for a document. When the document expires, it is purged from the database. The purge is not replicated to Sync Gateway.
This example sets the TTL for a document to 1 day from the current time.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// Purge the document one day from now
collection.setDocumentExpiration(
"doc123",
Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24))
)
// Reset expiration
collection.setDocumentExpiration("doc1", null)
// Query documents that will be expired in less than five minutes
val query = QueryBuilder
.select(SelectResult.expression(Meta.id))
.from(DataSource.collection(collection))
.where(
Meta.expiration.lessThan(
Expression.longValue(System.currentTimeMillis() + (1000 * 60 * 5))
)
)
// Purge the document one day from now
Instant ttl = Instant.now().plus(1, ChronoUnit.DAYS);
collection.setDocumentExpiration("doc123", new Date(ttl.toEpochMilli()));
// Reset expiration
collection.setDocumentExpiration("doc1", null);
// Query documents that will be expired in less than five minutes
Instant fiveMinutesFromNow = Instant.now().plus(5, ChronoUnit.MINUTES);
Query query = QueryBuilder
.select(SelectResult.expression(Meta.id))
.from(DataSource.collection(collection))
.where(Meta.expiration.lessThan(Expression.doubleValue(fiveMinutesFromNow.toEpochMilli())));
You can set expiration for a whole Collection
Document Constraints
Couchbase Lite APIs do not explicitly disallow the use of attributes with the underscore prefix at the top level of document. This is to facilitate the creation of documents for use either in local only mode where documents are not synced, or when used exclusively in peer-to-peer sync.
"_id", :"_rev" and "_sequence" are reserved keywords and must not be used as top-level attributes — see Example 11. |
Users are cautioned that any attempt to sync such documents to Sync Gateway will result in an error. To be future proof, you are advised to avoid creating such documents. Use of these attributes for user-level data may result in undefined system behavior.
For more guidance — see: Sync Gateway - data modeling guidelines
Working with JSON Data
- In this section
-
Arrays | Blobs | Dictionaries | Documents | Query Results as JSON
The toJSON()
typed-accessor means you can easily work with JSON data, native and Couchbase Lite objects.
Arrays
Convert an ArrayObject
to and from JSON using the toJSON()
and toArray
methods — see Example 4.
Additionally you can:
-
Initialize a 'MutableArrayObject' using data supplied as a JSON string. This is done using the
init(json)
constructor — see: Example 4 -
Convert an
ArrayFragment
object to a JSON String -
Set data with a JSON string using
setJSON()
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// github tag=tojson-array
val mArray = MutableArray(JSON) (1)
for (i in 0 until mArray.count()) {
mArray.getDictionary(i)?.apply {
log(getString("name") ?: "unknown")
collection.save(MutableDocument(getString("id"), toMap()))
} (2)
}
collection.getDocument("1002")?.getArray("features")?.apply {
for (feature in toList()) {
log("$feature")
} (3)
log(toJSON())
} (4)
// github tag=tojson-array
final MutableArray mArray = new MutableArray(JSON); (1)
for (int i = 0; i < mArray.count(); i++) { (2)
final Dictionary dict = mArray.getDictionary(i);
Logger.log(dict.getString("name"));
collection.save(new MutableDocument(dict.getString("id"), dict.toMap()));
}
final Array features = collection.getDocument("1002").getArray("features");
for (Object feature: features.toList()) { Logger.log(feature.toString()); }
Logger.log(features.toJSON()); (3)
Blobs
Convert a Blob
to JSON using the toJSON
method — see Example 13.
You can use isBlob()
to check whether a given dictionary object is a blob or not — see Example 13.
Note that the blob object must first be saved to the database (generating the required metadata) before you can use the toJSON
method.
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// github tag=tojson-blob
val thisBlob = collection.getDocument("thisdoc-id")!!.toMap()
if (!Blob.isBlob(thisBlob)) {
return
}
val blobType = thisBlob["content_type"].toString()
val blobLength = thisBlob["length"] as Number?
// github tag=tojson-blob
final Map<String, ?> thisBlob = collection.getDocument("thisdoc-id").toMap();
if (!Blob.isBlob(thisBlob)) { return; }
final String blobType = thisBlob.get("content_type").toString();
final Number blobLength = (Number) thisBlob.get("length");
See also: Blobs
Dictionaries
Convert a DictionaryObject
to and from JSON using the toJSON
and toDictionary
methods — see Example 14.
Additionally you can:
-
Initialize a 'MutableDictionaryObject' using data supplied as a JSON string. This is done using the
init(json)
constructor-- see: Example 14 -
Set data with a JSON string using
setJSON()
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// github tag=tojson-dictionary
val mDict = MutableDictionary(JSON) (1)
log("$mDict")
log("Details for: ${mDict.getString("name")}")
mDict.keys.forEach { key ->
log(key + " => " + mDict.getValue(key))
}
// github tag=tojson-dictionary
final MutableDictionary mDict = new MutableDictionary(JSON); (1)
Logger.log(mDict.toString());
Logger.log("Details for: " + mDict.getString("name"));
for (String key: mDict.getKeys()) {
Logger.log(key + " => " + mDict.getValue(key));
}
Documents
Convert a Document
to and from JSON strings using the toJSON()
and setJSON()
methods — see Example 15.
Additionally you can:
-
Initialize a 'MutableDocument' using data supplied as a JSON string. This is done using the
init(json)
orinit(id: json:)
constructor — see: Example 15 -
Set data with a JSON string using
setJSON()
-
Kotlin
-
Java
QueryBuilder
.select(SelectResult.expression(Meta.id).`as`("metaId"))
.from(DataSource.collection(srcColl))
.execute()
.forEach {
it.getString("metaId")?.let { thisId ->
srcColl.getDocument(thisId)?.toJSON()?.let { json -> (1)
log("JSON String = $json")
val hotelFromJSON = MutableDocument(thisId, json) (2)
dstColl.save(hotelFromJSON)
dstColl.getDocument(thisId)?.toMap()?.forEach { e ->
log("$e.key => $e.value")
} (3)
}
}
}
// github tag=tojson-document
final Query listQuery = QueryBuilder
.select(SelectResult.expression(Meta.id).as("metaId"))
.from(DataSource.collection(srcColl));
try (ResultSet results = listQuery.execute()) {
for (Result row: results) {
final String thisId = row.getString("metaId");
final String json = srcColl.getDocument(thisId).toJSON(); (1)
Logger.log("JSON String = " + json);
final MutableDocument hotelFromJSON = new MutableDocument(thisId, json); (2)
dstColl.save(hotelFromJSON);
for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry: dstColl.getDocument(thisId).toMap().entrySet()) {
Logger.log(entry.getKey() + " => " + entry.getValue()); (3)
}
}
}
Query Results as JSON
Convert a Query Result
to JSON using its toJSON()
accessor method.
Use Result.toJSON() to transform your result string into a JSON string, which can easily be serialized or used as required in your application. See <
-
Kotlin
-
Java
// Uses Jackson JSON processor
val mapper = ObjectMapper()
val hotels = mutableListOf<Hotel>()
listQuery.execute().use { rs ->
rs.forEach {
// Get result as JSON string
val json = it.toJSON() (1)
// Get Hashmap from JSON string
val dictFromJSONstring = mapper.readValue(json, HashMap::class.java) (2)
// Use created hashmap
val hotelId = dictFromJSONstring["id"].toString() //
val hotelType = dictFromJSONstring["type"].toString()
val hotelname = dictFromJSONstring["name"].toString()
// Get custom object from JSON string
val thisHotel = mapper.readValue(json, Hotel::class.java) (3)
hotels.add(thisHotel)
}
}
// Uses Jackson JSON processor
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
List<Hotel> hotels = new ArrayList<>();
try (ResultSet rs = listQuery.execute()) {
for (Result result: rs) {
String json = result.toJSON();
Map<String, String> dictFromJSONstring = mapper.readValue(json, HashMap.class);
String hotelId = dictFromJSONstring.get("id");
String hotelType = dictFromJSONstring.get("type");
String hotelname = dictFromJSONstring.get("name");
// Get custom object from JSON string
Hotel thisHotel = mapper.readValue(json, Hotel.class);
hotels.add(thisHotel);
}
}
If your query selects ALL then the JSON format will be:
{
database-name: {
key1: "value1",
keyx: "valuex"
}
}
If your query selects a sub-set of available properties then the JSON format will be:
{
key1: "value1",
keyx: "valuex"
}