Difference between revisions of "Databases"

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This page is part of the [[Getting Started]] Section.
 
This page is part of the [[Getting Started]] Section.
  
In BaseX, a single database contains an arbitrary number of '''resources''',
+
In BaseX, a ''database'' is a pretty light-weight concept. It may contain one or more '''resources''', which are addressed by a unique database path. There is no explicit layer for collections: Instead, collections are implicitly created and deleted, and collections result from the existence of documents in specific paths.  
addressed by their unique database path. Since {{Version|7.0}}, resources can
 
either be '''XML documents''' or '''raw files''' (binaries). Sets of XML documents
 
are also called collections.
 
  
==Create/Drop Database==
+
As a single database is restricted to 2 billion XML nodes (see [[Statistics]]), but resources can easily be distributed across multiple database instances. Multiple databases can be addressed (queried, updated) by a single XQuery expression.
  
New databases can either be created in the GUI, on command line, or using any of our [[APIs]]. XML documents can be specified along with the create operation, which will be added to the database in a bulk operation:
+
Three different resource types exist:
  
* [[Startup#BaseX Standalone|Console]]: enter <code>basex -c "CREATE DB dbname /path/to/resources"</code>
+
{|class="wikitable"
* [[Startup#BaseX GUI|GUI]]: Go to ''Database'' ''New'', press ''Browse'' to choose an initial file or directory, and press ''OK''
+
|- valign="top"
 +
| '''Resource Type'''
 +
| '''Description'''
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
| XML Documents
 +
| The default resource type. The storage and index features are optimized for XML contents, or any other contents stored in an XML representation.
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
| Binary Data
 +
| Binary data: Raw data of any type, stored in its binary representation. See [[Binary Data]] for more information.
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
| XQuery Values
 +
| Results of XQuery expressions, stored in a binary representation for fast retrieval. All value types are supported, including maps and arrays, but excluding any other [[Higher-Order Functions#Function Items|function items]].
 +
|}
  
Various [[parsers]] can be chosen to influence the database creation, or to convert different formats to XML,
+
=Create Databases=
  
Existing databases can eventually be dropped again:
+
Databases can be created via [[Commands]], via [[XQuery]], in the [[GUI]], and with various [[Developing|APIs]]. If an initial input is specified with a create operation, some time can be saved, as the specified resources will be added to the database in a bulk operation:
  
* [[Startup#BaseX Standalone|Console]]: enter <code>basex -c "DROP DB dbname"</code>.
+
* [[Startup#BaseX Standalone|Command-Line]]: <code>CREATE DB documents /path/to/resources</code>: Add resources in the specified path to a database named {{Code|documents}}.
* [[Startup#BaseX GUI|GUI]]: Go to ''Database'' → ''Manage'' and choose the database to be dropped
+
* [[Startup#BaseX GUI|GUI]]: Go to ''Database'' → ''New'', press ''Browse…'' to choose an initial file or directory, and press ''OK''.
  
Valid database names may contain letters, numbers,
+
The database name is composed of a restricted set of characters (see [[Valid Names]]). Various [[Parsers]] can be selected to control the import process, or to convert data of different input type to XML.
underslashes and dashes (defined by the regular expression <code>[_-a-zA-Z0-9]+</code>).
 
  
==Manage Resources==
+
=Access Resources=
 +
 
 +
Stored resources and external documents can be accessed in different ways:
 +
 
 +
==XML Documents==
 +
 
 +
Various XQuery functions exist to access XML documents in databases:
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
!Function
 +
!Example
 +
!Description
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
|{{Function|Database|db:get}}
 +
|{{Code|db:get("db", "path/to/docs")}}
 +
|Returns all documents that are found in the database {{Code|db}} at the (optional) path {{Code|path/to/docs}}.
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
|<code>[http://www.xqueryfunctions.com/xq/fn_collection.html fn:collection]</code>
 +
|{{Code|collection("db/path/to/docs")}}
 +
|Returns all documents at the location {{Code|path/to/docs}} in the database {{Code|db}}.<br/>If no path is specified after the database, all documents in the database will be returned.<br/>If no argument is specified, all documents of the database will be returned that has been opened in the global context.
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
|<code>[http://www.xqueryfunctions.com/xq/fn_doc.html fn:doc]</code>
 +
|{{Code|doc("db/path/to/doc.xml")}}
 +
|Returns the document at the location {{Code|path/to/docs}} in the database {{Code|db}}.<br/>An error is raised if the specified yields zero or more than one document.
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
You can access multiple databases in a single query:
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
for $i in 1 to 100
 +
return db:get('books' || $i)//book/title
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
If the {{Option|DEFAULTDB}} option is turned on, the path argument of the {{Code|fn:doc}} or {{Code|fn:collection}} functions will first be resolved against the globally opened database.
 +
 
 +
Two more functions are available for retrieving information on database nodes:
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|-
 +
!Function
 +
!Example
 +
!Description
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
|{{Function|Database|db:name}}
 +
|{{Code|db:name($node)}}
 +
|Returns the name of the database in which the specified {{Code|$node}} is stored.
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
|{{Function|Database|db:path}}
 +
|{{Code|db:path($node)}}
 +
|Returns the path of the database document in which the specified {{Code|$node}} is stored.
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
The {{Code|fn:document-uri}} and {{Code|fn:base-uri}} functions return URIs that can also be reused as arguments for the {{Code|fn:doc}} and {{Code|fn:collection}} functions. As a result, the following example query always returns {{Code|true}}:
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
every $c in collection('anyDB')
 +
satisfies doc-available(document-uri($c))
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
If the argument of {{Code|fn:doc}} or {{Code|fn:collection}} does not start with a valid database name, or if the addressed database does not exist, the string is interpreted as URI reference, and the documents found at this location will be returned. Examples:
 +
 
 +
* {{Code|doc("http://web.de")}}: retrieves the addressed URI and returns it as a main-memory document node.
 +
* {{Code|doc("myfile.xml")}}: retrieves the given file from the file system and returns it as a main-memory document node. Note that updates to main-memory nodes are not automatically written back to disk unless the {{Option|WRITEBACK}} option is set.
 +
* {{Code|collection("/path/to/docs")}}: returns a main-memory collection with all XML documents found at the addressed file path.
 +
 
 +
==Binary Data==
 +
 
 +
The {{Command|BINARY GET}} command and the {{Function|Database|db:get-binary}} function can be used to return files in their native byte representation.
 +
 
 +
If the API you use does not support binary output (which is e.g. the case for various [[Clients|Client]] language bindings), you can convert your binary data to its string representation before returning it to the client:
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
string(db:get-binary('multimedia', 'sample.avi'))
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
==XQuery Values==
 +
 
 +
With {{Function|Database|db:get-value}}, XQuery values can be retrieved. In the following example, we assume that an XQuery map {{Code|cities}} was stored in an {{Code|indexes}} database:
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
let $city-map := db:get-value('indexes', 'cities')
 +
return $city-map?Chile
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
=Update Resources=
 +
 
 +
==Commands==
  
 
Once you have created a database, additional commands exist to modify its contents:
 
Once you have created a database, additional commands exist to modify its contents:
* XML documents can be added with the <code>[[Commands#ADD|ADD]]</code> command.
 
* Raw files are added with <code>[[Commands#STORE|STORE]]</code>.
 
* Resource can be replaced with other ones with the <code>[[Commands#REPLACE|REPLACE]]</code> command.
 
* Resources can be deleted via <code>[[Commands#DELETE|DELETE]]</code>.
 
  
The [[Options#AUTOFLUSH|AUTOFLUSH]] option can be turned off before ''bulk operations''
+
* XML documents can be added with the {{Command|PUT}} and {{Command|ADD}} commands.
(i.e. before a large number of new resources is added to the database).
+
* Binary data is stored with {{Command|BINARY PUT}}.
 +
* Resources of all types can be deleted via {{Command|DELETE}}.
 +
 
 +
{{Option|AUTOFLUSH}} can be turned off before ''bulk operations'' (i.e., before numerous new resources are added to the database).
 +
 
 +
If {{Option|ADDCACHE}} is enabled, the input will be cached before it is added to the database. This is helpful when the input documents are expected to consume too much main-memory.
 +
 
 +
With the following [[Commands#Command Scripts|command script]], an empty database is created, two resources are added (one directly, another one cached), and all data is exported to the file system:
  
The following commands create an empty database, add two resources, explicitly flush data
 
structures to disk, and finally delete all inserted data:
 
 
<pre>
 
<pre>
 
CREATE DB example
 
CREATE DB example
 
SET AUTOFLUSH false
 
SET AUTOFLUSH false
 
ADD example.xml
 
ADD example.xml
ADD ...
+
SET ADDCACHE true
STORE TO images/ 123.jpg
+
ADD /path/to/xml/documents
FLUSH
+
BINARY PUT TO images/ 123.jpg
DELETE /
+
EXPORT /path/to/file-system/
 
</pre>
 
</pre>
  
You may as well use the BaseX-specific [[Database Module|XQuery Database Functions]] to add, replace and delete XML documents:
+
==XQuery==
  
<pre class="brush:xquery">
+
You can also use functions from the [[Database Module]] to add, replace, or delete XML documents:
for $file in file:list("/path/to/xml/documents")
+
 
return db:add("database", $file)
+
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
db:add('documents', '/path/to/xml/resources/')
 
</pre>
 
</pre>
  
Last but not least, XML documents can also be added via the GUI and the ''Database'' menu.
+
Function from other modules, such as the [[File Module]], can be utilized to filter the input. With the following code, all files that contain numbers in the filename are selected, and stored as XML. If an input file contains no well-formed XML, it is stored as binary resource, and the error message is stored as a string value:
  
==Access Resources==
+
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
let $db := 'documents'
 +
let $root := '/path/to/resources/'
 +
for $path in file:list($root)
 +
where matches($path, '\d+')
 +
return try {
 +
  db:put($db, fetch:doc($root || $path), $path)
 +
} catch * {
 +
  db:put-binary($db, $root || $path, $path),
 +
  db:put-value($db, $err:description, $path || '.error')
 +
}
 +
</pre>
  
Stored resources and external documents can be accessed in different ways:
+
The error messages can e.g. be analyzed in a second step:
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
let $errors := db:get-value('documents')
 +
for $filename in map:keys($errors)
 +
where ends-with($filename, '.error')
 +
return $filename || ': ' || $errors?($filename)
 +
</pre>
  
====XML Documents====
+
=Export Database=
  
Various XQuery functions exist to access the XML documents in databases and other locations:
+
All resources stored in a database can be ''exported'', i.e., written back to disk, e.g., as follows:
  
* <code>db:open("dbname", "path/to/docs")</code>: (only) returns documents that are found in the specified database.
+
* Commands: {{Command|EXPORT}} writes all resources to the specified target directory.
* <code>collection("path/to/docs")</code>: returns the documents that are either found in the database specified in the argument, or at the specified location (file path or URL).
+
* GUI: Go to ''Database'' → ''Export'', choose the target directory and press ''OK''.
* <code>doc("path/to/document.xml")</code>: returns a single document found at the specified location (file path or URL). If a database already exists for the addressed resource, it is opened instead.
+
* XQuery: Use {{Function|Database|db:export}}.
 +
* WebDAV: Locate the database directory (or a subdirectory of it) and copy all contents to another location.
  
====Raw Files====
+
=Main-Memory Databases=
  
* XQuery: <code>db:retrieve("dbname", "path/to/docs")</code> returns raw files in their Base64 representation. By choosing <code>"method=raw"</code> as [[Serialization|Serialization Option]], the data is returned in its raw form:
+
A database can be created in main-memory by enabling the {{Option|MAINMEM}} option. Next, in the standalone context, a main-memory database can be created, which can then be accessed by subsequent commands.
  
<pre class="brush:xquery">
+
If a BaseX server is started, and if a database is created in its context at startup time, e.g., with the [[Command-Line Options|command-line option -c]] and a {{Command|CREATE DB}} call, BaseX clients can then access and update this database:
declare option output:method "raw";
 
db:retrieve('multimedia', 'sample.avi')
 
</pre>
 
  
* Commands: <code>[[Commands#RETRIEVE|RETRIEVE]]</code> returns raw files without modifications.
+
<pre lang="perl">
 +
# Server
 +
basexserver -c"SET mainmem on" -c"CREATE DB mainmem document.xml"
 +
BaseX [Server]
 +
Server was started (port: 1984).
 +
MAINMEM: true
 +
Database 'mainmem' created in 1782.80 ms.
  
====HTTP Services====
+
# Client
 +
basexclient
 +
Username: ...
 +
Password: ...
 +
BaseX [Client]
 +
Try 'help' to get more information.
 +
> XQUERY count(db:get('mainmem')//*)
 +
1876462
 +
Query executed in 0.97 ms.
 +
</pre>
  
* With [[REST]] and [[WebDAV]], all database resources can be requested in a uniform way, no matter if they are well-formed XML documents or binary files.
+
Additional notes:
 +
* You can force an ordinary database, or parts of it, to being temporarily copied to memory by applying an empty [[XQuery_Update#Main-Memory_Updates|main-memory update]] on a database node: <code>db:get('some-db') update { }</code>
 +
* If you open local or remote documents with <code>fn:doc</code> or <code>fn:collection</code>, the resulting internal representation is identical to those of main-memory database instances (regardless of which value is set for {{Option|MAINMEM}}).
  
==Export Data==
+
=Changelog=
  
All resources stored in a database can be ''exported'', i.e., written back to disk. This can be done in several ways:
+
;Version 10.0
 +
* Added: New resource type for XQuery values.
  
* Commands: <code>[[Commands#EXPORT|EXPORT]]</code> writes all resources to the  specified target directory
+
;Version 8.4
* GUI: Go to ''Database'' → ''Export'', choose the target directory and press ''OK''
+
* Updated: Items of binary type can be output without specifying the obsolete <code>raw</code> serialization method.
* WebDAV: Locate the database directory (or a sub-directory of it) and copy all contents to another location
 
  
[[Category:Beginner]]
+
;Version 7.2.1
 +
* Updated: {{Code|fn:document-uri}} and  {{Code|fn:base-uri}} now return strings that can be reused with {{Code|fn:doc}} or {{Code|fn:collection}} to reopen the original document.

Latest revision as of 17:39, 1 December 2023

This page is part of the Getting Started Section.

In BaseX, a database is a pretty light-weight concept. It may contain one or more resources, which are addressed by a unique database path. There is no explicit layer for collections: Instead, collections are implicitly created and deleted, and collections result from the existence of documents in specific paths.

As a single database is restricted to 2 billion XML nodes (see Statistics), but resources can easily be distributed across multiple database instances. Multiple databases can be addressed (queried, updated) by a single XQuery expression.

Three different resource types exist:

Resource Type Description
XML Documents The default resource type. The storage and index features are optimized for XML contents, or any other contents stored in an XML representation.
Binary Data Binary data: Raw data of any type, stored in its binary representation. See Binary Data for more information.
XQuery Values Results of XQuery expressions, stored in a binary representation for fast retrieval. All value types are supported, including maps and arrays, but excluding any other function items.

Create Databases[edit]

Databases can be created via Commands, via XQuery, in the GUI, and with various APIs. If an initial input is specified with a create operation, some time can be saved, as the specified resources will be added to the database in a bulk operation:

  • Command-Line: CREATE DB documents /path/to/resources: Add resources in the specified path to a database named documents.
  • GUI: Go to DatabaseNew, press Browse… to choose an initial file or directory, and press OK.

The database name is composed of a restricted set of characters (see Valid Names). Various Parsers can be selected to control the import process, or to convert data of different input type to XML.

Access Resources[edit]

Stored resources and external documents can be accessed in different ways:

XML Documents[edit]

Various XQuery functions exist to access XML documents in databases:

Function Example Description
db:get db:get("db", "path/to/docs") Returns all documents that are found in the database db at the (optional) path path/to/docs.
fn:collection collection("db/path/to/docs") Returns all documents at the location path/to/docs in the database db.
If no path is specified after the database, all documents in the database will be returned.
If no argument is specified, all documents of the database will be returned that has been opened in the global context.
fn:doc doc("db/path/to/doc.xml") Returns the document at the location path/to/docs in the database db.
An error is raised if the specified yields zero or more than one document.

You can access multiple databases in a single query:

for $i in 1 to 100
return db:get('books' || $i)//book/title

If the DEFAULTDB option is turned on, the path argument of the fn:doc or fn:collection functions will first be resolved against the globally opened database.

Two more functions are available for retrieving information on database nodes:

Function Example Description
db:name db:name($node) Returns the name of the database in which the specified $node is stored.
db:path db:path($node) Returns the path of the database document in which the specified $node is stored.

The fn:document-uri and fn:base-uri functions return URIs that can also be reused as arguments for the fn:doc and fn:collection functions. As a result, the following example query always returns true:

every $c in collection('anyDB')
satisfies doc-available(document-uri($c))

If the argument of fn:doc or fn:collection does not start with a valid database name, or if the addressed database does not exist, the string is interpreted as URI reference, and the documents found at this location will be returned. Examples:

  • doc("http://web.de"): retrieves the addressed URI and returns it as a main-memory document node.
  • doc("myfile.xml"): retrieves the given file from the file system and returns it as a main-memory document node. Note that updates to main-memory nodes are not automatically written back to disk unless the WRITEBACK option is set.
  • collection("/path/to/docs"): returns a main-memory collection with all XML documents found at the addressed file path.

Binary Data[edit]

The BINARY GET command and the db:get-binary function can be used to return files in their native byte representation.

If the API you use does not support binary output (which is e.g. the case for various Client language bindings), you can convert your binary data to its string representation before returning it to the client:

string(db:get-binary('multimedia', 'sample.avi'))

XQuery Values[edit]

With db:get-value, XQuery values can be retrieved. In the following example, we assume that an XQuery map cities was stored in an indexes database:

let $city-map := db:get-value('indexes', 'cities')
return $city-map?Chile

Update Resources[edit]

Commands[edit]

Once you have created a database, additional commands exist to modify its contents:

  • XML documents can be added with the PUT and ADD commands.
  • Binary data is stored with BINARY PUT.
  • Resources of all types can be deleted via DELETE.

AUTOFLUSH can be turned off before bulk operations (i.e., before numerous new resources are added to the database).

If ADDCACHE is enabled, the input will be cached before it is added to the database. This is helpful when the input documents are expected to consume too much main-memory.

With the following command script, an empty database is created, two resources are added (one directly, another one cached), and all data is exported to the file system:

CREATE DB example
SET AUTOFLUSH false
ADD example.xml
SET ADDCACHE true
ADD /path/to/xml/documents
BINARY PUT TO images/ 123.jpg
EXPORT /path/to/file-system/

XQuery[edit]

You can also use functions from the Database Module to add, replace, or delete XML documents:

db:add('documents', '/path/to/xml/resources/')

Function from other modules, such as the File Module, can be utilized to filter the input. With the following code, all files that contain numbers in the filename are selected, and stored as XML. If an input file contains no well-formed XML, it is stored as binary resource, and the error message is stored as a string value:

let $db := 'documents'
let $root := '/path/to/resources/'
for $path in file:list($root)
where matches($path, '\d+')
return try {
  db:put($db, fetch:doc($root || $path), $path)
} catch * {
  db:put-binary($db, $root || $path, $path),
  db:put-value($db, $err:description, $path || '.error')
}

The error messages can e.g. be analyzed in a second step:

let $errors := db:get-value('documents')
for $filename in map:keys($errors)
where ends-with($filename, '.error')
return $filename || ': ' || $errors?($filename)

Export Database[edit]

All resources stored in a database can be exported, i.e., written back to disk, e.g., as follows:

  • Commands: EXPORT writes all resources to the specified target directory.
  • GUI: Go to DatabaseExport, choose the target directory and press OK.
  • XQuery: Use db:export.
  • WebDAV: Locate the database directory (or a subdirectory of it) and copy all contents to another location.

Main-Memory Databases[edit]

A database can be created in main-memory by enabling the MAINMEM option. Next, in the standalone context, a main-memory database can be created, which can then be accessed by subsequent commands.

If a BaseX server is started, and if a database is created in its context at startup time, e.g., with the command-line option -c and a CREATE DB call, BaseX clients can then access and update this database:

# Server
basexserver -c"SET mainmem on" -c"CREATE DB mainmem document.xml"
BaseX [Server]
Server was started (port: 1984).
MAINMEM: true
Database 'mainmem' created in 1782.80 ms.

# Client
basexclient
Username: ...
Password: ...
BaseX [Client]
Try 'help' to get more information.
> XQUERY count(db:get('mainmem')//*)
1876462
Query executed in 0.97 ms.

Additional notes:

  • You can force an ordinary database, or parts of it, to being temporarily copied to memory by applying an empty main-memory update on a database node: db:get('some-db') update { }
  • If you open local or remote documents with fn:doc or fn:collection, the resulting internal representation is identical to those of main-memory database instances (regardless of which value is set for MAINMEM).

Changelog[edit]

Version 10.0
  • Added: New resource type for XQuery values.
Version 8.4
  • Updated: Items of binary type can be output without specifying the obsolete raw serialization method.
Version 7.2.1
  • Updated: fn:document-uri and fn:base-uri now return strings that can be reused with fn:doc or fn:collection to reopen the original document.