Object Relational Mapping
Install
npm install orm
DBMS Support
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- Amazon Redshift
- SQLite
Features
- Create Models, sync, drop, bulk create, get, find, remove, count, aggregated functions
- Create Model associations, find, check, create and remove
- Define custom validations (several builtin validations, check instance properties before saving)
- Model instance caching and integrity (table rows fetched twice are the same object, changes to one change all)
- Plugins: MySQL FTS
Introduction
This is a node.js object relational mapping module.
An example:
var orm = require("orm");
orm.connect("mysql://username:password@host/database", function (err, db) {
if (err) throw err;
var Person = db.define("person", {
name : String,
surname : String,
age : Number,
male : Boolean,
continent : [ "Europe", "America", "Asia", "Africa", "Australia", "Antartica" ],
photo : Buffer,
data : Object
}, {
methods: {
fullName: function () {
return this.name + ' ' + this.surname;
}
},
validations: {
age: orm.validators.rangeNumber(18, undefined, "under-age")
}
});
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }, function (err, people) {
console.log("People found: %d", people.length);
console.log("First person: %s, age %d", people[0].fullName(), people[0].age);
people[0].age = 16;
people[0].save(function (err) {
});
});
});
Express
If you're using Express, you might want to use the simple middleware to integrate more easily.
var express = require('express');
var orm = require('orm');
var app = express();
app.use(orm.express("mysql://username:password@host/database", {
define: function (db, models) {
models.person = db.define("person", { ... });
}
}));
app.listen(80);
app.get("/", function (req, res) {
req.models.person.find(...);
});
You can call orm.express
more than once to have multiple database connections. Models defined across connections
will be joined together in req.models
. Don't forget to use it before app.use(app.router)
, preferably right after your
assets public folder(s).
Settings
Settings are used to store key value pairs. A settings object is stored on the global orm object and on each database connection.
var orm = require("orm");
orm.settings.set("some.deep.value", 123);
orm.connect("....", function (err, db) {
console.log(db.settings.get("some.deep.value"));
console.log(db.settings.get("some.deep"));
});
Connecting
You can pass in connection options either as a string:
var orm = require("orm");
orm.connect("mysql://username:password@host/database?pool=true", function (err, db) {...}
Or as an object:
var opts = {
database : "dbname",
protocol : "[mysql|postgres|redshift|sqlite]",
host : "127.0.0.1",
port : 3306,
username : "..",
password : "..",
query : {
pool : true|false
debug : true|false
}
};
orm.connect(opts, function (err, db) {...}
pool
is only supported by mysql & postgres.
Models
A Model is an abstraction over one or more database tables. Models support associations (more below). The name of the model is assumed to match the table name.
Models support behaviours for accessing and manipulating table data.
Defining Models
Call define
on the database connection to setup a model. The name of the table and model is used as an identifier for the model on the database connection, so you can easily access the model later using the connection.
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String,
surname : { type: "text", size: 50 }
}, {
});
Properties
Types
Available native object types are:
String, Number, Boolean, Date, Object, Buffer
If defining properties using the latter object syntax, the types are:
text, number, boolean, date, enum, object, binary
Options
[all types]
required
: true marks the column as NOT NULL
, false (default)defaultValue
: sets the default value for the field
string
size
: max length of the string
number
rational
: true (default) creates a FLOAT/REAL, false an INTEGER
date
time
: true (default) creates a DATETIME/TIMESTAMP, false a DATE
Note that these may vary accross drivers.
Loading Models
Models can be in separate modules. Simply ensure that the module holding the models uses module.exports to publish a function that accepts the database connection, then load your models however you like.
Note - using this technique you can have cascading loads.
db.load("./models", function (err) {
var Person = db.models.person;
var Pet = db.models.pet;
});
module.exports = function (db, cb) {
db.load("./models-extra", function (err) {
if (err) {
return cb(err);
}
db.define('person', {
name : String
});
return cb();
});
};
module.exports = function (db, cb) {
db.define('pet', {
name : String
});
return cb();
};
Synchronizing Models
Models can create their underlying tables in the database. You may call Model.sync() on each Model to create the underlying table or you can call db.sync() at a connection level to create all tables for all models.
Person.sync(function (err) {
!err && console.log("done!");
});
Dropping Models
If you want to drop a Model and remove all tables you can use the .drop()
method.
Person.drop(function (err) {
!err && console.log("person model no longer exists!");
});
Advanced Options
ORM2 allows you some advanced tweaks on your Model definitions. You can configure these via settings or in the call to define
when you setup the Model.
For example, each Model instance has a unique ID in the database. This table column is
by default "id" but you can change it.
var Person = db.define("person", {
name : String
}, {
id : "person_id"
});
db.settings.set("properties.primary_key", "UID");
var Pet = db.define("pet", {
name : String
});
Pet model will have 2 columns, an UID
and a name
.
Other options:
cache
: (default: true
) Set it to false
to disable Instance cache (Singletons) or set a timeout value (in seconds);autoSave
: (default: false
) Set it to true
to save an Instance right after changing any property;autoFetch
: (default: false
) Set it to true
to fetch associations when fetching an instance from the database;autoFetchLimit
: (default: 1
) If autoFetch
is enabled this defines how many hoops (associations of associations)
you want it to automatically fetch.
Hooks
If you want to listen for a type of event than occurs in instances of a Model, you can attach a function that
will be called when that event happens.
Currently the following events are supported:
afterLoad
: (no parameters) Right after loading and preparing an instance to be used;beforeSave
: (no parameters) Right before trying to save;afterSave
: (bool success) Right after saving;beforeCreate
: (no parameters) Right before trying to save a new instance;afterCreate
: (bool success) Right after saving a new instance;beforeRemove
: (no parameters) Right before trying to remove an instance.afterRemove
: (bool success) Right after removing an instance;
All hook function are called with this
as the instance so you can access anything you want related to it.
Finding Items
Model.get(id, [ options ], cb)
To get a specific element from the database use Model.get
.
Person.get(123, function (err, person) {
});
Model.find([ conditions ] [, options ] [, limit ] [, order ] [, cb ])
Finding one or more elements has more options, each one can be given in no specific parameter order. Only options
has to be after conditions
(even if it's an empty object).
Person.find({ name: "John", surname: "Doe" }, 3, function (err, people) {
});
If you need to sort the results because you're limiting or just because you want them sorted do:
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }, "name", function (err, people) {
});
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }, [ "name", "Z" ], function (err, people) {
});
There are more options that you can pass to find something. These options are passed in a second object:
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }, { offset: 2 }, function (err, people) {
});
Model.count([ conditions, ] cb)
If you just want to count the number of items that match a condition you can just use .count()
instead of finding all
of them and counting. This will actually tell the database server to do a count (it won't be done in the node process itself).
Person.count({ surname: "Doe" }, function (err, count) {
console.log("We have %d Does in our db", count);
});
Model.exists([ conditions, ] cb)
Similar to .count()
, this method just checks if the count is greater than zero or not.
Person.exists({ surname: "Doe" }, function (err, exists) {
console.log("We %s Does in our db", exists ? "have" : "don't have");
});
Aggregating Functions
If you need to get some aggregated values from a Model, you can use Model.aggregate()
. Here's an example to better
illustrate:
Person.aggregate({ surname: "Doe" }).min("age").max("age").get(function (err, min, max) {
console.log("The youngest Doe guy has %d years, while the oldest is %d", min, max);
});
Here's an example to illustrate how to use groupby:
Person.aggregate(["age"], { country: "someCountry" }).avg("weight").groupBy("age").get(function (err, stats) {
});
Possible aggregating functions:
min
max
avg
sum
count
(there's a shortcut to this - Model.count
)
Available options
offset
: discards the first N
elementslimit
: although it can be passed as a direct argument, you can use it here if you preferonly
: if you don't want all properties, you can give an array with the list of properties you want
Chaining
If you prefer less complicated syntax you can chain .find()
by not giving a callback parameter.
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }).limit(3).offset(2).only("name", "surname").run(function (err, people) {
});
You can also chain and just get the count in the end. In this case, offset, limit and order are ignored.
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }).count(function (err, people) {
});
Also available is the option to remove the selected items.
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }).remove(function (err) {
});
You can also make modifications to your instances using common Array traversal methods and save everything
in the end.
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }).each(function (person) {
person.surname = "Dean";
}).save(function (err) {
});
Person.find({ surname: "Doe" }).each().filter(function (person) {
return person.age >= 18;
}).sort(function (person1, person2) {
return person1.age < person2.age;
}).get(function (people) {
});
Of course you could do this directly on .find()
, but for some more complicated tasks this can be very usefull.
Model.find()
does not return an Array so you can't just chain directly. To start chaining you have to call
.each()
(with an optional callback if you want to traverse the list). You can then use the common functions
.filter()
, .sort()
and .forEach()
more than once.
In the end (or during the process..) you can call:
.count()
if you just want to know how many items there are;.get()
to retrieve the list;.save()
to save all item changes.
Conditions
Conditions are defined as an object where every key is a property (table column). All keys are supposed
to be concatenated by the logical AND
. Values are considered to match exactly, unless you're passing
an Array
. In this case it is considered a list to compare the property with.
{ col1: 123, col2: "foo" }
{ col1: [ 1, 3, 5 ] }
If you need other comparisons, you have to use a special object created by some helper functions. Here are
a few examples to describe it:
{ col1: orm.eq(123) }
{ col1: orm.ne(123) }
{ col1: orm.gt(123) }
{ col1: orm.gte(123) }
{ col1: orm.lt(123) }
{ col1: orm.lte(123) }
{ col1: orm.between(123, 456) }
{ col1: orm.like(12 + "%") }
Caching & Integrity
Model instances are cached. If multiple different queries will result in the same result, you will
get the same object. If you have other systems that can change your database (or you're developing and need
to make some manual changes) you should remove this feature by disabling cache. This can be done when you're
defining the Model.
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String
}, {
cache : false
});
The cache can be configured to expire after a period of time by passing in a number instead of a
boolean. The number will be considered the cache timeout in seconds (you can use floating point).
Note: One exception about Caching is that it won't be used if an instance is not saved. For example, if
you fetch a Person and then change it, while it doesn't get saved it won't be passed from Cache.
Creating Items
Model.create(items, cb)
To insert new elements to the database use Model.create
.
Person.create([
{
name: "John",
surname: "Doe",
age: 25,
male: true
},
{
name: "Liza",
surname: "Kollan",
age: 19,
male: false
}
], function (err, items) {
});
Updating items (called Instances)
Every item returned has the properties that were defined to the Model and also a couple of methods you can
use to change each item.
Person.get(1, function (err, John) {
John.name = "Joe";
John.surname = "Doe";
John.save(function (err) {
console.log("saved!");
});
});
Updating and then saving an instance can be done in a single call:
Person.get(1, function (err, John) {
John.save({ name: "Joe", surname: "Doe" }, function (err) {
console.log("saved!");
});
});
If you want to remove an instance, just do:
Person.get(1, function (err, John) {
John.remove(function (err) {
console.log("removed!");
});
});
Associations
An association is a relation between one or more tables.
hasOne vs. hasMany
Since this topic brings some confusion to many people including myself, here's a list of the possibilities
supported by both types of association.
hasOne
: it's a Many-to-One relationship. A.hasOne(B) means A will have one (or none) of B, but B can be
associated with many A;hasMany
: it's a One-to-Many relationship. A.hasMany(B) means A will have none, one or more of B. Actually
B will be associated with possibly many A but you don't have how to find it easily (see next);hasMany
+ reverse: it's a Many-to-Many relationship. A.hasMany(B, { reverse: A }) means A can have none or
many B and also B can have none or many A. Accessors will be created in both models so you can manage them from
both sides.
If you have a relation of 1 to 0 or 1 to 1, you should use hasOne
association. This assumes a column in the model that has the id of the other end of the relation.
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String
});
var Animal = db.define('animal', {
name : String
});
Animal.hasOne("owner", Person);
Animal.get(123, function (err, Foo) {
Foo.getOwner(function (err, John) {
});
});
You can mark the owner_id
field as required in the database by specifying the required
option:
Animal.hasOne("owner", Person, { required: true });
If you prefer to use another name for the field (owner_id) you can change this parameter in the settings.
db.settings.set("properties.association_key", "id_{name}");
Note: This has to be done prior to the association creation.
For relations of 1 to many you have to use hasMany
associations. This assumes the existence of a separate join table that has 2 columns, each referencing the table in the association. Ideally, these would be foreign key relationships in your database.
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String
});
Person.hasMany("friends");
Person.get(123, function (err, John) {
John.getFriends(function (err, friends) {
});
});
The hasMany
associations can have additional properties that are assumed to be in the association table.
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String
});
Person.hasMany("friends", {
rate : Number
});
Person.get(123, function (err, John) {
John.getFriends(function (err, friends) {
});
});
If you prefer you can activate autoFetch
. This way associations are automatically fetched when you get or find instances of a model.
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String
});
Person.hasMany("friends", {
rate : Number
}, {
autoFetch : true
});
Person.get(123, function (err, John) {
});
You can also define this option globally instead of a per association basis.
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String
}, {
autoFetch : true
});
Person.hasMany("friends", {
rate : Number
});
Associations can make calls to the associated Model by using the reverse
option. For example, if you have an
association from ModelA to ModelB, you can create an accessor in ModelB to get instances from ModelA.
Confusing? Look at the next example.
var Pet = db.define('pet', {
name : String
});
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String
});
Pet.hasOne("owner", Person, {
reverse : "pets"
});
Person(4).getPets(function (err, pets) {
});
This makes even more sense when having hasMany
associations since you can manage the Many-to-Many associations
from both sides.
var Pet = db.define('pet', {
name : String
});
var Person = db.define('person', {
name : String
});
Person.hasMany("pets", Pet, {
bought : Date
}, {
reverse : "owners"
});
Person(1).getPets(...);
Pet(2).getOwners(...);