Update existing documents

The only constant is change: so shall it be. Even if the history of data in DefraDB is permanent, you can still alter stored documents.

Syntax

Similarly to the add_TYPE mutation to create documents, you update documents via the update_TYPE mutation. The mutation returns the updated documents.

Syntax – Update mutation

mutation {
  update_TYPE(docID: [ID], filter: filterObj, input: updateInput) [TYPE]
}

• docID – DocID of the document(s) to update. Either a string or a list of strings.
• filter – Criteria for selecting documents to update (see Filter documents).
• input – JSON-like object containing the updates, same format as for creating documents.

If both filter and docID are given, both criteria must be fulfilled for a document to be selected.

tip

To remove a field from a document, set its value to null.

Examples

Display database setup

This page assumes your database contains Book and Person collections and some documents in them:

Database schema

type Person {
  name: String!
  authoredBooks: [Book]
}

type Book {
  title: String!
  genre: String
  plot: String
  rating: Float
  author: Person
}

Person documents setup

mutation {
  a1:add_Person(input: {
    name: "George Orwell"
  }) { _docID }
  a2:add_Person(input: {
    name: "William Golding"
  }) { _docID }
  a3:add_Person(input: {
    name: "David Foster Wallace"
  }) { _docID }
  a4:add_Person(input: {
    name: "Victor Hugo"
  }) { _docID }
}

Book documents setup

mutation {
  b11:add_Book(input: {
    title: "1984",
    genre: "Fiction",
    plot: "A masterpiece of rebellion and imprisonment where war is peace, freedom is slavery, and Big Brother is watching.",
    rating: 4.20,
    _authorID: "bae-3517d1eb-351b-5231-8387-870893ffb395"
  }) {
    _docID
    title
  }
  b12:add_Book(input: {
    title: "Down and Out in Paris and London",
    genre: "Biography",
    plot: "The adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-outs of two great cities.",
    rating: 4.09,
    _authorID: "bae-3517d1eb-351b-5231-8387-870893ffb395"
  }) {
    _docID
    title
  }
  b21:add_Book(input: {
    title: "Lord of the Flies",
    genre: "Fiction",
    plot: "At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys.",
    rating: 3.70,
    _authorID: "bae-78e9c7be-10b9-5673-bad2-da3341367d4b"
  }) {
    _docID
    title
  }
  b31:add_Book(input: {
    title: "Infinite Jest",
    genre: "Fiction",
    plot: "A gargantuan, mind-altering tragi-comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America.",
    rating: 4.25
    _authorID: "bae-b59928dc-fd05-5fb7-aea2-9b24af5ebcea"
  }) {
    _docID
    title
  }
  b32:add_Book(input: {
    title: "Consider the Lobster and Other Essays",
    genre: "Nonfiction",
    plot: "Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike's deal, anyway? And what happens when adult video starlets meet their fans in person? Essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures.",
    rating: 4.18,
    _authorID: "bae-b59928dc-fd05-5fb7-aea2-9b24af5ebcea"
  }) {
    _docID
    title
  }
  b41:add_Book(input: {
    title: "Les Misérables",
    genre: "Fiction",
    plot: "Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him.",
    rating: 4.21,
    _authorID: "bae-c169e917-df52-5603-9224-39c1757f1b04"
  }) {
    _docID
    title
  }
}

Update 1984's genre

mutation {
  update_Book(
    filter: { title: { _eq: "1984" } },
    input: { genre: "Dystopia" }
  ) {
    genre
    title
  }
}

Result

{
  "data": {
    "update_Book": [
      {
        "genre": "Dystopia",
        "title": "1984"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Remove genre value if not in list of allowed ones

mutation {
  update_Book(
    filter: { genre: { _nin: ["Fiction", "Dystopia"] } },
    input: { genre: null }
  ) {
    title
  }
}

Result

{
  "data": {
    "update_Book": [
      {
        "title": "Down and Out in Paris and London"
      },
      {
        "title": "Consider the Lobster and Other Essays"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Update genre for several books via their docIDs

mutation {
  update_Book(
    docID: ["bae-49bbd74a-64a5-5d84-83bd-08319b2e413b", "bae-1515e526-1107-54fb-b582-60b3f967c3b1"],
    input: { genre: "Dystopia" }
  ) {
    genre
    title
  }
}

Result

{
  "data": {
    "update_Book": [
      {
        "genre": "Dystopia",
        "title": "Lord of the Flies"
      },
      {
        "genre": "Dystopia",
        "title": "1984"
      }
    ]
  }
}