Update existing documents

The only constant is change. 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: updateObj)
}

• TYPE – Name of the collection to query.
• 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).
• updateObj – 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

To reproduce the example results from this page, your database needs the following setup.

Database schema

type Book {
  title: String!
  genre: String
  plot: String
  rating: Float
  ratings: [Float]
  author: Person
  seller: Company
}

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

type Company {
  name: String!
  sells: [Book]
}

Documents setup

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

  c1:add_Company(input: {
    name: "The Independent Hipster Bookshop"
  }) { _docID name }
  c2:add_Company(input: {
    name: "The World-Destroying Large Chain"
  }) { _docID name }

  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,
    ratings: [3.8, 4.91, 3.1, 2.8],
    _authorID: "bae-bc532931-4843-50bc-bbdd-3e31549c8cc6",
    _sellerID: "bae-a5300933-fb0a-5b8f-b38e-202565993ff0"
  }) { _docID title }
  b12:add_Book(input: {
    title: "Down and Out in Paris and London",
    genre: "Memoir",
    plot: "The adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-outs of two great cities.",
    rating: 4.09,
    _authorID: "bae-bc532931-4843-50bc-bbdd-3e31549c8cc6",
    _sellerID: "bae-a5300933-fb0a-5b8f-b38e-202565993ff0"
  }) { _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-6025af65-e57e-5db5-84dd-d349b130c6d9",
    _sellerID: "bae-a5300933-fb0a-5b8f-b38e-202565993ff0"
  }) { _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,
    ratings: [3.1, 4.1, 4.5],
    _authorID: "bae-26c791a7-fa81-5d86-95c5-4119e2fef915",
    _sellerID: "bae-81d5fadb-c2a3-5d95-b235-a220c220bf79"
  }) { _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-26c791a7-fa81-5d86-95c5-4119e2fef915",
    _sellerID: "bae-81d5fadb-c2a3-5d95-b235-a220c220bf79"
  }) { _docID title }
  b33:add_Book(input: {
    title: "Girl with Curious Hair",
    genre: "Fiction",
    plot: "Remarkable and unsettling reimaginations of reality.",
    rating: 3.85,
    _authorID: "bae-26c791a7-fa81-5d86-95c5-4119e2fef915",
    _sellerID: "bae-81d5fadb-c2a3-5d95-b235-a220c220bf79"
  }) { _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,
    ratings: [3.9, 4.1],
    _authorID: "bae-4bfe5f4c-d668-5dc3-9de2-eb598af3da7d",
    _sellerID: "bae-81d5fadb-c2a3-5d95-b235-a220c220bf79"
  }) { _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-97eeb5cb-04cf-5575-ab00-3e3285ce79b5", "bae-7da5622a-8e4f-5ac8-9140-d412a81011be"],
    input: { genre: "Dystopia" }
  ) {
    genre
    title
  }
}

Result

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