Oracle NoSQL Database Javascript Driver Quick Start

This article provides a quick introduction to the Oracle NoSQL Database Javascript driver. This driver provides native Javascript client access to data stored in Oracle NoSQL Database tables.

The Javascript driver is available as a separate download from the Oracle NoSQL Database server package. You can obtain both the server and the driver download packages from:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/database-technologies/nosqldb/downloads/index.html

To work, the Javascript driver requires use of a proxy server which translates network activity between the Javascript client and the Oracle NoSQL Database store. The proxy is written in Java, and can run on any machine that is network accessible by both your Javascript client code and the Oracle NoSQL Database store. However, for performance and security reasons, Oracle recommends that you run the proxy on the same local host as your driver, and that the proxy be used in a 1:1 configuration with your drivers (that is, each instance of the proxy should be used with just a single driver instance).

This quick start assumes that you have read and understood the concepts described in the Oracle NoSQL Database Getting Started with the Table API guide. You can find that guide in your Oracle NoSQL Database server installation package, or find it here:

The entirety of the API used by the Javascript driver is described in the Javascript API Reference Guide. This document can be accessed in the Javascript driver package by pointing your browser to .../nosqldb-oraclejs-driver-X.Y.Z/doc/html/index.html.

To run your Javascript clients, you need to have the nosqldb-oraclejs module installed locally or globally. You can install nosqldb-oraclejs in the Javascript driver directory by using the following command:

npm install [-g] nosqldb-oraclejs 

Nosqldb-oraclejs is the module name of the Oracle NoSQL Database Javascript Client API published on http://www.npmjs.org. If -g is specified, the command installs the specified module so that it is globally accessible.

Then, to use the module, include nosqldb-oraclejs in your client code:

var nosqldb = require('nosqldb-oraclejs');

The proxy server is a Java application that accepts network traffic from the Table Javascript API, translates it into requests that the Oracle NoSQL Database store can understand, and then forwards the translated request to the store. The proxy also provides the reverse translation service by interpreting store responses and forwarding them to the client.

The proxy server can run on any network-accessible machine. It has minimal resource requirements and, in many cases, can run on the same machine as the client code is running.

Before your Javascript client can access the store, the proxy server must be running. It requires the following jar files to be in its class path, either by using the java -cp command line option, or by using the CLASSPATH environment variable:

The proxy server itself is started using the oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy command. At a minimum, the following information is required when you start the proxy server:

A range of other command line options are available. In particular, if you are using the proxy server with a secure store, you must provide authentication information to the proxy server. In addition, you will probably have to identify a store name to the proxy server. For a complete description of the proxy server and its command line options, see Proxy Server Reference.

The simple examples provided in this quick start guide were written to work with an proxy server that is connected to a kvlite instance which was started with default values. The location of the kvclient.jar and kvproxy.jar files were provided using a CLASSPATH environment variable. The command line call used to start the proxy server was:

nohup java oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy -port 7010 \
-helper-hosts localhost:5000 -store kvstore

To perform store operations, you must establish a network connection between your client code and the store. There are two pieces of information that you must provide:

For example, suppose you have a Oracle NoSQL Database store named "kvstore" and it has a node running on n1.example.org at port 5000. Further, suppose you are running your proxy on the localhost using port 7010. Then you would open and close a connection to the store in the following way:

//Include nosqldb-oraclejs module
var nosqldb = require('nosqldb-oraclejs');

// Create a configuration object
var configuration = new nosqldb.Configuration();
configuration.proxy.startProxy = false;
configuration.proxy.host = 'localhost:7010';
configuration.storeHelperHosts = ['n1.example.org:5000'];
configuration.storeName = 'kvstore';

// Create a store with the specified configuration
var store = nosqldb.createStore(configuration);

store.on('open', function () {
  console.log('Store opened.');
  // Perform store operations here
  store.close();
}).on('close', function() {
  console.log('Store closed.');
  store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
  console.log('Error in the store.');
  console.log(error);
});
store.open(); 

If you are using a secure store, then your proxy server must first be configured to authenticate to the store. See Securing Oracle NoSQL Database Proxy Serverfor details.

Once your proxy server is capable of accesing the secure store, you must indicate which user your driver wants to authenticate as when it performs store access. To do this, use configuration.username.

//Include nosqldb-oraclejs module
var nosqldb = require('nosqldb-oraclejs');

// Create a configuration object
var configuration = new nosqldb.Configuration();
configuration.proxy.startProxy = false;
configuration.proxy.host = 'localhost:7010';
configuration.storeHelperHosts = ['n1.example.org:5000'];
configuration.storeName = 'kvstore';
configuration.username = 'jsapp-username';

// Create a store with the specified configuration
var store = nosqldb.createStore(configuration);

store.on('open', function () {
  console.log('Store opened.');
  // Perform store operations here
  store.close();
}).on('close', function() {
  console.log('Store closed.');
  store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
  console.log('Error in the store.');
  console.log(error);
});
store.open(); 

var nosqldb = require('nosqldb-oraclejs');
var configuration = new nosqldb.Configuration();
configuration.proxy.startProxy = true;
configuration.proxy.host = 'localhost:7010';
configuration.proxy.KVCLIENT_JAR = 'KVHOME/lib/kvclient.jar';
configuration.proxy.KVPROXY_JAR = "kvproxy/lib/kvproxy.jar";
configuration.storeHelperHosts = ['n1.example.org:5000'];
configuration.storeName = 'kvstore';

var store = nosqldb.createStore(configuration);

store.on('open', function () {
  console.log('Store opened.');
  // Perform store operations here
  store.close();
}).on('close', function() {
  console.log('Store closed.');
  store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
  console.log('Error in the store.');
  console.log(error);
});
store.open(); 

var nosqldb = require('nosqldb-oraclejs');
var configuration = new nosqldb.Configuration();
configuration.proxy.startProxy = true;
configuration.proxy.host = 'localhost:7010';
configuration.proxy.KVCLIENT_JAR = 'KVHOME/lib/kvclient.jar';
configuration.proxy.KVPROXY_JAR = "kvproxy/lib/kvproxy.jar";
configuration.storeHelperHosts = ['n1.example.org:5000'];
configuration.storeName = 'kvstore';
configuration.username = 'jsapp-username';
configuration.proxy.securityFile = 'KVROOT/security/client.security';

var store = nosqldb.createStore(configuration);

store.on('open', function () {
  console.log('Store opened.');
  // Perform store operations here
  store.close();
}).on('close', function() {
  console.log('Store closed.');
  store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
  console.log('Error in the store.');
  console.log(error);
});
store.open(); 

Before you can write data to tables in your store, you must define your tables using table DDL statements. You also use DDL statements to define indexes. The table DDL is described in detail in the Oracle NoSQL Database Getting Started with the Table API guide.

If you want to submit table DDL statements to the store from your Javascript client code, use store.execute().

For example, to create a table:

store.on('open', function () {
console.log('Store opened');

store.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS myTable ' +
  ' ( id LONG, name STRING, PRIMARY KEY(id) ) ', 
  function(err){
    if (err) 
      throw err;
    else {
       console.log('Table creation succeeded.');
       store.refreshTables();
       store.close();
    }
  });
}).on('close', function() {
console.log('Store closed.');
store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
console.log(error);
});
store.open();  

Once you have defined a table in the store, use store.put() to create an empty table row. For example, for a table designed like this:

"CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS myTable (id LONG, \
                       name STRING, \                       
                       PRIMARY KEY (id))" 

You can write a row of table data in the following fashion:

store.on('open', function () {
console.log('Store opened');

store.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS myTable ' +
  ' ( id LONG, name STRING, PRIMARY KEY(id) ) ', 
  function(err){
    if (err) 
      throw err;
    else {
       console.log('Table creation succeeded.');
       store.refreshTables();
       var row = {id: 0, name:'name'};
       store.put('myTable', row,
        function (err) {
         if (err)
           throw err;
         else
           console.log("Row inserted.");
           store.close();
         });
    }
  });
}).on('close', function() {
console.log('Store closed.');
store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
console.log(error);
});
store.open(); 

Other versions of store.put() exist which allow you to provide options and version information, and so forth. See the API Javascript documentation for details.

Use store.deleteRow() to delete a table row.

var primaryKey = {id:0};
store.delete('myTable', primaryKey,
   function (err) {
    if (err)
      throw err;
    else
      console.log("Row deleted.");
      }); 

Other versions of store.delete() exist which allow you to provide options and version information, and so forth. See the API Javascript documentation for details.

To read a single table row, use store.get().

For example, to retrieve the table row created in Writing to a Table Row:

var primaryKey = {id: 0};
store.get('myTable', primaryKey,
  function (err, result) {
   if (err)
     throw err;
   else  
     console.log("Returned row:");
     console.log(result.currentRow);
   }); 

Use store.multiGet() to read multiple rows from a table at a time. Rows are returned in primary key order. The primary key used must contain all the table's shard keys. If all of the shard keys are not present, then the function will return without error, but without any results.

For example, suppose you design a table like this:

CREATE TABLE newTable (
    itemType STRING,
    itemCategory STRING,
    itemClass STRING,
    itemColor STRING,
    itemSize STRING,
    price FLOAT,
    inventoryCount INTEGER,
    PRIMARY KEY (SHARD(itemType, itemCategory, itemClass), itemColor,
    itemSize)
) 

You can populate it with data and then retrieve all of the rows in the table by providing just the shard key because, in this example, the shard key is identical for all the rows in the table.

store.on('open', function () {
console.log('Store opened');

store.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS newTable ' +
  ' ( itemType STRING, itemCategory STRING, itemClass STRING, 
    itemColor STRING, itemSize STRING, price FLOAT, 
    inventoryCount INTEGER,
    primary key (shard(itemType,itemCategory,
                       itemClass),itemColor,itemSize) ) ', 
  function(err){
    if (err) 
      throw err;
    else {
       console.log('Table creation succeeded.');
       store.refreshTables();
    var row = {itemType:"Hats", itemCategory:"baseball",
    itemClass :"longbill", itemColor:"red", 
    itemSize:"small", price:12.07, inventoryCount:127};
    store.put('newTable', row, function (err) {
    if (err)
      throw err;
    else {
      row = {itemType:"Hats", itemCategory:"baseball", 
        itemClass :"longbill", itemColor:"red", 
        itemSize:"medium", price:13.07, 
        inventoryCount:201};
      store.put('newTable', row, function (err) {
        if (err)
          throw err;
        else {
          row = { itemType: "Hats", itemCategory:"baseball",
            itemClass: "longbill", itemColor: "red",
            itemSize: "large", price: 14.07, 
            inventoryCount: 309};
          store.put('newTable', row, function (err) {
            if (err)
              throw err;
            else {
              var key = {itemType: "Hats", itemCategory: "baseball",
                itemClass: "longbill"};
              store.multiGet('newTable', key, function(err, result){
                if (err)
                  throw err;
                else {
                  console.log("Returned rows:");
            for (var key in result.rowsWithMetadata)
                  console.log(result.rowsWithMetadata[key].row);
                  store.close();
                }
              });
            }
          });
        }
      });
    }
  });
}
  })
}).on('close', function() {
console.log('Store closed.');
store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
console.log(error);
});
store.open(); 

Use fieldRange to read table rows based on a specified index. To use this function, the index must first be created using the CREATE INDEX statement.

For example, suppose you have a table defined like this:

CREATE TABLE table_index ( 
    surname STRING, 
    familiarName STRING, 
    userID STRING, 
    phonenumber STRING, 
    address STRING, 
    email STRING, 
    dateOfBirth STRING, 
    PRIMARY KEY (SHARD(surname, familiarName), userID)) 

With this index:

CREATE INDEX DoB ON table_index (dateOfBirth)

You can populate it with data and then you can read using the DoB index like this:

store.on('open', function () {
console.log('Store opened');

store.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS table_index ' +
  ' ( surname STRING, familiarname STRING, 
    userID STRING, phonenumber STRING,
    address STRING, email STRING, dateofbirth STRING, 
    primary key (shard(surname,familiarname),userID)) ', 
  function(err){
    if (err) 
      throw err;
    else {
       console.log('Table creation succeeded.');
       store.refreshTables();       
       store.execute('CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS DoB 
                      ON table_index (dateOfBirth)');
       
    var row = { surname:"Anderson", familiarName:"Pete",
      userID:"panderson", phonenumber:"555-555-5555", 
      address:"1122 Somewhere Court", 
      email:"panderson@example.com",
      dateOfBirth:"1994-05-01"};
    store.put('table_index', row, function (err) {
      if (err)
        throw err;
      else {
        row = { surname:"Andrews", familiarName:"Veronica",
          userID:"vandrews", phonenumber:"666-666-6666", 
          address:"5522 Nowhere Court", 
          email:"vandrews@example.com", 
          dateOfBirth:"1973-08-21"};
          store.put('table_index', row, function (err) {
          if (err)
            throw err;
          else {
            row = { surname:"Bates", familiarName:"Pat", 
              userID:"pbates", phonenumber:"777-777-7777",
              address:"12 Overhere Lane",
              email:"pbates@example.com", 
              dateOfBirth:"1988-02-20"};
            store.put('table_index', row, 
            function (err) {
              if (err)
                throw err;
              else {
                row = { surname:"Macar", familiarName:"Tarik",
                  userID:"tmacar", phonenumber:"888-888-8888", 
                  address:"100 Overthere Street", 
                  email:"tmacar@example.com",
                  dateOfBirth:"1990-05-17"};
                store.put('table_index', row, 
                function (err) {
                  if (err)
                    throw err;
                  else {
                    var fieldRange =
                      new nosqldb.Types.FieldRange(
                        "dateOfBirth", "1990-01-01", true, 
                        "2000-01-01", true
                      );                   
                    store.indexIterator('table_index', 'DoB', {
                        fieldRange:fieldRange,
                        direction: nosqldb.Types.Direction.FORWARD
                      },
                      function (err, iterator) {   
                         iterator.on('done', function () {
                         store.close();
                        });
                        iterator.forEach(function (err, rowWithMetadata) {
                        console.log(rowWithMetadata.row);
                        });
                        }); 
                  }
                }); 
              }
            }); 
          }
        }); 
      }
    }); 
}})
}).on('close', function() {
console.log('Store closed.');
store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
console.log(error);
});
store.open(); 

Use store.executeOperations() to hold a sequence of write operations. All the write operations will execute as a single atomic structure so long as all the operations share the same shard key.

For example, if you had a table populated with data such as is described in Reading Multiple Table Rows, then you could update the price and inventory values for each row of the table in an atomic operation like this:

store.on("open",function (err) {
  if (err)
    throw err;
  var operations = [];
  var row = {
    itemType: "Hats", itemCategory: "baseball", 
    itemClass: "longbill",
    itemColor: "red", itemSize: "small",
    price: 12.07, inventoryCount: 127
  };
  operations.push (new nosqldb.Types.Operation('newTable', 
    nosqldb.Types.OperationType.PUT, row,
    nosqldb.Types.ReturnChoice.ALL, true, null));

  row = {
    itemType: "Hats", itemCategory: "baseball", 
    itemClass: "longbill",
    itemColor: "red", itemSize: "medium", 
    price: 13.07, inventoryCount: 201
  };
  operations.push (new nosqldb.Types.Operation('newTable', 
  nosqldb.Types.OperationType.PUT, row,
    nosqldb.Types.ReturnChoice.ALL, true, null));

  row = {
    itemType: "Hats", itemCategory: "baseball", 
    itemClass: "longbill",
    itemColor: "red", itemSize: "large", 
    price: 14.07, inventoryCount: 309
  };
  operations.push (new nosqldb.Types.Operation('newTable',
    nosqldb.Types.OperationType.PUT, row,
    nosqldb.Types.ReturnChoice.ALL, true, null));

  store.executeUpdates(operations, function(err, result){
    if (err)
      throw err;
    else {
      console.log("Inserted rows.");
      store.close();
    }
  });

}).on('close', function() {
console.log('Store closed.');
store.shutdownProxy();
}).on('error', function(error) {
console.log(error);
});
store.open();  

By default, read operations are performed with a consistency of guarantee of KV_CONSISTENCY_NONE. Use the following function to create a consistency guarantee that overrides this default: nosqldb.Types.Consistency().

You then use nosqldb.Types.ReadOptions() with the specified consistency guarantee when performing a read operation in the store.

For example, the code fragment shown in Reading a Single Table Row can be rewritten to use a consistency policy in the following way:

var SimpleConsistency = nosqldb.Types.SimpleConsistency;
var readOptions = new nosqldb.Types.ReadOptions(
                                        SimpleConsistency.ABSOLUTE, 1000);
// Setting up the primary key
var primaryKey = {id: 0};
store.get('myTable', primaryKey, readOptions,
  function (err, result) {
   if (err)
     throw err;
   else
     console.log("Reading row:");
     console.log(result.currentRow);
   }); 

By default, write operations are performed with a durability guarantee of KV_DURABILITY_COMMIT_NO_SYNC. Use the following function to create a durability guarantee that overrides this default: nosqldb.Types.Durability().

You then use nosqldb.Types.WriteOptions() with the specified durability guarantee when performing a write operation in the store.

For example, the code fragment shown in Writing to a Table Row can be rewritten to use a durability policy in the following way:

var durability = new nosqldb.Types.Durability(
                   nosqldb.Types.SyncPolicy.SYNC,
                   nosqldb.Types.ReplicaAckPolicy.NONE, 
                   nosqldb.Types.SyncPolicy.SYNC);
var writeOptions = new nosqldb.Types.WriteOptions(durability, 1000);
// Setting up the row
var row = {id: 0, name:'name'};

store.put('myTable', row, writeOptions,
  function (err) {
   if (err)
     throw err;
   else
     console.log("Inserted row");
   }); 

The proxy server command line options are:

nohup java -cp KVHOME/lib/kvclient.jar:kvproxy/lib/kvproxy.jar 
oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy -help
 -port <port-number> Port number of the proxy server. Default: 5010
 -store <store-name> Required KVStore name. No default.
 -helper-hosts <host:port,host:port,...>   Required list of KVStore 
        hosts and ports (comma separated).
 -security <security-file-path>  Identifies the security file used 
        to specify properties for login. Required for connecting to 
        a secure store.
  -username <user>  Identifies the name of the user to login to the 
        secured store. Required for connecting to a secure store.
  -read-zones <zone,zone,...>  List of read zone names.
  -max-active-requests <int> Maximum number of active requests towards
        the store.
  -node-limit-percent <int> Limit on the number of requests, as a 
        percentage of the requested maximum active requests.
  -request-threshold-percent <int> Threshold for activating request 
        limiting, as a percentage of the requested maximum active 
        requests.
  -request-timeout <long> Configures the default request timeout in
        milliseconds.
  -socket-open-timeout <long> Configures the open timeout in 
        milliseconds used when establishing sockets to the store.
  -socket-read-timeout <long> Configures the read timeout in 
        milliseconds associated with the underlying sockets to the 
        store.
  -max-iterator-results <long> A long representing the maximum 
        number of results returned in one single iterator call. 
        Default: 100
  -iterator-expiration <long>  Iterator expiration interval in 
        milliseconds.
  -max-open-iterators <int>    Maximum concurrent opened iterators.
        Default: 10000
  -num-pool-threads <int>      Number of proxy threads. Default: 20
  -max-concurrent-requests <int>      The maximum number of 
        concurrent requests per iterator. Default: <num_cpus * 2>
  -max-results-batches <int>      The maximum number of results 
        batches that can be held in the proxy per iterator. 
        Default: 0
  -help  Usage instructions.
  -version  Print KVProxy server version number.
  -verbose  Turn verbose flag on.  

Always start the Oracle NoSQL Database store before starting the proxy server.

When connecting to a non-secured store, the following parameters are required:

When connecting to a secured store, the following parameters are also required:

java -Xmx256m -Xms256m \
-jar KVHOME/lib/kvstore.jar makebootconfig \
-root KVROOT -port 5000 \
-admin 5001 -host node01 -harange 5890,5900 \
-store-security configure -pwdmgr pwdfile -capacity 1 

java -cp KVHOME/lib/kvclient.jar:KVPROXY/lib/kvproxy.jar 
oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy -helper-hosts node01:5000 -port 5010 
-store mystore -username root -security mylogin 
Nov 21, 2014 12:59:12 AM oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy <init>
INFO: PS: Starting KVProxy server
Nov 21, 2014 12:59:12 AM oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy <init>
INFO: PS: Connect to Oracle NoSQL Database mystore nodes : localhost:5000
Nov 21, 2014 12:59:13 AM oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy <init>
INFO: PS:   ... connected successfully
Nov 21, 2014 12:59:13 AM oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy startServer
INFO: PS: Starting listener ( Half-Sync/Half-Async server - 20
no of threads on port 5010) 

java -cp KVHOME/lib/kvclient.jar:KVPROXY/lib/kvproxy.jar  
-Djava.util.logging.config.file=logger.properties 
oracle.kv.proxy.KVProxy -helper-hosts node01:5000 -port 5010 
-store mystore -verbose 

# Log to file and console
handlers = java.util.logging.FileHandler, java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler
## ConsoleHandler ##
java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.level = FINE
java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.formatter = 
                                       java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter
## FileHandler ##
java.util.logging.FileHandler.formatter = java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter
# Limit the size of the file to x bytes
java.util.logging.FileHandler.limit = 100000
# Number of log files to rotate
java.util.logging.FileHandler.count = 1
# Location and log file name
# %g is the generation number to distinguish rotated logs
java.util.logging.FileHandler.pattern = ./kvproxy.%g.log