Records

Various table methods have the option to return a record object instead of a plain Javascript data object containing the row data. Or, in the case fetchAllRecords() and similar methods, they return an array of record objects.

The record object implements a lightweight version of the Active Record pattern.

const record = await users.oneRecord(
  { email: 'bobby@badgerpower.com' }
);

The row data loaded from the database is stored in the row property. You can access individual items or the row data as a whole.

console.log(record.row.id);      // e.g. 1
console.log(record.row.name);    // Bobby Badger
console.log(record.row.email);   // bobby@badgerpower.com
console.log(record.row);         // { id: 1, name: 'Bobby Badger', etc. }

Technically speaking, the methods actually return a Proxy object wrapper around a record object (or an array of Proxy objects in the case of fetchAllRecords() et al). The purpose of the Proxy object, among other things, is to give you access to row data items without needing to specify the .row property.

console.log(record.id);          // e.g. 1
console.log(record.name);        // Bobby Badger
console.log(record.email);       // bobby@badgerpower.com

This makes the record object look and feel just like a row of data, but with some extra benefits. For example, the update() method allows you to update the record and corresponding row in the database.

await record.update({ name: 'Robert Badger' });
console.log(record.name); // Robert Badger

The Proxy object also gives you easy access to relations that are defined for the table. For example, if the users table defines orders as a relation then you can access them as .orders;

const orders = await record.orders;

Note that any other properties or methods defined for the record will take priority. For example, record.update will resolve to the record update() method so if you have a column called update then you must access it as record.row.update.

Where Next?

In the next few sections we'll look at the record methods that are provided, and how to define your own custom record class where you can put additional functionality relating to a record.