Data manipulation

SurrealDB supports a number of methods for interacting with the database and performing CRUD operations.

.select()

Selects all records in a table, or a specific record, from the database.

Method Syntax
db.select(thing)

Arguments

Example usage

# Select all records from a table
people = db.select('person')

# Select a specific record from a table
person = db.select(RecordID('person', 'h5wxrf2ewk8xjxosxtyc'))

Translated query

This function will run the following query in the database.

SELECT * FROM $thing;

.create()

Creates a record in the database.

Method Syntax
db.create(thing, data)

Arguments

Example usage

# Create a record with a random ID
person = db.create('person')

# Create a record with a specific ID
person = db.create(RecordID('person', 'tobie'), {
	"name": 'Tobie',
	"settings": {
		"active": True,
		"marketing": True,
	}
})

Translated query

This function will run the following query in the database.

CREATE $thing CONTENT $data;

.insert()

Inserts one or multiple records in the database.

Method Syntax
db.insert(table, data)

Arguments

Example usage

# Insert a single record
db.insert('person', {
	"name": 'Tobie',
	"settings": {
		"active": True,
		"marketing": True,
	},
})

# Insert multiple records
db.insert('person', [
	{
		"name": 'Tobie',
		"settings": {
			"active": True,
			"marketing": True,
		},
	},
	{
		"name": 'Jaime',
		"settings": {
			"active": True,
			"marketing": True,
		},
	},
])

Translated query

This function will run the following query in the database.

INSERT INTO $table $data;

.insert_relation()

Inserts one or multiple relations in the database.

Method Syntax
db.insert_relation(table, data)

Arguments

Example usage

# Insert a single record
db.insert_relation('likes', {
	"in": RecordID('person', 'tobie'),
	"out": RecordID('post', 123)
})

# Insert multiple records across tables
people = db.insert_relation('likes', [
	{
    	"in": RecordID('person', 'tobie'),
    	"out": RecordID('post', 123),
	},
	{
    	"in": RecordID('person', 'jaime'),
    	"out": RecordID('post', 456),
	}
])

Translated query

This function will run the following query in the database.

INSERT RELATION INTO $table $data;

.update()

Updates all records in a table, or a specific record, in the database.

Method Syntax
db.update(thing, data)

Note

This function replaces the current document / record data with the specified data.

Arguments

Example usage

# Update all records in a table
db.update('person', {name: "Jaime"})

# Update a record with a specific ID
db.update(RecordID('person', 'tobie'), {
	"name": 'Tobie',
	"settings": {
		"active": True,
		"marketing": True,
	}
})

Translated query

This function will run the following query in the database.

UPDATE $thing CONTENT $data;

.merge()

Modifies all records in a table, or a specific record, in the database.

Method Syntax
db.merge(thing, data)

Note

This function merges the current document / record data with the specified data. If no merge data is passed it will simply trigger an update.

Arguments

Example usage

# Update all records in a table
db.merge('person', {
	"updated_at": datetime.datetime.now().isoformat()
})

# Update a record with a specific ID
db.merge(RecordID('person', 'tobie'), {
	"updated_at": datetime.datetime.now().isoformat(),
	"settings": {
		"active": True,
	}
})

Translated query

This function will run the following query in the database.

UPDATE $thing MERGE $data;

.patch()

Applies JSON Patch changes to all records, or a specific record, in the database.

Method Syntax
db.patch(thing, data)

Note

This function patches the current document / record data with the specified JSON Patch data.

Arguments

Example usage

# Update all records in a table
db.patch('person', [
	{ "op": 'replace', "path": '/created_at', "value": datetime.datetime.now().isoformat() },
])

# Update a record with a specific ID
db.patch(RecordID('person', 'tobie'), [
	{ "op": 'replace', "path": '/settings/active', "value": False },
	{ "op": 'add', "path": '/tags', "value": ['developer', 'engineer'] },
	{ "op": 'remove', "path": '/temp' },
])

Translated query

This function will run the following query in the database.

UPDATE $thing PATCH $data;

.delete()

Deletes all records in a table, or a specific record, from the database.

Method Syntax
db.delete(thing,data)

Arguments

Example usage

# Delete all records from a table
db.delete('person')

# Delete a specific record from a table
db.delete(RecordID('person', 'h5wxrf2ewk8xjxosxtyc'))

Translated query

This function will run the following query in the database.

DELETE $thing;