defmodule Ecto do @moduledoc """ Ecto is split into 3 main components: * `Ecto.Repo` - repositories are wrappers around the database. Via the repository, we can create, update, destroy and query existing entries. A repository needs an adapter and a URL to communicate to the database * `Ecto.Model` - models are a collection of functionality like the schema, validations and callbacks that can be cherry-picked * `Ecto.Query` - written in Elixir syntax, queries are used to retrieve information from a given repository. Queries in Ecto are secure, avoiding common problems like SQL Injection, and also type-safe. Queries are also composable via the `Ecto.Queryable` protocol In the following sections, we will provide an overview of those components and how they interact with each other. Feel free to access their respective module documentation for more specific examples, options and configuration. If you want to quickly check a sample application using Ecto, please check https://github.com/elixir-lang/ecto/tree/master/examples/simple. ## Repositories A repository is a wrapper around the database. We can define a repository as follows: defmodule Repo do use Ecto.Repo, adapter: Ecto.Adapters.Postgres def conf do parse_url "ecto://postgres:postgres@localhost/ecto_simple" end end Currently we just support the Postgres adapter. The repository is also responsible for defining the url that locates the database. The URL should be in the following format: ecto://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST/DATABASE Besides, a set of options can be passed to the adapter as: ecto://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST/DATABASE?KEY=VALUE Each repository in Ecto defines a `start_link/0` function that needs to be invoked before using the repository. In general, this function is not called directly, but as part of a supervision tree. If your application was generated with a supervisor (by passing `--sup` to `mix new`) you will have a `lib/my_app.ex` file containing the application start callback that defines and starts your supervisor. You just need to edit the `start/2` function to start the repo as a worker on the supervisor: def start(_type, _args) do import Supervisor.Spec children = [ worker(Repo, []) ] opts = [strategy: :one_for_one, name: MyApp.Supervisor] Supervisor.start_link(children, opts) end ## Models Models provide different functionalities that can be cherry-picked at will. They are: * `Ecto.Model.Schema` - provides the API necessary to define schemas; * `Ecto.Model.Callbacks` - provides lifecycle callbacks; * `Ecto.Model.Validations` - helpers for validations; By using `Ecto.Model`, you get all of the above: defmodule Weather do use Ecto.Model # weather is the DB table schema "weather" do field :city, :string field :temp_lo, :integer field :temp_hi, :integer field :prcp, :float, default: 0.0 end end By defining a schema, Ecto automatically defines a struct with the schema fields: iex> weather = %Weather{temp_lo: 30} iex> weather.temp_lo 30 The schema also allows the model to interact with a repository: iex> weather = %Weather{temp_lo: 0, temp_hi: 23} iex> Repo.insert(weather) %Weather{...} After persisting `weather` to the database, it will return a new copy of `%Weather{}` with the primary key (the `id`) set. We can use this value to read a struct back from the repository: # Get the struct back iex> weather = Repo.get Weather, 1 %Weather{id: 1, ...} # Update it iex> weather = %{weather | temp_lo: 10} iex> Repo.update(weather) %Weather{...} # Delete it iex> Repo.delete(weather) %Weather{...} > NOTE: by using `Ecto.Model`, an `:id` field with type `:integer` is generated > by default, which is the primary key of the Model. If you want to use a different > type of primary key, you can declare custom `@schema_defaults` in a module, and > use that in place of `Ecto.Model`. Consult the `Ecto.Model.Schema` documentation > for usage instructions. Notice how the storage (repository) and the model are decoupled, while structs representt the data. This provides many benefits: * By having structs as data, we guarantee they are light-weight, serializable structures. In many languages, the data is often represented by large, complex objects, with entwined state transactions, which makes serialization particularly hard; * By providing behaviour in modules, they are easy to compose (it is a matter of composing functions). You can easily have different structs sharing the same set of validations. Or different schemas based on the same data table; * By making the storage explicit with repositories, we don't pollute the repository with unnecessary overhead, providing straight-forward and performant access to storage; Note you can use the `struct/2` function that ships with Elixir to create or update a struct based on dynamic values: iex> fields = [temp_lo: 30] iex> weather = struct(Weather, fields) iex> weather.temp_lo 30 iex> weather = struct(weather, temp_lo: 13) iex> weather.temp_lo 13 With this functionality in mind, this is how an `update` action in a REST endpoint could look like: def update(id, params) do weather = Repo.get(Weather, id) |> struct(params) case Weather.validate(weather) do nil -> Repo.update(weather) json weather: weather errors -> json errors: errors end end ## Query Last but not least, Ecto allows you to write queries in Elixir and send them to the repository, which translates them to the underlying database. Let's see an example: import Ecto.Query, only: [from: 2] query = from w in Weather, where: w.prcp > 0 or is_nil(w.prcp), select: w # Returns %Weather{} structs matching the query Repo.all(query) Queries are defined and extended with the `from` macro. The supported keywords are: * `:distinct` * `:where` * `:order_by` * `:offset` * `:limit` * `:lock` * `:group_by` * `:having` * `:join` * `:select` * `:preload` Examples and detailed documentation for each of those are available in the `Ecto.Query` module. When writing a query, you are inside Ecto's query syntax. In order to access params values or invoke functions, you need to use the `^` operator, which is overloaded by Ecto: def min_prcp(min) do from w in Weather, where: w.prcp > ^min or is_nil(w.prcp) end Besides `Repo.all/1`, which returns all entries, repositories also provide `Repo.one/1`, which returns one entry or nil, and `Repo.one!/1` which returns one entry or raises. ## Other topics ### Mix tasks and generators Ecto provides many tasks to help your workflow as well as code generators. You can find all available tasks by typing `mix help` inside a project with Ecto listed as a dependency. Ecto generators will automatically open the generated files if you have `ECTO_EDITOR` set in your environment variable. ### Associations Ecto supports defining associations on schemas: defmodule Post do use Ecto.Model schema "posts" do has_many :comments, Comment end end defmodule Comment do use Ecto.Model schema "comments" do field :title, :string belongs_to :post, Post end end Once an association is defined, Ecto provides a couple conveniences. The first one is the `Ecto.Model.assoc/2` function that allows us to easily retrieve all associated data to a given struct: import Ecto.Model # Get all comments for the given post Repo.all assoc(post, :comments) # Or build a query on top of the associated comments query = from c in assoc(post, :comments), where: c.title != nil Repo.all(query) Ecto also supports joins with associations: query = from p in Post, join: c in assoc(p, :comments), select: {p, c} [{post, comment}] = Repo.all(query) When an association is defined, Ecto also defines a field in the model with the association name. By default, associations are not loaded into this field: iex> post = Repo.get(Post, 42) iex> post.comments #Ecto.Associations.NotLoaded<...> However, developers can use the preload functionality in queries to automatically pre-populate the field: iex> post = Repo.one from p in Post, where: p.id == 13, preload: [:comments] iex> post.comments [%Comment{...}, %Comment{...}] You can find more information about defining associations and each respective association module in `Ecto.Model.Schema` docs. > NOTE: Ecto does not lazy load associations. While lazily loading associations > may sound convenient at first, in the long run it becomes a source of confusion > and performance issues. ### Migrations Ecto supports migrations with plain SQL. In order to generate a new migration you first need to define a `priv/0` function inside your repository pointing to a directory that will keep repo data. We recommend it to be placed inside the `priv` in your application directory: defmodule Repo do use Ecto.Repo, adapter: Ecto.Adapters.Postgres def priv do Application.app_dir(:YOUR_APP_NAME, "priv/repo") end end Where `:YOUR_APP_NAME` is your application name (as in the `mix.exs` file). Now a migration can be generated with: $ mix ecto.gen.migration Repo create_posts This will create a new file inside `priv/repo/migrations` with the `up` and `down` functions. Simply write the SQL commands for updating the database (`up`) and for rolling it back (`down`) and you are ready to go! To run a single command return a string, to run multiple return a list of strings: defmodule Repo.CreatePosts do use Ecto.Migration def up do [ "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS migrations_test(id serial primary key, name text)", "INSERT INTO migrations_test (name) VALUES ('inserted')" ] end def down do "DROP TABLE migrations_test" end end Note the generated file (and all migration files) starts with a timestamp, which identifies the migration version. By running migrations, a `schema_migrations` table will be created in your database to keep which migrations are "up" (already executed) and which ones are "down". Migrations can be applied and rolled back with the mix tasks `ecto.migrate` and `ecto.rollback`. See the documentation for `Mix.Tasks.Ecto.Migrate` and `Mix.Tasks.Ecto.Rollback` for more in depth instructions. To run all pending migrations: $ mix ecto.migrate Repo Rollback all applied migrations: $ mix ecto.rollback Repo --all """ end