CRUD - Update - Java SDK

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About the Examples on this Page

The examples on this page use the data model of a project management app that has two Realm object types: Project and Task. A Project has zero or more Tasks.

See the schema for these two classes, Project and Task, below:

ProjectTask.java

import org.bson.types.ObjectId;
import io.realm.RealmObject;
import io.realm.annotations.PrimaryKey;
import io.realm.annotations.RealmClass;
import io.realm.annotations.Required;
public class ProjectTask extends RealmObject {
    @PrimaryKey
    public ObjectId _id;
    @Required
    public String name;
    public String assignee;
    public int progressMinutes;
    public boolean isComplete;
    public int priority;
    @Required
    public String _partition;
}

Project.java

import org.bson.types.ObjectId;
import io.realm.RealmList;
import io.realm.RealmObject;
import io.realm.annotations.PrimaryKey;
import io.realm.annotations.RealmClass;
import io.realm.annotations.Required;
public class Project extends RealmObject {
    @PrimaryKey
    public ObjectId _id;
    @Required
    public String name;
    public RealmList<ProjectTask> tasks = new RealmList<>();
}

ProjectTask.kt

import io.realm.RealmObject
import io.realm.annotations.PrimaryKey
import io.realm.annotations.Required
import org.bson.types.ObjectId
open class ProjectTask(
    @PrimaryKey
    var _id: ObjectId = ObjectId(),
    @Required
    var name: String = "",
    var assignee: String? = null,
    var progressMinutes: Int = 0,
    var isComplete: Boolean = false,
    var priority: Int = 0,
    var _partition: String = ""
): RealmObject()

Project.kt

import io.realm.RealmList
import io.realm.RealmObject
import io.realm.annotations.PrimaryKey
import io.realm.annotations.Required
import org.bson.types.ObjectId
open class Project(
    @PrimaryKey
    var _id: ObjectId = ObjectId(),
    @Required
    var name: String = "",
    var tasks: RealmList<ProjectTask> = RealmList(),
): RealmObject()

Modify an Object

Within a transaction, you can update a Realm object the same way you would update any other object in your language of choice. Just assign a new value to the property or update the property.

The following example changes the turtle's name to "Archibald" and sets Archibald's age to 101 by assigning new values to properties:

realm.executeTransaction(r -> {
    // Get a turtle to update.
    Turtle turtle = r.where(Turtle.class).findFirst();
    // Update properties on the instance.
    // This change is saved to the realm.
    turtle.setName("Archibald");
    turtle.setAge(101);
});

realm.executeTransaction { r: Realm ->
    // Get a turtle to update.
    val turtle = r.where(Turtle::class.java).findFirst()
    // Update properties on the instance.
    // This change is saved to the realm.
    turtle!!.name = "Archibald"
    turtle.age = 101
}

Upsert an Object

An upsert is a write operation that either inserts a new object with a given primary key or updates an existing object that already has that primary key. We call this an upsert because it is an "update or insert" operation. This is useful when an object may or may not already exist, such as when bulk importing a dataset into an existing realm. Upserting is an elegant way to update existing entries while adding any new entries.

The following example demonstrates how to upsert an object with realm. We create a new turtle enthusiast named "Drew" and then update their name to "Andy" using insertOrUpdate():

realm.executeTransaction(r -> {
    ObjectId id = new ObjectId();
    TurtleEnthusiast drew = new TurtleEnthusiast();
    drew.set_id(id);
    drew.setName("Drew");
    drew.setAge(25);
    // Add a new turtle enthusiast to the realm. Since nobody with this id
    // has been added yet, this adds the instance to the realm.
    r.insertOrUpdate(drew);
    TurtleEnthusiast andy = new TurtleEnthusiast();
    andy.set_id(id);
    andy.setName("Andy");
    andy.setAge(56);
    // Judging by the ID, it's the same turtle enthusiast, just with a different name.
    // As a result, you overwrite the original entry, renaming "Drew" to "Andy".
    r.insertOrUpdate(andy);
});

realm.executeTransaction { r: Realm ->
    val id = ObjectId()
    val drew = TurtleEnthusiast()
    drew._id = id
    drew.name = "Drew"
    drew.age = 25
    // Add a new turtle enthusiast to the realm. Since nobody with this id
    // has been added yet, this adds the instance to the realm.
    r.insertOrUpdate(drew)
    val andy = TurtleEnthusiast()
    andy._id = id
    andy.name = "Andy"
    andy.age = 56
    // Judging by the ID, it's the same turtle enthusiast, just with a different name.
    // As a result, you overwrite the original entry, renaming "Drew" to "Andy".
    r.insertOrUpdate(andy)
}

You can also use copyToRealmOrUpdate() to either create a new object based on a supplied object or update an existing object with the same primary key value. Use the CHECK_SAME_VALUES_BEFORE_SET ImportFlag to only update fields that are different in the supplied object:

The following example demonstrates how to insert an object or, if an object already exists with the same primary key, update only those fields that differ:

realm.executeTransaction(r -> {
    ObjectId id = new ObjectId();
    TurtleEnthusiast drew = new TurtleEnthusiast();
    drew.set_id(id);
    drew.setName("Drew");
    drew.setAge(25);
    // Add a new turtle enthusiast to the realm. Since nobody with this id
    // has been added yet, this adds the instance to the realm.
    r.insertOrUpdate(drew);
    TurtleEnthusiast andy = new TurtleEnthusiast();
    andy.set_id(id);
    andy.setName("Andy");
    // Judging by the ID, it's the same turtle enthusiast, just with a different name.
    // As a result, you overwrite the original entry, renaming "Drew" to "Andy".
    // the flag passed ensures that we only write the updated name field to the db
    r.copyToRealmOrUpdate(andy, ImportFlag.CHECK_SAME_VALUES_BEFORE_SET);
});

realm.executeTransaction { r: Realm ->
    val id = ObjectId()
    val drew = TurtleEnthusiast()
    drew._id = id
    drew.name = "Drew"
    drew.age = 25
    // Add a new turtle enthusiast to the realm. Since nobody with this id
    // has been added yet, this adds the instance to the realm.
    r.insertOrUpdate(drew)
    val andy = TurtleEnthusiast()
    andy._id = id
    andy.name = "Andy"
    // Judging by the ID, it's the same turtle enthusiast, just with a different name.
    // As a result, you overwrite the original entry, renaming "Drew" to "Andy".
    r.copyToRealmOrUpdate(andy,
        ImportFlag.CHECK_SAME_VALUES_BEFORE_SET)
}

Update a Collection

Realm supports collection-wide updates. A collection update applies the same update to specific properties of several objects in a collection at once.

The following example demonstrates how to update a collection. Thanks to the implicit inverse relationship between the Turtle's owner property and the TurtleEnthusiast's turtles property, Realm automatically updates Josephine's list of turtles when you use setObject() to update the "owner" property for all turtles in the collection.

realm.executeTransaction(r -> {
    // Create a turtle enthusiast named Josephine.
    TurtleEnthusiast josephine = r.createObject(TurtleEnthusiast.class, new ObjectId());
    josephine.setName("Josephine");
    // Get all turtles named "Pierogi".
    RealmResults<Turtle> turtles = r.where(Turtle.class).equalTo("name", "Pierogi").findAll();
    // Give all turtles named "Pierogi" to Josephine
    turtles.setObject("owner", josephine);
});

realm.executeTransaction { r: Realm ->
    // Create a turtle enthusiast named Josephine.
    val josephine = realm.createObject(
        TurtleEnthusiast::class.java,
        ObjectId()
    )
    josephine.name = "Josephine"
    // Get all turtles named "Pierogi".
    val turtles = r.where(Turtle::class.java)
        .equalTo("name", "Pierogi")
        .findAll()
    // Give all turtles named "Pierogi" to Josephine
    turtles.setObject("owner", josephine)
}

Iteration

Because realm collections always reflect the latest state, they can appear, disappear, or change while you iterate over a collection. To get a stable collection you can iterate over, you can create a snapshot of a collection's data. A snapshot guarantees the order of elements will not change, even if an element is deleted or modified.

Iterator objects created from RealmResults use snapshots automatically. Iterator objects created from RealmList instances do not use snapshots. Use RealmList.createSnapshot() or RealmResults.createSnapshot() to manually generate a snapshot you can iterate over manually:

The following example demonstrates how to iterate over a collection safely using either an implicit snapshot created from a RealmResults Iterator or a manual snapshot created from a RealmList:

RealmResults<Frog> frogs = realm.where(Frog.class)
        .equalTo("species", "bullfrog")
        .findAll();
// Use an iterator to rename the species of all bullfrogs
realm.executeTransaction(r -> {
    for (Frog frog : frogs) {
        frog.setSpecies("Lithobates catesbeiana");
    }
});
// Use a snapshot to rename the species of all bullfrogs
realm.executeTransaction(r -> {
    OrderedRealmCollectionSnapshot<Frog> frogsSnapshot = frogs.createSnapshot();
    for (int i = 0; i < frogsSnapshot.size(); i++) {
        frogsSnapshot.get(i).setSpecies("Lithobates catesbeiana");
    }
});

val frogs = realm.where(Frog::class.java)
    .equalTo("species", "bullfrog")
    .findAll()
// Use an iterator to rename the species of all bullfrogs
realm.executeTransaction {
    for (frog in frogs) {
        frog.species = "Lithobates catesbeiana"
    }
}
// Use a snapshot to rename the species of all bullfrogs
realm.executeTransaction {
    val frogsSnapshot = frogs.createSnapshot()
    for (i in frogsSnapshot.indices) {
        frogsSnapshot[i]!!.species = "Lithobates catesbeiana"
    }
}

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