Overview
To filter data in your realm, you can leverage Realm's query engine.
New in version 10.19.0:: Realm Swift Query API
The Realm Swift Query API offers an idiomatic way for Swift developers to query data. Use Swift-style syntax to query a realm with the benefits of auto-completion and type safety. The Realm Swift Query API does not replace the NSPredicate Query API in newer SDK versions; instead, you can use either.
For SDK versions prior to 10.19.0, or for Objective-C developers, Realm's query engine supports NSPredicate Query.
About the Examples on This Page
The examples in this page use a simple data set for a
task list app. The two Realm object types are Project
and Task. A Task has a name, assignee's name, and
completed flag. There is also an arbitrary number for
priority -- higher is more important -- and a count of
minutes spent working on it. Finally, a Task can have one
or more string labels and one or more integer ratings.
A Project has zero or more Tasks.
See the schema for these two classes, Project and
Task, below:
// Task.h @interface Task : RLMObject @property NSString *name; @property bool isComplete; @property NSString *assignee; @property int priority; @property int progressMinutes; @end RLM_COLLECTION_TYPE(Task) // Task.m @implementation Task @end // Project.h @interface Project : RLMObject @property NSString *name; @property RLMArray<Task> *tasks; @end // Project.m @implementation Project @end
class Task: Object { var name = "" var isComplete = false var assignee: String? var priority = 0 var progressMinutes = 0 var labels: MutableSet<String> var ratings: MutableSet<Int> } class Project: Object { var name = "" var tasks: List<Task> }
You can set up the realm for these examples with the following code:
RLMRealm *realm = [RLMRealm defaultRealm]; [realm transactionWithBlock:^() { // Add projects and tasks here }]; RLMResults *tasks = [Task allObjectsInRealm:realm]; RLMResults *projects = [Project allObjectsInRealm:realm];
let realm = try! Realm() try! realm.write { // Add tasks and projects here. let project = Project() project.name = "New Project" let task = Task() task.assignee = "Alex" task.priority = 5 project.tasks.append(task) realm.add(project) // ... } let tasks = realm.objects(Task.self) let projects = realm.objects(Project.self)
Realm Swift Query API
New in version 10.19.0: For SDK versions older than 10.19.0, use the NSPredicate query API.
You can build a filter with Swift-style syntax using the .where
Realm Swift query API:
let realmSwiftQuery = projects.where { ($0.tasks.progressMinutes > 1) && ($0.tasks.assignee == "Ali") }
This query API constructs an NSPredicate to perform the query. It gives developers a type-safe idiomatic API to use directly, and abstracts away the NSPredicate construction.
The .where API takes a callback that evaluates to true or false. The
callback receives an instance of the type being queried, and you can
leverage the compiler to statically check that you are creating valid queries
that reference valid properties.
In the examples on this page, we use the $0 shorthand to reference
the variable passed into the callback.
Operators
There are several types of operators available to query a
Realm collection. Queries
work by evaluating an operator expression for every
object in the collection being
queried. If the expression resolves to true, Realm
Database includes the object in the results collection.
Comparison Operators
You can use Swift comparison operators with the Realm Swift
Query API (==, !=, >, >=, <, <=).
Example
The following example uses the query engine's comparison operators to:
Find high priority tasks by comparing the value of the
priorityproperty value with a threshold number, above which priority can be considered high.Find long-running tasks by seeing if the
progressMinutesproperty is at or above a certain value.Find unassigned tasks by finding tasks where the
assigneeproperty is equal tonull.
let highPriorityTasks = tasks.where { $0.priority > 5 } print("High-priority tasks: \(highPriorityTasks.count)") let longRunningTasks = tasks.where { $0.progressMinutes >= 120 } print("Long running tasks: \(longRunningTasks.count)") let unassignedTasks = tasks.where { $0.assignee == nil } print("Unassigned tasks: \(unassignedTasks.count)")
Collections
You can query for values within a collection using the .contains operators.
You can search for individual values by element, or search within a range.
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
.in(_ collection:) | Evaluates to |
.contains(_ element:) | Equivalent to the |
| Equivalent to the |
| Equivalent to the |
Example
Find tasks where the
labelsMutableSet collection property contains "quick win".Find tasks where the
progressMinutesproperty is within a given range of minutes.
let quickWinTasks = tasks.where { $0.labels.contains("quick win") } print("Tasks labeled 'quick win': \(quickWinTasks.count)") let progressBetween30and60 = tasks.where { $0.progressMinutes.contains(30...60) } print("Tasks with progress between 30 and 60 minutes: \(progressBetween30and60.count)")
Find tasks where the labels MutableSet collection property contains any of the elements in the given array: "quick win" or "bug".
let quickWinOrBugTasks = tasks.where { $0.labels.containsAny(in: ["quick win", "bug"]) } print("Tasks labeled 'quick win' or 'bug': \(quickWinOrBugTasks.count)")
New in version 10.23.0:: The IN operator
The Realm Swift Query API now supports the IN operator. Evaluates to true if the property referenced by the expression contains the value.
Example
Find tasks assigned to specific teammates Ali or Jamie by seeing if the assignee property is in a list of names.
let taskAssigneeInAliOrJamie = tasks.where { let assigneeNames = ["Ali", "Jamie"] return $0.assignee.in(assigneeNames) } print("Tasks IN Ali or Jamie: \(taskAssigneeInAliOrJamie.count)")
Logical Operators
You can make compound queries using Swift logical operators (&&, !,
||).
Example
We can use the query language's logical operators to find
all of Ali's completed tasks. That is, we find all tasks
where the assignee property value is equal to 'Ali' AND
the isComplete property value is true:
let aliComplete = tasks.where { ($0.assignee == "Ali") && ($0.isComplete == true) } print("Ali's complete tasks: \(aliComplete.count)")
String Operators
You can compare string values using these string operators. Regex-like wildcards allow more flexibility in search.
Note
You can use the following options with string operators:
.caseInsensitivefor case insensitivity.$0.name.contains("f", options: .caseInsensitive) .diacriticInsensitivefor diacritic insensitivity: Realm treats special characters as the base character (e.g.é->e).$0.name.contains("e", options: .diacriticInsensitive)
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
.starts(with value: String) | Evaluates to |
.contains(_ value: String) | Evaluates to |
.ends(with value: String) | Evaluates to |
.like(_ value: String) | Evaluates to
For example, the wildcard string "d?g" matches "dog", "dig", and "dug", but not "ding", "dg", or "a dog". |
== | Evaluates to |
!= | Evaluates to |
Example
The following example uses the query engine's string operators to find:
Projects with a name starting with the letter 'e'
Projects with names that contain 'ie'
Projects with an
assigneeproperty whose value is similar toAl?xProjects that contain e-like characters with diacritic insensitivity
// Use the .caseInsensitive option for case-insensitivity. let startWithE = projects.where { $0.name.starts(with: "e", options: .caseInsensitive) } print("Projects that start with 'e': \(startWithE.count)") let containIe = projects.where { $0.name.contains("ie") } print("Projects that contain 'ie': \(containIe.count)") let likeWildcard = tasks.where { $0.assignee.like("Al?x") } print("Tasks with assignees like Al?x: \(likeWildcard.count)") // Use the .diacreticInsensitive option for diacritic insensitivty: contains 'e', 'E', 'é', etc. let containElike = projects.where { $0.name.contains("e", options: .diacriticInsensitive) } print("Projects that contain 'e', 'E', 'é', etc.: \(containElike.count)")
Note
String sorting and case-insensitive queries are only supported for character sets in 'Latin Basic', 'Latin Supplement', 'Latin Extended A', and 'Latin Extended B' (UTF-8 range 0-591).
Geospatial Operators
New in version 10.47.0.
Use the geoWithin operator to query geospatial data with one of the
SDK's provided shapes:
GeoCircleGeoBoxGeoPolygon
This operator evaluates to true if:
An object has a geospatial data "shape" containing a
Stringproperty with the value of Point and aListcontaining a longitude/latitude pair.The longitude/latitude of the persisted object falls within the geospatial query shape.
let companiesInSmallCircle = realm.objects(Geospatial_Company.self).where { $0.location.geoWithin(smallCircle!) } print("Number of companies in small circle: \(companiesInSmallCircle.count)")
For more information about querying geospatial data, refer to Query Geospatial Data.
Aggregate Operators
You can apply an aggregate operator to a collection property of a Realm object. Aggregate operators traverse a collection and reduce it to a single value.
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
.avg | Evaluates to the average value of a given numerical property across a collection. |
.count | Evaluates to the number of objects in the given collection. This
is currently only supported on to-many relationship
collections and not on lists of
primitives. In order to use |
.max | Evaluates to the highest value of a given numerical property across a collection. |
.min | Evaluates to the lowest value of a given numerical property across a collection. |
.sum | Evaluates to the sum of a given numerical property across a collection. |
Example
We create a couple of filters to show different facets of the data:
Projects with average tasks priority above 5.
Projects that contain only low-priority tasks below 5.
Projects where all tasks are high-priority above 5.
Projects that contain more than 5 tasks.
Long running projects.
let averageTaskPriorityAbove5 = projects.where { $0.tasks.priority.avg > 5 } print("Projects with average task priority above 5: \(averageTaskPriorityAbove5.count)") let allTasksLowerPriority = projects.where { $0.tasks.priority.max < 5 } print("Projects where all tasks are lower priority: \(allTasksLowerPriority.count)") let allTasksHighPriority = projects.where { $0.tasks.priority.min > 5 } print("Projects where all tasks are high priority: \(allTasksHighPriority.count)") let moreThan5Tasks = projects.where { $0.tasks.count > 5 } print("Projects with more than 5 tasks: \(moreThan5Tasks.count)") let longRunningProjects = projects.where { $0.tasks.progressMinutes.sum > 100 } print("Long running projects: \(longRunningProjects.count)")
Set Operators
A set operator uses specific rules to determine whether to pass each input collection object to the output collection by applying a given query expression to every element of a given list property of the object.
Example
Running the following queries in projects collections returns:
Projects where a set of string
labelscontains any of "quick win", "bug".Projects where any element in a set of integer
ratingsis greater than 3.
let projectsWithGivenLabels = projects.where { $0.tasks.labels.containsAny(in: ["quick win", "bug"]) } print("Projects with quick wins: \(projectsWithGivenLabels.count)") let projectsWithRatingsOver3 = projects.where { $0.tasks.ratings > 3 } print("Projects with any ratings over 3: \(projectsWithRatingsOver3.count)")
Subqueries
You can iterate through a collection property with another query using a
subquery. To form a subquery, you must wrap the expression in parentheses
and immediately follow it with the .count aggregator.
(<query>).count > n
If the expression does not produce a valid subquery, you'll get an exception at runtime.
Example
Running the following query on a projects collection returns projects
with tasks that have not been completed by a user named Alex.
let subquery = projects.where { ($0.tasks.isComplete == false && $0.tasks.assignee == "Alex").count > 0 } print("Projects with incomplete tasks assigned to Alex: \(subquery.count)")
NSPredicate Queries
You can build a filter with NSPredicate:
NSPredicate *predicate = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:@"progressMinutes > %@ AND name == %@", @1, @"Ali"];
let predicate = NSPredicate(format: "progressMinutes > 1 AND name == %@", "Ali")
Expressions
Filters consist of expressions in an NSPredicate. An expression consists of one of the following:
The name (keypath) of a property of the object currently being evaluated.
An operator and up to two argument expression(s).
A value, such as a string (
'hello') or a number (5).
Dot Notation
When referring to an object property, you can use dot notation to refer to child properties of that object. You can even refer to the properties of embedded objects and relationships with dot notation.
For example, consider a query on an object with a workplace property that
refers to a Workplace object. The Workplace object has an embedded object
property, address. You can chain dot notations to refer to the zipcode
property of that address:
workplace.address.zipcode == 10012
Substitutions
You can use the following substitutions in your predicate format strings:
%@to specify values%Kto specify keypaths
[NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:@"%K > %@ AND %K == %@", @"progressMinutes", @1, @"name", @"Ali"];
NSPredicate(format: "%K > %@ AND %K == %@", "progressMinutes", NSNumber(1), "name", "Ali")
Operators
There are several types of operators available to filter a
Realm collection. Filters
work by evaluating an operator expression for every
object in the collection being
filtered. If the expression resolves to true, Realm
Database includes the object in the results collection.
Comparison Operators
The most straightforward operation in a search is to compare values.
Important
Types Must Match
The type on both sides of the operator must be equivalent. For example, comparing an ObjectId with string will result in a precondition failure with a message like:
"Expected object of type object id for property 'id' on object of type 'User', but received: 11223344556677889900aabb (Invalid value)"
You can compare any numeric type with any other numeric type.
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| Evaluates to |
==, = | Evaluates to |
> | Evaluates to |
>= | Evaluates to |
| Evaluates to |
< | Evaluates to |
<= | Evaluates to |
!=, <> | Evaluates to |
Example
The following example uses the query engine's comparison operators to:
Find high priority tasks by comparing the value of the
priorityproperty value with a threshold number, above which priority can be considered high.Find long-running tasks by seeing if the
progressMinutesproperty is at or above a certain value.Find unassigned tasks by finding tasks where the
assigneeproperty is equal tonull.Find tasks assigned to specific teammates Ali or Jamie by seeing if the
assigneeproperty is in a list of names.
NSLog(@"High priority tasks: %lu", [[tasks objectsWithPredicate:[NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:@"priority > %@", @5]] count]); NSLog(@"Short running tasks: %lu", [[tasks objectsWhere:@"progressMinutes between {1, 15}"] count]); NSLog(@"Unassigned tasks: %lu", [[tasks objectsWhere:@"assignee == nil"] count]); NSLog(@"Ali or Jamie's tasks: %lu", [[tasks objectsWhere:@"assignee IN {'Ali', 'Jamie'}"] count]); NSLog(@"Tasks with progress between 30 and 60 minutes: %lu", [[tasks objectsWhere:@"progressMinutes BETWEEN {30, 60}"] count]);
let highPriorityTasks = tasks.filter("priority > 5") print("High priority tasks: \(highPriorityTasks.count)") let longRunningTasks = tasks.filter("progressMinutes > 120") print("Long running tasks: \(longRunningTasks.count)") let unassignedTasks = tasks.filter("assignee == nil") print("Unassigned tasks: \(unassignedTasks.count)") let aliOrJamiesTasks = tasks.filter("assignee IN {'Ali', 'Jamie'}") print("Ali or Jamie's tasks: \(aliOrJamiesTasks.count)") let progressBetween30and60 = tasks.filter("progressMinutes BETWEEN {30, 60}") print("Tasks with progress between 30 and 60 minutes: \(progressBetween30and60.count)")
Logical Operators
You can make compound predicates using logical operators.
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
and&& | Evaluates to |
not! | Negates the result of the given expression. |
or|| | Evaluates to |
Example
We can use the query language's logical operators to find
all of Ali's completed tasks. That is, we find all tasks
where the assignee property value is equal to 'Ali' AND
the isComplete property value is true:
NSLog(@"Ali's complete tasks: %lu", [[tasks objectsWhere:@"assignee == 'Ali' AND isComplete == true"] count]);
let aliComplete = tasks.filter("assignee == 'Ali' AND isComplete == true") print("Ali's complete tasks: \(aliComplete.count)")
String Operators
You can compare string values using these string operators. Regex-like wildcards allow more flexibility in search.
Note
You can use the following modifiers with the string operators:
[c]for case insensitivity.[NSPredicate predicateWithFormat: @"name CONTAINS[c] 'f'"] NSPredicate(format: "name CONTAINS[c] 'f'") [d]for diacritic insensitivity: Realm treats special characters as the base character (e.g.é->e).[NSPredicate predicateWithFormat: @"name CONTAINS[d] 'e'"] NSPredicate(format: "name CONTAINS[d] 'e'")
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
beginsWith | Evaluates to |
contains, in | Evaluates to |
endsWith | Evaluates to |
like | Evaluates to
For example, the wildcard string "d?g" matches "dog", "dig", and "dug", but not "ding", "dg", or "a dog". |
==, = | Evaluates to |
!=, <> | Evaluates to |
Example
We use the query engine's string operators to find projects with a name starting with the letter 'e' and projects with names that contain 'ie':
// Use [c] for case-insensitivity. NSLog(@"Projects that start with 'e': %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"name BEGINSWITH[c] 'e'"] count]); NSLog(@"Projects that contain 'ie': %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"name CONTAINS 'ie'"] count]);
// Use [c] for case-insensitivity. let startWithE = projects.filter("name BEGINSWITH[c] 'e'") print("Projects that start with 'e': \(startWithE.count)") let containIe = projects.filter("name CONTAINS 'ie'") print("Projects that contain 'ie': \(containIe.count)") // [d] for diacritic insensitivty: contains 'e', 'E', 'é', etc. let containElike = projects.filter("name CONTAINS[cd] 'e'") print("Projects that contain 'e', 'E', 'é', etc.: \(containElike.count)")
Note
String sorting and case-insensitive queries are only supported for character sets in 'Latin Basic', 'Latin Supplement', 'Latin Extended A', and 'Latin Extended B' (UTF-8 range 0-591).
Geospatial Operators
New in version 10.47.0.
You can perform a geospatial query using the IN operator with one
of the SDK's provided shapes:
GeoCircleGeoBoxGeoPolygon
This operator evaluates to true if:
An object has a geospatial data "shape" containing a
Stringproperty with the value of Point and aListcontaining a longitude/latitude pair.The longitude/latitude of the persisted object falls within the geospatial query shape.
let filterArguments = NSMutableArray() filterArguments.add(largeBox) let companiesInLargeBox = realm.objects(Geospatial_Company.self) .filter(NSPredicate(format: "location IN %@", argumentArray: filterArguments as? [Any])) print("Number of companies in large box: \(companiesInLargeBox.count)")
For more information about querying geospatial data, refer to Query Geospatial Data.
Aggregate Operators
You can apply an aggregate operator to a collection property of a Realm object. Aggregate operators traverse a collection and reduce it to a single value.
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
@avg | Evaluates to the average value of a given numerical property across a collection. |
@count | Evaluates to the number of objects in the given collection. This
is currently only supported on to-many relationship
collections and not on lists of
primitives. In order to use |
@max | Evaluates to the highest value of a given numerical property across a collection. |
@min | Evaluates to the lowest value of a given numerical property across a collection. |
@sum | Evaluates to the sum of a given numerical property across a collection. |
Example
We create a couple of filters to show different facets of the data:
Projects with average tasks priority above 5.
Long running projects.
NSLog(@"Projects with average tasks priority above 5: %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"tasks.@avg.priority > 5"] count]); NSLog(@"Projects where all tasks are lower priority: %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"tasks.@max.priority < 5"] count]); NSLog(@"Projects where all tasks are high priority: %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"tasks.@min.priority > 5"] count]); NSLog(@"Projects with more than 5 tasks: %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"tasks.@count > 5"] count]); NSLog(@"Long running projects: %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"tasks.@sum.progressMinutes > 100"] count]);
let averageTaskPriorityAbove5 = projects.filter("tasks.@avg.priority > 5") print("Projects with average task priority above 5: \(averageTaskPriorityAbove5.count)") let allTasksLowerPriority = projects.filter("tasks.@max.priority < 5") print("Projects where all tasks are lower priority: \(allTasksLowerPriority.count)") let allTasksHighPriority = projects.filter("tasks.@min.priority > 5") print("Projects where all tasks are high priority: \(allTasksHighPriority.count)") let moreThan5Tasks = projects.filter("tasks.@count > 5") print("Projects with more than 5 tasks: \(moreThan5Tasks.count)") let longRunningProjects = projects.filter("tasks.@sum.progressMinutes > 100") print("Long running projects: \(longRunningProjects.count)")
Set Operators
A set operator uses specific rules to determine whether to pass each input collection object to the output collection by applying a given predicate to every element of a given list property of the object.
Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| Returns objects where the predicate evaluates to |
| Returns objects where the predicate evaluates to |
| Returns objects where the predicate evaluates to false for all objects in the collection. |
Example
We use the query engine's set operators to find:
Projects with no complete tasks.
Projects with any top priority tasks.
NSLog(@"Projects with no complete tasks: %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"NONE tasks.isComplete == true"] count]); NSLog(@"Projects with any top priority tasks: %lu", [[projects objectsWhere:@"ANY tasks.priority == 10"] count]);
let noCompleteTasks = projects.filter("NONE tasks.isComplete == true") print("Projects with no complete tasks: \(noCompleteTasks.count)") let anyTopPriorityTasks = projects.filter("ANY tasks.priority == 10") print("Projects with any top priority tasks: \(anyTopPriorityTasks.count)")
Subqueries
You can iterate through a collection property with another query using the
SUBQUERY() predicate function. SUBQUERY() has the following signature:
SUBQUERY(<collection>, <variableName>, <predicate>)
collection: the name of the list property to iterate throughvariableName: a variable name of the current element to use in the subquerypredicate: a string that contains the subquery predicate. You can use the variable name specified byvariableNameto refer to the currently iterated element.
Example
Running the following filter on a projects collection returns projects
with tasks that have not been completed by a user named Alex.
NSPredicate *predicate = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat: @"SUBQUERY(tasks, $task, $task.isComplete == %@ AND $task.assignee == %@).@count > 0", @NO, @"Alex"]; NSLog(@"Projects with incomplete tasks assigned to Alex: %lu", [[projects objectsWithPredicate:predicate] count]);
let predicate = NSPredicate( format: "SUBQUERY(tasks, $task, $task.isComplete == false AND $task.assignee == %@).@count > 0", "Alex") print("Projects with incomplete tasks assigned to Alex: \(projects.filter(predicate).count)")