Doobie

Let's insert a new row by using the recently defined insert1 method.

To make simpler the code we built a method which prepares the database, makes the query and transacts it all:

def transactorBlock[A](f: => ConnectionIO[A]): IO[A] =
  transactor.use((createPersonTable *> f).transact[IO])

val insertedRows = transactorBlock(insert1("John", Option(35)).run).unsafeRunSync()

insertedRows should be(res0)

On the contrary, if we want to insert several rows, there are different ways to do that. A first try could be to use a for-comprehension to compose all the single operations.

val rows = for {
  row1 <- insert1("Alice", Option(12)).run
  row2 <- insert1("Bob", None).run
  row3 <- insert1("John", Option(17)).run
} yield row1 + row2 + row3

val insertedRows = transactorBlock(rows).unsafeRunSync()

insertedRows should be(res0)

If there is no dependency between the SQL operations, it could be better to use an applicative functor.

val insertedOnePerson = insert1("Alice", Option(12)).run

val insertedOtherPerson = insert1("Bob", None).run

val insertedRows =
  transactorBlock((insertedOnePerson, insertedOtherPerson).mapN(_ + _)).unsafeRunSync()

insertedRows should be(res0)

If all the data to be inserted is represented by a List, other way could be by using the Scalaz traverse method.

val people =
  List(("Alice", Option(12)), ("Bob", None), ("John", Option(17)), ("Mary", Option(16)))

val insertedRows =
  transactorBlock(people.traverse(item => (insert1 _).tupled(item).run)).unsafeRunSync()

insertedRows.sum should be(res0)

Updating

Updating follows the same pattern. For instance, we suppose that we want to modify the age of a person.

val result = for {
  insertedRows <- insert1("Alice", Option(12)).run
  updatedRows <- sql"update person set age = 15 where name = 'Alice'".update.run
  person <- sql"select id, name, age from person where name = 'Alice'".query[Person].unique
} yield (insertedRows, updatedRows, person)

val (insertedRows, updatedRows, person) = transactorBlock(result).unsafeRunSync()

insertedRows should be(res0)
updatedRows should be(res1)
person.age should be(Option(res2))

Retrieving info

When we insert we usually want the new row back, so let’s do that. First we’ll do it the hard way, by inserting, getting the last used key via lastVal(), then selecting the indicated row.

def insert2(name: String, age: Option[Short]): ConnectionIO[Person] =
  for {
    _ <- sql"insert into person (name, age) values ($name, $age)".update.run
    id <- sql"select lastval()".query[Long].unique
    p <- sql"select id, name, age from person where id = $id".query[Person].unique
  } yield p

This is irritating but it is supported by all databases (although the “get the last used id” function will vary by vendor).

Some database (like H2) allow you to return [only] the inserted id, allowing the above operation to be reduced to two statements (see below for an explanation of withUniqueGeneratedKeys).

def insert2_H2(name: String, age: Option[Int]): ConnectionIO[Person] =
  for {
    id <- sql"insert into person (name, age) values ($name, $age)".update
      .withUniqueGeneratedKeys[Int]("id")
    p <- sql"select id, name, age from person where id = $id".query[Person].unique
  } yield p

val person = transactorBlock(insert2_H2("Ramone", Option(42))).unsafeRunSync()

person.name should be(res0)
person.age should be(Option(res1))

Other databases (including PostgreSQL) provide a way to do this in one shot by returning multiple specified columns from the inserted row.

def insert3(name: String, age: Option[Int]): ConnectionIO[Person] = {
  sql"insert into person (name, age) values ($name, $age)"
    .update.withUniqueGeneratedKeys("id", "name", "age")
}

The withUniqueGeneratedKeys specifies that we expect exactly one row back (otherwise an exception will be thrown), and requires a list of columns to return.

This mechanism also works for updates, for databases that support it. In the case of multiple row updates we use withGeneratedKeys and get a Stream[ConnectionIO, Person] back.

val up = {
  sql"update person set age = age + 1 where age is not null"
    .update
    .withGeneratedKeys[Person]("id", "name", "age")
}

Batch Updates

doobie supports batch updating via the updateMany and updateManyWithGeneratedKeys operations on the Update data type. An Update0, which is the type of an sql"...".update expression, represents a parameterized statement where the arguments are known. An Update[A] is more general, and represents a parameterized statement where the composite argument of type A is not known.

type PersonInfo = (String, Option[Short])

def insertMany(ps: List[PersonInfo]): ConnectionIO[Int] = {
  val sql = "insert into person (name, age) values (?, ?)"
  Update[PersonInfo](sql).updateMany(ps)
}

// Some rows to insert
val data = List[PersonInfo](("Frank", Some(12)), ("Daddy", None))

val insertedRows = transactorBlock(insertMany(data)).unsafeRunSync()

insertedRows should be(res0)