thing

A Thing in ThingsDB is a key/value object where each key must be of type str (except for some reserved properties) and values can be any type. For as long as a thing is used as a variable and not stored in a collection, a thing does not have an Id. Only when a thing is attached and therefore stored in a collection, ThingsDB will assign an Id to the # property. This property is not accessible but can be read using the id() function. See examples below.

Functions

Function	Description
assign	Copies properties from a thing.
clear	Remove all properties from a thing.
copy	Copy a thing to a new thing. A Type is not preserved.
del	Remove a property.
dup	Duplicate a thing while preserving the Type.
each	Iterate over all properties of a thing.
equals	Test if two things are equal.
filter	Return a new thing with properties that pass a given test.
get	Return the value of a property on a thing by a given property name.
has	Determine if a thing has a given property.
id	Return id of the thing or nil when the thing is not stored.
keys	Return a list with all the property names of a thing.
len	Return the number of items.
map	Return a list with the results of calling a provided closure on every property.
remove	Remove properties that pass a given test and returns the removed values in a list.
ren	Rename a property.
restrict	Set or remove a value restriction on a thing.
restriction	Return the restriction of the thing or nil when the thing is not restricted.
search	Search for a given thing within a thing.
set	Create a new or overwrite an existing property on a thing.
to_type	Converts a thing into a typed thing.
values	Return a list with all the property values of a thing.
vmap	Returns a new thing with equal keys but values as a result of a given closure.
wrap	Wrap the thing with a Type.

Examples

// create a new thing
my_thing = {};

// keys following the naming rules can be created and accessed using the `.key` syntax
my_thing.color = 'blueish';

// Functions like `get` and `set` can also be used to create and read properties,
// and just as the bracket [..] notation they can be used to use keys which do not
// follow the naming convention, for example a key with spaces:
my_thing['with some spaces'] = 'almost any str is possible as key';

 // my_thing does not have an Id as we are using it as a variable
assert (my_thing.id() == nil);

// attach to the collection will generate an Id
.my_thing = my_thing;
assert (my_thing.id() != nil);

Properties can be set immediately at initialization. Its quite common to wite a query with query params where the query param is used as key/value pairs in a thing. In this case it is possible to use a short syntax.

// this query is called with name='...'
// In this case writing "name: name," is not required and a "short" syntax can be used
my_thing = {
    name:,
    other: 'another key/value pair'
};