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Get up an running with the Tableland SDK.

The JavaScript / TypeScript SDK allows developers to create tables on their chain of choice. Connect, create, and then interact with your tables thereafter with table writes and reads by using the primary Database API.

Installation​

You can install the SDK from the command line—navigate to the project's directory and run the following:

npm install @tableland/sdk

note

Note that Tableland uses ethersjs under the hood. The version being used is the last version of ethersjs v5 (5.7.2) and not the latest version overall (v6).

Also note Tableland SDK uses the modern fetch API, which is only available starting with Node 18. If you're using an earlier version (Node 16 or before), you must provide global access to fetch as well as Headers to use the SDK. Check out this walkthrough for how to do this.

Usage​

All table creates, writes, and reads fall under a single method: prepare.

Start by creating an instance of a Database and then pass SQL, such as CREATE TABLE, INSERT INTO, UPDATE, DELETE, and SELECT statements. The prepare method returns a Statement object, which can then be used to execute the query with statement methods: all(), run(), raw(), and first().

Alternatively, the Database has a batch() method that allows you to send multiple prepared statements in a single call to the network. This can have a huge performance impact as it reduces latency from network round trips to Tableland. Lastly, the Database's exec() method allows you to execute a string of SQL statements without preparing it first.

Ethers​

Note that Tableland uses ethersjs under the hood. The version being used is the last version of ethersjs v5 (5.7.2) and not the latest version overall (v6). So, it's likely you'll need to install ethers@^5.7.2 in your project:

npm i --save ethers@^5.7.2

Local development​

It's easiest to also use Local Tableland when you're first getting started. Install the @tableland/local package globally (see here for details) and then start the local nodes. This will spin up a local Tableland validator node as well as a Hardhat node, allowing you to connect to chain ID 31337 and RPC URL http://127.0.0.1:8545 for testing purposes.

npm install --save-dev @tableland/local

And then spin the nodes up so that you can use Tableland without needing to connect to any testnets or mainnets:

npx local-tableland

Network configuration​

When connecting to a Database, the default will connect to Polygon Mumbai and use a browser connection (e.g., MetaMask prompt), but setting up the network configuration using a Signer defines the desired chain connection. You'll need a to use a provider to connect the Signer using a private key; the provider will point to the desired chain for the database's connection.

For example, you could choose to override the default browser-based connection and pass a private key to instantiate a signer, then, connecting it to the Database. But, if you'd like to use the default browser connection, simply instantiating with new Database() will prompt the browser wallet.

import { Database } from "@tableland/sdk";
import { Wallet, getDefaultProvider } from "ethers";

const privateKey = "your_private_key";
const wallet = new Wallet(privateKey);
// To avoid connecting to the browser wallet (locally, port 8545).
// For example: "https://polygon-mumbai.g.alchemy.com/v2/YOUR_ALCHEMY_KEY"
const provider = getDefaultProvider("http://127.0.0.1:8545");
const signer = wallet.connect(provider);
// Connect to the database
const db = new Database({ signer });
tip

For more information, check out the Signers page.

Creates​

Once you are ready to create a table, you can follow rather standard SQL convention. You’ll first import the Database class, create a new instance, and then pass a CREATE TABLE statement to prepare. For readability purposes, a prefix variable is created and passed using string templating within the prepare method.

For context, the run method returns metrics about the query, such as transaction information.

// Default to grabbing a wallet connection in a browser
const db = new Database({ signer });

// This is the table's `prefix`--a custom table value prefixed as part of the table's name
const prefix = "my_table";
const { meta: create } = await db
  .prepare(`CREATE TABLE ${prefix} (id integer primary key, val text);`)
  .run();
await create.txn?.wait();

// The table's `name` is in the format `{prefix}_{chainId}_{tableId}`
const tableName = create.txn?.names[0] ?? ""; // e.g., my_table_31337_2

At this point, the table exists, but it has no data.

Note it is possible to create a table without a prefix value; you can use an empty string. In this case, do be careful with string interpolation. You’ll want to wrap the prefix passed to the prepare method in double quotes so that the "empty" table name is recognized and doesn't cause a SQL syntax error.

const prefix = ""; // An empty string is a valid prefix, but make sure the CREATE TABLE statement sees it!
const { meta: create } = await db
  .prepare(`CREATE TABLE "${prefix}" (id integer primary key, name text);`)
  .run();

In general, double quotes around any table name in a statement is valid SQL.

Writes​

The SDK allows for parameter binding to help simplify writing queries (includes both mutating and read queries). The ? is an anonymous parameter, which replaces the values in the statement with those in bind. Let’s extend the example for creating a table.

// Insert a row into the table
const { meta: insert } = await db
  .prepare(`INSERT INTO ${tableName} (id, val) VALUES (?, ?);`)
  .bind(0, "Bobby Tables")
  .run();

// Wait for transaction finality
await insert.txn?.wait();

When a table is written to, it includes two steps:

  1. Onchain interaction—this is what the wait method is waiting for (i.e., transaction finality).
  2. Offchain materialization—once wait is fulfilled, the mutating SQL query will have been materialized by the Tableland network and is now readable with the SELECT statement.
tip

A commonly used pattern with an INTEGER PRIMARY KEY constraint is to use it for auto-incrementing purposes, where you don't specify that column upon inserts so that the value will increment automatically. See here for more details.

Reads​

Start by importing the Database and establishing a read-only connection. This allows developers to bypass any wallet connection since table reads are not an onchain operation. You’ll notice the all method (and run in the example below) is chained to the statement—more details are provided in the query statement methods section.

const { results } = await db.prepare(`SELECT * FROM ${tableName};`).all();
console.log(results);

If you followed the steps above, this will log:

[
  {
    "id": 0,
    "val": "Bobby Tables"
  }
]