Relational models

The @hasOne and @hasMany directives do not support referencing a model which then references the initial model via @hasOne or @hasMany if DataStore is enabled.

DataStore has the capability to handle relationships between Models, such as has one, has many, belongs to. In GraphQL this is done with the @hasOne, @hasMany and @index directives as defined in the GraphQL Transformer documentation.

Updated schema

For the examples below with DataStore let's add a new model to the sample schema:

1enum PostStatus {
2  ACTIVE
3  INACTIVE
4}
5
6type Post @model {
7  id: ID!
8  title: String!
9  rating: Int!
10  status: PostStatus!
11  # New field with @hasMany
12  comments: [Comment] @hasMany
13}
14
15# New model
16type Comment @model {
17  id: ID!
18  post: Post @belongsTo
19  content: String!
20}

Saving relations

In order to save connected models, you will create an instance of the model you wish to connect and pass its ID to DataStore.save:

1const post = await DataStore.save(
2  new Post({
3    title: 'My Post with comments',
4    rating: 10,
5    status: PostStatus.ACTIVE
6  })
7);
8
9await DataStore.save(
10  new Comment({
11    content: 'Loving Amplify DataStore!',
12    post: post
13  })
14);

Querying relations

You can query related models in three ways:

Option 1: use the toArray() function to lazy load related comments

1const post = await DataStore.query(Post, "YOUR_POST_ID")
2if (post) {
3  const comments = await post.comments.toArray()
4}

1const post = await DataStore.query(Post, "YOUR_POST_ID");
2const comments = await post.comments.toArray();

Option 2: use async iterators to lazy load related comments

1const post = await DataStore.query(Post, "YOUR_POST_ID");
2if (post) {
3  for await (const comment of post.comments) {
4    console.log(comment)
5  };
6}

1const post = await DataStore.query(Post, "YOUR_POST_ID");
2for await (const comment of post.comments) {
3  console.log(comment)
4};

Option 3: use nested query predicates with the Comment model

1const comments = await DataStore.query(Comment, c => c.post.id.eq('YOUR_POST_ID'));

Deleting relations

When you delete a parent object in a one-to-many relationship, the children will also be removed from the DataStore and mutations for this deletion will be sent over the network. For example, the following operation would remove the Post with id 123 as well as any related comments:

1const toDelete = await DataStore.query(Post, "123");
2if (toDelete) {
3  DataStore.delete(toDelete);
4}

1const toDelete = await DataStore.query(Post, "123");
2DataStore.delete(toDelete);

However, in a many-to-many relationship the children are not removed and you must explicitly delete them.

Many-to-many

For many-to-many relationships, you can use the @manyToMany directive and specify a relationName. Under the hood, Amplify creates a join table and a one-to-many relationship from both models.

1enum PostStatus {
2  ACTIVE
3  INACTIVE
4}
5
6type Post @model {
7  id: ID!
8  title: String!
9  rating: Int
10  status: PostStatus
11  editors: [User] @manyToMany(relationName: "PostEditor")
12}
13
14type User @model {
15  id: ID!
16  username: String!
17  posts: [Post] @manyToMany(relationName: "PostEditor")
18}

1// first you save the post
2const post = await DataStore.save(
3  new Post({
4    title: 'My first post'
5  })
6);
7
8// secondly, you save the editor/user
9const editor = await DataStore.save(
10  new User({
11    username: 'Nadia'
12  })
13);
14
15// then you save the model that links a post with an editor
16await DataStore.save(
17  new PostEditor({
18    post: post,
19    user: editor
20  })
21);

Manipulating data

Syncing data to cloud