Introduction to MonoTouch Library sqlite-net

Introduction

In my previous article, I gave a tutorial on how we can use Xamarin.iOS (formally known as Monotouch) to build iOS mobile applications using C#. In this blog post, I will introduce a third party library that can aid your mobile application development: sqlite-net.

Introducing sqlite-net (ORM)

The sqlite-net library provides simple, easy-to-use object relation mapping for the SQLite database. The API was designed specifically for mobile applications written in the .NET platform. The library is a single C# source file that is imported into your project with no additional dependences. Database operations can either be synchronous and asynchronous.

Table and Column Definitions

To define your tables, sqlite-net uses attributes on the domain model’s public properties. The minimal required for defining a table is the PrimaryKey attribute. The preferred data type for the primary key is an integer. By default, the table and column names will use the class and properties from the domain model for their names.

Let’s look at an example domain:

using SQLite;
namespace Com.Khs.CommandRef.Model
{
    [Table("category")]
    public class Category
    {
        [PrimaryKey]
        public long Id { get; set; }
        public string Description { get; set; }
    }
}

When defining the model, the C# data types that sqlite-net supports are Integers, Booleans, Enums, Singles, Doubles, Strings, and DateTime. Here are a list of database attributes that define your table and columns:

• Table – Defines a specific name for the table
• Column – Defines a specific name for the column
• PrimaryKey – Defines the primary key for the table
• AutoIncrement – Guarantees the primary key as having a unique id value. The domain model property should be an integer.
• Indexed – Defines the column as an index
• Ignore – Does not add the class property as a column in the table

Initialize Database

When the iOS application begins to load, I create a database connection and initialize the tables during the FinishedLaunching method from the AppDelegate class. First, create the connection to the database using the SQLiteConnection or SQLiteAsyncConnection method. The CreateTable or CreateAsyncTable method will create a new table for the connection if it does not already exist in the database. The Connection property will be used by the application for accessing the database.

using SQLite;

namespace Com.Khs.CommandRef
{
    [Register ("AppDelegate")]
    public partial class AppDelegate : UIApplicationDelegate
    {
        public SQLiteConnection Connection { get; private set; }

        public override bool FinishedLaunching (UIApplication application, NSDictionary launcOptions)
        {
            InitializeDatabase();
            return true;
        }

        protected void InitializeDatabase ()
        {
//Synchronous connection
            Connection = new SQLiteConnection(DbName);

//Ansynchronous connection
            Connection = new SQLiteAsyncConnection(DbName);

//Create Tables
            Connection.CreateTable<Category>();
            Connection.CreateTable<Reference>();
            Connection.CreateTable<User>();
            Connection.CreateTable<Command>();
        }

        public string DbName
        {
            get { return Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath
            (Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal), "commandref.db"); }
        }
    }

For the remainder of the blog, I will constrain my examples using only the synchronous database methods. If you want asynchronous operations, use the corresponding ‘Async’ method names. (As an example: using InsertAsync instead of Insert.)

CRUD Operations

Now that we have the connection created and tables initialized, we can now do some CRUD operations on the database.

Inserting data into your database is as simple as creating a new model object and calling either the Insert or InsertOrReplace method. The InsertOrReplace method will first delete the existing record if it exists, and then insert the new record. If the AutoIncrement is set on a primary key, the model will return with the new ID.

public void AddCategory(SQLiteConnection db)
{
    //Single object insert
    var category = new Category { Description = "Test" };
    var rowsAdded = Db.Insert(category);
    Console.WriteLine("SQLite Insert - Rows Added;" + rowsAdded);
    
    //Insert list of objects
    List<Category> categories = new List<Category>();
    for ( int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
    {
        categories.Add( new Category { Description = "Test " + i });
    }
    rowsAdded = Db.InsertAll(categories);
    Console.WriteLine("SQLite Insert - Rows Added;" + rowsAdded);
}

The operations for update and delete work in similar way as the insert operation:

 public void DeleteCategory(SQLiteCommand db, Category category)
{
    //Single object delete
    var rowsDeleted = Db.Delete<Category>(category);
    Console.WriteLine("SQLite Delete - Rows Deleted: " + rowsDeleted);
    
    //Delete all objects
    rowsDeleted = Db.DeleteAll<Category>();
}

public void UpdateCategory(SQLiteCommand db, Category category, List<Category> categories)
{
    //Single object update
    var rowsUpdated = Db.Update(category);
    Console.WriteLine("SQLite Update - Rows Updated: " + rowsUpdated);
    
    //Update list of objects
    rowsUpdated = Db.UpdateAll(categories);
    Console.WriteLine("SQLite Update - Rows Updated: " + rowsUpdated);
}

There are two options for querying the database, using predicates or low-level queries. When using the predicates option, the Table method is used. Additional predicates such as Where and OrderBy can be used to tailor the queries.

Let’s look at some examples:

public void QueryCategory(SQLiteCommand db)
{
    //Query the database using predicates.
    //Return all the objects.
    var categories = Db.Table<Category>().OrderBy(c => c.Description);
    
    //Use Where predicate
    var category = Db.Table<Category>().Where
    (c => c.Description.Equals("Test"));
    
    //Use low level queries
    categories = Db.Query<Category>
    ("select * from category where Description = ?", "Test");
}

To simplify the query statements, sqlite-net provides Find and Get methods. They will return single object matching the predicate. In the previous example, the query could have been written in the following way:

category = Db.Find(c => c.Description.Equals("Test"));

Additional Features

The sqlite-net also provides a simple transaction framework.

• BeginTransaction – Starts a new database transaction. Throws exception when a transaction is already started.
• SaveTransactionPoint – If a transaction is not started, then a new transaction will be created. Otherwise, set a new rollback point. The database will rollback to the last saved transaction point.
• Commit – Commits the current transaction.
• Rollback – Completely rolls back the current transaction.
• RollbackTo – Rollback to an existing save point set by the SaveTransactionPoint.

public void TransactionOperation()
{
    Db.BeginTransaction( () => {
        // Do some database work.
        // Commits the transaction when done.
    });
    
    //Another transaction call
    Db.BeginTransaction();
    
    //Check that the transaction is still active
    if ( Db.IsInTransaction )
    {
        //Close and commit the transaction
        Db.Commit();
    }
}

This article shows some of the capabilities of the sqlite-net library. If you would like to learn more about the sqlite-net, check it out on Github and see the code, examples, and wiki for more information. Good luck!

– Mark Fricke, asktheteam@keyholesoftware.com