Creating Schema in Firebase database with NodeJS

Question

I am not a pro in JS/NodeJS and I have some experience using express-mongoose.

Now, I prefer MVC approach, meaning creating schema and importing it.

Since, Firebase database also happens to be no sql database, I decided on doing exactly what I am suppose to do in mongoose but unfortunately I am unable to understand.

To say the least, I have created index.js which is my entry point of the app.

And as per firebase docs, I am initialising it like this (index.js)

const admin = require("firebase-admin");

//Firbade config file 
const firebaseConfig = require("./functions-config.json")

admin.initializeApp({
    credential: admin.credential.cert(firebaseConfig),
    databaseURL: "https://functions-firebase-43a59.firebaseio.com"
})

const db = admin.firestore()

.

Question: Can we create schema in firebase db as we are used to creating in mongoose

i.e this is the example of creating mongoose schema in NodeJS (models/user.js)

const mongoose = require('mongoose')

const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
    fullName: String,
    email: String,
    image: String, 
    gender: String,
    profile_id: String,
    createdAt: {type: Date, default: Date.now}
}) 


module.exports = mongoose.model('User', userSchema);

I answered Q1 below. Please open separate questions for each... question. — Frank van Puffelen
– Frank van Puffelen, Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 15:00
Once you go schemaless you don't go back, as the saying goes. Whole point of NoSQL is to be schemaless, mongoose is just a bloated relational crutch in front of an already elegant driver. It also encourages you to stay in the relational mindset which doesn't always lend itself to optimal performance in a nosql world imo :) — nanobar
– nanobar, Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 16:09
@Dominic I was just typing other two questions when you shared your comment. But why schemaless is preferred over schema? Frankly, I am literally pondering over why firebase is schemaless ? — Alwaysblue
– Alwaysblue, Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 16:12
Frank, thanks a lot for the answer. Here is the second question stackoverflow.com/questions/54095750/… Also, I have edited current question and removed other two questions :) — Alwaysblue
– Alwaysblue, Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 16:23

Frank van Puffelen · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-08 14:57:48Z

7

Can we create schema in firebase db as we are used to creating in mongoose?

Firebase comes with two databases: the Realtime Database, and Cloud Firestore. Both of those are schemaless NoSQL databases. But in both cases, you can use the database's server-side security rules to control what type of data can be written to it.

For Realtime Database, see the documentation, and this classic video for an introduction. You'll specifically want to look at the .validate rules here.

For Cloud Firestore, see the documentation, and episode 6 in the Getting to know Cloud Firestore video series.

answered Jan 8, 2019 at 14:57

Frank van Puffelen

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Comments

Saqib Rasheed · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-21 05:51:19Z

3

You can use an npm package "firefose". Documentation can be found here: https://www.npmjs.com/package/firefose

answered Jun 21, 2022 at 5:51

Saqib Rasheed

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1 Comment

CentoKili53 Over a year ago

This looks very promising. I'll give it a try! :-)

Sreeram Padmanabhan · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-05 15:16:18Z

1

You dont need to create a scheme beforehand.

You can just set the data like:

firebase.database()
  .ref('users')
  .set({
    email,
  })

answered Apr 5, 2020 at 15:16

Sreeram Padmanabhan

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Comments

GorvGoyl · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-01 22:21:32Z

0

Yes, you can create db schema for firestore in node js using class. There are a few third party libraries for firestore ORM (Object-relational Mapper) available:

answered Jun 1, 2020 at 22:21

GorvGoyl

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1 Comment

Rohan Devaki Over a year ago

hey thanks this is helpful, for me, since i have to work with flask and firebase, so I have searched with the same keywords and one extra keyword "pip" these packages are the one which i am looking for.

Tomasz Zajac · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-07 11:36:02Z

0

If you can stick to relatively flat data structure then, in my opinion, the best solution for bringing schema to Firestore is to use a separate collection for storing schemas as docs. You can then use cloud functions to validate data and write data. The biggest advantage of this approach is that you can create and modify schemas at run time. Overall it's a bit more work but saves a lot of hassle long therm. I've made a CMS using this approach, it works well and is very cost effective comparing to MongoDB.

answered Jul 7, 2020 at 11:36

Tomasz Zajac

1

2 Comments

Michael Nelles Over a year ago

how does one measure a relatively flat data structure?

Tomasz Zajac Over a year ago

You don't measure it. In this context "relatively flat" is a figure of speech and its purpose it to highlight that the proposed solution requires taking into consideration how nested the data structure is as this factor does affect the performance. In another words it's a suggestion: less nested data structure is better this solution works. But there's no clear cut here and it's up to whoever does the implementation to make the call.

Uchechukwu Cos-ibe · Accepted Answer · 2023-04-28 18:58:52Z

-1

You dont need to create a scheme beforehand. but if you want to define the data type of your collection before sending to firebase, use;

const data = {
            title: fullName.trim(),
            email: email.trim()

        };

edited Apr 28, 2023 at 18:58

answered Apr 28, 2023 at 18:58

Uchechukwu Cos-ibe

173 bronze badges

1 Comment

Scott Over a year ago

The OP is asking to use a scheme though. I don't think this helps.

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