sstable

Sorted strings tables for Node.js

Installation

npm install @withcardinal/sstable

Usage

An sstable, or sorted strings table, is a simple file format that records key value pairs, sorted by key.

Writing an sstable file

Use a TableBuilder to write an sstable file. Records must be added in sorted order.

// open a table builder
const tb = new TableBuilder("animals.sstable");

// add records
await tb.add(
  Buffer.from("Bearded Dragon"),
  Buffer.from(JSON.stringify({ kingdom: "mammal" }))
);
await tb.add(
  Buffer.from("Dog"),
  Buffer.from(JSON.stringify({ kingdom: "mammal" }))
);

// close the table
await tb.close();

Once you have an sstable file you can open and look up keys in it with Table:

const table = new Table("animals.sstable");

// print the Dog record (as a buffer)
const value = await table.get(Buffer.from("Dog"));
console.log(value?.toString());

// close it
await table.close();

Tables can be searched and iterated with cursors:

const table = new Table("animals.sstable");

// iterate all keys
const cursor = await table.cursor();
await cursor.seek(Buffer.from("Dog"));

for (
  let animal = await cursor.next();
  animal !== undefined;
  animal = await cursor.next()
) {
  console.log(`key=${animal[0].toString()}, value=${animal[1].toString()}`);
}

// close it
await table.close();

API Documentation

TableBuilder

constructor(path: string)

Construct a new Table Builder.

Parameters

• path - the file path to write the new sstable to. No file should exist at this path.

add(key: Buffer, value: Buffer) : Promise<void>

Add a new key/value pair to the table. Keys must be added in sorted order.

Parameters

• key - The key to add.
• value - The value to add

Throws

• Keys must added in sorted order. If key is less than the previously added key an error will be thrown.
• Files are lazily opened once the first key is added. If a file already exists at path an error will be thrown.

close() : Promise<void>

Flush final data and close the TableBuilder.

Table

constructor(path: string)

Construct a new table from the file at path.

path : string

Get path for this table.

get(key: Buffer) : Promise<Buffer | undefined>

Read the value at key, or return undefined if the key does not exist.

Parameters

• key - the key to look up

Returns

• Buffer if the key is found, undefined otherwise

Throws

• Files are lazily opened, so can throw if the file at path isn't found.

cursor() : Promise<Cursor>

Returns a new Cursor for iterating the Table from the start.

Returns

• A new cursor

Throws

• Files are lazily opened, so can throw if the file at path isn't found.

close() : Promise<void>

Closes the Table and the underlying file.

Cursor

Returned by calling cursor on a Table or MergedTable instance.

peek() : Promise<[Buffer, Buffer] | undefined>

Peeks the next value in the sstable

next() : Promise<[Buffer, Buffer] | undefined>

Reads the next value in the sstable and returns its key and value.

Returns

• Returns an array of two buffers, [key, value] if a next entry is available, or undefined otherwise.

seek(key: Buffer) : Promise<void>

Seek to key in the sstable. If key doesn't exist, seek to the position prior to the next value greater than key.

Parameters

• key - the position to seek to in the sstable. If key doesn't exist in the table the seek will go to just prior to the next key greater than key.

MergedTable

constructor(tables: Table[])

Construct a new MergedTable from a set of tables. The MergedTable will provide a merged view of all the tables at once, giving priority to lower indexed tables in the tables array.

Because MergedTable objects are composed of multiple Table objects, be sure to close all of the Table objects after you're done with the MergedTable.

get(key: Buffer): Promise<Buffer | undefined>

Read the value at key, or return undefined if the key does not exist.

Parameters

• key - the key to look up

Returns

• Buffer if the key is found, undefined otherwise

cursor() : Promise<Cursor>

Returns a new Cursor for iterating the MergedTable from the start.

Returns

• A new cursor

Memtable

Memtable is a data structure that's helpful for building up sstables. It holds all data in memory until it is saved to a new sstable.

constuctor()

Instantiate a new Memtable.

byteLength : number

The number of bytes currently stored in this memtable.

size : number

The number of records currently stored in this memtable.

add(key: Buffer, value: Buffer) : Promise<void>

Add a key value pair to the memtable.

get(key: Buffer): Promise<Buffer>

Get the value for key in the memtable. This performance a search through the memtable, so shouldn't be relied on to be efficient.

save(path: string) : Promise<void>

Save a new sstable at path using the data in this memtable.

License

MIT. See LICENSE for details.