db-filters

Filtering library for systematic database query generation using Node.js

Overview

The purpose of db-filters is to provide an abstraction layer between data and the underlying database language. It provides a means for taking objects and then generating queries (eventually, for multiple database engines and families) automatically. Traditionally, a database abstraction layer would hide the API for interacting with the database behind a single API that can easily convert calls to support MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, etc. However, SQL must still be written to send to these databasee, and it is not abstracted by the API.

db-filters fills this gap by providing an abstraction to the query language itself. In principle this allows for seamless migration between SQL and NoSQL solutions, but for now its primary purpose is to generate SQL statements programmatically with high consistency, safety (i.e. proper escaping), and simplicity, as compared to writing SQL by hand.

The premise of filtering data for query generation moves the task of translating object properties into database fields away from user code. Instead central rules are specified that can decode all of the object properties. This approach allows for simpler user code specifying what information is to be retrieved from a database, and it gracefully handles a complex combination of array types, optional values, and compound types that should always map to multiple fields or require additional preprocessing before being placed into an SQL query.

Trivia: This was originally a PHP library that I wrote, but the code was very ugly. Now, a friend of mine is backporting the new Javascript version to PHP 5.3.

Usage

Examples