Properties

tip

If you're seeking documentation for the Properties API, you can find it by following the link to Properties API.

The fundamental unit of meaningful data in Collect is known as a Property. Despite its apparent simplicity and modest size, the entire Collect core is built upon this architectural cornerstone. The underlying mechanisms within Collect map data to intersected properties, enabling the utilization of its robust features like Search and Dynamic APIs.

Property serves as the critical link that interconnects diverse data within Records by matching properties and, importantly, by aligning data types to create connections using exact values.

How it works

You can liken a Property to a real-world descriptor for a specific object. Here is a simplified diagram illustrating its appearance in a graph:

And this is how those Records can be represented in code:

// Record:Jacket
const jacket = {
    color: "Matte black" // Property:color     [string]
}   

// Record:SportCar
const sportCar = {
    name: "Porsche 911", // Property:name      [string]
    color: "Dark grey",  // Property:color     [string]
    maxSpeed: 295        // Property:maxSpeed  [number]
}

// Record:House
const house = {
    name: "Villa Vista", // Property:name      [string]
    color: "Pale green"  // Property:color     [string]
}

Simple as that :)

Considerations

Real-world data can be considerably more intricate and may encompass all conceivable data types within a single Record. However, rest assured that Collect adeptly manages this complexity without hesitation. Nevertheless, there are a few important considerations you should be aware of:

1. Property is designed to accommodate only consistent values. This means that Collect will strive to retain the original value type. However, if there are any inconsistent or non-convertible values in the payload, Collect will automatically convert them to a string type.

Payload contains inconsistent values but can be converted to desired number type:

{
    name: "Combination",
    type: "number",    
    value: [4, 8, 15, 16, "23", "42.0"]
} 
// ---> converts to
{
    name: "Combination",
    type: "number",
    value: [4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.0]
}

Payload contains inconsistent values but cannot be converted to desired number type:

{
    name: "Secret",
    type:"number",
    value: [1, 2, 3, "jelly bear"]
}
// ---> converts to
{
    name: "Secret",
    type: "string",
    value: ["1", "2", "3", "jelly bear"]
}

---

2. When two (or more) properties with the same name but different types come into play, Collect will make every effort to maintain data consistency. It does this by appending a suffix to the duplicated name, ensuring that the distinction is preserved. For instance:

[
    {
        type: "Raincoat",
        size: "M"
    }, 
    { 
        type: "Cardigan",
        size: 38
    }
]

Will be saved into:

[
    {
        type: "Raincoat",
        size: "M"
    },
    {
        type: "Cardigan",
        size__NUMBER: 38
    }
]