Can I query JSON data in NCache using SQL?

Yes, NCache allows you to query JSON data using an SQL-like syntax via the SearchService API.

Query JSON Data in Cache [Deprecated]

NCache enables you to query JSON data in cache using SQL-like syntax by utilizing JSON query indexes or searchable attributes like Tags, Named Tags, and Groups. This distributed querying capability enables data retrieval from large JSON datasets without fetching entire objects over the network. Although this specific API is [Deprecated], it remains a robust method for maintaining legacy synchronization between JSON attributes and NCache search services.

To learn about the standard prerequisites required to work with all NCache client-side features including JSON data, please refer to the given page on Client-Side API Prerequisites.
To query data using indexes, index your query objects as detailed in our Administrators Guide.
If you have defined indexes, you must provide type information for the JSON object to be indexed when creating it.
For API details, refer to: ICache, CacheItem, JsonValue, JsonObject, Groups, Tags, NamedTags, Insert, AddAttribute, Get, QueryCommand, SearchService, ExecuteReader, FieldCount, NamedTagsDictionary.

Step 1: How to Define JSON Data Indexes for Querying

To query data using indexes, index your query objects as detailed in our Administrators Guide using the NCache Management Center or Command Line Tools. Where you will have to specify a type name or class (such as Alachisoft.NCache.Customer), along with the attributes you will query later (e.g., CompanyName).

Step 2: How to Query JSON Data using Groups, Tags, and Named Tags

You must provide a type name (the same type name as in the index you've defined previously) to query the JsonObject when adding this object to the cache. Otherwise, you will not be able to perform any queries successfully. You can learn how to specify this type of information in your code snippet in our section on Adding JsonObject to Cache with Type Name.

Steps 3: Query JsonObjects Using JSON Query Indexes

If you have completed the previous two steps, you can now search according to the attribute you require (e.g., CompanyName), as demonstrated in the code snippets below. It is necessary to add type information to ensure proper deserialization and validation of the retrieved object from the cache.

.NET
Java

// Preconditions:
// (1) Cache is already connected
// (2) Cache is JSON Serialized

// Retrieve the CacheItem using the CompanyName with a query
string query = "SELECT * FROM FQN.Customer WHERE $CompanyName$ = ?";
var queryCommand = new QueryCommand(query);
queryCommand.Parameters.Add("$CompanyName$", "Alachisoft");
var queryResult = cache.SearchService.ExecuteReader(queryCommand);

// QueryResult contains all the keys and metadata of result
if (queryResult.FieldCount > 0)
{
    while (queryResult.Read())
    {
        // Perform operation according to your logic
    }
}
else
{
    // No data containing the given CompanyName exist
}

// Preconditions:
// (1) Cache is already connected
// (2) Cache is JSON Serialized

// Retrieve the CacheItem using the CompanyName with a query
String query = "SELECT * FROM FQN.Customer WHERE companyName = ?";
QueryCommand queryCommand = new QueryCommand(query);
queryCommand.getParameters().put("companyName", "Alachisoft");

CacheReader queryResult = cache.getSearchService().executeReader(queryCommand);

// QueryResult contains all the keys and metadata of result
if (queryResult.getFieldCount() > 0) {
    while (queryResult.read()){
        // Perform operation according to your logic
    }
}
else
{
    // No data containing the given CompanyName exist
}

Note

To ensure the operation is fail-safe, it is recommended to handle any potential exceptions within your application, as explained in Handling Failures.

Query JsonObjects with Groups, Tags, or Named Tags

You can add JsonObject in your cache as a CacheItem. The CacheItem is a custom class provided by NCache which can be used to add data to the cache. It lets you add various properties to it, e.g, Locking, Dependency, Tags, NamedTags, and Groups.

Warning

An attribute cannot contain a reference to the object itself. If done so, an exception is thrown.

The following example adds a CacheItem to the cache with JsonObject Customer as the value of the CacheItem. Tags are added to the CacheItem and then item is fetched using the tag using a query command.

.NET
Java

Customer customer = FetchCustomerFromDB(1001);

// Create a unique key for the object
string key = $"Customer:{customer.CustomerID}";

// Create a new JSON object and set attributes
// string values need to be added with JsonValue
var jsonCustomer = new JsonObject("FQN.Customer");
jsonCustomer.AddAttribute("CustomerID", customer.CustomerID);
jsonCustomer.AddAttribute("ContactName", (JsonValue)customer.ContactName);
jsonCustomer.AddAttribute("CompanyName", (JsonValue)customer.CompanyName);
jsonCustomer.AddAttribute("Phone", customer.Phone);
jsonCustomer.AddAttribute("Address", customer.Address);

// Create a new CacheItem
var item = new CacheItem(jsonCustomer);

// Add Tag to the cacheItem
item.Tags = new Tag[] { new Tag("CustomerItem") };

// Add CacheItem in the cache with the value
cache.Insert(key, item);

// Retrieve the CacheItem using the tag with a query
string query = "SELECT * FROM FQN.Customer WHERE $Tag$ = ?";
var queryCommand = new QueryCommand(query);
queryCommand.Parameters.Add("$Tag$", "CustomerItem");
var queryResult = cache.SearchService.ExecuteReader(queryCommand);

// QueryResult contains all the keys and metadata of result
if (queryResult.FieldCount > 0)
{
    while (queryResult.Read())
    {
        // Perform operation according to your logic
    }
}
else
{
    // No data containing the named tag(s) exist
}

Customer customer = fetchCustomerFromDB(1001);

// Create a unique key for the object
String key = "Customer:1001";

// Create a new JSON object and set attributes
// string values need to be added with JsonValue
var jsonCustomer = new JsonObject();
jsonCustomer.addAttribute("CustomerID",new JsonValue(customer.getCustomerID()));
jsonCustomer.addAttribute("ContactName",new JsonValue(customer.getContactName()));
jsonCustomer.addAttribute("CompanyName",new JsonValue(customer.getCompanyName()));
jsonCustomer.addAttribute("Phone",new JsonValue(customer.getPhone()));
jsonCustomer.addAttribute("Address",new JsonValue(customer.getAddress()));

// Create a new CacheItem
var item = new CacheItem(jsonCustomer);

// Add Tag to the cacheItem
item.setTags(List.of(new Tag("CustomerItem")));

// Add cacheItem in the cache with the value
cache.insert(key, item);

// Retrieve the cacheItem using the tag with a query
String query = "Select * FROM FQN.Customer WHERE $Tag$ = ?";
QueryCommand queryCommand = new QueryCommand(query);
queryCommand.getParameters().put("$Tag$","CustomerItem");
CacheReader queryResult = cache.getSearchService().executeReader(queryCommand);

// QueryResult contains all the keys and metadata of result
if (queryResult.getFieldCount() > 0)
{
    while(queryResult.read())
    {
        // Perform operation according to your logic
    }
}
else
{
    // No data containing the named tag(s) exist
}

Additional Resources

NCache provides sample application for Cache Data as JSON on GitHub.