loopbackio / loopbackio/loopback-next

[EPIC] Composite primary/foreign keys

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epic feature major Relations Repository REST
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Description

_See https://github.com/strongloop/loopback/issues/2080 for the original discussion in LB 2.x/3.x._

LoopBack should support models using composite keys, where a primary key or a foreign key is composed from multiple properties.

Let's consider the following models as an example:

```ts
// A (GitHub) repository is identified by the pair [user, name]
// and has many issues
@model
class Repository {
@property({id: true})
user: string;

@property({id: true}
name: string;

@hasMany(() => Issue)
issues: Issue[];
}

// An issue belongs to a repository
@model
class Issue {
// how to specify @belongsTo relation?
}
```

Functional areas we need to cover:

- How to define a model with a composite primary key (e.g. Repository above)?
- Connectors must understand composite ids and convert them to a concept the target database understands. SQL is easy because it supports composite primary keys OOTB, NoSQL like MongoDB and Cloudant can be tricky.
- create a new model
- find a model by id
- update (patch/replace) a model by id
- delete a model by id
- (etc.)
- Autoupdate/automigrate need to support composite primary keys too
- How to define composite foreign key in a model belonging to another model (e.g. Issue above)
- Relation repositories must work with composite keys
- How to expose a model with a composite primary key via REST API?
- How to expose a relation using a composite foreign key via REST API?
- Controller templates need to produce code that works with composite primary/foreign keys.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Begin with the linked LB 2.x/3.x discussion and the Repository/Issue model example. Scope the work across model definitions, connectors, automigrate/autoupdate, relation repositories, REST exposure, and controller templates; done requires agreed support for each listed operation and a testable implementation plan.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
api, backend, databases
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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