ArangoDB Shell Introduction

The ArangoDB shell (arangosh) is a command-line tool that can be used foradministration of ArangoDB, including running ad-hoc queries.

The arangosh binary is shipped with ArangoDB. It offers a JavaScript shellenvironment providing access to the ArangoDB server.Arangosh can be invoked like this:

  1. unix> arangosh

By default arangosh will try to connect to an ArangoDB server running onserver localhost on port 8529. It will use the username root and anempty password by default. Additionally it will connect to the default database(_system). All these defaults can be changed using the following command-line options:

  • —server.database : name of the database to connect to
  • —server.endpoint : endpoint to connect to
  • —server.username : database username
  • —server.password : password to use when connecting
  • —server.authentication : whether or not to use authenticationFor example, to connect to an ArangoDB server on IP 192.168.173.13 on port8530 with the user foo and using the database test, use:
  1. unix> arangosh  \
  2.   --server.endpoint tcp://192.168.173.13:8530  \
  3.   --server.username foo  \
  4.   --server.database test  \
  5.   --server.authentication true

arangosh will then display a password prompt and try to connect to the server after the password was entered.

To change the current database after the connection has been made, youcan use the db._useDatabase() command in arangosh:

  1. arangosh> db._createDatabase("myapp");
  2. arangosh> db._useDatabase("myapp");
  3. arangosh> db._useDatabase("_system");
  4. arangosh> db._dropDatabase("myapp");

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  1. true
  2. true
  3. true
  4. true

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To get a list of available commands, arangosh provides a help() function.Calling it will display helpful information.

arangosh also provides auto-completion. Additional information on available commands and methods is thus provided by typing the first few letters of avariable and then pressing the tab key. It is recommend to try this with enteringdb. (without pressing return) and then pressing tab.

By the way, arangosh provides the db object by default, and this object canbe used for switching to a different database and managing collections inside thecurrent database.

For a list of available methods for the db object, type

  1. arangosh> db._help();

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  1. --------------------------- ArangoDatabase (db) help ---------------------------
  2. Administration Functions:                                                 
  3.   _help()                               this help                         
  4.   _flushCache()                         flush and refill collection cache 
  5.  
  6. Collection Functions:                                                     
  7.   _collections()                        list all collections              
  8.   _collection(<name>)                   get collection by identifier/name 
  9.   _create(<name>, <properties>)         creates a new collection          
  10.   _createEdgeCollection(<name>)         creates a new edge collection     
  11.   _drop(<name>)                         delete a collection               
  12.  
  13. Document Functions:                                                       
  14.   _document(<id>)                       get document by handle (_id)      
  15.   _replace(<id>, <data>, <overwrite>)   overwrite document                
  16.   _update(<id>, <data>, <overwrite>,    partially update document         
  17.           <keepNull>)                                                     
  18.   _remove(<id>)                         delete document                   
  19.   _exists(<id>)                         checks whether a document exists  
  20.   _truncate()                           delete all documents              
  21.  
  22. Database Management Functions:                                            
  23.   _createDatabase(<name>)               creates a new database            
  24.   _dropDatabase(<name>)                 drops an existing database        
  25.   _useDatabase(<name>)                  switches into an existing database
  26.   _drop(<name>)                         delete a collection               
  27.   _name()                               name of the current database      
  28.  
  29. Query / Transaction Functions:                                            
  30.   _executeTransaction(<transaction>)    execute transaction               
  31.   _query(<query>)                       execute AQL query                 
  32.   _createStatement(<data>)              create and return AQL query       
  33.  
  34. View Functions:                                                           
  35.   _views()                                  list all views                
  36.   _view(<name>)                             get view by name              
  37.   _createView(<name>, <type>, <properties>) creates a new view

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you can paste multiple lines into arangosh, given the first line ends with anopening brace:

  1. arangosh> for (var i = 0; i < 10; i ++) {
  2. ........>         require("@arangodb").print("Hello world " + i + "!\n");
  3. ........> }

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  1. Hello world 0!
  2.  
  3. Hello world 1!
  4.  
  5. Hello world 2!
  6.  
  7. Hello world 3!
  8.  
  9. Hello world 4!
  10.  
  11. Hello world 5!
  12.  
  13. Hello world 6!
  14.  
  15. Hello world 7!
  16.  
  17. Hello world 8!
  18.  
  19. Hello world 9!

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To load your own JavaScript code into the current JavaScript interpreter context,use the load command:

  1. require("internal").load("/tmp/test.js")     // <- Linux / MacOS
  2. require("internal").load("c:\\tmp\\test.js") // <- Windows

Exiting arangosh can be done using the key combination <CTRL> + D or bytyping quit<CR>

Escaping

In AQL, escaping is done traditionally with the backslash character: \.As seen above, this leads to double backslashes when specifying Windows paths.Arangosh requires another level of escaping, also with the backslash character.It adds up to four backslashes that need to be written in Arangosh for a singleliteral backslash (c:\tmp\test.js):

  1. db._query('RETURN "c:\\\\tmp\\\\test.js"')

You can use bind variables tomitigate this:

  1. var somepath = "c:\\tmp\\test.js"
  2. db._query(aql`RETURN ${somepath}`)