Set Relation with objects¶

API request replaces related objects with the ones identified in the API call. Child objects must be explicitly defined by referencing their IDs.

Using Untyped ObjectsCustom Class/Function

Backendless.Data.of( "TABLE-NAME" ).setRelation( 
     parentObject,
     relationColumnName,
     childrenArray )
 .then( function( count ) {
  })
 .catch( function( error ) {
  });

Backendless.Data.of( ClassFunctionRef ).setRelation( 
     parentObject,
     relationColumnName,
     childrenArray )
 .then( function( count ) {
  })
 .catch( function( error ) {
  });

where:

Argument	Description
`TABLE-NAME`	Name of the table where the parent object is stored.
`ClassFunctionRef`	Reference to a JS function/class identifying the table. Name of the table must match the name of the function.
`parentObject`	The object which will be assigned related children for `relatedColumnName`. When this argument is a plain JS object(for the "Untyped Objects" approach), it must contain the `"objectId"` property.
`relationColumnName`	Name of the column identifying the relation. Objects from the `childrenArray` array will be set as related for the column in `parentObject`. The column name may optionally include table name separated by the colon character as well as cardinality which determines the type of relationship (one to one or one to many) (see the note below):

Important

If the column does not exist in the parent table at the time when the API is called, the value of the "relationColumnName " argument must include the name of the child table separated by colon and the cardinality notation. The cardinality is expressed as ":1 " for one-to-one relations and ":n " for one-to-many relations. For example, the value of "myOrder:Order:1 " will create a one-to-one relation column "myOrder " in the parent table. The column will point to the Order child table. Likewise, the value of "myOrder:Order:n " will create a one-to-many relation column "myOrder " pointing to the Order table.

Argument Description

childrenArray An array of child objects to set into the relation identified by relatedColumnName. For the one-to-one relations the collection must contain one element. The array element can be either a complete object which must have the objectId property or a string value of the objectId property. Both of the following examples are valid values for the childrenArray argument:
[ "XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX", "ZZZZ-ZZZZ-ZZZZZ-ZZZZ" ]
[ {objectId:"XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX"}, {objectId:"ZZZZ-ZZZZ-ZZZZZ-ZZZZ" }]

Return Value¶

Number of child objects set into the relation.

Example¶

The example below sets a relation for a one-to-one column named address declared in the Person table. The column must be declared in the table prior to the execution of the request shown below. This necessity is explained by missing table name qualifier in the relationColumnName argument - notice the relation column is "address". If the argument value were "address:Address:1", then the column would be created automatically.
relation-column

Using Untyped ObjectsCustom Class/Function

var parentObject = { objectId:"41230622-DC4D-204F-FF5A-F893A0324800" };

var childObject = { objectId:"3464C734-F5B8-09F1-FFD3-18647D12E700" };

var children = [ childObject ];

Backendless.Data.of( "Person" ).setRelation( parentObject, "address", children )
  .then( function( count ) {
    console.log( "relation has been set" );
  })
  .catch( function( error ) {
    console.log( "server reported an error - " + error.message );
  });

function Person() {
  // define Person properties here
}

function Address() {
  // define Address properties here
}

var personObject = // personObject retrieval is out of scope in this example
var addressObject = // addressObject retrieval is out of scope in this example

var addressCollection = [ addressObject ];

Backendless.Data.of( Person ).setRelation( personObject, "address", addressCollection )
  .then( function( count ) {
    console.log( "relation has been set" );
  })
  .catch( function( error ) {
    console.log( "server reported an error - " + error.message );
  });