Storage solutions for browsers

This is a short summary of the solutions for persistent storage that I've found. I've included simple examples of how they would be used. I prefer solutions that support IndexedDb and that have a straightforward mapping in data model.

pouchdb

A couched for browsers. Seams to be the most widespread storage solution for browsers. Storage in IndexedDb is not straight forward. Interacting directly with IndexedDb probably not a good idea.

var db = new PouchDB('kittens');

db.info().then(function (info) {
  console.log(info);
});

var doc = {
  "_id": "mittens",
  "name": "Mittens",
  "occupation": "kitten",
  "age": 3,
  "hobbies": [
    "playing with balls of yarn",
    "chasing laser pointers",
    "lookin' hella cute"
  ]
};
db.put(doc);

db.get('mittens').then(function (doc) {
  console.log(doc);
});

// updates require the full document incl. _rev
db.get('mittens').then(function (doc) {
  // update their age
  doc.age = 4;
  // put them back
  return db.put(doc);
}).then(function () {
  // fetch mittens again
  return db.get('mittens');
}).then(function (doc) {
  console.log(doc);
});

alasql

New and inmature solution. Found bugs when using IndexedDb as backend. Re-visit in a while and check for progress. Many open issues in github though.

// data in array
var data = [{a:1,b:10}, {a:2,b:20}, {a:1,b:30}];
var res = alasql('SELECT a, SUM(b) AS b FROM ? GROUP BY a',[data]);
console.log(res);

// data in indexeddb
var cityData = [{city:"Redmond", population:57530},
        {city:"Atlanta",population:447841},
        {city:"San Fracisco", population:837442}];

alasql('CREATE INDEXEDDB DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS geo');

alasql('CREATE INDEXEDDB DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS geo;\
        ATTACH INDEXEDDB DATABASE geo; \
        USE geo; \
        DROP TABLE IF EXISTS cities; \
        CREATE TABLE cities; \
        SELECT * INTO cities FROM ?', [cityData], function(){
        alasql('SELECT COLUMN * FROM cities WHERE population > 100000 ORDER BY city DESC',
           [],function(res){
                console.log('Big cities: ', res.join(','));
        });
    });

NeDB

Mongo type of Api for browsers. No support for IndexedDb.

// Create an in-memory only datastore
var db = new Nedb();
db.insert({ planet: 'Earth' });
db.insert({ planet: 'Mars' });

db.find({}, function (err, docs) {
    console.log(docs);
});

// Create a localStorage datastore
var db = new Nedb({filename: 'filename'});
db.insert({ planet: 'Earth' });
db.insert({ planet: 'Mars' });

db.find({}, function (err, docs) {
    console.log(docs);
});

dexie.org

Simple wrapper on IndexedDb. Not sure how widely used this is.

var db = new Dexie("FriendDatabase");

db.version(1).stores({
    friends: "++id,name,age"
});

db.open();

db.friends.add({name: "Josephine", age: 21}).then(function(){

});

db.friends.where("age").between(20, 30).each(function(friend) {
        console.log("Found young friend: " + JSON.stringify(friend));
    });

YDN-DB

Not using indexedDb on Safari. Straightforward model for storage in indexeddb (testing with Firefox).

var db = new ydn.db.Storage('yen-db');

db.put('store-name', {message: 'Hello world!'}, 'id1');

db.get('store-name', 'id1').always(function(record) {
  console.log(record);
});

localForage

Simple key value store that Mozilla is behind.

var obj = { value: "hello world" };
localforage.setItem('key', obj, function(err, result) { console.log(result.value); });
localforage.getItem('key', function(err, value) { console.log(value) });

TaffyDB

In-memory JavaScript database with support for persistence in localStorage. Has functions for filtering, joining etc.

var friends = TAFFY([
{"id":1,"gender":"M","first":"John","last":"Smith","city":"Seattle, WA","status":"Active"},
{"id":2,"gender":"F","first":"Kelly","last":"Ruth","city":"Dallas, TX","status":"Active"},
{"id":3,"gender":"M","first":"Jeff","last":"Stevenson","city":"Washington, D.C.","status":"Active"},
{"id":4,"gender":"F","first":"Jennifer","last":"Gill","city":"Seattle, WA","status":"Active"}
]);

friends({city:"Seattle, WA"}).first();

friends.store("taffy");

// reload page
var friends = TAFFY();
friends.store("taffy");
friends({city:"Seattle, WA"}).first();

Summary

The best candidates seams to be PochDb Ydn-db. The drawback with PouchDb is that it is a CouchDb in the browser and the storage model is driven from this. I prefer a simple mapping from documents/JSON to the database I do not need the versioning that Pouch has built in. Ydn-db do not use IndexedDb on Safari, but otherwise this seams like a good candidate. Dexie could also be a candidate even though I'm not sure how widely spread it is.