Search jsonb fields in postgresql with Hasura - postgresql

Question

Is it possible to do a greater than search across a jsonb field using hasura?
it looks to be possible in PostgreSQL itself, How can I do less than, greater than in JSON Postgres fields?
in postgres I'm storing a table
asset
name: string
version: int
metadata: jsonb
the metadata looks like this.
{'length': 5}
I am able to find asset that matches exactly using the _contains.
{
asset(where:{metadata : {_contains : {length: 5}}}){
name
metadata
}
}
I would like to be able to find asset with a length over 10.
I tried:
{
asset(where:{metadata : {_gt : {length: 10}}}){
name
metadata
}
}

Answer 1

A. Possibility to do on graphql level directly
Hasura documentation: JSONB operators (_contains, _has_key, etc.) mentions only 4 operators:
The _contains, _contained_in, _has_key, _has_keys_any and _has_keys_all operators are used to filter based on JSONB columns.
So direct answer for your question: No. It's not possible to do on graphql level in hasura.
(At least it's not possible yet. Who knows: maybe in future releases more operators will be implemented.
)
B. Using derived views
But there is another way, the one explained in https://hasura.io/blog/postgres-json-and-jsonb-type-support-on-graphql-41f586e47536/#derived-data
This recomendation is repeated in: https://github.com/hasura/graphql-engine/issues/6331
We don't have operators like that for JSONB (might be solved by something like #5211) but you can use a view or computed field to flatten the text field from the JSONB column into a new column and then do a like on that.
Recipe is:
1. Create a view
CREATE VIEW assets -- note plural here. Name view accordingly to your style guide
AS
SELECT
name,
version,
metadata,
(metadata->>'length')::int as meta_len -- cast to other number type if needed
FROM asset
2. Register this view
3. Use it in graphql queries as usual table
E.g.
query{
assets(where: {meta_len: {_gt:10}}){
name
metadata
}
C. Using SETOF-functions
1. Create SETOF-function
CREATE FUNCTION get_assets(min_length int DEFAULT 0)
RETURNS SETOF asset
LANGUAGE SQL
STABLE
AS $$
SELECT * FROM asset
WHERE
(metadata->>'length')::int > min_length;
$$;
2. Register in hasura
3. Use in queries
query{
get_assets(args: {min_length: 10}){
name
metadata
}
I think that was the last possible option.
It will not gives you full "schemaless freedom" that maybe you're looking but IDK know about other ways.