Patch Multiple Documents Using the Client API

Name: RavenDB
Author: RavenDB

C#Java Python Node.js

Set-based patch operations apply changes to documents selected by a query,
rather than targeting each document individually.
To patch a single document, see Patch a Single Document.
You can also patch multiple documents using the Patch view in Studio.
In this article:

Overview

Defining set-based patching

In a relational database, a SQL statement that updates a set of rows might look like this:
UPDATE Users SET IsActive = 0 WHERE LastLogin < '2020-01-01'
In RavenDB, a PatchByQueryOperation combines two components:
1. The QUERY:
  An RQL query that selects the documents to update.
  The selection portion uses the same RQL syntax used to query collections and indexes.
2. The UPDATE:
  A JavaScript update clause that defines the changes to apply to each selected document.
When you send the PatchByQueryOperation, the server runs the query and executes the update clause for each selected document.

// Query and update example
// Increase Freight for Orders documents that match the query criteria.
// ====================================================================

from Orders
where Freight < 10
update {
    this.Freight += 10;
}

Important characteristics

Transactional batches:
RavenDB patches the selected documents in batches of up to 1,024.
Each batch runs in a separate write transaction, so the operation as a whole is not atomic.
Document selection:
Do not rely on documents created after the operation starts being included.
Concurrency:
The operation does not hold a snapshot of document contents for its entire duration.
RavenDB performs no per-document concurrency checks, so a selected document can be modified or deleted before its batch is processed.
If the document still exists, the patch is applied to its current version.
Stale indexes:
When the query uses an auto-index or static index, RavenDB rejects stale results by default.
You can explicitly allow patching based on stale index results, but the selected set may omit newly matching documents or include documents based on outdated indexed values.
See Allow updating stale results.
Map-reduce indexes:
Set-based patch operations cannot be executed against map-reduce indexes.
Long-running operations:
PatchByQueryOperation runs as a background server operation and may take a long time to complete.
The Send method returns an Operation object that you can use to wait for completion, monitor progress,
or kill the operation.
See Manage lengthy operations.

JSON Patch does not apply to set-based patching

The default SessionPatchBehavior.JsonPatch convention affects only the typed session Patch methods,
allowing them to emit RFC 6902 JSON Patch commands where possible.

A PatchByQueryOperation always uses its JavaScript update clause.
The server executes that clause on its JavaScript engine, regardless of the SessionPatchBehavior convention.

Examples

Update all documents in a collection

This query targets every document in the Orders collection and does not require an index.

// Update all documents in the Orders collection
// ==============================================

// Define the query and JavaScript update clause.
var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(
    @"from Orders as o
      update
      {
          o.Freight += 10;
      }");

// Send the operation to the server.
var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);

// Wait for the background operation to complete.
operation.WaitForCompletion();

Change the collection of matching documents

Changing a document’s @collection metadata requires deleting and recreating the document with the same ID.

// Recreate all Orders documents in the ArchivedOrders collection
// ===============================================================

var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(
    @"from Orders
      update
      {
          var documentId = id(this);

          del(documentId);
          this[""@metadata""][""@collection""] = ""ArchivedOrders"";
          put(documentId, this);
      }");

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

Document extensions are deleted

Deleting the document also deletes its attachments, counters, and time series.
When revisions are enabled, RavenDB may also create revision entries for the deletion and recreation.

Update by dynamic query

RavenDB evaluates this query using a matching auto-index, creating one if necessary.

// Update documents selected by a dynamic query
// ============================================

// Set the discount on every line of each order handled by the specified employee.
var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(
    @"from Orders as o
      where o.Employee = 'employees/4-A'
      update
      {
          o.Lines.forEach(line => line.Discount = 0.3);
      }");

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

Update by static index query

The static index selects the source documents to patch.
The update clause modifies those documents, not the index entries.

The index must be a map index; set-based patching does not support map-reduce indexes.

Patch operation
Index definition

// Deploy the static index.
new Products_BySupplier().Execute(store);

var indexQuery = new IndexQuery
{
    Query = @"from index 'Products/BySupplier' as p
              where p.Supplier = 'suppliers/12-A'
              update
              {
                  p.Supplier = 'suppliers/13-A';
              }"
};

var options = new QueryOperationOptions
{
    // Wait for the index to become non-stale.
    StaleTimeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)
};

var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(indexQuery, options);

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

public class Products_BySupplier : AbstractIndexCreationTask<Product>
{
    public Products_BySupplier()
    {
        Map = products =>
            from product in products
            select new
            {
                Supplier = product.Supplier
            };
    }
}

Update all documents in the database

Use @all_docs to select documents from every collection without requiring an index.
Use this scope carefully because the same patch is applied across all collections.

// Update documents across all collections
// =======================================

var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(
    @"from @all_docs
      update
      {
          this.Updated = true;
      }");

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

Update documents by ID

Use @all_docs to select documents by ID across different collections.
This query does not require an index, and IDs that do not exist are not patched.

// Update documents with the specified IDs
// =======================================

var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(
    @"from @all_docs as d
      where id(d) in ('orders/1-A', 'companies/1-A')
      update
      {
          d.Updated = true;
      }");

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

Update documents by ID using parameters

Use QueryParameters to pass the document IDs without embedding them in the RQL string.
The ID-based query does not require an index.

var indexQuery = new IndexQuery
{
    Query = @"from @all_docs as d
              where id(d) in ($ids)
              update
              {
                  d.Updated = true;
              }",

    QueryParameters = new Parameters
    {
        { "ids", new[] { "orders/830-A", "companies/91-A" } }
    }
};

var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(indexQuery);

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

Increment a counter

Use incrementCounter(document, counterName, incrementBy) to increment a counter on every document selected by the query.

You can omit incrementBy to increment by 1.
If the counter does not exist, RavenDB creates it with the incremented value.

This example uses a direct collection query and does not require an index.

// Increment a counter on every Product document
// =============================================

var query = new IndexQuery
{
    Query = @"from Products as p
              update
              {
                  incrementCounter(p, $counterName, $incrementBy);
              }",

    QueryParameters = new Parameters
    {
        { "counterName", "PriceUpdates" },
        { "incrementBy", 1 }
    }
};

var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(query);

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

For additional patch-script operations, including retrieving and deleting counters, see Counter operations.

Append a time series entry

Use timeseries(document, name).append(timestamp, values) to append an entry to a time series on every document selected by the query.

values must be an array of numbers.
You can optionally pass a tag as the third argument to append.

If the time series does not exist, RavenDB creates it.
Time series timestamps supplied to patch scripts are treated as UTC.

This example uses a direct collection query and does not require an index.

// Record the current product price in a time series
// =================================================

var query = new IndexQuery
{
    Query = @"from Products as p
              update
              {
                  timeseries(p, $timeSeriesName)
                      .append($timestamp, [p.PricePerUnit]);
              }",

    QueryParameters = new Parameters
    {
        { "timeSeriesName", "PriceHistory" },
        { "timestamp", DateTime.UtcNow }
    }
};

var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(query);

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

For additional patch-script operations, including retrieving and deleting time series data,
see Patch time series data - multiple documents.

Allow patching based on stale index results

By default, RavenDB rejects a set-based patch operation when its auto-index or static index is stale.

Set AllowStale to true only when you accept selection based on the index’s current,
potentially incomplete or outdated results.
A stale index can omit newly matching documents or select documents that no longer match.

The patch is applied to each selected document’s current version. When necessary, recheck the condition inside the update clause to avoid modifying documents that no longer match.

var query = new IndexQuery
{
    Query = @"from Orders as o
              where o.Company = $currentCompany
              update
              {
                  // Recheck the current document value because the index result may be stale.
                  if (o.Company === $currentCompany)
                  {
                      o.Company = $newCompany;
                  }
              }",

    QueryParameters = new Parameters
    {
        { "currentCompany", "companies/12-A" },
        { "newCompany", "companies/13-A" }
    }
};

var options = new QueryOperationOptions
{
    AllowStale = true
};

var patchByQueryOp = new PatchByQueryOperation(query, options);

var operation = store.Operations.Send(patchByQueryOp);
operation.WaitForCompletion();

Monitor patch progress

Subscribe to OnProgressChanged to receive progress notifications while the patch operation is running.

For PatchByQueryOperation, progress is reported as DeterminateProgress:

Processed is the number of documents processed so far.
Total is the number of documents selected for processing.

A short operation may finish before the client receives a progress notification.

var query = new IndexQuery
{
    Query = @"from Orders as o
              update
              {
                  o.Freight += 10;
              }"
};

var options = new QueryOperationOptions
{
    // Optional: throttle processing to reduce server load
    // and make progress notifications easier to observe.
    MaxOpsPerSecond = 100
};

var operation = store.Operations.Send(
    new PatchByQueryOperation(query, options));

operation.OnProgressChanged += (_, progress) =>
{
    if (progress is DeterminateProgress details)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(
            $"Processed: {details.Processed}; Total: {details.Total}");
    }
};

operation.WaitForCompletion();

Inspect per-document patch results

WaitForCompletion<BulkOperationResult>() returns the completed operation result.

Set RetrieveDetails to true to populate BulkOperationResult.Details with a PatchDetails entry for each processed document. Each entry provides the document ID, change vector, and patch status.

Result size

Retrieving details for every processed document can significantly increase server memory use and the amount of data returned to the client. Enable this option only when the per-document results are needed.

var query = new IndexQuery
{
    Query = @"from Orders as o
              where o.Company = 'companies/12-A'
              update
              {
                  o.Company = 'companies/13-A';
              }"
};

var options = new QueryOperationOptions
{
    RetrieveDetails = true,
    StaleTimeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)
};

var operation = store.Operations.Send(
    new PatchByQueryOperation(query, options));

var result = operation.WaitForCompletion<BulkOperationResult>();

var statusSummary = result.Details
    .OfType<BulkOperationResult.PatchDetails>()
    .GroupBy(details => details.Status)
    .Select(group => $"{group.Key}: {group.Count()}")
    .ToList();

statusSummary.ForEach(Console.WriteLine);

Syntax

Send syntax

public Operation Send(
    IOperation<OperationIdResult> operation,
    SessionInfo sessionInfo = null);

public Task<Operation> SendAsync(
    IOperation<OperationIdResult> operation,
    SessionInfo sessionInfo = null,
    CancellationToken token = default(CancellationToken));

Parameter	Type	Description
operation	`IOperation<OperationIdResult>`	The operation to execute. For the examples in this article, pass a `PatchByQueryOperation`.
sessionInfo	`SessionInfo`	Optional session context. Normally omitted when sending the operation directly.
token	`CancellationToken`	A token for cancelling the asynchronous request that starts the operation.

Return value	Description
`Operation`	A handle used to monitor the server-side operation, wait for its completion, retrieve its result, or request its cancellation.
`Task<Operation>`	The asynchronous result of starting the server-side operation. Use the returned `Operation` handle to wait for the patch itself to complete.

PatchByQueryOperation syntax

// Available constructors:
public PatchByQueryOperation(string queryToUpdate);

public PatchByQueryOperation(
    IndexQuery queryToUpdate,
    QueryOperationOptions options = null);

Parameter	Type	Description
queryToUpdate	`string`	The complete RQL patch statement, containing the query that selects documents and the `update` clause with the JavaScript patching code.
queryToUpdate	`IndexQuery`	An object containing the RQL patch statement and, optionally, query parameters.
options	`QueryOperationOptions`	Options that control how the patch operation is executed.

Relevant IndexQuery properties

// Relevant properties inherited by IndexQuery:
public string Query { get; set; }

public Parameters QueryParameters { get; set; }

Property	Description
Query	The complete RQL patch statement.
QueryParameters	Values for parameters referenced in the RQL statement.

QueryOperationOptions properties

public sealed class QueryOperationOptions
{
    public bool AllowStale { get; set; }

    public bool IgnoreMaxStepsForScript { get; set; }

    public TimeSpan? StaleTimeout { get; set; }

    public int? MaxOpsPerSecond { get; set; }

    public bool RetrieveDetails { get; set; }

    public IndexPatchOptions IndexPatchOptions { get; set; }
}

Property	Description
AllowStale	Determines whether an index-backed patch may operate on stale index results. The default is `false`.
IgnoreMaxStepsForScript	Determines whether the server-defined limit on the number of script steps is ignored. The default is `false`.
StaleTimeout	When `AllowStale` is `false`, specifies how long to wait for a stale index to become non-stale. An exception is thrown if the timeout is exceeded.
MaxOpsPerSecond	Limits the number of matched documents processed per second. When specified, the value must be greater than zero.
RetrieveDetails	Determines whether per-document operation details are requested from the server. The default is `false`.
IndexPatchOptions	Configures whether the operation waits for indexes to process the patched documents after the patch completes.

StaleTimeout controls waiting for the query index before documents are patched.
IndexPatchOptions controls waiting for indexes to process the changes after documents are patched.

IndexPatchOptions syntax

public sealed class IndexPatchOptions
{
    public IndexPatchOptions();

    public IndexPatchOptions(TimeSpan waitForIndexesTimeout);

    public TimeSpan WaitForIndexesTimeout { get; set; }

    public bool ThrowOnTimeoutInWaitForIndexes { get; set; }

    public string[] WaitForSpecificIndexes { get; set; }
}

Property	Description
WaitForIndexesTimeout	The maximum time to wait for indexes to process the patched documents.
ThrowOnTimeoutInWaitForIndexes	Determines whether an exception is thrown if the indexing wait times out. The default is `false`.
WaitForSpecificIndexes	The names of the indexes to wait for. When omitted, the server determines the relevant indexes from the patched documents.

Overview​Link copied!

Defining set-based patching​Link copied!

Important characteristics​Link copied!

JSON Patch does not apply to set-based patching​Link copied!

Examples​Link copied!

Update all documents in a collection​Link copied!

Change the collection of matching documents​Link copied!

Document extensions are deleted

Update by dynamic query​Link copied!

Update by static index query​Link copied!

Update all documents in the database​Link copied!

Update documents by ID​Link copied!

Update documents by ID using parameters​Link copied!

Increment a counter​Link copied!

Append a time series entry​Link copied!

Allow patching based on stale index results​Link copied!

Monitor patch progress​Link copied!

Inspect per-document patch results​Link copied!