Discover how to use the Query API to create queries with ObjectBox DB. By utilizing these queries, you can retrieve stored objects that meet user-defined criteria.
Build a query
Use box.query(condition) and supply a condition on one or more properties to start building a query.
Create a condition by accessing a property via the underscore class of the entity, e.g. User_.firstName.equal("Joe").
Use build() to create a re-usable query instance. To then retrieve all results use find() on the query. More options on retrieving results are discussed later in Run a query.
Once done, close() the query to clean up resources.
Here is a full example to query for all users with the first name “Joe”:
To combine multiple conditions use and(condition) and or(condition). This implicitly adds parentheses around the combined conditions, e.g. cond1.and(cond2) is logically equivalent to (cond1 AND cond2).
For example to get users with the first name “Joe” that are born later than 1970 and whose last name starts with “O”:
To nest conditions pass a combined condition to and() or or():
// equal AND (less OR oneOf)
Query<User> query = box.query(
User_.firstName.equal("Joe")
.and(User_.age.less(12)
.or(User_.stamp.oneOf(new long[]{1012}))))
.order(User_.age)
.build();
// equal AND (less OR oneOf)
val query = box.query(
User_.firstName equal "Joe"
and (User_.age less 12
or (User_.stamp oneOf longArrayOf(1012))))
.order(User_.age)
.build()
In Kotlin, instead of condition1.and(condition2) you can write condition1 and condition2 (similarly condition1 or condition2).
In Dart and Python, instead of condition1.and(condition2) you can write condition1 & condition2 (similarly condition1 | conditon2).
Use condition.alias(aliasName) to set an alias for a condition that can later be used to change the parameter value of the condition on the built query.
Common conditions
Apart from the standard conditions like equal(), notEqual(), greater() and less() there are also additional conditions available:
isNull() and notNull(),
between() to filter for values that are between the given two,
oneOf() and notOneOf() to filter for values that match any in the given array,
startsWith(), endsWith() and contains() for extended String filtering.
See the API for a full list:
Dart only: DateTime caveat
For Dart DateTime is stored as time in milliseconds internally in the database (or nanoseconds for @Property(type: PropertyType.dateNano)).
To avoid having to manually convert to int when creating a query condition, extra methods that accept DateTime exist.
For example, to query an Order entity with a date field to find all orders in 2023:
final query = box
.query(Order_.date.betweenDate(DateTime.utc(2023),
DateTime.utc(2024).subtract(Duration(milliseconds: 1))))
.build();
Nearest neighbor vector search
A special condition is available for vector properties with an HNSW index. See the dedicated page for details:
Order results
In addition to specifying conditions, you can order the returned results using the order() method. By default this sorts ASCII characters in alphabetical order while ignoring case and numbers in ascending order.
Query<User> query = userBox
.query(User_.firstName.equal("Joe"))
.order(User_.lastName) // in ascending order, ignoring case
.build();
val query = userBox
.query(User_.firstName.equal("Joe"))
.order(User_.lastName) // in ascending order, ignoring case
.build()
// in ascending order, ignoring case
final qBuilder = box.query(User_.firstName.equals('Joe')).order(User_.lastName);
final query = qBuilder.build();
Order results feature is not yet available in Python.
You can also pass flags to order() to sort in descending order, to sort case sensitive or to specially treat null values. For example to sort the above results in descending order and case sensitive instead:
Order results feature is not yet available in Python.
Run a query
Query<User> query = builder.build();
Once the query is created, it allows various operations, which we will explore in the following sub sections.
Find objects
There are a couple of find methods to retrieve objects matching the query:
// return all entities matching the query
List<User> joes = query.find();
// return only the first result or null if none
User joe = query.findFirst();
// return the only result or null if none, throw if more than one result
User joe = query.findUnique();
To return all entities matching the query simply call find().
To only return the first result, use findFirst().
If you expect a unique result, call findUnique() instead. It will give you a single result or null, if no matching entity was found and throw an exception if there was more than one result.
Remove objects
To remove all objects matching a query, call query.remove() .
Reuse Queries and Parameters
If you frequently run the same query you should cache the Query object and re-use it. To make a Query more reusable you can change the values, or query parameters, of each condition you added even after the Query is built. Let's see how.
Query is not thread safe. To use a query in a different thread, either build a new query or synchronize access to it. Alternatively, in Java use query.copy() or a QueryThreadLocal to obtain an instance for each thread.
Assume we want to find a list of User with specific firstName values. First, we build a regular Query with an equal() condition for firstName. Because we have to pass an initial parameter value to equal() but plan to override it before running the Query later, we just pass an empty string:
// build a query
Query<User> query = userBox.query(User_.firstName.equal("")).build();
// build a query
val query = userBox.query(User_.firstName.equal("")).build()
// build a query
final query = userBox.query(User_.firstName.equals('')).build();
# build a query
query = userBox.query(User.firstName.equals('')).build();
Now at some later point, we want to run the Query with an actual value for the equals condition onfirstName :
// Change firstName parameter to "Joe" and get results
List<User> joes = query.setParameter(User_.firstName, "Joe").find();
// Change firstName parameter to "Jake" and get results
List<User> jakes = query.setParameter(User_.firstName, "Jake").find();
// Change firstName parameter to "Joe" and get results
val joes = query.setParameter(User_.firstName, "Joe").find()
// Change firstName parameter to "Jake" and get results
val jakes = query.setParameter(User_.firstName, "Jake").find()
// Change firstName parameter to "Joe" and get results
query.param(User_.firstName).value = 'Joe';
final joes = query.find();
// Change firstName parameter to "Jake" and get results
final jakes = (query..param(User_.firstName).value = 'Jake').find();
# Change firstName parameter to "Joe" and get results
joes = query.set_parameter_string(User.firstName, "Joe").find()
# Change firstName parameter to "Jake" and get results
jakes = query.set_parameter_srting(User.firstName, "Jake").find()
You might already be wondering what happens if you have more than one condition using firstName? For this purpose you can assign each parameter an alias while specifying the condition:
// assign alias "name" to the equal query parameter
Query<User> query = userBox
.query(User_.firstName.equal("").alias("name"));
// assign alias "name" to the equal query parameter
val query = userBox
.query(User_.firstName.equal("").alias("name"))
// assign alias "name" to the equals query parameter
final query = userBox.query(User_.firstName.equals('', alias: 'name')).build();
# Assign alias "name" to the equals query parameter
query = userBox.query(User.firstName.equals('').alias("name")).build();
Then, when setting a new parameter value pass the alias instead of the property:
// Change parameter with alias "name" to "Joe", get results
List<User> joes = query.setParameter("name", "Joe").find();
// Change parameter with alias "name" to "Joe" and get results
val joes = query.setParameter("name", "Joe").find()
// Change parameter with alias "name" to "Joe" and get results
final joes = (query..param(User_.firstName, alias: 'name').value = 'Joe').find();
# Change parameter with alias "name" to "Joe" and get results
joes = query.set_parameter_alias_string("name", "Joe").find()
Limit, Offset, and Pagination
Sometimes you only need a subset of a query, for example, the first 10 elements to display in your user interface. This is especially helpful (and resource-efficient) when you have a high number of entities and you cannot limit the result using query conditions only.
// offset by 10, limit to at most 5 results
List<User> joes = query.find(10, 5);
// offset by 10, limit to at most 5 results
val joes = query.find(10, 5)
// offset by 10, limit to at most 5 results
query
..offset = 10
..limit = 5;
List<User> joes = query.find();
# Offset by 10, limit to at most 5 results
joes = query \
.offset(10)
.limit(5)
.find()
offset: The first offset results are skipped.
limit: At most limit results are returned.
Lazy-load results (Java)
Only Java/Kotlin
Stream results (Dart)
Only Dart
Instead of reading the whole result (list of objects) using find() you can stream it using stream() :
To learn how to observe or listen to changes to the results of a query, see the data observers page:
Query a single property
For example, instead of getting all Users, to just get their email addresses:
String[] emails = userBox.query().build()
.property(User_.email)
.findStrings();
// or use .findString() to return just the first result
val emails = userBox.query().build()
.property(User_.email)
.findStrings()
// or use .findString() to return just the first result
final query = userBox.query().build();
List<String> emails = query.property(User_.email).find();
query.close();
Note: the returned array of property values is not in any particular order, even if you did specify an order when building the query.
Handle null values
By default, null values are not returned. However, you can specify a replacement value to return if a property is null:
// includes 'unknown' for each null email
String[] emails = userBox.query().build()
.property(User_.email)
.nullValue("unknown")
.findStrings();
// includes 'unknown' for each null email
val emails = userBox.query().build()
.property(User_.email)
.nullValue("unknown")
.findStrings()
final query = userBox.query().build();
// includes 'unknown' for each null email
List<String> emails = query.property(User_.email).find(replaceNullWith: 'unknown');
query.close();
Distinct and unique results
The property query can also only return distinct values:
PropertyQuery pq = userBox.query().build().property(User_.firstName);
// returns ['joe'] because by default, the case of strings is ignored.
String[] names = pq.distinct().findStrings();
// returns ['Joe', 'joe', 'JOE']
String[] names = pq.distinct(StringOrder.CASE_SENSITIVE).findStrings();
// the query can be configured to throw there is more than one value
String[] names = pq.unique().findStrings();
val pq = userBox.query().build().property(User_.firstName)
// returns ['joe'] because by default, the case of strings is ignored.
val names = pq.distinct().findStrings()
// returns ['Joe', 'joe', 'JOE']
val names = pq.distinct(StringOrder.CASE_SENSITIVE).findStrings()
// the query can be configured to throw there is more than one value
val names = pq.unique().findStrings()
min() / minDouble(): Finds the minimum value for the given property over all objects matching the query.
max() / maxDouble(): Finds the maximum value.
sum() / sumDouble(): Calculates the sum of all values. Note: the non-double version detects overflows and throws an exception in that case.
avg() : Calculates the average (always a double) of all values.
count(): returns the number of results. This is faster than finding and getting the length of the result array. Can be combined with distinct() to count only the number of distinct values.
Query a related entity (links)
Assume there is a Person that can be associated with multiple Address entities:
@Entity
public class Person {
@Id long id;
String name;
ToMany<Address> addresses;
}
@Entity
public class Address {
@Id long id;
String street;
String zip;
}
@Entity
class Person {
@Id
var id: Long = 0
var name: String? = null
lateinit var addresses: ToMany<Address>
}
@Entity
class Address {
@Id
var id: Long = 0
var street: String? = null
var zip: String? = null
}
@Entity()
class Person {
int id;
String name;
final addresses = ToMany<Address>();
}
@Entity()
class Address {
int id;
String street;
String zip;
}
To get a Person with a certain name that also lives on a specific street, we need to query the associated Address entities of a Person. To do this, use the link() method of the query builder to tell that the addresses relation should be queried. Then add a condition for Address:
// get all Person objects named "Elmo"...
QueryBuilder<Person> builder = personBox
.query(Person_.name.equal("Elmo"));
// ...which have an address on "Sesame Street"
builder.link(Person_.addresses)
.apply(Address_.street.equal("Sesame Street"));
List<Person> elmosOnSesameStreet = builder.build().find();
// get all Person objects named "Elmo"...
val builder = personBox
.query(Person_.name.equal("Elmo"))
// ...which have an address on "Sesame Street"
builder.link(Person_.addresses)
.apply(Address_.street.equal("Sesame Street"))
val elmosOnSesameStreet = builder.build().find()
// get all Person objects named "Elmo"...
QueryBuilder<Person> builder = personBox
.query(Person_.name.equals('Elmo'));
// ...which have an address on "Sesame Street"
builder.linkMany(Person_.addresses, Address_.street.equals('Sesame Street'));
Query<Person> query = builder.build();
List<Person> elmosOnSesameStreet = query.find();
query.close();
What if we want to get a list of Address instead of Person? If you know ObjectBox relations well, you would probably add a @Backlink relation to Address and build your query using it with link() as shown above:
@Entity
public class Address {
// ...
@Backlink(to = "addresses")
ToMany<Person> persons;
}
// get all Address objects with street "Sesame Street"...
QueryBuilder<Address> builder = addressBox
.query(Address_.street.equal("Sesame Street"));
// ...which are linked from a Person named "Elmo"
builder.link(Address_.persons)
.apply(Person_.name.equal("Elmo"));
List<Address> sesameStreetsWithElmo = builder.build().find();
@Entity
class Address {
// ...
@Backlink(to = "addresses")
lateinit var persons: ToMany<Person>
}
// get all Address objects with street "Sesame Street"...
val builder = addressBox
.query(Address_.street.equal("Sesame Street"))
// ...which are linked from a Person named "Elmo"
builder.link(Address_.persons)
.apply(Person_.name.equal("Elmo")
val sesameStreetsWithElmo = builder.build().find()
@Entity()
class Address {
...
@Backlink()
final persons = ToMany<Person>();
}
// get all Address objects with street "Sesame Street"...
QueryBuilder<Address> builder =
addressBox.query(Address_.street.equals('Sesame Street'));
// ...which are linked from a Person named "Elmo"
builder.linkMany(Address_.persons, Person_.name.equals('Elmo'));
Query<Address> query = builder.build();
List<Address> sesameStreetsWithElmo = query.find();
query.close();
But actually, you do not have to modify the Address entity (you still can if you need the @Backlink elsewhere). Instead, we can use the backlink() method to create a backlink to the addresses relation from Person just for that query:
// get all Address objects with street "Sesame Street"...
QueryBuilder<Address> builder = addressBox
.query(Address_.street.equal("Sesame Street"));
// ...which are linked from a Person named "Elmo"
builder.backlink(Person_.addresses)
.apply(Person_.name.equal("Elmo"));
List<Address> sesameStreetsWithElmo = builder.build().find();
// get all Address objects with street "Sesame Street"...
val builder = addressBox
.query(Address_.street.equal("Sesame Street"))
// ...which are linked from a Person named "Elmo"
builder.backlink(Person_.addresses)
.apply(Person_.name.equal("Elmo"))
val sesameStreetsWithElmo = builder.build().find()
// get all Address objects with street "Sesame Street"...
QueryBuilder<Address> builder =
addressBox.query(Address_.street.equals('Sesame Street'));
// ...which are linked from a Person named "Elmo"
builder.backlinkMany(Person_.addresses, Person_.name.equals('Elmo'));
Query<Address> query = builder.build();
List<Address> sesameStreetsWithElmo = query.find();
query.close();
Eager-load relations
Only Java/Kotlin
List<Customer> customers = customerBox.query().build().find();
// Customer has a ToMany called orders.
// First access: this will cause a database lookup.
Order order = customers.get(0).orders.get(0);
val customers = customerBox.query().build().find()
// Customer has a ToMany called orders
val order = customers[0].orders[0] // first access: causes a database lookup
List<Customer> customers = customerBox.query()
.eager(Customer_.orders) // Customer has a ToMany called orders.
.build()
.find();
// First access: this will cause a database lookup.
Order order = customers.get(0).orders.get(0);
val customers = customerBox.query()
.eager(Customer_.orders) // Customer has a ToMany called orders
.build()
.find()
customers[0].orders[0] // first access: this will NOT cause a database lookup
Eager loading only works one level deep. If you have nested relations and you want to prefetch relations of all children, you can instead add a query filter as described below. Use it to simply access all relation properties, which triggers them to lookup there values as described above.
Query filters
Query filters come into play when you are looking for objects that need to match complex conditions, which cannot be fully expressed with the QueryBuilder class. Filters are written in Java and thus can express any complexity. Needless to say, that database conditions can be matched more efficiently than Java-based filters. Thus you will get the best results when you use both together:
Narrow down results using standard database conditions to a reasonable number (use QueryBuilder to get “candidates”)
A QueryFilter implementation looks at one candidate object at a time and returns true if the candidate is a result or false if not.
Example:
// Reduce object count to reasonable value.
songBox.query(Song_.bandId.equal(bandId))
// Filter is performed on candidate objects.
.filter((song) -> song.starCount * 2 > song.downloads);
Notes on performance: 1) ObjectBox creates objects very fast. 2) The virtual machine is tuned to garbage collect short-lived objects. Notes 1) and 2) combined makes a case for filtering because ObjectBox creates candidate objects of which some are not used and thus get garbage collected quickly after their creation.
Query filters and ToMany relation
The ToMany class offers additional methods that can be convenient in query filters:
hasA: returns true if one of the elements matches the given QueryFilter
hasAll: returns true if all of the elements match the given QueryFilter
getById: return the element with the given ID (value of the property with the @Id annotation)
Debug queries
To see what query is actually executed by ObjectBox:
// Set the LOG_QUERY_PARAMETERS debug flag
BoxStore store = MyObjectBox.builder()
.debugFlags(DebugFlags.LOG_QUERY_PARAMETERS)
.build();
// Execute a query
query.find();
// Set the LOG_QUERY_PARAMETERS debug flag
val store = MyObjectBox.builder()
.debugFlags(DebugFlags.LOG_QUERY_PARAMETERS)
.build()
// Execute a query
query.find()
print(query.describeParameters());
Then in your console (or logcat on Android) you will see log output like:
Parameters for query #2:
(firstName ==(i) "Joe"
AND age < 12)
Order directives can also be chained. Check the method documentation () for details.
are first created (and not yet executed) by calling build() on the QueryBuilder.
To avoid loading query results right away, Query offers findLazy() and findLazyCached() which return a of the query results.
is a thread-safe, unmodifiable list that reads entities lazily only once they are accessed. Depending on the find method called, the lazy list will be cached or not. Cached lazy lists store the previously accessed objects to avoid loading entities more than once. Some features of the list are limited to cached lists (e.g. features that require the entire list). See the for more details.
If you only want to return the values of a particular property and not a list of full objects you can use a . After building a query, simply call property(Property) to define the property followed by the appropriate find method.
Property queries ( and ) also offer aggregate functions to directly calculate the minimum, maximum, average, sum and count of all found values:
After creating a relation between entities, you might want to add a query condition for a property that only exists in the related entity. In SQL this is solved using JOINs. But as ObjectBox is not a SQL database we built something very similar: links. Links are based on - see the doc page for the introduction.
By default are loaded lazily: when you first access a ToOne or ToMany property it will perform a database lookup to get its data. On each subsequent access it will use a cached version of that data.
While this initial lookup is fast, you might want to prefetch ToOne or ToMany values before the query results are returned. To do this call the method when building your query and pass the RelationInfo objects associated with the ToOne and ToMany properties to prefetch:
Only Java/Kotlin. For Dart, use the built-in method.
Now filter those candidates using the Java interface to identify final results
