Share the Development Database

Last modified: October 8, 2024

Introduction

All Mendix applications need a database running in the background. While developing an application it is best to use the standard built-in database that is supplied with Mendix Studio Pro. This how-to teaches you how to open and manage the data stored inside the built-in database.

Prerequisites

To get the most out of the built-in database, make sure you have completed the following prerequisites:

  • Have an internet connection (to commit the database)
  • Have a Team Server-enabled application (to share the database)
  • Have a running application
  • Have some data in the database to commit SQL queries to

Type of the Database

The database built into Mendix Studio Pro is a flat file database called HSQLDB (HyperSQL DataBase). This is the leading SQL relational database software written in Java. It offers a small, fast, multithreaded, and transactional database engine with in-memory and disk-based tables and supports embedded and server modes. It includes a powerful command line SQL tool and simple GUI query tools.

HSQLDB was first released in 2001 and is used as a database and persistence engine. It is known for its small size, ability to execute completely or partly in memory, flexibility, and speed.

This type of database is excellent to use while developing and running applications in Mendix Studio Pro on a local machine. Thanks to the built-in functionality, the developer does not have to run a local database engine and management tools.

Selecting the Preferred Database

Each application uses a single database, but you can choose a different database, even one based on a different database management systems. You can switch between configured databases as follows:

  1. Double-click Settings in the App Explorer to open the App Settings dialog box.

  2. On the Configurations tab, select the preferred database configuration, and click Make active.

  3. Click OK to confirm your choice.

Starting the Database Viewer

To start the built-in database viewer, follow these steps:

  1. Run the application locally (if this is the first time, Studio Pro will ask you to create the new database, click Yes when this occurs):

  2. When the application is running, in the Console pane, select Advanced > Start built-in database viewer to open the built-in database viewer:

    The HyperSQL Database Manager app will be started (depending on the data model of the application):

On the left pane, all tables from all modules in the running application are shown. On the upper-right pane, it is possible to enter SQL queries and on the lower-right pane, the results from the entered SQL query will be shown.

Executing Queries

You can execute queries in two ways:

  • Directly from the command line in the upper-right pane using SQL script
  • Via the database explorer on the left pane

To execute queries from the database explorer (the left pane) in the HyperSQL Database Manager, follow the steps below:

  1. Right-click a table and select the preferred action:

  2. To select all customers from the table CUSTOMER, choose the first option. It will automatically fill the SQL command in the upper-right pane:

  3. Click Execute SQL to execute this query:

In the lower-right pane, the results are shown and up to 50 rows are retrieved from the database. From the standard actions, it is also possible to delete, update, and insert records.

If you know SQL, you can customize the standard actions to retrieve, update, or delete specific data.

Committing the Data Snapshot

The built-in database can easily be shared with other members of the team. Firstly, you need to commit a snapshot of the database to the Team Server. To do this, take the following steps:

  1. Select Version Control > Add Snapshot of Data:

  2. Click Yes to commit.

  3. In the Commit dialog box, add an informational message and click OK.

The data is now committed to the Team Server and can be used by other team members.

Updating the Data Snapshot

To import a data snapshot committed by another team member into the model, you first need to update the app. To get the data from the committed database snapshot, follow these steps:

  1. Click Update on the Changes tab to update the application.

  2. Click App > Show App Directory in Explorer to open the root directory of your app.

    The data snapshot is in the file data-snapshot.zip.

  3. Extract the database from the ZIP file to a temporary directory.

  4. Delete all the files and folders in the data directory in the deployment directory.

  5. Copy the files and folders from the data directory of the extracted database to the data directory in the deployment directory.

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