RxStorage Dexie.js

To store the data inside of and RxDB Database in IndexedDB in the browser, you can use the Dexie.js based RxStorage. Dexie.js is a minimal wrapper around IndexedDB and the Dexie.js RxStorage wraps that again to use it for an RxDB database in the browser. For side projects and prototypes that run in a browser, you should use the dexie RxStorage as a default.

Dexie.js vs IndexedDB Storage

While Dexie.js RxStorage can be used for free, most professional projects should switch to our premium IndexedDB RxStorage   in production:

• It is faster and reduces build size by up to 36%.
• It has a way better performance on reads and writes.
• It stores attachments data as binary instead of base64 which reduces used space by 33%.
• It does not use a Batched Cursor or custom indexes which makes queries slower compared to the IndexedDB RxStorage.
• It supports non-required indexes which is not possible with Dexie.js.
• It runs in a WAL-like mode (similar to SQLite) for faster writes and improved responsiveness.
• It support the Storage Buckets API

How to use Dexie.js as a Storage for RxDB

1

Import the Dexie Storage

import { createRxDatabase } from 'rxdb/plugins/core';
import { getRxStorageDexie } from 'rxdb/plugins/storage-dexie';

2

Create a Database

const myDatabase = await createRxDatabase({
    name: 'exampledb',
    storage: getRxStorageDexie()
});

Overwrite/Polyfill the native IndexedDB API with an in-memory version

Node.js has no IndexedDB API. To still run the Dexie RxStorage in Node.js, for example to run unit tests, you have to polyfill it. You can do that by using the fake-indexeddb module and pass it to the getRxStorageDexie() function.

import { createRxDatabase } from 'rxdb/plugins/core';
import { getRxStorageDexie } from 'rxdb/plugins/storage-dexie';
 
//> npm install fake-indexeddb --save
const fakeIndexedDB = require('fake-indexeddb');
const fakeIDBKeyRange = require('fake-indexeddb/lib/FDBKeyRange');
 
const myDatabase = await createRxDatabase({
    name: 'exampledb',
    storage: getRxStorageDexie({
        indexedDB: fakeIndexedDB,
        IDBKeyRange: fakeIDBKeyRange
    })
});
 

Using Dexie Addons

Dexie.js has its own plugin system with many plugins for encryption, replication or other use cases. With the Dexie.js RxStorage you can use the same plugins by passing them to the getRxStorageDexie() function.

const myDatabase = await createRxDatabase({
    name: 'exampledb',
    storage: getRxStorageDexie({
        addons: [ /* Your Dexie.js plugins */ ]
    })
});

Sync Dexie.js with your Backend in RxDB

Having your local data in sync with a remote backend is a key feature of RxDB. Here are two approaches to achieve this when using the Dexie.js RxStorage:

• Dexie Cloud provides a managed solution: For quick setups, letting you rely on its Cloud backend and conflict resolution.
• RxDB's replication: Offers full control over your backend, data flow, and conflict handling.

Choose the approach that best suits your needs - whether you want to get started quickly with Dexie Cloud or require the adaptability and autonomy of RxDB's native replication.

A. Use Dexie Cloud Sync

Dexie Cloud is an official SaaS solution provided by the Dexie team. It offers automatic synchronization, user management, and conflict resolution out of the box. The primary benefits are:

• Automatic Sync: Dexie Cloud keeps your local IndexedDB in sync with its cloud-based backend.
• User Authentication: Built-in user management (auth, roles, permissions).
• Conflict Resolution: Automated resolution logic on the server side.

1

Install the Dexie Cloud Addon

npm install dexie-cloud-addon

2

Import RxDB and dexie-cloud

import { createRxDatabase } from 'rxdb/plugins/core';
import { getRxStorageDexie } from 'rxdb/plugins/storage-dexie';
import dexieCloud from 'dexie-cloud-addon';

3

Create a Dexie based RxStorage with the Cloud Plugin

const storage = getRxStorageDexie({
  addons: [dexieCloud],
  /*
   * Whenever a new dexie database instance is created,
   * this method will be called.
   */
  async onCreate(dexieDatabase, dexieDatabaseName) {
    await dexieDatabase.cloud.configure({
        databaseUrl: "https://<yourdatabase>.dexie.cloud",
        requireAuth: true // optional
    });
  }
});

4

Create an RxDB Database

const myDatabase = await createRxDatabase({
  name: 'mydb',
  storage
});

B. Use the RxDB Replication

For full flexibility over your backend or conflict resolution strategy, you can use one of RxDB's many replication plugins like

• CouchDB Replication Plugin: Replicate with a CouchDB Server
• GraphQL Replication Plugin: Sync data with any GraphQL endpoint. Useful when you have a custom schema or you want to utilize GraphQL's powerful query features.
• Custom Replication with REST APIs: Implement your own replication by building a pull/push handler that communicates with any RESTful backend.

Below is an example of replicating an RxDB collection with a CouchDB backend using RxDB's CouchDB replication plugin:

1

Import the RxDB with dexie and the CouchDB plugin

import { replicateCouchDB } from 'rxdb/plugins/replication-couchdb';
import { getRxStorageDexie } from 'rxdb/plugins/storage-dexie';
import { createRxDatabase } from 'rxdb/plugins/core';

2

Create an RxDB Database with the Dexie Storage

const myDatabase = await createRxDatabase({
  name: 'mydb',
  storage: getRxStorageDexie()
});

3

Add a Collection

await myDatabase.addCollections({
    todos: {
        schema: {
            version: 0,
            type: 'object',
            primaryKey: 'id',
            properties: {
                id: { type: 'string', maxLength: 100 },
                name: { type: 'string' },
                done: { type: 'boolean', default: false }
            },
            required: ['id', 'name', 'done']
        }
    }
});

4

Sync the Collection with a CouchDB Server

const replicationState = replicateCouchDB({
  replicationIdentifier: 'my-couchdb-replication',
  collection: myDatabase.todos,
  // The URL to your CouchDB endpoint
  url: 'http://example.com/db/todos'
});

liveQuery - Realtime Queries

Dexie.js offers a feature called liveQuery which automatically updates query results as data changes, allowing you to react to these changes in real-time. However, because RxDB intrinsically provides reactive queries, you typically do not need to enable live queries through Dexie. Once you have created your database and collections with RxDB, any query you perform can be observed by subscribing to it, for example via collection.find().$.subscribe(results => { /*... */ }). This means RxDB takes care of listening for changes and automatically emitting new results - ensuring your UI stays in sync with the underlying data without requiring extra plugins or manual polling.

Disabling the non-premium console log

We want to be transparent with our community, and you'll notice a console message when using the free Dexie.js based RxStorage implementation. This message serves to inform you about the availability of faster storage solutions within our   Premium Plugins. We understand that this might be a minor inconvenience, and we sincerely apologize for that. However, maintaining and improving RxDB requires substantial resources, and our premium users help us ensure its sustainability. If you find value in RxDB and wish to remove this message, we encourage you to explore our premium storage options, which are optimized for professional use and production environments. Thank you for your understanding and support.

If you already have premium access and want to use the Dexie.js RxStorage without the log, you can call the setPremiumFlag() function to disable the log.

import { setPremiumFlag } from 'rxdb-premium/plugins/shared';
setPremiumFlag();

Performance comparison with other RxStorage plugins

The performance of the Dexie.js RxStorage is good enough for most use cases but other storages can have way better performance metrics:

Browser Storages (values in milliseconds, lower is better)

Storage	Time to first insert	Insert 500 docs (bulk)	Find 3000 docs by ID (bulk)	Insert 50 docs (serial)	Find 50 docs by ID (serial)	Find 3000 docs by query	Find 3000 docs by query (parallel)	Count 3000 docs (4x)
OPFS (Worker)	27.2	10.32	24.5	7.4	8.25	21.2	35.8	2.95
OPFS (Main-Thread)	4	8.09	21.15	1.7	29.85	21.15	23.8	2.35
IndexedDB	5.7	9.67	67.7	18.55	7.9	58.7	43.45	18.5
Dexie.js	5.8	73.92	76.9	39.8	14.35	112.95	62.6	23.75
Memory	0.9	0.27	3.8	1.1	0.5	2.4	3.3	0.25

Loading chart...

FAQ

What is Dexie.js and what advantages does it offer over raw IndexedDB?

Dexie.js is a minimalist, Promise-based wrapper engineered specifically to resolve the notoriously complex callback-driven API of standard IndexedDB. It offers significant advantages over raw IndexedDB by providing an intuitive chainable query API, a far simpler database schema definition process, and extremely robust transaction management. However, Dexie lacks advanced querying capabilities found in Document-oriented NoSQL databases, such as deep-nested JSON querying and comprehensive MongoDB-style selectors. RxDB, which can use Dexie securely as its underlying storage engine, compensates for these limitations by providing a fully reactive advanced NoSQL query engine, robust cross-platform offline replication protocols, and built-in field encryption features that Dexie inherently lacks.