ArangoDB Unique Index Validation

Question

Quick question: in ArangoDB, if I create a unique index (for example a unique hash index), does ArangoDB validate the uniqueness of that attribute, or just assume it because I told it it's unique? I'm curious if I should go through a validation step to verify the uniqueness of my data before creating unique indices.

Answer 1

As you know ArangoDB builds up the indexes before you can use them. If it fails to ensure the uniqueness, it will throw an exception:

127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c = db._create("c")
[ArangoCollection 169, "c" (type document, status loaded)]
127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c.insert({"abc":1})
{ 
  "_id" : "c/172", 
  "_key" : "172", 
  "_rev" : "_T1m73_m---" 
}
127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c.insert({"abc":1})
{ 
  "_id" : "c/176", 
  "_key" : "176", 
  "_rev" : "_T1m748K---" 
}
127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c.ensureIndex(
...> {"type":"hash","unique":true,"fields":["abc"]})
JavaScript exception in file '.../arangosh.js' at 97,7:
 ArangoError 1210: unique constraint violated
!      throw error;
!      ^
stacktrace: ArangoError: unique constraint violated
    at Object.exports.checkRequestResult (.../arangosh.js:95:21)
    at ArangoCollection.ensureIndex (.../arango-collection.js:733:12)
    at <shell command>:1:3

127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c.ensureIndex(
...> {"type":"skiplist","unique":true,"fields":["abc"]})
JavaScript exception in file '.../arangosh.js' at 97,7:
ArangoError 1210: unique constraint violated
!      throw error;
!      ^
stacktrace: ArangoError: unique constraint violated
    at Object.exports.checkRequestResult (.../arangosh.js:95:21)
    at ArangoCollection.ensureIndex (.../arango-collection.js:733:12)
    at <shell command>:1:3

Similar to what it does if you try to insert a document that violates the unique constraint:

127.0.0.1:8529@_system> db._drop("c")
127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c = db._create("c")
[ArangoCollection 315, "c" (type document, status loaded)]

127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c.ensureIndex({
...>"type":"skiplist","unique":true,"fields":["abc"]})
{ 
  "id" : "c/318", 
  "type" : "skiplist", 
  "fields" : [ 
    "abc" 
  ], 
  "unique" : true, 
  "sparse" : false, 
  "isNewlyCreated" : true, 
  "code" : 201 
}

127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c.insert({"abc":1})
{ 
  "_id" : "c/330", 
  "_key" : "330", 
  "_rev" : "_T1n-B2S---" 
}

127.0.0.1:8529@_system> c.insert({"abc":1})
JavaScript exception in file '.../arangosh.js' at 97,7:
 ArangoError 1210: cannot create document, unique constraint violated
!      throw error;
!      ^
stacktrace: ArangoError: cannot create document, unique constraint violated
 at Object.exports.checkRequestResult (.../arangosh.js:95:21)
 at ArangoCollection.save.ArangoCollection.insert 
   (.../arango-collection.js:978:14)
 at <shell command>:1:3

So if you insert your documents during your application setup before creating the index (for performance reasons a viable approach) you need to handle possible exceptions when creating these indices afterwards.