What is TinyDB?

TinyDB, written in pure Python programming language, is a small and lightweight document-orineted database with no external dependencies. It provides simple APIs that makes it easy to use. We can use TinyDB database for small project applications without any configuration.

TinyDB module, available as a third-party module for Python programs, can be used to store, retereive, and modify the data in JSON format.

Features of TinyDB

TinyDB is a clean and hustle-free database to operate several formats of documents. It has the following features.

• Really tiny − TinyDB database is truly tiny in nature with only 1800 lines of code and 1600 lines tests.

• Easy to use − TinyDB is easy to use because of its simple and clean APIs.

• Document oriented − In TinyDB, we can store any document. The document will be represented as dict.

• Independent − The TinyDB database is independent of any external server and external dependencies from PyPI.

• Compatible with Python 3.6 or latest − TinyDB is tested and compatible with Python 3.6 and latest. It also works fine with PyPY3.

• Extensible − TinDB is easily extensible either by writing new storages or by modifying the behaviour of storages.

Advantages of TinyDB

TinyDB provide various benefits for students, users, and developers.

• TinyDB is open-sourced database aand it does not require any external configirations.

• It is quite easy-to-use, and the user can effortlessly handle documents.

• It automatically stores documents in the database.

• TinyDB is ideal in case of personal projects where we need to install some data.

• It is suitable for small applications that would be blown away by large databases like SQL or an external DB server.

• It uses a simple command line and query to operate data.

• There is 100% test coverage i.e., no explanation needed.

Limitatations of TinyDB

TinyDB will not be the right choice for your project if you need to −

• create indexes for tables,

• manage relationships between tables,

• use an HTTP server, or

• access from multiple processors.

Comparison with Other Databases

The following table highlights how TinyDB is different from MySQL and Oracle databases −

There are numerous ways with the help of which you can retrieve data from a TinyDB database. But to use those ways, you first need to create an instance of the Query class as follows −

from tinydb import Query
Student = Query()

Here, Student is the name of the database.

Let”s check the various ways to retrieve the information from a TinyDB database.

Data Retrieval Using the Search() Method

The search() method, as its name implies, returns the list of items that mathches the query we provided, otherwise it will return an empty list.

For this and other examples, we will be using the following student database data −

[
   {
      "roll_number": 1,
      "st_name": "elen",
      "mark": 250,
      "subject": "TinyDB",
      "address": "delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number": 2,
      "st_name": "Ram",
      "mark": [
         250,
         280
      ],
      "subject": [
         "TinyDB",
         "MySQL"
      ],
      "address": "delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number": 3,
      "st_name": "kevin",
      "mark": [
         180,
         200
      ],
      "subject": [
         "oracle",
         "sql"
      ],
      "address": "keral"
   },
   {
      "roll_number": 4,
      "st_name": "lakan",
      "mark": 200,
      "subject": "MySQL",
      "address": "mumbai"
   },
   {
      "roll_number": 5,
      "st_name": "karan",
      "mark": 275,
      "subject": "TinyDB",
      "address": "benglore"
   }
]

Let”s take an example to understand the search() method −

from tinydb import TinyDB, Query
db = TinyDB("leekha.json")
student = Query()
db.search(student.subject == ''TinyDB'' )

The above query will retrieve the the following output from the student database −

[
   {
      "roll_number":1,
      "st_name":"elen",
      "mark":250,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":5,
      "st_name":"karan",
      "mark":275,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"benglore"
   }
]

Data Retrieval Using the get() Method

As opposed to the search() method, the get() method returns only one matching document. It will return None, otherwise. For example, let”s take the following code −

from tinydb import TinyDB, Query
student = Query()
db.get(student.subject == ''TinyDB'' )

The above query will retrieve the following data from the student database.

[{''roll_number'': 1, ''st_name'': ''elen'', ''mark'': 250, ''subject'': ''TinyDB'', ''address'': ''delhi''}]

Data Retrieval using the all() Method

The all() method returns all the documents in the database. For example,

db.all()

It will retrieve the entire data from the student database.

[
   {
      "roll_number":1,
      "st_name":"elen",
      "mark":250,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":2,
      "st_name":"Ram",
      "mark":[
         250,
         280
      ],
      "subject":[
         "TinyDB",
         "MySQL"
      ],
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":3,
      "st_name":"kevin",
      "mark":[
         180,
         200
      ],
      "subject":[
         "oracle",
         "sql"
      ],
      "address":"keral"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":4,
      "st_name":"lakan",
      "mark":200,
      "subject":"MySQL",
      "address":"mumbai"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":5,
      "st_name":"karan",
      "mark":275,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"benglore"
   }
]

Data Retrieval Using the for Loop

The for loop also returns all the documents in the database. For example,

for info in db:
   print(info)

Just like the all() method, it will retrieve all the rows from the student database.

Prerequisite for TinyDB setup

To install TinyDB, you must have Python 3.6 or newer installed in your system. You can go to the link and select the latest version for your OS, i.e., Windows and Linux/Unix. We have a comprehensive tutorial on Python, which you can refer at

Installing TinyDB

You can install TinyDB in three different ways: using the Pack Manager, from its Source, or from GitHub.

Using the Package Manager

The latest release versions of TinyDB are available over both the package managers, pip and conda. Let us check how you can use them to install TinyDB −

To install TinyDB using pip, you can use the following command −

pip install tinydb

To install TinyDB via conda-forge, you can use the following command −

conda install -c conda-forge tinydb

From Source

You can also install TinyDB from source distribution. Go to link to download the files and building it from source.

From GitHub

To install TinyDB using GitHub, grab the latest development version, unpack the files, and use the following command to install it −

pip install

Setting up TinyDB

Once installed, use the following steps to set up the TinyDB database.

Step 1: Import TinyDB and its Query

First, we need to import TinyDB and its Query. Use the following command −

from tinydb import TinyDB, Query

Step 2: Create a file

TinyDB database can store data in many formats like XML, JSON, and others. We will be creating a JSON file by using the following file −

db = TinyDB(''Leekha.json'')

The above command will create an instance of TinyDB class and pass the file Leekha.Json to it. This is the file where our data will be stored. Now, the TinyDB database set up is ready, and you can work on it. We can now insert data and operate the value in the database.

Uinstalling TinyDB

If in case you need to uninstall TinyDB, you can use the following command −

pip uninstall tinydb

TinyDB provides the search() method to help you search any data from a document. Along with the query() object, the search() method can be used to find the data in a JSON file. We have various ways in which we can use the search() method on a TinyDB database.

Method 1: TinyDB search() with Existence of a Field

We can search the data from a database based on the existence of a field. Let”s understand it with an example. For this and other examples, we will be using the following student database.

[
   {
      "roll_number":1,
      "st_name":"elen",
      "mark":250,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":2,
      "st_name":"Ram",
      "mark":[
         250,
         280
      ],
      "subject":[
         "TinyDB",
         "MySQL"
      ],
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":3,
      "st_name":"kevin",
      "mark":[
         180,
         200
      ],
      "subject":[
         "oracle",
         "sql"
      ],
      "address":"keral"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":4,
      "st_name":"lakan",
      "mark":200,
      "subject":"MySQL",
      "address":"mumbai"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":5,
      "st_name":"karan",
      "mark":275,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"benglore"
   }
]

Example

The search query based on the existence of a field is as follows −

from tinydb import Query
student = Query()
db.search(student.address.exists())

The above query will retrieve the following data from the student file −

[
   {
      "roll_number":1,
      "st_name":"elen",
      "mark":250,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":2,
      "st_name":"Ram",
      "mark":[
         250,
         280
      ],
      "subject":[
         "TinyDB",
         "MySQL"
      ],
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":3,
      "st_name":"kevin",
      "mark":[
         180,
         200
      ],
      "subject":[
         "oracle",
         "sql"
      ],
      "address":"keral"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":4,
      "st_name":"lakan",
      "mark":200,
      "subject":"MySQL",
      "address":"mumbai"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":5,
      "st_name":"karan",
      "mark":275,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"benglore"
   }
]

Method 2: TinyDB search() with Regular Expression

We can search for a particular data from a database using regular expression (Regex). Let”s understand how it works with a couple of examples.

Example 1

Full item search matching the Regular Expression −

from tinydb import Query
student = Query()
db.search(student.st_name.matches(''[aZ]*''))

This query will produce the following output −

[
   {
      "roll_number":1,
      "st_name":"elen",
      "mark":250,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":2,
      "st_name":"Ram",
      "mark":[
         250,
         280
      ],
      "subject":[
         "TinyDB",
         "MySQL"
      ],
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":3,
      "st_name":"kevin",
      "mark":[
         180,
         200
      ],
      "subject":[
         "oracle",
         "sql"
      ],
      "address":"keral"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":4,
      "st_name":"lakan",
      "mark":200,
      "subject":"MySQL",
      "address":"mumbai"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":5,
      "st_name":"karan",
      "mark":275,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"benglore"
   }
]

Example-2

Case-sensitive search with Regular Expression −

from tinydb import Query
import re
student = Query()
db.search(student.st_name.matches(''lakan'', flags=re.IGNORECASE))

It wil produce the following output −

[{
   ''roll_number'': 4,
   ''st_name'': ''lakan'',
   ''mark'': 200,
   ''subject'': ''MySQL'',
   ''address'': ''mumbai''
}]

Example-3

Any part of the item matching with Regular Expression −

from tinydb import Query
student = Query()
db.search(student.st_name.search(''r+''))

This query will produce the following output −

[{
   ''roll_number'': 5,
   ''st_name'': ''karan'',
   ''mark'': 275,
   ''subject'': ''TinyDB'',
   ''address'': ''benglore''
}]

Method 3: TinyDB search() using a Substring

We can also use a substring while searching for a particular data from a TinyDB database. Let”s understand how it works with a couple of examples −

Example-1

Take a look at this query; it will fetch the all the rows where the “address” field is “delhi”.

from tinydb import Query
student = Query()
db.search(student[''address''] == ''delhi'')

It will produce the following output −

[
   {
      "roll_number":1,
      "st_name":"elen",
      "mark":250,
      "subject":"TinyDB",
      "address":"delhi"
   },
   {
      "roll_number":2,
      "st_name":"Ram",
      "mark":[
         250,
         280
      ],
      "subject":[
         "TinyDB",
         "MySQL"
      ],
      "address":"delhi"
   }
]

Example-2

In this query, we have used a slightly different syntax for the search() method.

from tinydb import Query
student = Query()
db.search(student.address.search(''mumbai''))

It will fetch all the rows where the “address” field is “mumbai”.

[{
   ''roll_number'': 4,
   ''st_name'': ''lakan'',
   ''mark'': 200,
   ''subject'': ''MySQL'',
   ''address'': ''mumbai''
}]