Insert if it doesn't exist, otherwise update

[eliluong]

Hi, if I have database structured in the form of {'key': key,}, and if key already exists, then I want to update to add 'other': 'other_data' but if key does not exist, then I want to do an insert.

Is there a way to do this in TinyDB? I notice if I insert {'key': key,'other': 'other_data'} it will make another entry, because it is using its own unique numerical key. My solution is to always do a search for key and if it returns nothing then do an insert, otherwise do an update.

Thanks.

[msiemens]

@eliluong This sounds like the upsert operator: https://tinydb.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html#upserting-data

Basically, you pass a query and a document. If the query matches any document that's already in the database, it will update it using the document you gave it. If there is no result, it will insert the provided document as a new one.

Does that work for you?

[eliluong]

Thanks, @msiemens I think this is exactly what I am looking for. Did not notice this when I read over the documentation. Now I know about upsert in databases :)