Ionic 4 | Adding Native Storage In Application Using Cordova SQLite Storage Plugin

In this post, we will add Cordova’s SQLite storage plugin in Ionic version 4 Application. This is the common and widely used storage plugin by most of the Ionic developers since version 1 of Ionic. Storage is widely used to store personalized settings by the user in the application which is not required to be stored on the server side.

Application developers sometimes need to save a bunch of information on the user side to control some features and provide some offline functionalities to application users, in that case, local storage proves very handy. Using Ionic’s Native storage plugin we can storage key value pairs which may have any type of data from a simple string or integers to JSON objects. But this locally stored data will remain until the application is Uninstalled or device is formatted.

LocalStorage engines are managed by the plugin itself according to OS on which application is installed or running like in Native app context Storage will be done using SQLite, which is one of the most stable and most preferred file-based storage databases. On Progressive Web Apps platform IndevedDB, WebSQL or localStorage is chosen in a defined order.

Also, Check:

Ionic 4 | Storage Tutorial in Ionic using Native Storage Plugin

Complete SQLite CRUD Tutorial for Ionic 4 Angular Applications

Let’s start the implementation of Storage Plugin in Ionic 4 Application

Here we will start with a new application in Ionic version 4 which is now in beta phase but soon stable version will be available with minor installation step changes in commands to install.

Create A New Ionic 4 Application

Create a new application using Ionic CLI
To create an application you must have NodeJS and Ionic Cordova CLI

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Run the following command to create a new application

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$ ionic start Ionic4NativeStorage blank --type=angular $ cd Ionic4NativeStorage

Install Cordova And Ionic Native Plugin

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$ ionic cordova plugin add cordova-sqlite-storage $ npm install --save @ionic/storage

Import Declare Plugin In Application’s Module File

In the app.module.ts file, import plugin then adds in Imports array in NgModule. Replace below code:

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import { NgModule } from '@angular/core'; import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser'; import { RouteReuseStrategy } from '@angular/router';   import { IonicModule, IonicRouteStrategy } from '@ionic/angular'; import { SplashScreen } from '@ionic-native/splash-screen/ngx'; import { StatusBar } from '@ionic-native/status-bar/ngx';   import { AppComponent } from './app.component'; import { AppRoutingModule } from './app-routing.module';   import { IonicStorageModule } from '@ionic/storage';   @NgModule({   declarations: [AppComponent],   entryComponents: [],   imports: [     BrowserModule,     IonicModule.forRoot(),     AppRoutingModule,     IonicStorageModule.forRoot()   ],   providers: [     StatusBar,     SplashScreen,     { provide: RouteReuseStrategy, useClass: IonicRouteStrategy }   ],   bootstrap: [AppComponent] }) export class AppModule {}

After adding the plugin to the app’s main module, we can now use Native Storage anywhere in the application. Here we will use it in the home component.

In the home.page.ts file, import plugin then creates an instance in component’s constructor.

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import { Component } from '@angular/core';   import { Storage } from '@ionic/storage';   @Component({   selector: 'app-home',   templateUrl: 'home.page.html',   styleUrls: ['home.page.scss'], }) export class HomePage {     constructor(private storage: Storage) {     // set a key/value     this.storage.set('name', 'Max');       // Or to get a key/value pair     this.storage.get('age').then((val) => {       console.log('Your age is', val);     });   } }

In the above code, we just simply setting and getting the string value.

Set A Value In A Key

set() : Set the value for the given key. Returns a promise that resolves when the key and value are set

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// set a key/value   setValue(key: string, value: any) {     this.storage.set(key, value).then((response) => {       console.log('set' + key + ' ', response);         //get Value Saved in key       this.getValue(key);       }).catch((error) => {       console.log('set error for ' + key + ' ', error);     });   }

Get Value In A Key

get() : Get the value associated with the given key. Returns a promise with the value of the given key

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// get a key/value pair   getValue(key: string) {     this.storage.get(key).then((val) => {       console.log('get ' + key + ' ', val);       this.data[key] = "";       this.data[key] = val;     }).catch((error) => {       console.log('get error for ' + key + '', error);     });   }

Remove A Key/Value Pair

remove() : Remove any value associated with this key. Returns a promise that resolves when the value is removed

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// Remove a key/value pair   removeKey(key: string) {     this.storage.remove(key).then(() => {       console.log('removed ' + key);       this.data[key] = "";     }).catch((error) => {       console.log('removed error for ' + key + '', error);     });   }

Current Storage Engine Used

Get the name of the driver being used.

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//Get Current Storage Engine Used   driverUsed() {     console.log("Driver Used: " + this.storage.driver);   }

Traverse Key/Value Pairs

forEach() : Iterate through each key,value pair. Returns a promise that resolves when the iteration has finished.

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traverseKeys() {     this.storage.forEach((value: any, key: string, iterationNumber: Number) => {       console.log("key " + key);       console.log("iterationNumber " + iterationNumber);       console.log("value " + value);     });   }

All Stored Keys

keys() : Returns a promise that resolves with the keys in the store.

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// Traverse key/value pairs   listKeys() {     this.storage.keys().then((k) => {       console.table(k)     });   }

Total Keys Stored

length() : Returns a promise that resolves with the number of keys stored.

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// Total Keys Stored   getKeyLength() {     this.storage.length().then((keysLength: Number) => {       console.log("Total Keys " + keysLength);     });   }

You can check more options here

Finally out component will look like this

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import { Component } from '@angular/core';   import { Storage } from '@ionic/storage';   @Component({   selector: 'app-home',   templateUrl: 'home.page.html',   styleUrls: ['home.page.scss'], }) export class HomePage {     data: any;     constructor(     private storage: Storage   ) {     this.data = {};     //Set String Value     this.setValue("name", "Freaky Jolly");     //Set Integer Value     this.setValue("phone", 8908904);       let sampleObj = [       {         country: "United States of America",         address: "638 Fahey Overpass",         phone: "257.255.3201"       }, {         country: "United States of America",         address: "141 Schowalter Mount",         phone: "1-868-497-5043 x73289"       }, {         country: "United States of America",         address: "025 Schultz Via",         phone: "1-814-823-5520 x68656"       }     ];       //Set Object Value     this.setValue("offices", sampleObj);   }       // set a key/value   setValue(key: string, value: any) {     this.storage.set(key, value).then((response) => {       console.log('set' + key + ' ', response);         //get Value Saved in key       this.getValue(key);       }).catch((error) => {       console.log('set error for ' + key + ' ', error);     });   }     // get a key/value pair   getValue(key: string) {     this.storage.get(key).then((val) => {       console.log('get ' + key + ' ', val);       this.data[key] = "";       this.data[key] = val;     }).catch((error) => {       console.log('get error for ' + key + '', error);     });   }     // Remove a key/value pair   removeKey(key: string) {     this.storage.remove(key).then(() => {       console.log('removed ' + key);       this.data[key] = "";     }).catch((error) => {       console.log('removed error for ' + key + '', error);     });   }     //Get Current Storage Engine Used   driverUsed() {     console.log("Driver Used: " + this.storage.driver);   }     // Traverse key/value pairs   traverseKeys() {     this.storage.forEach((value: any, key: string, iterationNumber: Number) => {       console.log("key " + key);       console.log("iterationNumber " + iterationNumber);       console.log("value " + value);     });   }     // Traverse key/value pairs   listKeys() {     this.storage.keys().then((k) => {       console.table(k)     });   }     // Total Keys Stored   getKeyLength() {     this.storage.length().then((keysLength: Number) => {       console.log("Total Keys " + keysLength);     });   }     }

To call these methods, add below HTML in home.page.html

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<ion-header>   <ion-toolbar>     <ion-title>       Ionic 4 Native Storage     </ion-title>   </ion-toolbar> </ion-header>   <ion-content padding>   Saved Keys!       <ion-grid>     <ion-row>       <ion-col size="3">         <strong>String</strong>       </ion-col>       <ion-col>:         {{data.name}}<ion-icon name="trash" (click)="removeKey('name')"></ion-icon>       </ion-col>     </ion-row>     <ion-row>       <ion-col size="3">         <strong>Integer</strong>       </ion-col>       <ion-col>:         {{data.phone}}<ion-icon name="trash" (click)="removeKey('phone')"></ion-icon>       </ion-col>     </ion-row>     <ion-row>       <ion-col>         <strong>JSON Object</strong><ion-icon name="trash" (click)="removeKey('offices')"></ion-icon>             <ion-card *ngFor="let item of data.offices; let i = index">                 <ion-card-header>                     <ion-card-title>Office {{i+1}}                     </ion-card-title>                 </ion-card-header>               <ion-card-content>                 <p><strong>Country</strong>: {{item.country}}</p>                 <p><strong>Address</strong>: {{item.address}}</p>                 <p><strong>Phone</strong>: {{item.phone}}</p>               </ion-card-content>             </ion-card>       </ion-col>     </ion-row>   </ion-grid>       <ion-button size="small" (click)="driverUsed()">Get Storage Driver Used</ion-button>   <ion-button size="small" (click)="traverseKeys()">Loop through All Stored Keys</ion-button>   <ion-button size="small" (click)="listKeys()">Get Stored Keys</ion-button>   <ion-button size="small" (click)="getKeyLength()">Get Length Stored Keys</ion-button>     </ion-content>

Here we discussed How we can Integrate Cordova’ Storage Native plugin in Ionic 4 Application to Store Values in different formats and retrieve them as per application requirements.