Develop Reference

how to check if value exists in realtime database firebase

I have created a realtime database on firebase and having no issues adding and removing data in tables etc.
I currently have it setup like this:
So my goal is to check if a given value is inside my database currently.
for example, I would like to check if 'max' is currently a username in my database.
var data = db.ref('loginInfo/');
data.on('value', function(snapshot) {
_this.users = snapshot.val()
});
That is how I get all the values, it is saved into _this.users
(How do i check if a value is inside this object, i am making a login program)
if i console.log the object, this is what I see:
image

If you want to check if a child node exists under loginInfo where the username property has a value of max, you can use the following query for that:
var ref = db.ref('loginInfo/');
var query = ref.orderByChild('username').equalTo('max');
query.once('value', function(snapshot) {
console.log(snapshot.exists());
});
I'd also recommend reading the Firebase documentation on queries, as there are many more options.

Trying to get a snapshot of a variable from firebase gives me an error

Problem
In a social media app I am making with react native and firebase, I am trying to grab the number of comments a post has using the snapshot function of a variable I have saved on my servers, then I am going to add one to this variable when a user adds a new comment. My code to do so is right here:
firebase.database().ref('posts').child(this.state.passKey).update({
comments: firebase.database().ref('posts/'+this.state.passKey).child('comments').snapshot.val() + 1
})
When I actually run this code, I get an error saying:
Reference.child failed: First argument was an invalid path = "undefined".
Paths must be non-empty strings and can't contain ".","#","$","[", or "["
At first I thought this might be that the "this.state.passKey" wasn't actually passing the key, but putting in a key I copied from the server didn't fix the problem.
My Server
-

To get the comments of particular post you should do like this
let postId='someId'
postRef=`/posts/${postId}`
firebase.database().ref(postRef).once("value", dataSnapshot => {
comment=dataSnapshot.val().comments
});

It looks like you're expecting this bit of code to query the database:
firebase.database().ref('posts/'+this.state.passKey).child('comments').snapshot.val() + 1
Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. There's no snapshot property on a database Reference object returned by child() or ref().
Instead, you'll need to query the database at that reference, then when you're called back with its value, you can apply it elsewhere.
var ref = firebase.database().ref('posts/'+this.state.passKey+'/comments')
ref.once('value', function(snapshot) {
// use the snapshot here
})

Meteor remote collection - hooks don’t work

I have to connect to the external database and get access to its collections. It works fine, when I use it, but the problem is when I need collection hooks, e.g. Collection.after.insert(function(userId, doc)). The hook is not being fired. I have following code:
// TestCollection.js
let database = new MongoInternals.RemoteCollectionDriver("mongodb://127.0.0.1:3001/meteor",
{
oplogUrl: 'mongodb://127.0.0.1:3001/local'
});
let TestCollection = new Mongo.Collection("testCollection", { _driver: database });
module.exports.TestCollection = TestCollection;
console.log(TestCollection.findOne({name: 'testItem'})); // writes out the item correctly
// FileUsingCollection.js
import { TestCollection } from '../collections/TestCollection.js';
console.log(TestCollection.findOne({name: 'testItem'})); // writes out the item correctly second time
TestCollection.after.update(function (userId, doc) {
console.log('after update');
}); // this is NOT being fired when I change the content of remote collection (in external app, which database I am connected)
How to make this work?
EDIT:
I have read many hours about it and I think it might be connected with things like:
- oplog
- replicaSet
But I am newbie to Meteor and can’t find out what are those things about. I have set MONGO_OPLOG_URL and I added oplog parameter to database driver as I read here: https://medium.com/#lionkeng/2-ways-to-share-data-between-2-different-meteor-apps-7b27f18b5de9
but nothing changed. And I don’t know how to use this replicaSet, how to add it to the url. Anybody can help?

You can also try something like below code,
var observer = YourCollections.find({}).observeChanges({
added: function (id, fields) {
}
});
You can also have 'addedBefore(id, fields, before)', 'changed(id, fields)', 'movedBefore(id, before)', 'removed(id)'
For more features goto link.

How to only get new data without existing data from a Firebase?

I have a node in Firebase getting continually updated with information from a logfile. The node is lines/ and each child of lines/ is from a post() so it has a unique ID.
When a client first loads, I want to be able to grab the last X number of entries. I expect I'll do this with once(). From then on, however, I want to use an on() with child_added so that I get all new data. However, child_added gets all data stored in the Firebase and, after the initial setup, only want the new stuff.
I see that I can add a limitToLast() on the on(), but, if I say limitToLast(1) and a flood of entries come in, will my app still get all the new entries? Is there some other way to do this?

You need to include a timestamp property and run a query.
// Get the current timestamp
var now = new Date().getTime();
// Create a query that orders by the timestamp
var query = ref.orderByChild('timestamp').startAt(now);
// Listen for the new children added from that point in time
query.on('child_added', function (snap) {
console.log(snap.val()
});
// When you add this new item it will fire off the query above
ref.push({
title: "hello",
timestamp: Firebase.ServerValue.TIMESTAMP
});
The Firebase SDK has methods for ordering, orderByChild() and methods for creating a range startAt(). When you combine the two you can limit what comes back from Firebase.

I think there is a problem in #David East's solution. He is using the local timestamp which may cause problem if the time is not accurate in client device. Here is my suggested solution (iOS Swift):
Using observeSingleEvent to get the complete data set
Then returned it in reversed order by reversed()
Get the last timestamp by for example data[0].timestamp
Using queryStarting for timestamp
self._dbref.queryOrdered(byChild: "timestamp").queryStarting(atValue: timestamp+1)
.observe(.childAdded, with: {
snapshot in
print(snapshot.value)
})

You have the right idea. child_added should be called only for the new nodes. Without source code it's hard to tell why you get all the data in your child_added event.
You can check the chat demo app to see how they load new chat messages. The use case sounds similar.
https://github.com/firebase/firechat/blob/master/src/js/firechat.js#L347

Here's temporary but quick solution:
// define a boolean
var bool = false;
// fetch the last child nodes from firebase database
ref.limitToLast(1).on("child_added", function(snap) {
if (bool) {
// all the existing child nodes are restricted to enter this area
doSomething(snap.val())
} else {
// set the boolean true to doSomething with newly added child nodes
bool = true;
}
});
Disadvantage: It will load all the child nodes.
Advantage: It will not process existing child nodes but just the newly added child nodes.
limitToLast(1) will do the work.

Unable to remove element and children in firebase

I have a block of data holding user information, so the tree of data looks something like:
app
-Jweljralsdjfo49
username: "Fred"
age: 25
shoesize: 16
I'm trying to do:
var ref = new Firebase(my_app_path + stored_user_id);
ref.remove();
I've also tried;
var ref = new Firebase(my_app_path);
var child = ref.child(stored_user_id);
child.remove();
Neither one works, in that the data is always still there.
The documentation for remove() states: "Remove the data at this Firebase location. Any data at child locations will also be deleted.", so I expect it to all to be gone.
I've tried adding a callback, and in each case the callback gets called with null (indicating success, quoting the docs: "The callback will be passed an Error object on failure, else null.").
What am I doing wrong? Is it because I'm using the user ID? I'm not using any security rules at the moment, but once I do, for security restrictions, I don't want non-users to be able to delete user content.
THANKS!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EDIT: Found the problem.
I'm using EmberFire, which works fine; but the EmberFire.Object which keeps track of the object has to be destroy()'d, and then I had to do:
Ember.run.later(function() {
var ref = new Firebase(my_app_path + stored_user_id);
ref.remove();
}, 1);
In order for the object to be officially gone, and for Ember/EmberFire to release its grip on the data.

you can probe adding $ to remove.
Example:
var ref = new Firebase(my_app_path + stored_user_id);
ref.$remove();
work for me.