In RethinkDB, what is the easiest way to check if a database or a table exists?

Question

One way I know I can do it is by listing throughdbList() and tableList() and then looking for what I want in the results.

Is there an easier way?

EDIT

My goal is to create a table in case it doesn't exist.

Answer 1

If you want to create a database if it does not exists, or get a value like "database already exists" if it does exist, you could do something like the following:

r.dbList().contains('example_database')   .do(function(databaseExists) {     return r.branch(       databaseExists,       { dbs_created: 0 },       r.dbCreate('example_database')     );   }).run(); 

It will return the following if it is created:

{   "config_changes": [     {       "new_val": {         "id": "1ee7ddb4-6e2c-43bb-a0f5-64ef6a6211a8",         "name": "example_database"       },       "old_val": null     }   ],   "dbs_created": 1 } 

And this if it already exists:

{   "dbs_created": 0 } 

Answer 2

For the table existing checking I have found the following solution:

r.tableList().run(connection); //['people'] 

this will give you back an array of the tables which are defined on the default DB for example: ['people']. (if you want to set it do this: connection.use('test');)

then we can check if the array is containing our table name to create.

_.some(tableNames, tableName) 

put it all together:

  if (!_.isNil(tableName) && _.isString(tableName) && !_.isNil(connection)) {     r.tableList().run(connection).then(function(tableNames) {       if (_.includes(tableNames, tableName)) {         return r.tableCreate(tableName).run(connection);       } else {         return;         }     });   }