Edit Page

Working with Models

This section of the documentation focuses on the model methods provided by Waterline out of the box. In addition to these, additional methods can come from hooks (i.e. the resourceful pubsub methods), be exposed by the underlying adapters to provide custom functionality, or be hand-written in your app to wrap reusable custom code.

For an in-depth introduction to models in Sails/Waterline, see Concepts > Models and ORM > Models.

screenshot of a Waterline/Sails model in Sublime Text 2

Built-In Model Methods

In general, model methods are asynchronous, meaning you cannot just call them and use the return value. Instead, you must use callbacks, or promises. Most built-in model methods accept a callback as an optional final argument. If the callback is not supplied, a chainable Query object is returned, which has methods like .where() and .exec(). See Working with Queries for more on that.

Method Summary
.create() Create record consisting of object passed in
.find() Lookup an array of records which match the specified criteria
.findOne() Lookup a single record which matches the specified criteria, or send back null if it doesn't.
.update() Update records matching the specified criteria, setting the specified object of attrName:value pairs.
.destroy() Destroy records matching the specified criteria.
.findOrCreate() Lookup a single record which matches the specified criteria, or create it if it doesn't.
.count() Get the total count of records which match the specified criteria.
.native()/query() Make a direct call to the underlying database driver.
.stream() Return a readable (object-mode) stream of records which match the specified criteria

sails.models

If you need to disable global variables in Sails, you can still use sails.models.<model_identity> to access your models.

A model's identity is different than its globalId. The globalId is determined automatically from the name of the model, whereas the identity is the all-lowercased version. For instance, you the model defined in api/models/Kitten.js has a globalId of Kitten, but its identity is kitten. For example:

// Kitten === sails.models.kitten
sails.models.kitten.find().exec(function (err, allTheKittens) {
  // We also could have just used `Kitten.find().exec(...)`
  // if we'd left the global variable exposed.
});

Using Promises

sails.models.kitten.find().then(function(alltheKittens) {
  //....
}).catch(function(err){
  //....
});

Is something missing?

If you notice something we've missed or could be improved on, please follow this link and submit a pull request to the sails-docs repo. Once we merge it, the changes will be reflected on the website the next time it is deployed.

Sails logo
  • Home
  • Get started
  • Support
  • Documentation
  • Documentation

For a better experience on sailsjs.com, update your browser.

Documentation

Reference Concepts App structure | Upgrading Contribution guide | Tutorials More

Reference

  • Application
    • Events
    • Lifecycle
    • sails.getRouteFor()
    • sails.getUrlFor()
    • sails.lift()
    • sails.load()
    • sails.log()
    • sails.lower()
    • sails.request()
    • sails.getBaseUrl()
  • Blueprint API
    • add to
    • create
    • destroy
    • find one
    • find where
    • populate where
    • remove from
    • update
  • Command Line Interface
    • sails console
    • sails debug
    • sails generate
    • sails lift
    • sails new
    • sails version
  • Configuration
    • sails.config.*
    • sails.config.blueprints
    • sails.config.bootstrap()
    • sails.config.connections
    • sails.config.cors
    • sails.config.csrf
    • sails.config.globals
    • sails.config.http
    • sails.config.i18n
    • sails.config.log
    • sails.config.models
    • sails.config.policies
    • sails.config.routes
    • sails.config.session
    • sails.config.sockets
    • sails.config.views
  • Request (`req`)
    • req.accepted
    • req.acceptedCharsets
    • req.acceptedLanguages
    • req.body
    • req.cookies
    • req.fresh
    • req.headers
    • req.host
    • req.ip
    • req.ips
    • req.isSocket
    • req.method
    • req.options
      • req.options.values
      • req.options.where
    • req.originalUrl
    • req.params
    • req.path
    • req.protocol
    • req.query
    • req.secure
    • req.signedCookies
    • req.socket
    • req.subdomains
    • req.url
    • req.wantsJSON
    • req.xhr
    • req.accepts()
    • req.acceptsCharset()
    • req.acceptsLanguage()
    • req.allParams()
    • req.file()
    • req.get()
    • req.is()
    • req.param()
  • Response (`res`)
    • res.attachment()
    • res.badRequest()
    • res.clearCookie()
    • res.cookie()
    • res.created()
    • res.forbidden()
    • res.get()
    • res.json()
    • res.jsonp()
    • res.location()
    • res.negotiate()
    • res.notFound()
    • res.ok()
    • res.redirect()
    • res.send()
    • res.serverError()
    • res.set()
    • res.status()
    • res.type()
    • res.view()
  • Waterline (ORM)
    • Models
      • .count()
      • .create()
      • .destroy()
      • .find()
      • .findOne()
      • .findOrCreate()
      • .native()
      • .query()
      • .stream()
      • .update()
    • Populated Values
      • .add()
      • .remove()
    • Queries
      • .exec()
      • .limit()
      • .populate()
      • .skip()
      • .sort()
      • .where()
    • Records
      • .save()
      • .toJSON()
      • .toObject()
  • WebSockets
    • Resourceful PubSub
      • .message()
      • .publishAdd()
      • .publishCreate()
      • .publishDestroy()
      • .publishRemove()
      • .publishUpdate()
      • .subscribe()
      • .unsubscribe()
      • .unwatch()
      • .watch()
      • .subscribers()
    • sails.sockets
      • .addRoomMembersToRooms()
      • .blast()
      • .broadcast()
      • .getId()
      • .join()
      • .leave()
      • .leaveAll()
      • .removeRoomMembersFromRooms()
      • sails.sockets.emit()
      • sails.sockets.id()
      • sails.sockets.rooms()
      • sails.sockets.socketRooms()
      • sails.sockets.subscribers()
    • Socket Client
      • io.sails
      • io.socket
      • SailsSocket
        • Methods
        • Properties
      • io.socket.delete()
      • io.socket.get()
      • io.socket.off()
      • io.socket.on()
      • io.socket.post()
      • io.socket.put()
      • io.socket.request()

Built with Love

The Sails framework is maintained by a web & mobile studio in Austin, TX, with the help of our contributors. We created Sails in 2012 to assist us on Node.js projects. Naturally we open-sourced it. We hope it makes your life a little bit easier!

Sails:
  • What is Sails?
  • Treeline IDE
  • Contribute
  • Logos/artwork
About:
  • The Sails Company
  • Security
  • News
  • Legal
Help:
  • Get started
  • Documentation
  • Docs
  • Enterprise
  • Hire us

© 2012-2018 The Sails Company. 
The Sails framework is free and open-source under the MIT License.