Data types

parse data types in a react native component introduction in the heart of parse core feature is the data objects management parse allows you to store and query its data straightforwardly using its sdks or apis(rest or graphql) all the data object features are built using the parse object parse object class, which fields may contain key value pairs of several json compatible data types the primary data types that can be assigned to the object fields are the following number number integer (42) or floating point (42 5) numbers, as long as ‘ ’ is the decimal separator; boolean boolean true or false values; string string a string that can be as long as 2147483647 characters be aware that values this huge will slow down data operations; datetime datetime datetime datetime objects stored in utc format as default if you need to use another timezone, conversion should be done manually; array array an array containing data in any parse compatible data object object \ a json object also containing any parse data when available in sdk, an include() include() call will bring details from the object property when you choose to use the array type, we recommend keeping array objects small as this can affect your data operations’ overall performance our recommendation is to use the array type if it does not exceed 20 elements and does not grow over time instead of the array type, you can use the pointer and relations types as an alternative in this guide, you will learn how to store data in each of the basic data types listed above you will build a react native product registration component, which will show you how to format, convert and save data to your parse server in react native parse also offers the datatypes geopoint geopoint to use the power of geolocation resources, and the parse specific relational data using the types pointer pointer or relation relation you will see both covered in the next following guides prerequisites to complete this tutorial, you will need a react native app created and connected to back4app if you want to test/use the screen layout provided by this guide, you should set up the react native paper react native paper library goal to understand the parse compatible basic data types, and to store each data type on parse froma react native component 1 the product creation component let’s first create the component structure let’s make it simple and create a form screen with one text inputs to each data type, one switch toggle, and a submit button to save the object these inputs will collect your product product field values name( string string ), quantity( number number ), price( number number ), available( boolean boolean ), expiration date( datetime datetime ), and categories( array array ) also, you will save an additional object object type field in your saving method as well, but this one won’t need an input field create a separate component in a file called productcreation js/productcreation tsx productcreation js/productcreation tsx including the following code, or add it to your main application file ( app js/app tsx app js/app tsx or index js index js ) you can use this layout with complete stylings using react native paper react native paper or set up your custom form productcreation js 1 import react, {usestate} from 'react'; 2 import { 3 alert, 4 image, 5 safeareaview, 6 statusbar, 7 stylesheet, 8 view, 9 } from 'react native'; 10 import parse from 'parse/react native'; 11 import { 12 button as paperbutton, 13 switch as paperswitch, 14 text as papertext, 15 textinput as papertextinput, 16 } from 'react native paper'; 17&#x9; 18 export const productcreation = () => { 19 // state variables 20 const \[productname, setproductname] = usestate(''); 21 const \[productquantity, setproductquantity] = usestate(''); 22 const \[productprice, setproductprice] = usestate(''); 23 const \[productavailable, setproductavailable] = usestate(false); 24 const \[productexpirationdate, setproductexpirationdate] = usestate(''); 25 const \[productcategories, setproductcategories] = usestate(''); 26&#x9; 27 const toggleproductavailable = () => setproductavailable(!productavailable); 28&#x9; 29 return ( 30 <> 31 \<statusbar backgroundcolor="#208aec" /> 32 \<safeareaview style={styles container}> 33 \<view style={styles header}> 34 \<image 35 style={styles header logo} 36 source={ { uri 'https //blog back4app com/wp content/uploads/2019/05/back4app white logo 500px png', } } 37 /> 38 \<papertext style={styles header text bold}> 39 {'react native on back4app'} 40 \</papertext> 41 \<papertext style={styles header text}>{'product creation'}\</papertext> 42 \</view> 43 \<view style={styles wrapper}> 44 {/ boolean type input /} 45 \<view style={styles switch container}> 46 \<papertext>{'available?'}\</papertext> 47 \<paperswitch 48 value={productavailable} 49 onvaluechange={toggleproductavailable} 50 /> 51 \</view> 52 {/ string type input /} 53 \<papertextinput 54 value={productname} 55 onchangetext={(text) => setproductname(text)} 56 label="name" 57 mode="outlined" 58 style={styles form input} 59 /> 60 {/ number type input (integer) /} 61 \<papertextinput 62 value={productquantity} 63 onchangetext={(text) => setproductquantity(text)} 64 label="quantity" 65 mode="outlined" 66 keyboardtype={'number pad'} 67 style={styles form input} 68 /> 69 {/ number type input (float) /} 70 \<papertextinput 71 value={productprice} 72 onchangetext={(text) => setproductprice(text)} 73 label="price" 74 mode="outlined" 75 keyboardtype={'numeric'} 76 style={styles form input} 77 /> 78 {/ date type input /} 79 \<papertextinput 80 value={productexpirationdate} 81 onchangetext={(text) => setproductexpirationdate(text)} 82 label="expiration date (mm/dd/yyyy)" 83 mode="outlined" 84 keyboardtype={'numbers and punctuation'} 85 style={styles form input} 86 /> 87 {/ array type input /} 88 \<papertextinput 89 value={productcategories} 90 onchangetext={(text) => setproductcategories(text)} 91 label="categories (separated by commas)" 92 mode="outlined" 93 style={styles form input} 94 /> 95 {/ product create button /} 96 \<paperbutton 97 onpress={() => createproduct()} 98 mode="contained" 99 icon="plus" 100 style={styles submit button}> 101 {'create product'} 102 \</paperbutton> 103 \</view> 104 \</safeareaview> 105 \</> 106 ); 107 }; 108&#x9; 109 // these define the screen component styles 110 const styles = stylesheet create({ 111 container { 112 flex 1, 113 backgroundcolor '#fff', 114 }, 115 wrapper { 116 width '90%', 117 alignself 'center', 118 }, 119 header { 120 alignitems 'center', 121 paddingtop 10, 122 paddingbottom 20, 123 backgroundcolor '#208aec', 124 }, 125 header logo { 126 width 170, 127 height 40, 128 marginbottom 10, 129 resizemode 'contain', 130 }, 131 header text bold { 132 color '#fff', 133 fontsize 14, 134 fontweight 'bold', 135 }, 136 header text { 137 margintop 3, 138 color '#fff', 139 fontsize 14, 140 }, 141 form input { 142 height 44, 143 marginbottom 16, 144 backgroundcolor '#fff', 145 fontsize 14, 146 }, 147 switch container { 148 flexdirection 'row', 149 alignitems 'center', 150 justifycontent 'space between', 151 paddingvertical 12, 152 marginbottom 16, 153 borderbottomwidth 1, 154 borderbottomcolor 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0 3)', 155 }, 156 submit button { 157 width '100%', 158 maxheight 50, 159 alignself 'center', 160 backgroundcolor '#208aec', 161 }, 162 }); productcreation tsx 1 import react, {fc, reactelement, usestate} from 'react'; 2 import { 3 alert, 4 image, 5 safeareaview, 6 statusbar, 7 stylesheet, 8 view, 9 } from 'react native'; 10 import parse from 'parse/react native'; 11 import { 12 button as paperbutton, 13 switch as paperswitch, 14 text as papertext, 15 textinput as papertextinput, 16 } from 'react native paper'; 17&#x9; 18 export const productcreation fc<{}> = ({}) reactelement => { 19 // state variables 20 const \[productname, setproductname] = usestate(''); 21 const \[productquantity, setproductquantity] = usestate(''); 22 const \[productprice, setproductprice] = usestate(''); 23 const \[productavailable, setproductavailable] = usestate(false); 24 const \[productexpirationdate, setproductexpirationdate] = usestate(''); 25 const \[productcategories, setproductcategories] = usestate(''); 26&#x9; 27 const toggleproductavailable = () => setproductavailable(!productavailable); 28&#x9; 29 return ( 30 <> 31 \<statusbar backgroundcolor="#208aec" /> 32 \<safeareaview style={styles container}> 33 \<view style={styles header}> 34 \<image 35 style={styles header logo} 36 source={ { uri 'https //blog back4app com/wp content/uploads/2019/05/back4app white logo 500px png', } } 37 /> 38 \<papertext style={styles header text bold}> 39 {'react native on back4app'} 40 \</papertext> 41 \<papertext style={styles header text}>{'product creation'}\</papertext> 42 \</view> 43 \<view style={styles wrapper}> 44 {/ boolean type input /} 45 \<view style={styles switch container}> 46 \<papertext>{'available?'}\</papertext> 47 \<paperswitch 48 value={productavailable} 49 onvaluechange={toggleproductavailable} 50 /> 51 \</view> 52 {/ string type input /} 53 \<papertextinput 54 value={productname} 55 onchangetext={(text) => setproductname(text)} 56 label="name" 57 mode="outlined" 58 style={styles form input} 59 /> 60 {/ number type input (integer) /} 61 \<papertextinput 62 value={productquantity} 63 onchangetext={(text) => setproductquantity(text)} 64 label="quantity" 65 mode="outlined" 66 keyboardtype={'number pad'} 67 style={styles form input} 68 /> 69 {/ number type input (float) /} 70 \<papertextinput 71 value={productprice} 72 onchangetext={(text) => setproductprice(text)} 73 label="price" 74 mode="outlined" 75 keyboardtype={'numeric'} 76 style={styles form input} 77 /> 78 {/ date type input /} 79 \<papertextinput 80 value={productexpirationdate} 81 onchangetext={(text) => setproductexpirationdate(text)} 82 label="expiration date (mm/dd/yyyy)" 83 mode="outlined" 84 keyboardtype={'numbers and punctuation'} 85 style={styles form input} 86 /> 87 {/ array type input /} 88 \<papertextinput 89 value={productcategories} 90 onchangetext={(text) => setproductcategories(text)} 91 label="categories (separated by commas)" 92 mode="outlined" 93 style={styles form input} 94 /> 95 {/ product create button /} 96 \<paperbutton 97 onpress={() => createproduct()} 98 mode="contained" 99 icon="plus" 100 style={styles submit button}> 101 {'create product'} 102 \</paperbutton> 103 \</view> 104 \</safeareaview> 105 \</> 106 ); 107 }; 108&#x9; 109 // these define the screen component styles 110 const styles = stylesheet create({ 111 container { 112 flex 1, 113 backgroundcolor '#fff', 114 }, 115 wrapper { 116 width '90%', 117 alignself 'center', 118 }, 119 header { 120 alignitems 'center', 121 paddingtop 10, 122 paddingbottom 20, 123 backgroundcolor '#208aec', 124 }, 125 header logo { 126 width 170, 127 height 40, 128 marginbottom 10, 129 resizemode 'contain', 130 }, 131 header text bold { 132 color '#fff', 133 fontsize 14, 134 fontweight 'bold', 135 }, 136 header text { 137 margintop 3, 138 color '#fff', 139 fontsize 14, 140 }, 141 form input { 142 height 44, 143 marginbottom 16, 144 backgroundcolor '#fff', 145 fontsize 14, 146 }, 147 switch container { 148 flexdirection 'row', 149 alignitems 'center', 150 justifycontent 'space between', 151 paddingvertical 12, 152 marginbottom 16, 153 borderbottomwidth 1, 154 borderbottomcolor 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0 3)', 155 }, 156 submit button { 157 width '100%', 158 maxheight 50, 159 alignself 'center', 160 backgroundcolor '#208aec', 161 }, 162 }); after setting up this screen, your application should look like this note that each product product attribute has its text input field, except for the boolean switch input, meaning that the data in them needs conversion to the corresponding data type before saving 2 converting input data before saving your data to the parse object parse object , you need to correctly format the number number , datetime datetime , and array array inputs let’s now create a saving function, which will retrieve data from your state variables and apply the suitable data conversion productcreation js 1 const createproduct = async function () { 2 try { 3 // these values come from state variables 4 // convert data values to corresponding data types 5 const productnamevalue = productname; 6 const productquantityvalue = number(productquantity); 7 const productpricevalue = number(productprice); 8 const productavailablevalue = productavailable; 9 const productexpirationdatevalue = new date(productexpirationdate); 10 const productcategoriesvalue = productcategories split(','); 11 } catch (error) { 12 // error can be caused by wrong type of values in fields 13 alert alert('error!', error message); 14 return false; 15 } 16 }; productcreation tsx 1 const createproduct = async function () promise<\[boolean]> { 2 try { 3 // these values come from state variables 4 // convert data values to corresponding data types 5 const productnamevalue string = productname; 6 const productquantityvalue number = number(productquantity); 7 const productpricevalue number = number(productprice); 8 const productavailablevalue boolean = productavailable; 9 const productexpirationdatevalue date = new date(productexpirationdate); 10 const productcategoriesvalue string\[] = productcategories split(','); 11 } catch (error) { 12 // error can be caused by wrong type of values in fields 13 alert alert('error!', error message); 14 return false; 15 } 16 }; the number number data conversion is done casting the value as a number number javascript object datetime datetime is converted using the date date javascript object constructor; the array array one is created by using the string split string split method in javascript, creating an array containing each entry of the categories field separated by commas note that your data is now contained inside a single object, which can be set in a new parse object parse object instance to be saved to the server using the parse object set() parse object set() method, which takes two arguments the field name and the value to be set let’s also set a new field called completedata completedata , which will be your object object type field, assigning the same data object to it go ahead and complete the createproduct createproduct function with the following productcreation js 1 const createproduct = async function () { 2 try { 3 // these values come from state variables 4 // convert data values to corresponding data types 5 const productnamevalue = productname; 6 const productquantityvalue = number(productquantity); 7 const productpricevalue = number(productprice); 8 const productavailablevalue = productavailable; 9 const productexpirationdatevalue = new date(productexpirationdate); 10 const productcategoriesvalue = productcategories split(','); 11 } catch (error) { 12 // error can be caused by wrong type of values in fields 13 alert alert('error!', error message); 14 return false; 15 } 16&#x9; 17 // creates a new product parse object instance 18 let product = new parse object('product'); 19 20 // set data to parse object 21 product set('name', productnamevalue); 22 product set('quantity', productquantityvalue); 23 product set('price', productpricevalue); 24 product set('available', productavailablevalue); 25 product set('expirationdate', productexpirationdatevalue); 26 product set('categories', productcategoriesvalue); 27 product set('completedata', { 28 name productnamevalue, 29 quantity productquantityvalue, 30 price productpricevalue, 31 available productavailablevalue, 32 expirationdate productexpirationdatevalue, 33 categories productcategoriesvalue, 34 }); 35&#x9; 36 // after setting the values, save it on the server 37 try { 38 let savedproduct = await product save(); 39 // success 40 alert alert('success!', json stringify(savedproduct)); 41 return true; 42 } catch (error) { 43 // error can be caused by lack of internet connection 44 alert alert('error!', error message); 45 return false; 46 }; 47 }; productcreation tsx 1 const createproduct = async function () promise<\[boolean]> { 2 try { 3 // these values come from state variables 4 // convert data values to corresponding data types 5 const productnamevalue string = productname; 6 const productquantityvalue number = number(productquantity); 7 const productpricevalue number = number(productprice); 8 const productavailablevalue boolean = productavailable; 9 const productexpirationdatevalue date = new date(productexpirationdate); 10 const productcategoriesvalue string\[] = productcategories split(','); 11 } catch (error) { 12 // error can be caused by wrong type of values in fields 13 alert alert('error!', error message); 14 return false; 15 } 16&#x9; 17 // creates a new product parse object instance 18 let product parse object = new parse object('product'); 19 20 // set data to parse object 21 product set('name', productnamevalue); 22 product set('quantity', productquantityvalue); 23 product set('price', productpricevalue); 24 product set('available', productavailablevalue); 25 product set('expirationdate', productexpirationdatevalue); 26 product set('categories', productcategoriesvalue); 27 product set('completedata', { 28 name productnamevalue, 29 quantity productquantityvalue, 30 price productpricevalue, 31 available productavailablevalue, 32 expirationdate productexpirationdatevalue, 33 categories productcategoriesvalue, 34 }); 35&#x9; 36 // after setting the values, save it on the server 37 try { 38 let savedproduct parse object = await product save(); 39 // success 40 alert alert('success!', json stringify(savedproduct)); 41 return true; 42 } catch (error) { 43 // error can be caused by lack of internet connection 44 alert alert('error!', error message); 45 return false; 46 }; 47 }; you can now test the component, insert the createproduct createproduct function in it, and call it inside your form submit button onpress onpress property after creating a product, you should see an alert containing its data like this to certify that your data was saved on the server using the correct data types, you can look at your parse dashboard click on the product product data table and note that every column has its data type written at the header your class should look like this conclusion at the end of this guide, you learned how to save each of the basic data types available on parse using a react native component in the next guide, you will learn about the relational data on parse