Indexed Database API

Last updated
IndexedDB
Indexed Database API
AbbreviationIndexedDB
Native name
Indexed Database API
Status First Public Working Draft
Latest version3.0
11 March 2021 [1]
Preview versionEditor's Draft
11 March 2021 [2]
Organization
CommitteeWeb Applications Working Group
Editors
  • Ali Alabbas [1]
  • Joshua Bell [1]
Previous editors
    • Nikunj Mehta
    • Jonas Sicking
    • Eliot Graff
    • Andrei Popescu
    • Jeremy Orlow
Base standards
Related standards
Domain NoSQL databases
Website www.w3.org/TR/IndexedDB/

The Indexed Database API (commonly referred to as IndexedDB) is a JavaScript application programming interface (API) provided by web browsers for managing a NoSQL database of objects. It is a standard maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). [1]

Contents

As an alternative to the Web storage standard, IndexedDB can provide more storage capacity. Web storage has fixed limits per website, but IndexedDB limits are "usually quite large, if they exist at all". [5]

Use cases for IndexedDB include caching web application data for offline availability. [6] Some browser modules, such as devtools or extensions, may also use it for storage.

History

Support for IndexedDB was added to Firefox version 4, [7] Google Chrome version 11, [8] Internet Explorer version 10, [9] Safari version 8, [10] and Microsoft Edge version 12. [11]

Web SQL Database was a prior API developed by Apple. [12] But Firefox refused to add support for it and argued against it becoming a standard because it would codify the quirks of SQLite. [13] [14] It was thus deprecated in favor of IndexedDB. [15]

IndexedDB 1.0 became a W3C Recommendation on January 8, 2015. [16] IndexedDB 2.0 became a W3C Recommendation on January 30, 2018. [17] [3] IndexedDB 3.0 was released as a First Public Working Draft on 11 March 2021 and remains as a Working Draft as of 3 December 2024. [18]

Performance

Because IndexedDB is running inside of the security sandbox of a browser, all operations have to go through various security layers which decreases the performance of IndexedDB. With IndexedDB 2.0 [17] the getAll() method was added which allows to improve performance on bulk read operations.


Related Research Articles

DOM Events are a signal that something has occurred, or is occurring, and can be triggered by user interactions or by the browser. Client-side scripting languages like JavaScript, JScript, VBScript, and Java can register various event handlers or listeners on the element nodes inside a DOM tree, such as in HTML, XHTML, XUL, and SVG documents.

In computer hypertext, a URI fragment is a string of characters that refers to a resource that is subordinate to another, primary resource. The primary resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and the fragment identifier points to the subordinate resource.

For Mozilla software, an add-on is a software component that extends the functionality of the Firefox web browser and related applications – although most are browser extensions. Mozilla provides add-ons to users via its official add-on website.

A browser extension is a software module for customizing a web browser. Browsers typically allow users to install a variety of extensions, including user interface modifications, cookie management, ad blocking, and the custom scripting and styling of web pages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HTML5</span> Fifth and previous version of HyperText Markup Language

HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. It was the fifth and final major HTML version that is now a retired World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML Living Standard. It is maintained by the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), a consortium of the major browser vendors.

The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) is a community of people interested in evolving HTML and related technologies. The WHATWG was founded by individuals from Apple Inc., the Mozilla Foundation and Opera Software, leading Web browser vendors in 2004.

Web storage, sometimes known as DOM storage, is a standard JavaScript API provided by web browsers. It enables websites to store persistent data on users' devices similar to cookies, but with much larger capacity and no information sent in HTTP headers. There are two main web storage types: local storage and session storage, behaving similarly to persistent cookies and session cookies respectively. Web Storage is standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and WHATWG, and is supported by all major browsers.

The Web Open Font Format (WOFF) is a font format for use in web pages. WOFF files are OpenType or TrueType fonts, with format-specific compression applied and additional XML metadata added. The two primary goals are first to distinguish font files intended for use as web fonts from fonts files intended for use in desktop applications via local installation, and second to reduce web font latency when fonts are transferred from a server to a client over a network connection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WebSocket</span> Computer network protocol

WebSocket is a computer communications protocol, providing a simultaneous two-way communication channel over a single Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection. The WebSocket protocol was standardized by the IETF as RFC 6455 in 2011. The current specification allowing web applications to use this protocol is known as WebSockets. It is a living standard maintained by the WHATWG and a successor to The WebSocket API from the W3C.

Microdata is a WHATWG HTML specification used to nest metadata within existing content on web pages. Search engines, web crawlers, and browsers can extract and process Microdata from a web page and use it to provide a richer browsing experience for users. Search engines benefit greatly from direct access to Microdata because it allows them to understand the information on web pages and provide more relevant results to users. Microdata uses a supporting vocabulary to describe an item and name-value pairs to assign values to its properties. Microdata is an attempt to provide a simpler way of annotating HTML elements with machine-readable tags than the similar approaches of using RDFa and microformats.

Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) is a mechanism to safely bypass the same-origin policy, that is, it allows a web page to access restricted resources from a server on a domain different than the domain that served the web page.

Web SQL Database is a deprecated web browser API specification for storing data in databases that can be queried using SQL variant. The technology was only ever implemented in Blink-based browsers like Google Chrome and the new Microsoft Edge, and WebKit-based browsers like Safari. As of February 2024, WebSQL is being phased out in favor of WebStorage and IndexedDB and OPFS, but still available in some contexts under restrictive conditions.

WebRTC is a free and open-source project providing web browsers and mobile applications with real-time communication (RTC) via application programming interfaces (APIs). It allows audio and video communication and streaming to work inside web pages by allowing direct peer-to-peer communication, eliminating the need to install plugins or download native apps.

Content Security Policy (CSP) is a computer security standard introduced to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS), clickjacking and other code injection attacks resulting from execution of malicious content in the trusted web page context. It is a Candidate Recommendation of the W3C working group on Web Application Security, widely supported by modern web browsers. CSP provides a standard method for website owners to declare approved origins of content that browsers should be allowed to load on that website—covered types are JavaScript, CSS, HTML frames, web workers, fonts, images, embeddable objects such as Java applets, ActiveX, audio and video files, and other HTML5 features.

HTML audio is a subject of the HTML specification, incorporating audio |speech to text]], all in the browser.

Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) is a W3C specification for providing a communication channel between web browsers and the Content Decryption Module (CDM) software which implements digital rights management (DRM). This allows the use of HTML video to play back DRM-wrapped content such as streaming video services without the use of heavy third-party media plugins like Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight. The use of a third-party key management system may be required, depending on whether the publisher chooses to scramble the keys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WebAssembly</span> Assembly language and bytecode for web browsers

WebAssembly (Wasm) defines a portable binary-code format and a corresponding text format for executable programs as well as software interfaces for facilitating communication between such programs and their host environment.

WebXR Device API is a Web application programming interface (API) that describes support for accessing augmented reality and virtual reality devices, such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Meta Quest, Google Cardboard, HoloLens, Apple Vision Pro, Android XR-based devices, Magic Leap or Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR), in a web browser. The WebXR Device API and related APIs are standards defined by W3C groups, the Immersive Web Community Group and Immersive Web Working Group. While the Community Group works on the proposals in the incubation period, the Working Group defines the final web specifications to be implemented by the browsers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Progressive web app</span> Specific form of single page web application

A progressive web application (PWA), or progressive web app, is a type of web app that can be installed on a device as a standalone application. PWAs are installed using the offline cache of the device's web browser.

Credential Management, also referred to as a Credential Management System (CMS), is an established form of software that is used for issuing and managing credentials as part of public key infrastructure (PKI).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Web Applications Working Group (2021-03-11). Alabbas, Ali; Bell, Joshua (eds.). "Indexed Database API 3.0". W3C. W3C First Public Working Draft. Web Applications Working Group. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  2. ↑ Web Applications Working Group (2021-03-11). Alabbas, Ali; Bell, Joshua (eds.). "Indexed Database API 3.0". W3C. Editor’s Draft. Web Applications Working Group. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  3. 1 2 Web Applications Working Group (2018-01-30). Alabbas, Ali; Bell, Joshua (eds.). "Indexed Database API 2.0". W3C. W3C Recommendation. Web Applications Working Group. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  4. ↑ "Indexed Database API". 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  5. ↑ "Working with IndexedDB". Google Inc. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  6. ↑ "Using IndexedDB". MDN. Mozilla. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  7. ↑ "IndexedDB - MDC Doc Center". Developer.mozilla.org. Archived from the original on 2012-05-26. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  8. ↑ "IndexedDB - Chrome Platform Status". IndexedDB - Chrome Platform Status. The Chromium Projects. 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  9. ↑ IndexedDB, MSDN, 2012-03-14, retrieved 2012-05-24
  10. ↑ "OS X Yosemite v10.10 § App Features". Apple Developers. Apple. 2017-07-09. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  11. ↑ "IndexedDB". Can I use... n.d. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  12. ↑ Shankland, Stephen (2010-03-12). "Consensus emerges for key Web app standard | Deep Tech - CNET News". News.cnet.com. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  13. ↑ O'Callahan, Robert (2010-06-04). "Well, I'm Back: Not Implementing Features Is Hard". Weblogs.mozillazine.org. Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  14. ↑ Ranganathan, Arun (2010-06-01). "Beyond HTML5: Database APIs and the Road to IndexedDB – Mozilla Hacks - the Web developer blog". Mozilla Hacks – the Web developer blog. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  15. ↑ "html5 - Why is Web SQL database deprecated?". Software Engineering Stack Exchange.
  16. ↑ Web Applications Working Group (2015-01-08). Mehta, Nikunj; Sicking, Jonas; Graff, Eliot; Popescu, Andrei; Orlow, Jeremy; Bell, Joshua (eds.). "Indexed Database API". W3C. W3C Recommendation. Web Applications Working Group. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  17. 1 2 W3C (2018-01-30). "Indexed Database API 2.0 is now a W3C Recommendation | W3C News". W3C News. Retrieved 2021-05-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ "Indexed Database API 3.0 publication history". W3C. 2024-11-07. Archived from the original on 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.