- 1. API with NestJS #1. Controllers, routing and the module structure
- 2. API with NestJS #2. Setting up a PostgreSQL database with TypeORM
- 3. API with NestJS #3. Authenticating users with bcrypt, Passport, JWT, and cookies
- 4. API with NestJS #4. Error handling and data validation
- 5. API with NestJS #5. Serializing the response with interceptors
- 6. API with NestJS #6. Looking into dependency injection and modules
- 7. API with NestJS #7. Creating relationships with Postgres and TypeORM
- 8. API with NestJS #8. Writing unit tests
- 9. API with NestJS #9. Testing services and controllers with integration tests
- 10. API with NestJS #10. Uploading public files to Amazon S3
- 11. API with NestJS #11. Managing private files with Amazon S3
- 12. API with NestJS #12. Introduction to Elasticsearch
- 13. API with NestJS #13. Implementing refresh tokens using JWT
- 14. API with NestJS #14. Improving performance of our Postgres database with indexes
- 15. API with NestJS #15. Defining transactions with PostgreSQL and TypeORM
- 16. API with NestJS #16. Using the array data type with PostgreSQL and TypeORM
- 17. API with NestJS #17. Offset and keyset pagination with PostgreSQL and TypeORM
- 18. API with NestJS #18. Exploring the idea of microservices
- 19. API with NestJS #19. Using RabbitMQ to communicate with microservices
- 20. API with NestJS #20. Communicating with microservices using the gRPC framework
- 21. API with NestJS #21. An introduction to CQRS
- 22. API with NestJS #22. Storing JSON with PostgreSQL and TypeORM
- 23. API with NestJS #23. Implementing in-memory cache to increase the performance
- 24. API with NestJS #24. Cache with Redis. Running the app in a Node.js cluster
- 25. API with NestJS #25. Sending scheduled emails with cron and Nodemailer
- 26. API with NestJS #26. Real-time chat with WebSockets
- 27. API with NestJS #27. Introduction to GraphQL. Queries, mutations, and authentication
- 28. API with NestJS #28. Dealing in the N + 1 problem in GraphQL
- 29. API with NestJS #29. Real-time updates with GraphQL subscriptions
- 30. API with NestJS #30. Scalar types in GraphQL
- 31. API with NestJS #31. Two-factor authentication
- 32. API with NestJS #32. Introduction to Prisma with PostgreSQL
- 33. API with NestJS #33. Managing PostgreSQL relationships with Prisma
- 34. API with NestJS #34. Handling CPU-intensive tasks with queues
- 35. API with NestJS #35. Using server-side sessions instead of JSON Web Tokens
- 36. API with NestJS #36. Introduction to Stripe with React
- 37. API with NestJS #37. Using Stripe to save credit cards for future use
- 38. API with NestJS #38. Setting up recurring payments via subscriptions with Stripe
- 39. API with NestJS #39. Reacting to Stripe events with webhooks
- 40. API with NestJS #40. Confirming the email address
- 41. API with NestJS #41. Verifying phone numbers and sending SMS messages with Twilio
- 42. API with NestJS #42. Authenticating users with Google
- 43. API with NestJS #43. Introduction to MongoDB
- 44. API with NestJS #44. Implementing relationships with MongoDB
- 45. API with NestJS #45. Virtual properties with MongoDB and Mongoose
- 46. API with NestJS #46. Managing transactions with MongoDB and Mongoose
- 47. API with NestJS #47. Implementing pagination with MongoDB and Mongoose
- 48. API with NestJS #48. Definining indexes with MongoDB and Mongoose
- 49. API with NestJS #49. Updating with PUT and PATCH with MongoDB and Mongoose
- 50. API with NestJS #50. Introduction to logging with the built-in logger and TypeORM
- 51. API with NestJS #51. Health checks with Terminus and Datadog
- 52. API with NestJS #52. Generating documentation with Compodoc and JSDoc
- 53. API with NestJS #53. Implementing soft deletes with PostgreSQL and TypeORM
- 54. API with NestJS #54. Storing files inside a PostgreSQL database
- 55. API with NestJS #55. Uploading files to the server
- 56. API with NestJS #56. Authorization with roles and claims
- 57. API with NestJS #57. Composing classes with the mixin pattern
- 58. API with NestJS #58. Using ETag to implement cache and save bandwidth
- 59. API with NestJS #59. Introduction to a monorepo with Lerna and Yarn workspaces
- 60. API with NestJS #60. The OpenAPI specification and Swagger
- 61. API with NestJS #61. Dealing with circular dependencies
- 62. API with NestJS #62. Introduction to MikroORM with PostgreSQL
- 63. API with NestJS #63. Relationships with PostgreSQL and MikroORM
- 64. API with NestJS #64. Transactions with PostgreSQL and MikroORM
- 65. API with NestJS #65. Implementing soft deletes using MikroORM and filters
- 66. API with NestJS #66. Improving PostgreSQL performance with indexes using MikroORM
- 67. API with NestJS #67. Migrating to TypeORM 0.3
- 68. API with NestJS #68. Interacting with the application through REPL
- 69. API with NestJS #69. Database migrations with TypeORM
- 70. API with NestJS #70. Defining dynamic modules
- 71. API with NestJS #71. Introduction to feature flags
- 72. API with NestJS #72. Working with PostgreSQL using raw SQL queries
- 73. API with NestJS #73. One-to-one relationships with raw SQL queries
- 74. API with NestJS #74. Designing many-to-one relationships using raw SQL queries
- 75. API with NestJS #75. Many-to-many relationships using raw SQL queries
- 76. API with NestJS #76. Working with transactions using raw SQL queries
- 77. API with NestJS #77. Offset and keyset pagination with raw SQL queries
- 78. API with NestJS #78. Generating statistics using aggregate functions in raw SQL
- 79. API with NestJS #79. Implementing searching with pattern matching and raw SQL
- 80. API with NestJS #80. Updating entities with PUT and PATCH using raw SQL queries
- 81. API with NestJS #81. Soft deletes with raw SQL queries
- 82. API with NestJS #82. Introduction to indexes with raw SQL queries
- 83. API with NestJS #83. Text search with tsvector and raw SQL
- 84. API with NestJS #84. Implementing filtering using subqueries with raw SQL
- 85. API with NestJS #85. Defining constraints with raw SQL
- 86. API with NestJS #86. Logging with the built-in logger when using raw SQL
- 87. API with NestJS #87. Writing unit tests in a project with raw SQL
- 88. API with NestJS #88. Testing a project with raw SQL using integration tests
- 89. API with NestJS #89. Replacing Express with Fastify
- 90. API with NestJS #90. Using various types of SQL joins
- 91. API with NestJS #91. Dockerizing a NestJS API with Docker Compose
- 92. API with NestJS #92. Increasing the developer experience with Docker Compose
- 93. API with NestJS #93. Deploying a NestJS app with Amazon ECS and RDS
- 94. API with NestJS #94. Deploying multiple instances on AWS with a load balancer
- 95. API with NestJS #95. CI/CD with Amazon ECS and GitHub Actions
- 96. API with NestJS #96. Running unit tests with CI/CD and GitHub Actions
- 97. API with NestJS #97. Introduction to managing logs with Amazon CloudWatch
- 98. API with NestJS #98. Health checks with Terminus and Amazon ECS
- 99. API with NestJS #99. Scaling the number of application instances with Amazon ECS
- 100. API with NestJS #100. The HTTPS protocol with Route 53 and AWS Certificate Manager
- 101. API with NestJS #101. Managing sensitive data using the AWS Secrets Manager
- 102. API with NestJS #102. Writing unit tests with Prisma
- 103. API with NestJS #103. Integration tests with Prisma
- 104. API with NestJS #104. Writing transactions with Prisma
- 105. API with NestJS #105. Implementing soft deletes with Prisma and middleware
- 106. API with NestJS #106. Improving performance through indexes with Prisma
- 107. API with NestJS #107. Offset and keyset pagination with Prisma
- 108. API with NestJS #108. Date and time with Prisma and PostgreSQL
- 109. API with NestJS #109. Arrays with PostgreSQL and Prisma
- 110. API with NestJS #110. Managing JSON data with PostgreSQL and Prisma
- 111. API with NestJS #111. Constraints with PostgreSQL and Prisma
- 112. API with NestJS #112. Serializing the response with Prisma
- 113. API with NestJS #113. Logging with Prisma
- 114. API with NestJS #114. Modifying data using PUT and PATCH methods with Prisma
- 115. API with NestJS #115. Database migrations with Prisma
- 116. API with NestJS #116. REST API versioning
- 117. API with NestJS #117. CORS – Cross-Origin Resource Sharing
- 118. API with NestJS #118. Uploading and streaming videos
- 119. API with NestJS #119. Type-safe SQL queries with Kysely and PostgreSQL
- 120. API with NestJS #120. One-to-one relationships with the Kysely query builder
- 121. API with NestJS #121. Many-to-one relationships with PostgreSQL and Kysely
- 122. API with NestJS #122. Many-to-many relationships with Kysely and PostgreSQL
- 123. API with NestJS #123. SQL transactions with Kysely
- 124. API with NestJS #124. Handling SQL constraints with Kysely
- 125. API with NestJS #125. Offset and keyset pagination with Kysely
- 126. API with NestJS #126. Improving the database performance with indexes and Kysely
- 127. API with NestJS #127. Arrays with PostgreSQL and Kysely
- 128. API with NestJS #128. Managing JSON data with PostgreSQL and Kysely
- 129. API with NestJS #129. Implementing soft deletes with SQL and Kysely
- 130. API with NestJS #130. Avoiding storing sensitive information in API logs
- 131. API with NestJS #131. Unit tests with PostgreSQL and Kysely
- 132. API with NestJS #132. Handling date and time in PostgreSQL with Kysely
- 133. API with NestJS #133. Introducing database normalization with PostgreSQL and Prisma
- 134. API with NestJS #134. Aggregating statistics with PostgreSQL and Prisma
- 135. API with NestJS #135. Referential actions and foreign keys in PostgreSQL with Prisma
- 136. API with NestJS #136. Raw SQL queries with Prisma and PostgreSQL range types
- 137. API with NestJS #137. Recursive relationships with Prisma and PostgreSQL
- 138. API with NestJS #138. Filtering records with Prisma
- 139. API with NestJS #139. Using UUID as primary keys with Prisma and PostgreSQL
- 140. API with NestJS #140. Using multiple PostgreSQL schemas with Prisma
- 141. API with NestJS #141. Getting distinct records with Prisma and PostgreSQL
- 142. API with NestJS #142. A video chat with WebRTC and React
- 143. API with NestJS #143. Optimizing queries with views using PostgreSQL and Kysely
- 144. API with NestJS #144. Creating CLI applications with the Nest Commander
- 145. API with NestJS #145. Securing applications with Helmet
- 146. API with NestJS #146. Polymorphic associations with PostgreSQL and Prisma
- 147. API with NestJS #147. The data types to store money with PostgreSQL and Prisma
- 148. API with NestJS #148. Understanding the injection scopes
- 149. API with NestJS #149. Introduction to the Drizzle ORM with PostgreSQL
- 150. API with NestJS #150. One-to-one relationships with the Drizzle ORM
- 151. API with NestJS #151. Implementing many-to-one relationships with Drizzle ORM
- 152. API with NestJS #152. SQL constraints with the Drizzle ORM
- 153. API with NestJS #153. SQL transactions with the Drizzle ORM
- 154. API with NestJS #154. Many-to-many relationships with Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL
- 155. API with NestJS #155. Offset and keyset pagination with the Drizzle ORM
- 156. API with NestJS #156. Arrays with PostgreSQL and the Drizzle ORM
- 157. API with NestJS #157. Handling JSON data with PostgreSQL and the Drizzle ORM
- 158. API with NestJS #158. Soft deletes with the Drizzle ORM
- 159. API with NestJS #159. Date and time with PostgreSQL and the Drizzle ORM
- 160. API with NestJS #160. Using views with the Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL
- 161. API with NestJS #161. Generated columns with the Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL
- 162. API with NestJS #162. Identity columns with the Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL
- 163. API with NestJS #163. Full-text search with the Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL
- 164. API with NestJS #164. Improving the performance with indexes using Drizzle ORM
- 165. API with NestJS #165. Time intervals with the Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL
- 166. API with NestJS #166. Logging with the Drizzle ORM
- 167. API with NestJS #167. Unit tests with the Drizzle ORM
- 168. API with NestJS #168. Integration tests with the Drizzle ORM
With PostgreSQL’s full-text search feature, we can quickly find documents that contain a particular word or phrase. It can also sort the results to show the most relevant matches first. In this article, we learn how to implement it with the Drizzle ORM, PostgreSQL, and NestJS.
Column types used with the text-search feature
To implement the full-text search with PostgreSQL, we need two data types. They allow us to search through a set of texts and find the ones that best match a given query.
tsvector
With the tsvector column, we can store the text in a format optimized for searching. Unfortunately, the Drizzle ORM does not support it natively yet. Therefore, we must understand how it works from the ground up and use some raw SQL in our code.
To convert a regular string to the tsvector format, we need to use the to_tsvector function.
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SELECT to_tsvector('english', 'The quick brown fox quickly jumps over the lazy dog'); |
“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is a common sentence that contains all the letters of the alphabet.
When we examine the result of the above query, several optimizations become apparent. The most apparent is duplicate grouping. Using the English dictionary, PostgreSQL recognized that “quick” and “quickly” are different forms of the same word.
Besides that, the tsvector type filters the stop words. These common words appear in almost every sentence but don’t add much value when searching through text. In the example above, since we used the English dictionary, PostgreSQL automatically filtered out words like “the” and “over.” This is a test.
tsquery
The tsquery data type is designed to store the text we want to search for. To easily convert a string into the tsquery format, we must use the to_tsquery function.
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SELECT to_tsquery('fox'); |
To verify if the tsvector data matches a tsquery, we must use the @@ operator.
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SELECT to_tsvector('english', 'The quick brown fox quickly jumps over the lazy dog') @@ to_tsquery('dog'); |
We can use the boolean operators such as &, |, and !. For example, the ! operator helps ensure that a particular word is not included in the text.
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SELECT to_tsvector('english', 'The quick brown fox quickly jumps over the lazy dog') @@ to_tsquery('!cat'); |
Check out the official documentation for a description of all operators.
Another helpful function is plainto_tsquery. It converts an unformatted phrase to a query by inserting the & operator between words, making it a great option for handling the user’s input.
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SELECT to_tsvector('english', 'The quick brown fox quickly jumps over the lazy dog') @@ plainto_tsquery('brown fox'); |
Working with existing data
In the previous parts of this series, we’ve worked with the following database schema.
database-schema.ts
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import { serial, text, pgTable } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core'; export const articles = pgTable('articles', { id: serial('id').primaryKey(), title: text('title'), content: text('content'), }); export const databaseSchema = { articles, }; |
Since our table does not contain a tsvector column, we must find another solution. The most straightforward approach is to convert our text to tsvector on the fly.
articles.service.ts
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import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common'; import { DrizzleService } from '../database/drizzle.service'; import { databaseSchema } from '../database/database-schema'; import { sql } from 'drizzle-orm'; @Injectable() export class ArticlesService { constructor(private readonly drizzleService: DrizzleService) {} // ... searchByQuery(query: string) { return this.drizzleService.db .select() .from(databaseSchema.articles) .where( sql`to_tsvector('english', ${databaseSchema.articles.content}) @@ plainto_tsquery(${query})`, ); } } |
To use this approach in our NestJS application, we should use an optional query param that allows the user to provide the search query.
articles.controller.ts
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import { Controller, Get, Query, } from '@nestjs/common'; import { ArticlesService } from './articles.service'; @Controller('articles') export class ArticlesController { constructor(private readonly articlesService: ArticlesService) {} @Get() getAll(@Query('search') searchQuery: string) { if (searchQuery) { return this.articlesService.searchByQuery(searchQuery); } return this.articlesService.getAll(); } // ... } |
We can combine the title and content columns to search through them both.
articles.service.ts
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import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common'; import { DrizzleService } from '../database/drizzle.service'; import { databaseSchema } from '../database/database-schema'; import { sql } from 'drizzle-orm'; @Injectable() export class ArticlesService { constructor(private readonly drizzleService: DrizzleService) {} // ... searchByQuery(query: string) { return this.drizzleService.db .select() .from(databaseSchema.articles) .where( sql` to_tsvector( 'english', ${databaseSchema.articles.content} || ' ' || ${databaseSchema.articles.title} ) @@ plainto_tsquery(${query}) `, ); } } |
The key problem with this approach is that it forces PostgreSQL to convert the text from every record in the articles table, which can be very time-consuming. Instead, we can define a generated column that automatically transforms the data into the tsvector format.
If you want to know more about generated colums, check out API with NestJS #161. Generated columns with the Drizzle ORM and PostgreSQL
Unfortunately, the Drizzle ORM does not support the tsvector columns. To deal with that, we have to define a custom type.
database-schema.ts
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import { serial, text, pgTable, customType, index } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core'; import { sql, SQL } from 'drizzle-orm'; const tsvector = customType<{ data: unknown }>({ dataType() { return 'tsvector'; }, }); export const articles = pgTable( 'articles', { id: serial('id').primaryKey(), title: text('title'), content: text('content'), textTsvector: tsvector('text_tsvector').generatedAlwaysAs( (): SQL => sql` to_tsvector('english', ${articles.title} || ' ' || ${articles.content}) `, ), }, (table) => { return { textTsvectorIndex: index('text_tsvector_index').using( 'gin', table.textTsvector, ), }; }, ); export const databaseSchema = { articles, }; |
Above, we create a stored generated column. PostgreSQL automatically updates it whenever the content or title columns change.
We also create a Generalized Inverted Index (GIN). This index type is highly effective for text searching and is ideal when a column contains multiple values. Implementing a GIN index can significantly enhance the speed of our SELECT queries.
Thanks to this approach, we can now simplify our query.
articles.service.ts
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import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common'; import { DrizzleService } from '../database/drizzle.service'; import { databaseSchema } from '../database/database-schema'; import { sql } from 'drizzle-orm'; @Injectable() export class ArticlesService { constructor(private readonly drizzleService: DrizzleService) {} searchByQuery(query: string) { return this.drizzleService.db .select() .from(databaseSchema.articles) .where( sql`${databaseSchema.articles.textTsvector} @@ plainto_tsquery(${query})`, ); } // ... } |
Ordering our results
Until now, we haven’t focused on the order of the results in our query. Sorting the search results by relevance can significantly improve the user experience.
For instance, we can prioritize the text from the title column over the content column. To achieve this, we can modify how we create the text_tsvector column and use the setweight function.
database-schema.ts
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import { serial, text, pgTable, customType, index } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core'; import { sql, SQL } from 'drizzle-orm'; const tsvector = customType<{ data: unknown }>({ dataType() { return 'tsvector'; }, }); export const articles = pgTable( 'articles', { id: serial('id').primaryKey(), title: text('title'), content: text('content'), textTsvector: tsvector('text_tsvector').generatedAlwaysAs( (): SQL => sql` setweight(to_tsvector('english', ${articles.title}), 'A') || setweight(to_tsvector('english', ${articles.content}), 'B') `, ), }, (table) => { return { textTsvectorIndex: index('text_tsvector_index').using( 'gin', table.textTsvector, ), }; }, ); export const databaseSchema = { articles, }; |
With the setweight function, we assign a weight to each term in the tsvector column. The A indicates the highest weight, and the D indicates the lowest.
Thanks to this, we can use the ts_rank function to order the results based on the weight of each column.
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import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common'; import { DrizzleService } from '../database/drizzle.service'; import { databaseSchema } from '../database/database-schema'; import { sql } from 'drizzle-orm'; @Injectable() export class ArticlesService { constructor(private readonly drizzleService: DrizzleService) {} searchByQuery(query: string) { return this.drizzleService.db .select() .from(databaseSchema.articles) .where( sql`${databaseSchema.articles.textTsvector} @@ plainto_tsquery(${query})`, ) .orderBy( sql`ts_rank(${databaseSchema.articles.textTsvector}, plainto_tsquery(${query})) DESC`, ); } // ... } |