TypeORM-Versions

A paper_trail inspired versioning plugin for TypeORM to track changes in entities.

Compatible with TypeORM >= 0.3

Installation

npm install typeorm-versions

You need to register TypeORM-Versions' own Version entity and VersionSubscriber within your DataSource.

TypeORM-Versions provides a convenience function versionsConfig, which injects the required settings:

import { DataSourceOptions } from 'typeorm';
import { versionsConfig } from 'typeorm-versions';

let dataSourceOptions: DataSourceOptions = {
    ...
}

dataSourceOptions = versionsConfig(dataSourceOptions);

Then create a migration in your migration directory to create the version table:

import { AddVersionMigration } from "typeorm-versions";

// The timestamp should fit your migration order
export class AddVersion1700000000000 extends AddVersionMigration {}
// By default creates a table named "version". Override tableName to customize:
// export class AddVersion1700000000000 extends AddVersionMigration { tableName = "entity_versions" }

Usage

Data Mapper Pattern

Define your entity and annotate it with the @VersionedEntity() decorator.

import { Entity, Column, PrimaryGeneratedColumn } from "typeorm";
import { VersionedEntity } from "typeorm-versions";

@Entity()
@VersionedEntity()
class Post {

    @PrimaryGeneratedColumn()
    id!: number;

    @Column()
    title!: string;

    @Column()
    content!: string;

}

Then use it with the VersionRepository:

import { VersionRepository, VersionEvent } from "typeorm-versions";

const postRepository = dataSource.getRepository(Post);
const versionRepository = VersionRepository(dataSource);

// Store a post
let post = new Post();
post.title = "hello";
post.content = "World";
post = await postRepository.save(post);

// Change the post and store the change
post.content = "there!";
post = await postRepository.save(post);

// Retrieve all stored versions for this post
const versions = await versionRepository.allForEntity(post);
console.log(versions);

// returns
[
  Version {
    id: 2,
    itemType: 'Post',
    itemId: '1',
    event: 'UPDATE',
    owner: 'system',
    object: { title: 'hello', content: 'there!', id: 1 },
    timestamp: 2021-03-18T16:56:49.996Z
  },
  Version {
    id: 1,
    itemType: 'Post',
    itemId: '1',
    event: 'INSERT',
    owner: 'system',
    object: { title: 'hello', content: 'World', id: 1 },
    timestamp: 2021-03-18T16:56:49.986Z
  }
]

// To recover a previous version
const previousVersion = await versionRepository.previousForEntity(post);
post = previousVersion!.getObject<Post>();
await postRepository.save(post);

// Other navigation options
const latestVersion = await versionRepository.latestForEntity(post);
const previousPost = await versionRepository.previousObjectForEntity(post); // Get the entity object directly
const latestPost = await versionRepository.latestObjectForEntity(post);

// Versions also support navigation
const next = await previousVersion!.next();
const prev = await latestVersion!.previous();

Active Record Pattern

Use VersionedBaseEntity instead of TypeORM's BaseEntity:

import { Entity, Column, PrimaryGeneratedColumn } from "typeorm";
import { VersionedEntity, VersionedBaseEntity } from "typeorm-versions";

@Entity()
@VersionedEntity()
class Post extends VersionedBaseEntity {

    @PrimaryGeneratedColumn()
    id!: number;

    @Column()
    title!: string;

    @Column()
    content!: string;

}

Which provides helper methods directly on the entity:

let post = new Post();
post.title = "Hello";
post.content = "World";
await post.save();

post.title = "Bye";
await post.save();

// List all versions
const versions = await post.versions().list();

// Navigate versions
const previousVersion = await post.versions().previous();
const latestVersion = await post.versions().latest();

// Get entity objects directly
const previousPost = await post.versions().previousObject();
await previousPost!.save(); // recover previous version
const latestPost = await post.versions().latestObject();

Future To-Dos

• [ ] More tests
• [ ] More / improve docs
• [ ] More navigation and recovery features
• [ ] More examples