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Technical Glossary

This glossary will define all potentially ambiguous terms used in this specification, in alphabetical order.

Annotation​

(noun)

A property on a shape's field that starts with the "@" symbol. Similar to GraphQL directives (also called annotations).

Content​

(noun)

Data in a ShapeDB. All content must be an instance of a shape in the project schema's root-level "shapes" object.

Field​

(noun)

  1. A GraphQL query field. Read more about fields in the GraphQL docs.

  2. A property in a Shape's schema. Shapes are analogous to GraphQL types. A shape's properties will appear as fields on queries that return that shape.

Hidden​

(adjective)

Any object or property that treated as part of a project's schema, though it will not appear in the editable JSON schema.

Indexing​

(noun)

The process of fetching data from an external API and storing it in a project's database.

Pattern​

(noun)

  1. A project pre-configured to generate an API with a specific set of functionality.

  2. A directory, usually in a git repository or a project folder, that contains a pattern.yml file with metadata and a schema.json file with a valid project schema.

Relationship​

(noun)

A type definition that defines a property within one shape as being an instance of another shape that exists in the schema or service schema.

Resolver​

(noun)

A resolver is a function that executes when a query or mutation is called, or a shape field is accessed. A resolver is required on queries & mutations, and may be used in a shape property.

Schema​

(noun)

  1. Project Schema — JSON code used to configure a project. This JSON will contain objects that define the project's functionality.

  2. Shape Schema — JSON code used to configure the fields on a shape.

Service​

(noun)

A REST or GraphQL API.