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Realm Files

Bundle Realm Files - .NET SDK

On this page

  • Create a Realm File for Bundling
  • Bundle a Realm File in Your Production Application
  • Open a Realm from a Bundled Realm File

You might want to seed your mobile app with some initial data that will be available to users on the initial launch of the app. To do this, you:

  • Build a temporary realm app,

  • Make a copy of an existing realm (with only the data you want bundled), and then

  • Bundle the Realm file in your app's shared project.

In your production app (the one that will use this bundled realm when first loading), you add a few lines of code to extract the realm and save it in the app data. The following sections provide more information on these steps.

Important

Bundling Synced Realms

If your backend application uses Flexible Sync, users could experience a client reset the first time they open the bundled realm file. This can occur when client maximum offline time is enabled (client maximum offline time is enabled by default). If the bundled realm file was generated more than the number of days specified by the client maximum offline time setting before the user syncs for the first time, the user experiences a client reset.

Applications that perform a client reset download the full state of the realm from the application backend. This negates the advantages of bundling a realm file. To prevent client resets and preserve the advantages of realm file bundling:

  • Avoid using a client maximum offline time in applications that bundle a synchronized realm.

  • If your application does use a client maximum offline time, ensure that your application download always includes a recently synced realm file. Generate a new file each application version, and ensure that no version ever stays current for more than client maximum offline time number of days.

Create a Realm File for Bundling

  1. Create a new project with the same data models as your production app. Open an existing realm with the data you wish to bundle, or create a new one.

  2. Use the WriteCopy() method to make a copy of the realm to a new location and/or name. The following code demonstrates this.

    // open an existing realm
    var realm = Realm.GetInstance("myRealm.realm");
    // Create a RealmConfiguration for the *copy*
    var config = new RealmConfiguration("bundled.realm");
    // Make sure the file doesn't already exist
    Realm.DeleteRealm(config);
    // Copy the realm
    realm.WriteCopy(config);
    // Want to know where the copy is?
    var locationOfCopy = config.DatabasePath;

    Important

    Copying Synced Realms

    When copying a Synced realm, you must ensure that there are no pending sync processes. You do this by calling WaitForUploadAsync and WaitForDownloadAsync.

    // open an existing realm
    var existingConfig = new PartitionSyncConfiguration("myPartition", user);
    var realm = await Realm.GetInstanceAsync(existingConfig);
    // Create a RealmConfiguration for the *copy*
    // Be sure the partition name matches the original
    var bundledConfig = new PartitionSyncConfiguration("myPartition", user, "bundled.realm");
    // Make sure the file doesn't already exist
    Realm.DeleteRealm(bundledConfig);
    // IMPORTANT: When copying a Synced realm, you must ensure
    // that there are no pending Sync operations. You do this
    // by calling WaitForUploadAsync() and WaitForDownloadAsync():
    var session = realm.SyncSession;
    await session.WaitForUploadAsync();
    await session.WaitForDownloadAsync();
    // Copy the realm
    realm.WriteCopy(bundledConfig);
    // Want to know where the copy is?
    var locationOfCopy = existingConfig.DatabasePath;

    Note

    Same-Type Sync Only

    This method only supports copying a Partition-Based Sync configuration for another Partition-Based Sync user, or a Flexible Sync configuration for another Flexible Sync user. You cannot use this method to convert between a Partition-Based Sync realm and a Flexible Sync realm or vice-versa.

Bundle a Realm File in Your Production Application

Now that you have a copy of the realm with the "seed" data in it, you need to bundle it with your production application. The process of bundling depends on whether you are building a mobile app or Unity app:

  1. Navigate to the path you specified for the new realm, and then drag the newly-created realm file to the shared MAUI/Xamarin project in Visual Studio.

  2. When prompted, choose Copy the file to the directory.

  3. In the shared project, right-click the realm file you just added, choose Build Action, and then choose EmbeddedResource.

  1. Open your production Unity project.

  2. In the Project tab, copy the new realm file to the Assets folder. Assets stored here are available to the app via the Application.dataPath property.

Note

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Non-encrypted realm files are cross-platform compatible, which is why you can bundle the file in the shared project.

Open a Realm from a Bundled Realm File

Now that you have a copy of the realm included with your app, you need to add code to use it. The code you add depends on the type of app:

Before you deploy your app with the bundled realm, you need to add code to extract the realm from the embedded resources, save it to the app's data location, and then open this new realm in the app. The following code shows how you can do this during start-up of the app. Note that:

  • this code only runs when no realm file is found at the specified location (typically only on the initial use of the app), and

  • how you open the realm depends on whether you are working with a synced realm or not. For more information, see Open a Realm Without Sync.

// If you are using a local realm
var config = RealmConfiguration.DefaultConfiguration;
// If the realm file is a synced realm
var app = App.Create(Config.AppId);
var user = await app.LogInAsync(Credentials.Anonymous());
config = new PartitionSyncConfiguration("myPartition", user);
// Extract and copy the realm
if (!File.Exists(config.DatabasePath))
{
    using var bundledDbStream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()
        .GetManifestResourceStream("bundled.realm");
    using var databaseFile = File.Create(config.DatabasePath);
    bundledDbStream!.CopyTo(databaseFile);
}
// Open the Realm:
var realm = Realm.GetInstance(config);

The embedded realm is initialized like any other realm in a Unity project:

// After copying the above created file to the project folder,
// we can access it in Application.dataPath
// If you are using a local realm
var config = RealmConfiguration.DefaultConfiguration;
// If the realm is synced realm
var app = App.Create("myRealmAppId");
var user = await app.LogInAsync(Credentials.Anonymous());
config = new PartitionSyncConfiguration("myPartition", user);
if (!File.Exists(config.DatabasePath))
    FileUtil.CopyFileOrDirectory(Path.Combine(Application.dataPath,
        "bundled.realm"), config.DatabasePath);
}
var realm = Realm.GetInstance(config);

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