How can we structure array of dictionary in firebase realtime database? - json

Question

I want to create below json structure like in firebase realtime databse
{
"doner": [
{
"firstName": "Sandesh",
"lastName": "Sardar",
"location": [50.11, 8.68],
"mobile": "100",
"age": 21
},
{
"firstName": "Akash",
"lastName": "saw",
"location": [50.85, 4.35],
"mobile": "1200",
"age": 22
},
{
"firstName": "Sahil",
"lastName": "abc",
"location": [48.85, 2.35],
"mobile": "325846",
"age": 23
},
{
"firstName": "ram",
"lastName": "abc",
"location": [46.2039, 6.1400],
"mobile": "3257673",
"age": 34
}]
}
But when I imported file in firebase realtime database, it turns into below structure where ]1
I believe this is not array of dictionary, but it is a dictionary of multiple dictionaries.
Is there any way to structure array of dictionaries in firebase?

Answer 1

The Firebase Realtime Database doesn't natively store arrays in the format you want. It instead stores arrays as key-value pairs, with the key being the (string representation) of the index of each item in the array.
When you read the data from Firebase (either through an SDK, or through the REST API), it converts this map back into an array.
So what you're seeing is the expected behavior, and there's no way to change it.
If you'd like to learn more about how Firebase deals with arrays, and why, I recommend checking out Kato's blog post here: Best Practices: Arrays in Firebase.