Modeling a Graph through the Schema Builder

Summary

In this tutorial, you will:

Start the PuppyGraph and MySQL containers and create example data.
Add a MySQL catalog to query data as a graph.
Add two types of nodes (vertices): one-to-one type and many-to-one type.
Add two edges to compose a Modern Graph.

Prerequisites

Please ensure that docker compose is available. The installation can be verified by running:

docker compose version

See https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/ for Docker Compose installation instructions and https://www.docker.com/get-started/ for more details on Docker.

Accessing the PuppyGraph Web UI requires a browser. However, the tutorial offers alternative instructions for those who wish to exclusively use the CLI.

Setup

Deployment

Create a file docker-compose.yaml with the following content:

docker-compose.yaml

version: "3"
services:
  puppygraph:
    image: puppygraph/puppygraph:stable
    pull_policy: always
    container_name: puppygraph
    environment:
      - PUPPYGRAPH_USERNAME=puppygraph
      - PUPPYGRAPH_PASSWORD=puppygraph123
    networks:
      - mysql_net
    ports:
      - "8081:8081"
      - "8182:8182"
      - "7687:7687"
  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.0.33
    container_name: mysql-server
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=mysql123
    networks:
      - mysql_net
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
networks:
  mysql_net:
    name: puppy-mysql

Warning: Ensure to modify your password environment variables, particularly when your machine is publicly accessible.

Then run the following command to start Mysql and PuppyGraph:

docker compose up -d

[+] Running 3/3
 ✔ Network puppy-mysql     Created                                      0.1s 
 ✔ Container mysql-server  Started                                      3.7s 
 ✔ Container puppygraph    Started                                      3.7s

Data Preparation

This tutorial is designed to be comprehensive and standalone, so it includes steps to populate data in MySQL. In practical scenarios, PuppyGraph can query data directly from your existing MySQL databases.

Run the following command to start a MySQL shell to access the database using root:

docker exec -it mysql-server mysql -uroot -p

It will show a password prompt:

Enter password:

Input the root password (default root password: mysql123) of mysql-server to access the MySQL client shell.

Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 8
Server version: 8.0.33 MySQL Community Server - GPL

Copyright (c) 2000, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql>

Then execute the following SQL statements in the shell to create tables and insert data.

modern.sql

create schema modern;

create table modern.software
(
    id   text,
    name text,
    lang text
);
insert into modern.software
values ('v3', 'lop', 'java'),
       ('v5', 'ripple', 'java');

create table modern.person
(
    id   text,
    name text,
    age  integer
);
insert into modern.person
values ('v1', 'marko', 29),
       ('v2', 'vadas', 27);

create table modern.person2
(
    id   text,
    name text,
    age  integer
);
insert into modern.person2
values ('v4', 'josh', 32),
       ('v6', 'peter', 35);

create table modern.created
(
    id           text,
    from_id      text,
    to_id        text,
    weight       double precision,
    from_name text,
    to_name   text
);
insert into modern.created
values ('e9', 'v1', 'v3', 0.4, 'marko', 'lop'),
       ('e10', 'v4', 'v5', 1.0, 'josh', 'ripple'),
       ('e11', 'v4', 'v3', 0.4, 'josh', 'lop'),
       ('e12', 'v6', 'v3', 0.2, 'peter', 'lop');

create table modern.knows
(
    id           text,
    from_id      text,
    to_id        text,
    weight       double precision,
    from_name text,
    to_name   text
);
insert into modern.knows
values ('e7', 'v1', 'v2', 0.5, 'marko', 'vadas'),
       ('e8', 'v1', 'v4', 1.0, 'marko', 'josh');

The above SQL creates the following tables:

softwarepersonperson2createdknows

id	name	lang
v3	lop	java
v5	ripple	java

id	name	age
v1	marko	29
v2	vadas	27

id	name	age
v4	josh	32
v6	peter	35

id	from_id	to_id	weight	from_name	to_name
e9	v1	v3	0.4	marko	lop
e10	v4	v5	1.0	josh	ripple
e11	v4	v3	0.4	josh	lop
e12	v6	v3	0.2	peter	lop

id	from_id	to_id	weight	from_name	to_name
e7	v1	v2	0.5	marko	vadas
e8	v1	v4	1.0	marko	josh

Graph Schema Creation

PuppyGraph provides a graph schema builder in its web UI. Click Create Graph Schema button to launch the builder.

Initial interface of PuppyGraph Schema Builder

Adding a catalog

Select the MySQL8 option in the Catalog type dropdown, then fill in the following text fields.

Catalog name: mysql_data
Username: root
Password: mysql123
JDBC Connection String: jdbc:mariadb://mysql-server:3306?allowPublicKeyRetrieval=true

After filling in these fields, click Save and Submit buttons.

Adding nodes (vertices)

Adding a one-to-one node (vertex) type

This type of node (vertex) maps a table to a node (vertex) type.

Click the Add a node button, then select the Default type in the Node type dropdown in the form.

Adding a many-to-one node (vertex) type

This type of node (vertex) maps multiple tables to a node (vertex) type.

Click the Add a node button again, then select the Many To One type in the Node type dropdown in the form.

Adding Edges

Adding edge types follows a similar procedure to that of adding node (vertex) types. However, this step requires the referenced node (vertex) types to be added to the schema first. Then, you can select "from" and "to" node (vertex) types for the edge. Additionally, you need to select the columns that correspond to the IDs of the "from" and "to" node (vertex) labels.

Submitting the Schema

After adding the node (vertex) and edge types following the steps above, the schema builder will display the added node (vertex) and edge types and visualize them. Click Submit to create the graph.