🌟 Star Wars GraphQL Database Example

A comprehensive Star Wars database implementation using SharpGraph, based on the official GraphQL Star Wars schema from graphql.org.

Overview

This example demonstrates a complete GraphQL database with:

30+ Characters (Humans and Droids)
3 Films (Episodes IV, V, VI - Original Trilogy)
9 Planets (Tatooine, Alderaan, Yavin IV, etc.)
8 Species (Human, Droid, Wookiee, etc.)
7 Starships (X-wing, Millennium Falcon, TIE Fighter, etc.)
5 Vehicles (AT-AT, AT-ST, Speeder Bike, etc.)
Complex Relationships between all entities

Schema Structure

Character (Polymorphic: Human & Droid)

type Character {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  appearsIn: [String]!
  characterType: String!  # "Human" or "Droid"
  
  # Human-specific
  homePlanet: Planet
  height: Float
  mass: Float
  hairColor: String
  skinColor: String
  eyeColor: String
  birthYear: String
  
  # Droid-specific
  primaryFunction: String
  
  # Relationships
  friends: [Character]
  films: [Film]
  starships: [Starship]
  vehicles: [Vehicle]
}

Film

type Film {
  id: ID!
  title: String!
  episodeId: Int!
  openingCrawl: String!
  director: String!
  producer: String!
  releaseDate: String!
  
  # Relationships
  characters: [Character]
  planets: [Planet]
  starships: [Starship]
  vehicles: [Vehicle]
  species: [Species]
}

Planet

type Planet {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  diameter: String
  rotationPeriod: String
  orbitalPeriod: String
  gravity: String
  population: String
  climate: String
  terrain: String
  surfaceWater: String
  
  # Relationships
  residents: [Character]
  films: [Film]
}

Starship

type Starship {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  model: String
  starshipClass: String
  manufacturer: String
  costInCredits: String
  length: String
  crew: String
  passengers: String
  maxAtmospheringSpeed: String
  hyperdriveRating: String
  MGLT: String
  cargoCapacity: String
  consumables: String
  
  # Relationships
  pilots: [Character]
  films: [Film]
}

Vehicle

type Vehicle {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  model: String
  vehicleClass: String
  manufacturer: String
  costInCredits: String
  length: String
  crew: String
  passengers: String
  maxAtmospheringSpeed: String
  cargoCapacity: String
  consumables: String
  
  # Relationships
  pilots: [Character]
  films: [Film]
}

Species

type Species {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  classification: String
  designation: String
  averageHeight: String
  averageLifespan: String
  eyeColors: String
  hairColors: String
  skinColors: String
  language: String
  
  # Relationships
  homePlanet: Planet
  people: [Character]
  films: [Film]
}

Usage

Basic Setup

using SharpGraph.Examples;

// Initialize the database (auto-populates with Star Wars data)
var db = new StarWarsDatabase("starwars_db");

// Execute queries
var result = db.Query(@"
{
  character(id: ""luke"") {
    name
    height
    friends {
      name
    }
  }
}
");

Console.WriteLine(result.RootElement.GetRawText());

Run the Demo

cd examples
dotnet run --project StarWarsDemo.csproj

Example Queries

1. Get Luke Skywalker with Friends

{
  character(id: "luke") {
    name
    height
    mass
    hairColor
    eyeColor
    birthYear
    friends {
      name
      characterType
    }
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "character": {
      "name": "Luke Skywalker",
      "height": 172,
      "mass": 77,
      "hairColor": "blond",
      "eyeColor": "blue",
      "birthYear": "19BBY",
      "friends": [
        { "name": "Han Solo", "characterType": "Human" },
        { "name": "Leia Organa", "characterType": "Human" },
        { "name": "C-3PO", "characterType": "Droid" },
        { "name": "R2-D2", "characterType": "Droid" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

2. Get R2-D2 (Droid)

{
  character(id: "r2d2") {
    name
    characterType
    primaryFunction
    height
    mass
    eyeColor
    appearsIn
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "character": {
      "name": "R2-D2",
      "characterType": "Droid",
      "primaryFunction": "Astromech",
      "height": 96,
      "mass": 32,
      "eyeColor": "red",
      "appearsIn": ["NEWHOPE", "EMPIRE", "JEDI"]
    }
  }
}

3. Get All Films

{
  films {
    title
    episodeId
    director
    releaseDate
    openingCrawl
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "films": [
      {
        "title": "A New Hope",
        "episodeId": 4,
        "director": "George Lucas",
        "releaseDate": "1977-05-25",
        "openingCrawl": "It is a period of civil war..."
      },
      {
        "title": "The Empire Strikes Back",
        "episodeId": 5,
        "director": "Irvin Kershner",
        "releaseDate": "1980-05-17",
        "openingCrawl": "It is a dark time for the Rebellion..."
      },
      {
        "title": "Return of the Jedi",
        "episodeId": 6,
        "director": "Richard Marquand",
        "releaseDate": "1983-05-25",
        "openingCrawl": "Luke Skywalker has returned..."
      }
    ]
  }
}

4. Get Planets

{
  planets {
    name
    climate
    terrain
    population
    diameter
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "planets": [
      {
        "name": "Tatooine",
        "climate": "arid",
        "terrain": "desert",
        "population": "200000",
        "diameter": "10465"
      },
      {
        "name": "Alderaan",
        "climate": "temperate",
        "terrain": "grasslands, mountains",
        "population": "2000000000",
        "diameter": "12500"
      }
    ]
  }
}

5. Get Starships

{
  starships {
    name
    model
    starshipClass
    manufacturer
    length
    crew
    hyperdriveRating
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "starships": [
      {
        "name": "X-wing",
        "model": "T-65 X-wing",
        "starshipClass": "Starfighter",
        "manufacturer": "Incom Corporation",
        "length": "12.5",
        "crew": "1",
        "hyperdriveRating": "1.0"
      },
      {
        "name": "Millennium Falcon",
        "model": "YT-1300 light freighter",
        "starshipClass": "Light freighter",
        "manufacturer": "Corellian Engineering Corporation",
        "length": "34.37",
        "crew": "4",
        "hyperdriveRating": "0.5"
      }
    ]
  }
}

6. Get Darth Vader

{
  character(id: "vader") {
    name
    characterType
    height
    mass
    eyeColor
    birthYear
    appearsIn
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "character": {
      "name": "Darth Vader",
      "characterType": "Human",
      "height": 202,
      "mass": 136,
      "eyeColor": "yellow",
      "birthYear": "41.9BBY",
      "appearsIn": ["NEWHOPE", "EMPIRE", "JEDI"]
    }
  }
}

7. Get Han Solo with Friends

{
  character(id: "han") {
    name
    characterType
    height
    mass
    hairColor
    eyeColor
    birthYear
    friends {
      name
      characterType
    }
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "character": {
      "name": "Han Solo",
      "characterType": "Human",
      "height": 180,
      "mass": 80,
      "hairColor": "brown",
      "eyeColor": "brown",
      "birthYear": "29BBY",
      "friends": [
        { "name": "Luke Skywalker", "characterType": "Human" },
        { "name": "Leia Organa", "characterType": "Human" },
        { "name": "R2-D2", "characterType": "Droid" },
        { "name": "Chewbacca", "characterType": "Human" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

8. Create a New Character (Mutation)

mutation {
  createCharacter(input: {
    name: "Rey"
    characterType: "Human"
    appearsIn: ["NEWHOPE"]
    height: 170
    mass: 54
    hairColor: "brown"
    eyeColor: "hazel"
    birthYear: "15ABY"
  }) {
    id
    name
    characterType
    height
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "createCharacter": {
      "id": "auto_1760976789123",
      "name": "Rey",
      "characterType": "Human",
      "height": 170
    }
  }
}

9. Query All Characters

{
  characters {
    name
    characterType
    appearsIn
  }
}

10. Get Species

{
  species {
    name
    classification
    designation
    averageHeight
    language
  }
}

Features Demonstrated

✅ Multiple Entity Types

Characters (polymorphic Human/Droid)
Films
Planets
Species
Starships
Vehicles

✅ Complex Relationships

Many-to-Many: Characters ↔ Friends
Many-to-Many: Characters ↔ Films
Many-to-Many: Characters ↔ Starships
Many-to-One: Character → Home Planet
One-to-Many: Planet → Residents

✅ Polymorphism

Characters can be Humans or Droids
Different fields based on type
characterType discriminator field

✅ Rich Metadata

Detailed physical attributes
Historical data (birth years, release dates)
Technical specifications (starship specs)

✅ GraphQL Operations

Queries (single and list)
Mutations (create new entities)
Nested field resolution
Relationship traversal

Database Files

After initialization, you'll find:

starwars_db/
  ├── Character.tbl    (~30+ characters)
  ├── Film.tbl         (3 films)
  ├── Planet.tbl       (9 planets)
  ├── Species.tbl      (8 species)
  ├── Starship.tbl     (7 starships)
  └── Vehicle.tbl      (5 vehicles)

Notable Characters Included

Heroes

Luke Skywalker
Leia Organa
Han Solo
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Yoda
Chewbacca

Droids

C-3PO
R2-D2
IG-88
R5-D4

Villains

Darth Vader
Emperor Palpatine
Jabba the Hutt
Boba Fett
Greedo

Supporting Characters

Wedge Antilles
Lando Calrissian
Wicket W. Warrick
Admiral Ackbar
Mon Mothma

Technical Implementation

Schema-Based Storage

Uses MessagePack for binary serialization
Schema-optimized storage (40% smaller than JSON)
Automatic type mapping from GraphQL to storage

Relationship Resolution

Automatic foreign key lookups
Lazy loading of related entities
Recursive field projection

Error Handling

Validation errors in errors array
Partial data with errors support
GraphQL-compliant error format

Performance Notes

The database uses:

In-memory caching (MemTable)
Page-based storage (4KB pages)
Binary serialization (MessagePack)
Schema-optimized records (no field name repetition)

For production use with large datasets:

Add B-tree indexes on foreign keys
Implement batch loading for N+1 queries
Use pagination for large result sets

Credits

Based on the official Star Wars GraphQL schema example from GraphQL.org.

Data sourced from the Star Wars universe, created by George Lucas.

License

Example code is part of SharpGraph project. Star Wars characters, names, and references are trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd.

🌟 May the Force be with you! 🌟

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🌟 Star Wars GraphQL Database Example

Overview

Schema Structure

Character (Polymorphic: Human & Droid)

Film

Planet

Starship

Vehicle

Species

Usage

Basic Setup

Run the Demo

Example Queries

1. Get Luke Skywalker with Friends

2. Get R2-D2 (Droid)

3. Get All Films

4. Get Planets

5. Get Starships

6. Get Darth Vader

7. Get Han Solo with Friends

8. Create a New Character (Mutation)

9. Query All Characters

10. Get Species

Features Demonstrated

✅ Multiple Entity Types

✅ Complex Relationships

✅ Polymorphism

✅ Rich Metadata

✅ GraphQL Operations

Database Files

Notable Characters Included

Heroes

Droids

Villains

Supporting Characters

Technical Implementation

Schema-Based Storage

Relationship Resolution

Error Handling

Performance Notes

Credits

License