The Data Store API was created to allow multiple Firefox OS apps, with potentially different data structures and storage mechanisms, to create, maintain and share the same data objects efficiently between one another. Each app can then import the data into its own local IndexedDB to index according to their specific query needs. This is not necessary however, and you can just write directly to the Data Store API data store.
To explain the main functionality of Data Store, we have build two examples that work together (you can download these from Github using the code below, and experiment with them as you wish):
The DataStore interface of the Data Store API represents a retrieved set of data, and includes standard properties for accessing the store's name, owner, etc., methods for reading, modifying and syncing data, and the onchange event handler for reacting to changes to the data.
The DataStoreChangeEvent interface of the Data Store API represents the event related to a record changed in the data store, i.e. this is returned once a change is made and the change event is fired (see DataStore.onchange for the handler).
The id read-only property of the DataStoreChangeEvent interface returns the identifier of the changed record in the data store. This must return null if the operation is cleared.
The operation read-only property of the DataStoreChangeEvent interface returns the type of operation that represents the current change that has been made to the data store.
The revisionId read-only property of the DataStoreChangeEvent interface returns the ID of the current revision of the data store, i.e. the current change that has been made to a data record.
The DataStoreCursor interface of the Data Store API represents a cursor that allows apps to iterate through a list of DataStoreTask objects representing the change history of the data store, for use when synchronizing the data.
The next() method of the DataStoreCursor interface makes a request to retrieve information about the next operation that changes a record in the data store. Returns a promise of type DataStoreTask.
The DataStoreTask interface of the Data Store API represents a record changed in the data store when a DataStoreCursor is used to iterate through the data store's change history.
The data read-only property of the DataStoreChangeEvent interface returns the data stored in the changed record in the data store. Must return null if the operation is clear or done.
The id read-only property of the DataStoreTask interface returns the identifier of the changed record in the data store. This must return null if the operation is cleared or done.
The operation read-only property of the DataStoreTask interface returns the type of operation that represents the current change that has been made to the data store.
The revisionId read-only property of the DataStoreTask interface returns the id of the current revision of the data store, i.e. the current change that has been made to a data record.
The add() method of the DataStore interface adds a new record to the data store; if the record you are attempting to add already exists, it will throw an exception.