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Learn how to effectively add to a string property in Neo4J Cypher without rewriting it completely!
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/64524380/ asked by the user 'Aerodynamika' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/712347/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/64526388/ provided by the user 'Graphileon' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/1734996/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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How to Easily Modify String Properties in Neo4J Cypher

Working with string values in Neo4J Cypher can initially seem daunting, especially when you want to append or modify parts of existing strings in node properties. Have you ever faced a scenario where you wanted to change the last letter of a string within a node's property, without rewriting the entire value? In this guide, we’ll tackle that problem head-on and show you how to achieve it in a concise and efficient manner!

The Problem

Let’s say you have a node labeled Context with a property name, and the current value is lisaksa. You wish to replace the last letter of the string, say change a to o, and then add _new at the end. Instead of overwriting the entire string with a manual rewrite, you want a more dynamic approach.

Current Cypher Query Example

Currently, you might be using a query like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This method rewrites the entire string, which is not desirable when only a small change is needed.

The Solution

To solve this problem more efficiently, we can utilize Cypher’s string manipulation functions. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to modify the string while keeping the overall structure intact.

Modify the Last Character and Append New String

Instead of rewriting the whole name property, we can keep everything we want to maintain and adjust just the last character. Here’s the refined solution:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Breakdown of the Solution

MATCH Clause: This part of the query fetches the specific node we want to work with, which has the property name set to lisaksa.

left(c.name, size(c.name) - 1):

size(c.name) - 1 calculates the length of the string minus one, helping us identify everything except the last character.

left(c.name, ...) returns all but the last character of the string.

Appending the new character and string:

After using left, we append the new character 'o' followed by '_new' to the substring obtained earlier, creating a new string: lisaks.

Final Result: The property c.name will now hold the updated value of lisakso_new, effectively accomplishing our goal without losing the preceding characters or having to rewrite the entire original value.

Conclusion

This method is practical and minimizes the risk of errors by keeping the core integrity of your string intact while allowing for specific modifications. Next time you need to tweak string values in Neo4J, remember this handy technique to optimize your Cypher queries.

By choosing to modify parts of your string rather than rewriting them in full, you can create more dynamic and efficient database operations.

Feel free to explore more about Neo4J and its capabilities; there’s a lot you can accomplish with just a bit of creativity in your queries!