In Chapter 1, Introduction to NoSQL in Cosmos DB, we learned about the different elements of the Cosmos DB resource model. Now we will use the web-based Azure portal to provision a Cosmos DB account with the SQL API. Then, we will create a document database, generate a collection for this database, and populate the collection with many JSON documents.

In order to follow the next steps, you have the following three options:

• Work with an already active Azure account
• Sign up for a new Azure account
• Use the limited-time try Cosmos DB for free feature

If you don't have an active...

After you create a new Cosmos DB account, you will see the Quick start panel. However, the next time you sign in to the Azure portal, you won't see this panel. So, we will follow the necessary steps to access the recently created Cosmos DB account panel, considering we signed out and then signed in to the portal again:

1. Click Azure Cosmos DB in the left-hand panel. The portal will display a list with all the Cosmos DB accounts, their statuses, locations, and the subscription to which they belong. Note that if you have multiple Azure subscriptions, the list will include only the accounts for the selected subscription. Make sure you select the subscription with which you have created the account. The following screenshot shows a sample list that includes the example001 Cosmos DB account:

2. Click...

We have a Cosmos DB account that works with the SQL API but we still don't have a database. Now we will continue working with the Azure web-based portal and we will create a new document database in the previously created account. We must take into account that we can use other tools, which we will analyze later, to perform this task. It is also possible to automate the task through scripting and to create a new database by using one of the available SDKs. However, it is a good idea to learn how things work in the portal first:

1. Make sure you are on the page for the Cosmos DB account in the portal. Click on the Data Explorer option on the left-hand side menu. The portal will display the Data Explorer panel, which will allow us to work with the databases for the current Cosmos DB account. In this case, the panel won't...

Now we will create a new collection for the database.

1. Hover on the database name (Competition) and click on the ellipses at the right-hand side (...) to display a context menu, as shown in the next screenshot:

2. Click on New Collection in the context menu. The Add Collection panel will appear.
3. Enter VideoGames1 in Collection Id.
4. Select Fixed (10 GB) in Storage capacity. This way, the maximum storage size for the collection will be 10 GB. In this case, we won't configure a partition key.
5. Enter 1000 in Throughput (400 - 10,000 RU/s). This way, Azure will provision 1,000 request units per second for this collection. Note that based on the value we enter, the portal displays the estimated spend below this field.
6. Click + Add unique key and a new textbox will be added below Unique keys. Enter /name in this textbox to specify that we want the name value...

Now we will populate the recently created collection with a few documents that represent games that were part of eSports competitions with specific tags, definitions for their levels, and the high score achievements. We will continue working with the Azure web-based portal, but we will learn to use other tools to perform the same task in the following sections.

Create a new JSON file with the following contents in your favorite text editor and save it in a temporary folder as videogame1_01.json. The following lines show the code that defines the game with its tags, levels, and high score achievements. The code file for the sample is included in the learning_cosmos_db_02_01 folder in the videogames/videogame1_01.json file:

{ 
    "id": "1", 
    "name": "Battle Royale Kingdoms", 
    "lastCompetitionDate...

Scroll down to the latest lines of the document in the web-based editor and you will see new key-value pairs that were not part of the original document. The following screenshot shows the last lines in the embedded JSON editor:

The following lines show an example of the new key-value pairs. Note that many values will be different in your case:

    "_rid": "prUNAKtPjRoFAAAAAAAAAA==", 
    "_self": "dbs/prUNAA==/colls/prUNAKtPjRo=/docs/prUNAKtPjRoFAAAAAAAAAA==/", 
    "_etag": "\"22007fea-0000-0000-0000-5b86dbd60000\"", 
    "_attachments": "attachments/", 
    "_ts": 1535564758 
} 

Cosmos DB added the following keys to our document, which start with an underscore (_) as a prefix and contain system-generated values for the document...

Now we will add another document to the same collection. In this case, the new document will have new keys that didn't exist in the previously inserted document.

Create a new JSON file with the following contents in your favorite text editor and save it in a temporary folder as videogame1_02.json. The following lines show the code that defines a new game with its tags, levels, high score achievements, and prizes. The code file for the sample is included in the learning_cosmos_db_02_01 folder in the videogames/videogame1_02.json file:

{ 
    "id": "2", 
    "name": "Fortnite vs Zombies", 
    "lastCompetitionDate": "2018-09-30T03:31:20.7251173Z", 
    "tags": [ 
        "3D", "battle royale", "monsters", "shooter" 
    ], 
  ...