How to use/package a Realm file in React Native ?

I’ve got a realm file “cleverbean.realm” that I want to reference in React Native. My first thought was I could just place the file (“cleverbean.realm”) into its own directory in the React Native project, and then reference that when instantiating the realm.

I copied a realm file into a path off root. ie

./data/cleverbean.realm

I then tried the following to instantiate :

realm = new Realm({
   path: './data/cleverbean.realm',
   schema: [CleverbeanSchema]
});

That didnt work and threw this error thinking I was trying to resolve via a non project path.

How should I go about ensuring that a realm will be pre-installed on iOS and Android, in the context of a React Native app ? Also what is the correct way to reference those local Realms, when instantiating in the app (per the example code snippet above) ?

[twinzen]

Thanks ajonno for your detail explanation. Not sure if we are on the same topic… But actually, I was finding a way to put my pre-populated DB data file into my app, and finally I found a solution!

I post my solution, as I believe people may find this thread when they want to do the same thing - include populated DB data file into app.

However, as I only need a solution for iOS, my solution would cover iOS only. For Android, I think it can be done in similar way.

1. Put your realm DB file into your XCode project.

2. Be reminded to add it under Copy Bundle Resource otherwise the file will not be copied to you app when build. You can find it under Build Phases

3. Define realm DB file path when you declare realm object (This is the most tricky thing… I spent a night to find out solution, because I am newbie of iOS and react-native) The key point is that You need to give the full path of the realm DB file that you put in XCode project. To get the full path, I use react-native-fs to achieve this. With RNFS.MainBundlePath, you can have your app’s base path, and your realm DB file should be there. Another tricky thing is that, you must declare your realm as readOnly: true (Maybe it is not a must if you include some more files to your XCode project, but I didn’t try it)

Hope above solution can help people that encountered same problem.

[varun-raj]

@vladbars Will this copy the realm file every time we open the app?