Use connections instead of array

[Nutelac]

First question: Is it good idea to use connections instead of array even when I don't need pagination (I need fetch all data all the time)? I want to do this thing because mutations performed with connections are easier than with arrays (e.g. creating or deleting).

Second question: How can I get all data from connections using Relay? When I do something like this in Relay fragment

fragment on User {
  roles {
    edges {
      node {
        ${Role.getFragment('role')}
      }
    }
  }
}

I'm getting error Error: Invariant Violation: readRelayQueryData(): The field 'roles' is a connection. Fields 'edges' and 'pageInfo' cannot be fetched without a 'first', 'last' or 'find' argument.. I know that I need pass some arguments to roles, but it's there any chance to get all data somehow?

[josephsavona]

1. How long is a typical array for this field?

2. Relay doesn't provide a method to get all items in a connection; it's assumed that there will be a lot. You can use roles(first: $someLargeNumber) as a workaround to get all items.

[Nutelac]

1. ~50 records.
2. Thank you.

[wincent]

Hopefully you have enough information to answer your questions now, @Nutelac, so I'm going to close this. Feel free to comment again if you still have doubts.

I've published the content here over at Stack Overflow as it may prove useful to others in the future.

[jvliwanag]

For getting all edges on a connection, the workaround is to choose a big number for first. Is this limitation something that can be fixed? Or is it here to stay?

[josephsavona]

@jvliwanag This is an intentional restriction to prevent applications from fetching an entire connection with potentially thousands (or more) items. If you always plan to fetch all items a simple array may be more appropriate.