Tinkerpop3 custom edge id generator

Question

I use TinkerGraph for integration tests (extended unit tests) in Java. In this implementation Edge ids are generated as a sequence of Integers. I want to change that so they are generated as random UUIDs. The reason for this is to get my test setup behave closer to my production graph database. Can I do this in Tinkerpop3 and if so how?

I have found that in Tinkerpop/blueprints (https://github.com/tinkerpop/blueprints/wiki/id-implementation) there existed an IdGraph.IdFactory which seemingly would provide what I need. However as I understand it that is not available for Tinkerpop3.

Answer 1

This looks to be possible but will require some work. Vertex and Edge Ids in TinkerGraph are determined using IDManagers which is done here.

You can see that this is decided via a config value which ends up using reflection to construct the IDManager.

So you would have to do the following:

1. Create your own IDManager by implementing the interface you can use the default manager as a guideline. For example:

   public enum DefaultIdManager implements IdManager {
       ...
       ANY {
           @Override
           public Long getNextId(final TinkerGraph graph) {
               return unique random number
           }
       }
       ...
   }
   

2. You would then have to create a config with your new manager specified and create the tinkergraph using that manager:

   BaseConfiguration config = new BaseConfiguration();
   config.addProperty(TinkerGraph.GREMLIN_TINKERGRAPH_EDGE_ID_MANAGER, "your.package.structure.YourIdManager.ANY");
   TinkerGraph.open(config);
   

I would love to know if there is an easier way but I think this will work.

Side Note:

It might be easier to check if your production graph DB provides an in-memory layer. I know a few graph dbs do and using that rather than TinkerGraph will likely be better. TinkerGraph is really only meant for plating around I believe.