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    Create and update counters in Bigtable

    Learn how to create and update counters in Bigtable using aggregates , table cells that aggregate values at write time. This quickstart uses the Google Cloud CLI and the cbt CLI to create three counters:

    • A counter that keeps a running sum
    • A counter that keeps track of the minimum of all added values
    • A counter that keeps track of the maximum of all added values

    Before you begin

    1. Sign in to your Google Account.

      If you don't already have one, sign up for a new account .

    2. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

    3. If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity .

    4. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

      gcloud  
init

    5. After initializing the gcloud CLI, update it and install the required components:

      gcloud  
components  
update
gcloud  
components  
install  
cbt

    6. Create or select a Google Cloud project .

      • Create a Google Cloud project:

        gcloud projects create PROJECT_ID

        Replace PROJECT_ID with a name for the Google Cloud project you are creating.

      • Select the Google Cloud project that you created:

        gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

        Replace PROJECT_ID with your Google Cloud project name.

    7. Verify that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project .

    8. Enable the Cloud Bigtable API and Cloud Bigtable Admin API APIs:

      gcloud  
services  
 enable 
  
bigtable.googleapis.com  
 bigtableadmin.googleapis.com

    9. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

    10. If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity .

    11. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

      gcloud  
init

    12. After initializing the gcloud CLI, update it and install the required components:

      gcloud  
components  
update
gcloud  
components  
install  
cbt

    13. Create or select a Google Cloud project .

      • Create a Google Cloud project:

        gcloud projects create PROJECT_ID

        Replace PROJECT_ID with a name for the Google Cloud project you are creating.

      • Select the Google Cloud project that you created:

        gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

        Replace PROJECT_ID with your Google Cloud project name.

    14. Verify that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project .

    15. Enable the Cloud Bigtable API and Cloud Bigtable Admin API APIs:

      gcloud  
services  
 enable 
  
bigtable.googleapis.com  
 bigtableadmin.googleapis.com
    16. Run the following commands to ensure that the gcloud CLI is up to date and includes the cbt CLI : 
       gcloud components update 

       gcloud components install cbt

    Create a Bigtable instance

    1. Use the bigtable instances create command to create an instance.

       gcloud  
bigtable  
instances  
create  
counters-quickstart-instance  
 \ 
  
--display-name = 
 "Counters quickstart instance" 
  
 \ 
  
--cluster-config = 
 id 
 = 
 "counters-quickstart-cluster" 
,zone = 
 "us-east1-c"

    Connect to your instance

    1. Configure the cbt CLI to use your project and instance by creating a .cbtrc file.

        echo 
  
 project 
  
 = 
  
 PROJECT_ID 
 >> 
~/.cbtrc && 
 echo 
  
 instance 
  
 = 
  
counters-quickstart-instance >> 
~/.cbtrc

      Replace PROJECT_ID with the ID of the project that you are using.

    2. Verify that you set up the .cbtrc file correctly.

       cat  
~/.cbtrc

      The terminal displays the contents of the .cbtrc file, which looks similar to the following:

      project = PROJECT_ID 
instance = counters-quickstart-instance

      Now you can use the cbt CLI with your instance.

    Create a table with aggregate column families

    1. Use the cbt createtable command to create a table named counters_quickstart_table that has three aggregate column families. Configure each column family with a different aggregation type:

      • Column family max_family is type Max with an input type of Integer .
      • Column family min_family is type Min with an input type of Integer .
      • Column family sum_family is type Sum with an input type of Integer .
       cbt  
createtable  
counters_quickstart_table  
 families 
 = 
sum_family:never:intsum,min_family:never:intmin,max_family:never:intmax

    2. List your column families by running the cbt ls command.

       cbt  
ls  
counters_quickstart_table

      The shell displays output similar to the following:

       Family  
Name  
GC  
Policy
-----------  
---------
max_family  
<never>
min_family  
<never>
sum_family  
<never>

    Create counters in the table

    1. Use the cbt addtocell command to write an initial value of 5 to a new column in each of the three column families, using a row key of row-key1 and a timestamp of 0 . This operation creates aggregate cells, which you use as counters.

       cbt  
addtocell  
counters_quickstart_table  
row-key1  
sum_family:sum_column = 
 5 
@0
cbt  
addtocell  
counters_quickstart_table  
row-key1  
min_family:min_column = 
 5 
@0
cbt  
addtocell  
counters_quickstart_table  
row-key1  
max_family:max_column = 
 5 
@0

    Read the data

    1. To view the counter values as integers rather than bytes, define a yaml file that cbt CLI can use to format the output. Run the following:

        echo 
  
 "families:" 
 > 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "  max_family:" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "    default_encoding: BigEndian" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "    default_type: INT64" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "  min_family:" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "    default_encoding: BigEndian" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "    default_type: INT64" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "  sum_family:" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "    default_encoding: BigEndian" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml echo 
  
 "    default_type: INT64" 
 >> 
cbtformat.yaml

    2. Verify that you set up the cbtformat.yaml file correctly.

       cat  
~/cbtformat.yaml

      The terminal displays the contents of the cbtformat.yaml file, which looks similar to the following:

       families:  
max_family:  
default_encoding:  
BigEndian  
default_type:  
INT64  
min_family:  
default_encoding:  
BigEndian  
default_type:  
INT64  
sum_family:  
default_encoding:  
BigEndian  
default_type:  
INT64

    3. Use the cbt read command to pass the yaml file and read the data that you added to the table. The table now has three columns, each with a different aggregation type.

       cbt  
 read 
  
counters_quickstart_table  
format-file = 
 $HOME 
/cbtformat.yaml

      The shell displays output similar to the following. The values are formatted as integers, and the timestamps are in UTC format.

       row-key1  
max_family:max_column  
@  
 1970 
/01/01-00:00:00.000000  
 5 
  
min_family:min_column  
@  
 1970 
/01/01-00:00:00.000000  
 5 
  
sum_family:sum_column  
@  
 1970 
/01/01-00:00:00.000000  
 5

    Update the counters

    1. Add a value of 3 to each column in the table, using the same timestampsthat you used when you created the cells. In each column, the cell value is merged with the existing value based on the cell's aggregation type.

       cbt  
addtocell  
counters_quickstart_table  
row-key1  
sum_family:sum_column = 
 3 
@0
cbt  
addtocell  
counters_quickstart_table  
row-key1  
min_family:min_column = 
 3 
@0
cbt  
addtocell  
counters_quickstart_table  
row-key1  
max_family:max_column = 
 3 
@0

    2. Use the cbt read command again to read the data in the table. Each cell now contains an aggregated value.

       cbt  
 read 
  
counters_quickstart_table  
format-file = 
 $HOME 
/cbtformat.yaml

      The sum_column contains the sum of 5 and 3 (8), min_column contains the minimum of the two values that were written to it (3), and max_column contains the maximum of the two values that were written to it (5).

       row-key1  
max_family:max_column  
@  
 1970 
/01/01-00:00:00.000000  
 5 
  
min_family:min_column  
@  
 1970 
/01/01-00:00:00.000000  
 3 
  
sum_family:sum_column  
@  
 1970 
/01/01-00:00:00.000000  
 8

    3. Optional: Query the table in the Google Cloud console with SQL.

      1. In the Google Cloud console, open the Bigtable instancespage.

        Go to instances list

      2. Select counters-quickstart-instance from the list.

      3. In the navigation menu, click Bigtable Studio.

      4. Click the Editortab.

      5. Paste this query into the editor:

          SELECT 
  
 * 
  
 FROM 
  
 `counters_quickstart_table`

      6. Click Run. The results of the query are displayed in the Resultstable and look similar to the following:

      _key max_family min_family sum_family
      row-key1
      		 { "max_column": 5 } { "min_column": 5 } { "sum_column": 8 }

    Clean up

    To avoid incurring charges to your Google Cloud account for the resources used on this page, delete the Google Cloud project with the resources.

    1. In the terminal, delete the table counters_quickstart_table :

       cbt  
deletetable  
counters_quickstart_table

    2. Delete the instance:

       cbt  
deleteinstance  
counters-quickstart-instance

    3. Delete the .cbtrc file:

       rm  
~/.cbtrc

    4. Delete the formatting file:

       rm  
~/cbtformat.yaml

    5. Optional: Revoke credentials from the gcloud CLI:

       gcloud  
auth  
revoke

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