Web/API/IDBFactory/open

The open() method of the IDBFactory interface requests opening a connection to a database.

The method returns an IDBOpenDBRequest object immediately, and performs the open operation asynchronously. If the operation is successful, a success event is fired on the request object that is returned from this method, with its result attribute set to the new IDBDatabase object for the connection.

If an error occurs while the database connection is being opened, then an error event is fired on the request object returned from this method.

May trigger upgradeneeded, blocked or versionchange events.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

Syntax

For the current standard:

var IDBOpenDBRequest = indexedDB.open(name);
var IDBOpenDBRequest = indexedDB.open(name, version);

Parameters

name: The name of the database.
version Optional: Optional. The version to open the database with. If the version is not provided and the database exists, then a connection to the database will be opened without changing its version. If the version is not provided and the database does not exist, then it will be created with version 1.

Experimental Gecko options object

options (version and storage) Optional ': In Gecko, since version 26, you can include a non-standard options object as a parameter of IDBFactory.open that contains the version number of the database, plus a storage value that specifies whether you want to use persistent or temporary storage.

Warning: The storage attribute is deprecated and will soon be removed from Gecko. You should use StorageManager.persist() to get persistent storage instead.

Note: You can find out more information on the different available storage types, and how Firefox handles client-side data storage, at Browser storage limits and eviction criteria.

Return value

A IDBOpenDBRequest object on which subsequent events related to this request are fired.

Exceptions

This method may raise a DOMException of the following types:

Exception	Description
`TypeError`	The value of version is zero or a negative number or not a number.

Example

Example of calling open with the current specification's version parameter:

var request = window.indexedDB.open("toDoList", 4);

In the following code snippet, we make a request to open a database, and include handlers for the success and error cases. For a full working example, see our To-do Notifications app ([[../../../../../../../mdn.github.io/to-do-notifications/index|view example live]].)

var note = document.querySelector("ul");

// In the following line, you should include the prefixes
// of implementations you want to test.
window.indexedDB = window.indexedDB || window.mozIndexedDB || window.webkitIndexedDB || window.msIndexedDB;
// DON'T use "var indexedDB = ..." if you're not in a function.
// Moreover, you may need references to some window.IDB* objects:
window.IDBTransaction = window.IDBTransaction || window.webkitIDBTransaction || window.msIDBTransaction;
window.IDBKeyRange = window.IDBKeyRange || window.webkitIDBKeyRange || window.msIDBKeyRange;
// (Mozilla has never prefixed these objects, so we don't
//  need window.mozIDB*)

// Let us open version 4 of our database
var DBOpenRequest = window.indexedDB.open("toDoList", 4);

// these two event handlers act on the database being opened
// successfully, or not
DBOpenRequest.onerror = function(event) {
  note.innerHTML += '<li>Error loading database.</li>';
};
 
DBOpenRequest.onsuccess = function(event) {
  note.innerHTML += '<li>Database initialised.</li>';
    
  // store the result of opening the database in the db
  // variable. This is used a lot later on, for opening
  // transactions and suchlike.
  db = DBOpenRequest.result;
};

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Indexed Database API 2.0The definition of 'open()' in that specification.	Recommendation
Indexed Database API DraftThe definition of 'open()' in that specification.	Recommendation

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`open`	Chrome Full support 24 Full support 24 No support 23 — 24 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 16 Full support 16 No support 10 — 16 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: moz	IE Partial support 10	Opera Full support 15	Safari Full support 7	WebView Android Full support Yes Full support Yes No support ? — ? Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit	Chrome Android Full support 25	Firefox Android Full support 22	Opera Android Full support 14	Safari iOS Full support 8	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5

Legend

Full support: Full support
Partial support: Partial support
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.': Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.