Database Storage

Polecat stores each document type in its own dedicated SQL Server table.

Table Naming

Document tables follow the pattern pc_doc_{typename} where {typename} is the lowercase, simple name of the .NET type. For example:

• User → pc_doc_user
• Order → pc_doc_order
• InvoiceLineItem → pc_doc_invoicelineitem

Table Structure

A typical document table includes:

CREATE TABLE dbo.pc_doc_user (
    id uniqueidentifier NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
    data json NOT NULL,
    type nvarchar(250) NULL,
    last_modified datetimeoffset NOT NULL DEFAULT SYSDATETIMEOFFSET(),
    created datetimeoffset NOT NULL DEFAULT SYSDATETIMEOFFSET(),
    dotnet_type nvarchar(500) NULL
);

Additional Columns

Depending on configuration, additional columns may be present:

Column	Type	When Added
tenant_id	nvarchar(250)	Conjoined tenancy
is_deleted	bit	Soft deletes enabled
deleted_at	datetimeoffset	Soft deletes enabled
guid_version	uniqueidentifier	IVersioned interface
version	int	IRevisioned interface
correlation_id	nvarchar(250)	Metadata tracking
causation_id	nvarchar(250)	Metadata tracking

JSON Storage

Document bodies are stored using SQL Server 2025's native json data type. This provides:

• Server-side JSON validation
• Efficient JSON_VALUE() extraction for WHERE clauses
• JSON_MODIFY() for partial updates
• Compact storage format

Auto-Create Behavior

By default (AutoCreate.CreateOrUpdate), Polecat will:

1. Create the table if it doesn't exist on first use
2. Add new columns if the configuration changes (e.g., enabling soft deletes)
3. Never drop existing columns

See Schema Migrations for more details.