SET

Overview

The SET statement allows you to update or remove properties on nodes and edges. These nodes or edges must first be retrieved using the MATCH statement.

Note: The schema (label) of a node or edge cannot be modified. Similarly, the values of system properties (_id, _uuid, _from, _to, _from_uuid, and _to_uuid) are immutable.

Example Graph

CREATE GRAPH myGraph ANY

INSERT (rowlock:User {_id: "U01", name: "rowlock"}),
       (brainy:User {_id: "U02", name: "Brainy", gender: "male"}),
       (purplechalk:User {_id: "U03", name: "purplechalk", gender: "female"}),
       (mochaeach:User {_id: "U04", name: "mochaeach", gender: "female"}),
       (c:Club {_id: "C01"}),
       (rowlock)-[:Follows {createdOn: date("2024-01-05")}]->(brainy),
       (purplechalk)-[:Follows {createdOn: date("2024-02-01")}]->(brainy),
       (mochaeach)-[:Follows {createdOn: date("2024-02-10")}]->(brainy),
       (brainy)-[:Joins {memberNo: 1}]->(c)

Updating Properties

To update gender of the retrieved node n and createdOn of the retrieved edge e:

MATCH (n:User {name: 'rowlock'})-[e:Follows]->(:User {name: 'Brainy'})
SET n.gender = 'male', e.createdOn = '2024-01-07'
RETURN n.gender, e.createdOn

Result:

Removing Properties

To remove the value of gender of the retrieved node n:

MATCH (n:User {name: 'mochaeach'})
SET n.gender = null
RETURN n

Result: n

Overwriting All Properties

To overwrite all properties of the retrieved node n, updating the value of name and removing values of other properties:

MATCH (n:User {name: 'purplechalk'})
SET n = {name: 'MasterSwift'}
RETURN n

Result: n

Removing All Properties

To remove all properties of the retrieved node n:

MATCH (n:User {name: 'rowlock'})
SET n = {}
RETURN n

Result: n

Updating Properties with CASE

To set values for the new weight property on Follows edges based on their createdOn values:

ALTER EDGE Follows ADD PROPERTY {weight UINT32}; 
MATCH ()-[e:Follows]->()
SET e.weight = CASE
  WHEN e.createdOn < '2024-01-31' THEN 10
  ELSE 8
END
RETURN e

Result: e

Mismatched Value Type

If the provided value does not match the property's expected value type and cannot be converted, the property will be assigned its default value based on the property value type.

To update memberNo (UINT64 type) of the retrieved edge with a string:

MATCH ()-[e:Joins]->()
SET e.memberNo = 'm2'
RETURN e

Result: e