SUBSCRIBE is a powerful Materialize idiom, allowing clients to opt-in to
receive updates to their data as it is computed. These updates arrive as a
series of diffs that retract and append new values to your local view of the
data. While great for machines, this may not be useful for those wishing to
explore their data. To address that, the Shell reduces the diffs into a table
that updates-in-place as the underlying data changes. For those interested in
seeing the firehose of diffs, they can be revealed by toggling the “Show diffs”
switch above the results table (if you’re interested in learning more, check
out our post on building the SQL Shell).
Previously, as additional pages of diffs were added to this raw view, you would need to manually advance the pages to see the most recent diffs pushed to your browser. This was pretty tedious.
Until now.
We have updated the default behavior of raw SUBSCRIBE output to “follow” the
most recent diff page. If you wish to freeze (“unfollow”) this automatic
advancement, simply change the page or hit the pause button to explore at your
leisure. When you’re ready to resume, just hit the play button.
This is live in the Console. Check it out and let us know what you think!