Neo4j database concept

Neo4j Graph Platform
1

Hello all,
after some review of official Neo4j documentation still I've not found any explanation about some basic Neo4j concept... in other hands was very easy to find some other useful concept regarding Cypher and related commands.
The basic concepts of db, project, etc.. seem different from other DBs:

  1. I can crate db on Neo4J Desktop, but then whatever DB i create, the DB is always visible as No4j DB in the browser, (seems like Neo4j is the default alias name of the current DB running) so the name of my DB is basically not used?
    What is the db name to use for connection string, always Neo4j?

  2. I can run only 1 DB, I cannot use 2 or more DBs at the same time, this could be related to license but as far as I've understood Desktop edition doesn't have this limitation.

  3. What is the concept of Project?
    I see I can create in Neo4J Desktop some projects, but is not explained was is the purpose, I've seen I can associate DB to project so looks like a kind of folder concept, is not clear if there are other concept related to project or if it has any impact on connection string for example.
    Also the name of the project is not modifiable, this is probably a bug of Neo4j Desktop UI.

Sorry for these probably very silly questions, but I was not able to find explanations about this basic concept online.

Thanks

2

For your point #1 -- you can create a database from the system database. You stay where you are though. To use the database you created, you need to switch contexts to address it directly. In browser this would be :use mynewdb. You would notice that the prompt then changes, and you could query it directly.

For point #2 - Neo4j Community 4.0 doesn't allow multiple databases, but enterprise edition does. Indeed when you create databases in Neo4j Desktop, you're running enterprise edition.

For point #3 - projects are just groupings of databases, along with other resources.

3

Hi David,
thank you for the fast answer, so if I've understood correctly the default database (noe4j) work as an alias for the database running under one of the project visible in Neo4j Desktop UI, is it right?

To replace this default I need to create a new database under system, and use it by :use command, so far is clear.
What is the command to create a database under system?

4
5

It may help to think of Neo4j Desktop as a place where you create Neo4j instances, so each one is its own dbms. Nothing there has anything to do with multi-database features, nor is there visibility in Desktop (at this time) into multiple databases that may be running on a Neo4j instance.

Once you connect to a Neo4j instance, then using the Neo4j Browser you can change between the databases running on that dbms (by default it starts with the neo4j db and the system db), and you can use the system db in order to create more dbs, which will all be running simultaneously within that dbms.

6

Clear, thanks to everybody for the support.