What is Sqids?
Sqids (pronounced "squids") is an open-source library that lets you generate short unique identifiers from numbers. These IDs are URL-safe, can encode several numbers, and do not contain common profanity words. Read more .
This is what they look like:
https://example.com/Lqj8a0
Quick encode & decode example:
DEFINE VARIABLE sqids AS Sqids NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE numbers AS INTEGER EXTENT 3 NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE id AS CHARACTER NO-UNDO.
sqids = NEW Sqids().
ASSIGN
numbers[1] = 1
numbers[2] = 2
numbers[3] = 3.
id = sqids:Encode(numbers). // '86Rf07'.
numbers = sqids:Decode(id). // [1, 2, 3]If IDs are too short, you can pad them to a certain length:
DEFINE VARIABLE sqids AS Sqids NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE numbers AS INTEGER EXTENT 3 NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE id AS CHARACTER NO-UNDO.
sqids = NEW Sqids('', 10).
ASSIGN
numbers[1] = 1
numbers[2] = 2
numbers[3] = 3.
id = sqids:Encode(numbers). // '86Rf07xd4z'.
numbers = sqids:Decode(id). // [1, 2, 3]Create unique IDs by shuffling the alphabet:
DEFINE VARIABLE sqids AS Sqids NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE numbers AS INTEGER EXTENT 3 NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE id AS CHARACTER NO-UNDO.
sqids = NEW Sqids('k3G7QAe51FCsPW92uEOyq4Bg6Sp8YzVTmnU0liwDdHXLajZrfxNhobJIRcMvKt').
ASSIGN
numbers[1] = 1
numbers[2] = 2
numbers[3] = 3.
id = sqids:Encode(numbers). // 'XRKUdQ'.
numbers = sqids:Decode(id). // [1, 2, 3]Full documentation is at https://github.com/sqids/sqids-openedge-abl
Use Cases
The main use of Sqids is purely visual. If you'd like to use IDs instead of numbers in your project, Sqids could be a good choice.
Good For
- Encoding primary keys If you're using a relational database
- Saving database lookups By encoding multiple objects
- Temporary login tokens Profanity-free and URL-safe
Not Good For
- Sensitive data This is not an encryption library
- User IDs Can reveal user count if anyone finds out the encoding alphabet
Features
- 🆔 Generate short IDs from non-negative numbers
- ✅ Easy encoding & decoding
- 🫣 Auto-generated IDs do not contain common profanity
- 🎲 Support for custom IDs through shuffled alphabet
- 🥳 46 integrations (85% using new design)
- 📌 Every version produces the same IDs
- 🍻 Small library with a permissive license