docarray · JoanFM · Oct 18, 2022 · Oct 14, 2022 · Oct 14, 2022 · Oct 14, 2022
diff --git a/docarray/array/document.py b/docarray/array/document.py
@@ -144,10 +144,9 @@ def __enter__(self):
 
     def __exit__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """
-        Ensures that offset2ids are stored in the db after
-        operations in the DocumentArray are performed.
+        Ensures that we sync the data to the storage backend when exiting the context manager
         """
-        self._save_offset2ids()
+        self.sync()
 
     def __new__(cls, *args, storage: str = 'memory', **kwargs):
         if cls is DocumentArray:

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/annlite/backend.py b/docarray/array/storage/annlite/backend.py
@@ -88,8 +88,7 @@ def _init_storage(
         elif isinstance(config, dict):
             config = dataclass_from_dict(AnnliteConfig, config)
 
-        self._persist = bool(config.data_path)
-        if not self._persist:
+        if config.data_path is None:
             from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 
             config.data_path = TemporaryDirectory().name

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/annlite/getsetdel.py b/docarray/array/storage/annlite/getsetdel.py
@@ -43,14 +43,8 @@ def _del_docs_by_ids(self, ids):
         self._annlite.delete(ids)
 
     def __del__(self) -> None:
-        if not self._persist:
-            self._offset2ids.clear()
-            self._annlite.clear()
-
         self._annlite.close()
 
-        super().__del__()
-
     def _load_offset2ids(self):
         self._offsetmapping = OffsetMapping(
             data_path=self._config.data_path, in_memory=False

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/base/getsetdel.py b/docarray/array/storage/base/getsetdel.py
@@ -325,6 +325,6 @@ def _load_offset2ids(self):
     def _save_offset2ids(self):
         ...
 
-    def __del__(self):
+    def sync(self):
         if hasattr(self, '_offset2ids'):
             self._save_offset2ids()
diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/elastic/backend.py b/docarray/array/storage/elastic/backend.py
@@ -83,11 +83,8 @@ def _init_storage(
             config = dataclass_from_dict(ElasticConfig, config)
 
         if config.index_name is None:
-            self._persist = False
             id = uuid.uuid4().hex
             config.index_name = 'index_name__' + id
-        else:
-            self._persist = True
 
         self._index_name_offset2id = 'offset2id__' + config.index_name
         self._config = config

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/elastic/seqlike.py b/docarray/array/storage/elastic/seqlike.py
@@ -45,13 +45,6 @@ def __contains__(self, x: Union[str, 'Document']):
         else:
             return False
 
-    def __del__(self):
-        """Delete this :class:`DocumentArrayElastic` object"""
-        self._save_offset2ids()
-
-        # if not self._persist:
-        #    self._offset2ids.clear()
-
     def __repr__(self):
         """Return the string representation of :class:`DocumentArrayElastic` object
         :return: string representation of this object

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/qdrant/backend.py b/docarray/array/storage/qdrant/backend.py
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ def _init_storage(
         self._client = QdrantClient(host=config.host, port=config.port)
 
         self._config = config
-        self._persist = bool(self._config.collection_name)
 
         self._config.columns = self._normalize_columns(self._config.columns)
 
@@ -96,7 +95,6 @@ def _init_storage(
             else self._config.collection_name
         )
 
-        self._persist = self._config.collection_name
         self._initialize_qdrant_schema()
 
         super()._init_storage()

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/sqlite/backend.py b/docarray/array/storage/sqlite/backend.py
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ def _init_storage(
             if config.table_name is None
             else _sanitize_table_name(config.table_name)
         )
-        self._persist = bool(config.table_name)
         config.table_name = self._table_name
         initialize_table(
             self._table_name, self.__class__.__name__, self.schema_version, self._cursor

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/sqlite/seqlike.py b/docarray/array/storage/sqlite/seqlike.py
@@ -48,16 +48,6 @@ def _append(self, doc: 'Document', commit: bool = True, **kwargs) -> None:
         if commit:
             self._commit()
 
-    def __del__(self) -> None:
-        super().__del__()
-        if not self._persist:
-            self._sql(
-                'DELETE FROM metadata WHERE table_name=? AND container_type=?',
-                (self._table_name, self.__class__.__name__),
-            )
-            self._sql(f'DROP TABLE IF EXISTS {self._table_name}')
-            self._commit()
-
     def __contains__(self, item: Union[str, 'Document']):
         if isinstance(item, str):
             r = self._sql(f'SELECT 1 FROM {self._table_name} WHERE doc_id=?', (item,))

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/weaviate/backend.py b/docarray/array/storage/weaviate/backend.py
@@ -111,8 +111,6 @@ def _init_storage(
                 'Please capitalize when declaring the name field in config.'
             )
 
-        self._persist = bool(config.name)
-
         self._client = weaviate.Client(
             f'{config.protocol}://{config.host}:{config.port}',
             timeout_config=config.timeout_config,

diff --git a/docarray/array/storage/weaviate/seqlike.py b/docarray/array/storage/weaviate/seqlike.py
@@ -54,17 +54,6 @@ def __contains__(self, x: Union[str, 'Document']):
         else:
             return False
 
-    def __del__(self):
-        """Delete this :class:`DocumentArrayWeaviate` object"""
-        super().__del__()
-        if (
-            not self._persist
-            and len(_REGISTRY[self.__class__.__name__][self._class_name]) == 1
-        ):
-            self._client.schema.delete_class(self._class_name)
-            self._client.schema.delete_class(self._meta_name)
-        _REGISTRY[self.__class__.__name__][self._class_name].remove(self)
-
     def __repr__(self):
         """Return the string representation of :class:`DocumentArrayWeaviate` object
         :return: string representation of this object

diff --git a/docs/advanced/document-store/index.md b/docs/advanced/document-store/index.md
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ The procedures for creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting Documents are id
 
 ## Construct
 
-There are two ways for initializing a DocumentArray with an external storage backend.
+There are two ways to initialize a DocumentArray with an external storage backend.
 
 ````{tab} Specify storage
 
@@ -145,6 +145,14 @@ da = DocumentArray(
 
 Using dataclass gives you better type-checking in IDE but requires an extra import; using dict is more flexible but can be error-prone. You can choose the style that fits best to your context.
 
+```{admonition} Creating DocumentArrays without specifying index
+:class: warning
+When you specify an index (table name for SQL stores) in the config, the index will be used to persist the DocumentArray in the document store.
+If you create a DocumentArray but do not specify an index, a randomized placeholder index will be created to persist the data.
+
+Creating DocumentArrays without indexes is useful during prototyping but should not be used in a production setting as randomized placeholder data will be persisted in the document store unnecessarily.
+```
+
 
 ## Feature summary
 
@@ -349,8 +357,8 @@ array([[7., 7., 7.],
 ## Persistence, mutations and context manager
 
 Having DocumentArrays that are backed by a document store introduces an extra consideration into the way you think about DocumentArrays.
-The DocumentArray object created in your Python program is now a view of the underlying implementation in the external store.
-This means that your DocumentArray object in Python can be out of sync with what is persisted to the external store.
+The DocumentArray object created in your Python program is now a view of the underlying implementation in the document store.
+This means that your DocumentArray object in Python can be out of sync with what is persisted to the document store.
 
 **For example**
 ```python
@@ -415,8 +423,10 @@ Length of da1 is 3
 ````
 
 Now that you know the issue, let's explore what you should do to work with DocumentArrays backed by document store in a more predictable manner.
-### Using Context Manager
-The recommended way is to use the DocumentArray as a context manager like so:
+
+````{tab} Use with
+
+The data will be synced when the context manager is exited.
 
 ```python
 from docarray import DocumentArray, Document
@@ -429,6 +439,24 @@ print(f"Length of da1 is {len(da1)}")
 da2 = DocumentArray(storage='redis', config=dict(n_dim=3, index_name="my_index"))
 print(f"Length of da2 is {len(da2)}")
 ```
+````
+
+````{tab} Use sync
+
+Explicitly calling the `sync` method of the DocumentArray will save the data to the document store.
+
+```python
+from docarray import DocumentArray, Document
+
+da1 = DocumentArray(storage='redis', config=dict(n_dim=3, index_name="another_index"))
+da1.append(Document())
+da.sync()  # Call the sync method
+print(f"Length of da1 is {len(da1)}")
+
+da2 = DocumentArray(storage='redis', config=dict(n_dim=3, index_name="another_index"))
+print(f"Length of da2 is {len(da2)}")
+```
+````
 **First run output**
 ```console
 Length of da1 is 1
@@ -447,6 +475,7 @@ Length of da2 is 3
 
 The append you made to the DocumentArray is now persisted properly. Hurray!
 
+The recommended way to sync data to the document store is to use the DocumentArray inside the `with` context manager.
 
 ## Known limitations
 

diff --git a/tests/unit/array/test_advance_indexing.py b/tests/unit/array/test_advance_indexing.py
@@ -689,25 +689,32 @@ def test_edge_case_two_strings(storage, config_gen, start_storage):
 def test_offset2ids_persistence(storage, config, start_storage):
     da = DocumentArray(storage=storage, config=config)
 
-    da.extend(
-        [
-            Document(id='0'),
-            Document(id='2'),
-            Document(id='4'),
-        ]
-    )
-    da.insert(1, Document(id='1'))
-    da.insert(3, Document(id='3'))
+    with da:
+        da.extend(
+            [
+                Document(id='0'),
+                Document(id='2'),
+                Document(id='4'),
+            ]
+        )
+        da.insert(1, Document(id='1'))
+        da.insert(3, Document(id='3'))
 
     config = da._config
     da_ids = da[:, 'id']
     assert da_ids == [str(i) for i in range(5)]
-    da._persist = True
-    da.__del__()
+    da.sync()
 
-    da = DocumentArray(storage=storage, config=config)
+    da1 = DocumentArray(storage=storage, config=config)
+
+    assert da1[:, 'id'] == da_ids
+
+    with da1:
+        da1.extend([Document(id=i) for i in 'abc'])
+        assert len(da1) == 8
 
-    assert da[:, 'id'] == da_ids
+    da2 = DocumentArray(storage=storage, config=config)
+    assert da2[:, 'id'] == da1[:, 'id']
 
 
 def test_dam_conflicting_ids():

diff --git a/tests/unit/array/test_sequence.py b/tests/unit/array/test_sequence.py
@@ -104,8 +104,10 @@ def test_context_manager_from_disk(storage, config, start_storage, tmpdir, tmpfi
     assert len(da2) == 2
     assert len(da2._offset2ids.ids) == 2
 
-    del da
-    del da2
+    # Cleanup modifications made in test
+    with da:
+        del da[0]
+        del da[0]
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(