Can't add object to MongoDB array inside a document

Question

I'm building an API for my chat application and I wrote the endpoint below to save new messages in MongoDB.

The messages themselves are an array.

Testing this endpoint with Postman returns the newly created message in the response but the message is not added to my array of messages.

router.post('/:id/messages', async (request, response) => {
  const chatMessage = new Message({
    type: request.body.type,
    body: request.body.body,
    author: request.body.author
  });
  try {
    const newMessage = await chatMessage.save({ $push: { chatMessage } });
    response.status(201).json(newMessage);
  } catch (error) {
    response.status(400).json({ message: error.message });
  }
});

Here's my Mongoose schema for messages:

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const messageSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
  type: {
    type: String
  },
  body: {
    type: String
  },
  author: {
    type: String
  },
  date: {
    type: Date,
    default: Date.now
  }
});

module.exports = mongoose.model('Message', messageSchema);

Any hints on what I've done wrong? Thank you so much! :-)

EDIT_ Mongo DB Sample

What does :id doing over there, Also are you inserting into Message collection or any other collection ? Plus where is the array in your schema ? Can you please give us sample of your docs from whatever collection you wanted to insert for better understanding.. — whoami - fakeFaceTrueSoul
– whoami - fakeFaceTrueSoul, Commented Dec 21, 2019 at 20:43
THanks for your question. I found out that my message is in fact posted to my DB. But this function opens a new collection - which i dont want. Every document in my DB has a messages document inside. this is where my message should go. So i thought defining the url to the messages would be specific enough. any more hints? — Sascha Rissling
– Sascha Rissling, Commented Dec 22, 2019 at 6:43
Can you please provide your sample documents, So Do you mean message :[] lies inside a document of some other collection ? (And message is an array of objects) ?? Every document in my DB has a messages document inside --> what do you mean by this ? DB will have collections & collections will have documents !! So in which collection do you want an array of objects called message as you don't want message collection then messages should got into a document of a collection !! — whoami - fakeFaceTrueSoul
– whoami - fakeFaceTrueSoul, Commented Dec 22, 2019 at 6:45
please see the picture at the end of my post. provided how my db looks — Sascha Rissling
– Sascha Rissling, Commented Dec 22, 2019 at 7:23

whoami - fakeFaceTrueSoul · Accepted Answer · 2019-12-22 08:00:07Z

Please make these changes :

chat schema file :

/** messages schema w.r.t. messages field in chat document */
const messageSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
    type: {
        type: String
    },
    body: {
        type: String
    },
    author: {
        type: String
    },
    date: {
        type: Date,
        default: Date.now
    }
});

/** Actual chat schema */
const chatsSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
    id: Number,
    user1: String,
    user2: String,
    messages: [messageSchema]
});

function getChatsModel() {
    if (mongoose.models && mongoose.models.chats) {
        return mongoose.models.chats;
    }
    return mongoose.model('chats', chatsSchema, 'chats');
}

module.exports = getChatsModel();

Code :

/** Import chats model file here & also do require mongoose */
router.post('/:id/messages', async (request, response) => {
    const chatMessage = {
        messages: {
            type: request.body.type,
            body: request.body.body,
            author: request.body.author
        }
    };
    try {
        const id = mongoose.Types.ObjectId(request.params.id);
        const dbResp = await Chats.findOneAndUpdate({ "_id": id }, { $push: chatMessage }, { new: true }).lean(true);
        if (dbResp) {
            // dbResp will be entire updated document, we're just returning newly added message which is input.
            response.status(201).json(chatMessage);
        } else {
            response.status(400).json({ message: 'Not able to update messages' });
        }
    } catch (error) {
        response.status(500).json({ message: error.message });
    }
});

Amazing! Thank you so much for taking the time for my problem. Please have a great, great day :-)

DevKyle · Accepted Answer · 2019-12-21 19:36:21Z

0

According to mongodb documentation .save() is deprecated: https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/reference/method/db.collection.save/

You should try .update() command instead as shown in the $push example documentation: https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/reference/operator/update/push/

answered Dec 21, 2019 at 19:36

DevKyle

1,0916 silver badges22 bronze badges

Comments

Oliver Karstoft · Accepted Answer · 2019-12-21 20:10:17Z

0

There's something with your schema and action that doesn't match.

You're using $push which is used to append data to an array. Your schema doesn't contain any array.

If your collection contains the messages as documents then you should use .insertOne instead.

router.post('/:id/messages', async (request, response) => {
  const chatMessage = {
    type: request.body.type,
    body: request.body.body,
    author: request.body.author
  }
  try {
    const newMessage = await chatMessage.insertOne(chatMessage);
    response.status(201).json(newMessage);
  } catch (error) {
    response.status(400).json({ message: error.message });
  }
})

newMessage would then contain the created document. Be aware that this code is untested.

answered Dec 21, 2019 at 20:10

Oliver Karstoft

3911 bronze badges

1 Comment

Sascha Rissling Over a year ago

Hey oliver. thanks for your help, but i get a chatMessage.insertOne is not a function

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