Mongoose, proper way to update documents with deep nested schemas - mongodb

Question

I would like to know what would be the most efficient way to update a document that also has a nested schema in it. Normally I would just use Model.findByIdAndUpdate(id, updatedValues) ..., however if I try to do that with a document that has a deep nested schema I get this error: CastError: Cast to Embedded failed for value "{ _id: 5b1936aab50e727c83687797, en_US: 'Meat', lt_LT: 'Mesa' }" at path "title".
My Schemas look something like:
const titleSchema = new Schema({
en_US: {
type: String,
required: true
},
lt_LT: {
type: String,
default: null
}
})
const categorySchema = new Schema({
title: titleSchema
});
const ingredientSchema = new Schema({
title: {
type: titleSchema,
required: true
},
category: categorySchema,
calories: {
type: Number,
min: 0,
default: 0
},
vitamins: [String]
})
And I try to update like so:
{
title: {
en_US: 'Pork',
lt_LT: 'Kiauliena'
},
category: {
_id: '5b193a230af63a7e80b6acd8',
title: {
_id: '5b193a230af63a7e80b6acd7'
en_US: 'Meat',
lt_LT: 'Mesa'
}
}
}
Note, I get the new category object from a separate collection using just the category _id, but the final update object that goes into the findByIdAndUpdate() function looks like the one above.
The only workout I found is to remove the category from the updated values, update the document via findByIdAndUpdate(), get the updated document, assign the new category to it and save it.
It works just fine and all, but that requires two calls to the database, is it possible to do it in just one?

Answer 1

Try updating your schema like this:
const titleSchema = new Schema({
en_US: {
type: String,
required: true
},
lt_LT: {
type: String,
default: null
}
});
const ingredientSchema = new Schema({
title: {
type: titleSchema,
required: true
},
category: {
title: titleSchema
},
calories: {
type: Number,
min: 0,
default: 0
},
vitamins: [String]
});