Updating a model instance

Question

Updating a model instance

I want to understand what the correct way to update a model instance is, using mongoose, ie:

Having:

User = {
   username: {
      type: String,
      indexed: true
   },
   email: {
      type: String,
      indexed: true
   },
   name: String,
   .........
};

I'm sending the whole form through ajax to a controller.
So far, i know of two options:

app.put('/users/', function(req, res){
   var id = ObjectId(req.body._id);
   User.findOne({_id: id}, function(err, user){
       user.name = req.body.name;
       ....
       ....
       user.save();
   });
});

or:

app.put('/users/', function(req, res){
    var id = ObjectId(req.body._id);
    delete req.body._id
    User.update({_id: id}, req.body, function(err){
         .....
    };
});

Both ways have disadvantages:
In the first approach i have to map all properties one by one;
In the second approach i have to delete all properties that can't be changed;
there is a third possible approach that would make me send from client-side, only the changed properties, but i think that would be a big hassle to.

Is there a good, standardized way that i'm not seeing, to do this?

Thanks

node.js
mongodb
mongoose

Answer 1

This is the approach I typically use, it involves a small npm package called mongoose-mass-assignement:

https://github.com/bhelx/mongoose-mass-assignment

The docs are pretty self explanatory, easy to use. It basically does the delete for you. So you add protected:true to your model, and then it deletes those properties for you. I like this approach because it still allows me to use the req.body as is. You can use this for updates and inserts as well.

Answer 2

A variant of the first approach is to use underscore's extend method to apply all properties of the body to your model instance:

app.put('/users/', function(req, res){
   var id = ObjectId(req.body._id);
   User.findOne({_id: id}, function(err, user){
       _.extend(user, req.body);
       user.save();
   });
});

However, be sure to delete any properties you don't want the user to be able to set from req.body first.