Develop Reference

stringify in query-string module not working as expected in Jest tests

I'm writing a unit test in Jest.
In the unit under test I am importing
import queryString from 'query-string'
and it is executing the code:
queryString.stringify(ids)
where ids is an array in the following format:
[{ id: '123' },{ id: '321' }]
This code works perfectly when running in my deployed webpage, but in a JEST test it gives the following output:
id=%5Bobject%20Object%5D&id=%5Bobject%20Object%5D
whereas the same code in a browser gives:
id=123&id=321
As per the requisites of the query-string module, I am using a verison of node > 6.
I have also added:
/* jest commonjs */
to the top of my test file as query-string targets node.
Additionally I have tried setting various options in stringify but to no avail.
Can anyone tell me why I'm getting different results in these different environments and how I can get my test to work? i.e. not render the string as "%5Bobject%20".
Sure, I could implement my own stringify method, but this library is built to do this!

Can you please define what the expected behavior would be?
According to the documentation, stringify() converts an object into a query. Since you are passing ids, an array of elements, there are different possible behaviors you may get.
Please note that, in javascript, an array is an object with numbers as keys, so [ { id: '123' }, { id: '456' } ] actually looks like { '0': { 'id': '123' }, '1': { 'id': '456' } } (take a look at Object.keys of the array, you'll see it's ['0','1']).
So, that being said, what queryString is doing is converting each pair key-value into key=value, where both key and values have been "stringified" (I'm assuming through the String constructor). Since the value is an object, it returns that things you're seeing (indeed, String({}) is [object Object]. What I would expect (and I'm indeed getting) from the stringification of an array of objects is therefore something like 0=[object Object]&1=[object Object] (with the square brackets converted to %5B and %5D and spaces to %20).
I don't really know where that questionId is coming from, so a little more context should be provided (e.g. showing the actual object being stringified could be useful) but, to get to the point, in order to avoid having your object be converted to [object Object] you should use a key extractor, that returns the value you actually want to be shown as value.
So, for example, if your array is as described above and the result you'd like to get is 0=123&1=456, you would do something like:
const ids = [ {id: '123'}, {id: '456'} ];
queryString.stringify(ids.map(v => v.id))
Instead, if the expected behavior is id=123&id=456, you need to convert the array to the object { id: ['123','456'] }. You can do that with the following
const ids = [ {id: '123'}, {id: '456'} ];
queryString.stringify({ id: ids.reduce( (c,v) => c.concat(v.id), []) })
So, you need to transform your original ids array into an object that is suitable for stringify.

You can use this npm package https://www.npmjs.com/package/qs
It has a working qs.stringify

Joi 'when/is' syntax - how to check for type?

I'm using the Joi library to validate an object. I want to make a certain property required when another optional property (at the same level of the same object) is of a certain type, e.g. string. The Joi docs show this example:
const schema = {
a: Joi.when('b', { is: true, then: Joi.required() }),
b: Joi.boolean()
};
However, rather than checking that b (for instance) is true, I'd like to check whether it is a string. I've tried this:
const schema = {
a: Joi.when('b', { is: Joi.string(), then: Joi.required() }),
};
But it doesn't seem to work. If I remove b completely from the object Joi still seems to expect a to be required. If b isn't in the object I don't want any validation placed on a.
I can't find any other examples of people doing this - can anyone help?

We managed to solve this using object.with. If one key is present (e.g. a), then its peers must be present too (e.g. b).
However, it's not ideal because while we were able to specify that a should be a Joi.string(), object.with is looking for its mere presence rather than its type. So if a non-string a is present a 'should be a string' error will be thrown for a. It should be perfectly fine for a not to be a string - all that should mean is that b is not mandatory. I hope that makes sense.

Find if already exists, JS and Lodash

So I have an interesting issue I am not sure how to follow, I need to use lodash to search two arrays in an object, looking to see if x already exists, lets look at a console out put:
There are two keys I am interested in: questChains and singleQuests, I want to write two seperate functions using lodash to say: find me id x in the array of objects where questChains questChainID is equal to x.
The second function would say: Find me a quest in the array of objects where singleQuests questTitle equals y
So if we give an example, you can see that questChainId is a 1 so if I pass in a 1 to said function I would get true back, I don't actually care about the object its self, else I would get false.
The same goes for singleQuests, If I pass in hello (case insensitive) I would get back true because there is a quest with the questTitle of 'Hello'. Again I don't care about the object coming back.
The way I would write this is something like:
_.find(theArray, function(questObject){
_.find(questObject.questChains, function(questChain){
if (questChain.questChainId === 1) {
return true;
}
});
});
This is just for the quest chain id comparison. This seems super messy, why? Because I am nesting lodash find, I am also nesting if. It gets a bit difficult to read.
Is this the only way to do this? or is there a better way?

Yeah it can be expressed more simply.
Try something like this:
var exampleArray = [{
questChains: [{
questChainId: 1,
name: 'foo'
}, {
questChainId: 2,
name: 'bar'
}],
singleQuests: [{
questTitle: 'hello world'
}]
}, {
questChains: [{
questChainId: 77,
name: 'kappa'
}]
}];
var result = _.chain(exampleArray)
.pluck('questChains')
.flatten()
.findWhere({ questChainId: 2 })
.value();
console.log('result', result);
<script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/lodash.js/3.5.0/lodash.min.js"></script>
Using chain and value is optional. They just let you chain together multiple lodash methods more succinctly.
pluck grabs a property from each object in an array and returns a new array of those properties.
flatten takes a nested array structure and flattens it into flat array structure.
findWhere will return the first element which matches the property name/value provided.
Combining all of these results in us fetching all questChain arrays from exampleArray, flattening them into a single array which can be more easily iterated upon, and then performing a search for the desired value.
Case-insensitive matching will be slightly more challenging. You'd either need to either replace findWhere with a method which accepts a matching function (i.e. find) or sanitize your input ahead of time. Either way you're going to need to call toLower, toUpper, or some variant on your names to standardize your search.

Retrieving JS' Object value without knowing it's name

This is a fairly common question here in SO, and I've looked into quite a few of them before deciding to ask this question.
I have a function, hereby called CheckObjectConsistency which receives a single parameter, an object of the following syntax:
objEntry:
{
objCheck: anotherObject,
properties: [
{
//PropertyValue: (integer,string,double,whatever), //this won't work.
PropertyName: string,
ifDefined: function,
ifUndefined: function
}
,...
]
}
What this function does is... considering the given parameter is correctly designed, it gets the objCheck contained within it (var chk = objEntry.objCheck;), It then procedes to check if it contains the properties contained in this collection.
Like this
for(x=0;x<=properties.length;x++){
if(objCheck.hasOwnProperty(properties[x].PropertyName)){
properties[x].ifDefined();
}
else{
properties[x].ifUndefined();
}
What I want is... I want to bring it to yet another level of dynamicity: Given the propositions that IfDefined and IfUndefined are functions to be called, respectively, if the currently-pointed PropertyName exists, and otherwise, I want to call these functions while providing them, as parameters, the very objCheck.PropertyName's value, so that it can be treated before returning to the user.
I'll give a usage example:
I will feed this function an object I received from an external provider (say, a foreign JSON-returning-WebService) from which I know a few properties that may or may not be defined.
For example, this object can be either:
var userData1 = {
userID : 1
userName: "JoffreyBaratheon",
cargo: "King",
age: 12,
motherID : 2,
//fatherID: 5,--Not defined
Status: Alive
}
or
var userData2 = {
userID :
userName: "Gendry",
cargo: "Forger Apprentice",
//age: 35, -- Not Defined
//motherID: 4,-- Not Defined
fatherID: 3,
Status: Alive
}
My function will receive:
var objEntry=
{
objCheck: userData1,
properties: [
{
PropertyName: "age",
ifDefined: function(val){alert("He/she has an age defined, it's "+val+" !");},
ifUndefined: function(){alert("He/she does not have an age defined, so we're assuming 20.");},
},
{
PropertyName: "fatherID",
ifDefined: function(val){alert("He/she has a known father, his ID is "+val+" !");},
ifUndefined: function(){alert("Oh, phooey, we don't (blink!blink!) know who his father is!");},
}
]
}
CheckObjectConsistency(objEntry); // Will alert twice, saying that Joffrey's age is 12, and that his father is supposedly unknown.
ifDefined will only actually work if, instead of properties[x].ifDefined();, I somehow provide it with properties[x].ifDefined(PropertyValue);. And here, at last, lies my question.
Being inside the consistency-checking-function, I only know a given property's name if it's provided. Being inside it, I can't simply call it's value, since there is no such function as properties[x].ifUndefined(properties[x].GetValueFromProperty(properties[x].PropertyName)) ,... is there?
I'm sorry. Not being a native english speaker (I'm brazilian), I can't properly express my doubts in a short way, so I prefer to take my time writing a long text, in an (hopefully not wasted) attempt to make it clearer.
If, even so, my doubt is unclear, please let me know.

I think you're looking for the bracket notation here. It allows you to provide an arbitrary value as key to access the object. Also, you know its name. You have your properties object right?
objEntry.properties.forEach(function(property){
// Check if objCheck has a property with name given by PropertyName
if(!objEntry.objCheck.hasOwnProperty(property.PropertyName)){
// If it doesn't, call isUndefined
property.isUndefined();
} else {
// If it does, call isDefined and passing it the value
// Note the bracket notation, allowing us to provide an arbitrary key
// provided by a variable value to access objCheck which in this case is
// the value of PropertyName
property.isDefined(objEntry.objCheck[property.PropertyName]);
}
});
Oh yeah, forEach is a method of arrays which allows you to loop over them. You can still do the same with regular loops though.

Updating a Nested Array with MongoDB

I am trying to update a value in the nested array but can't get it to work.
My object is like this
{
"_id": {
"$oid": "1"
},
"array1": [
{
"_id": "12",
"array2": [
{
"_id": "123",
"answeredBy": [], // need to push "success"
},
{
"_id": "124",
"answeredBy": [],
}
],
}
]
}
I need to push a value to "answeredBy" array.
In the below example, I tried pushing "success" string to the "answeredBy" array of the "123 _id" object but it does not work.
callback = function(err,value){
if(err){
res.send(err);
}else{
res.send(value);
}
};
conditions = {
"_id": 1,
"array1._id": 12,
"array2._id": 123
};
updates = {
$push: {
"array2.$.answeredBy": "success"
}
};
options = {
upsert: true
};
Model.update(conditions, updates, options, callback);
I found this link, but its answer only says I should use object like structure instead of array's. This cannot be applied in my situation. I really need my object to be nested in arrays
It would be great if you can help me out here. I've been spending hours to figure this out.
Thank you in advance!

General Scope and Explanation
There are a few things wrong with what you are doing here. Firstly your query conditions. You are referring to several _id values where you should not need to, and at least one of which is not on the top level.
In order to get into a "nested" value and also presuming that _id value is unique and would not appear in any other document, you query form should be like this:
Model.update(
{ "array1.array2._id": "123" },
{ "$push": { "array1.0.array2.$.answeredBy": "success" } },
function(err,numAffected) {
// something with the result in here
}
);
Now that would actually work, but really it is only a fluke that it does as there are very good reasons why it should not work for you.
The important reading is in the official documentation for the positional $ operator under the subject of "Nested Arrays". What this says is:
The positional $ operator cannot be used for queries which traverse more than one array, such as queries that traverse arrays nested within other arrays, because the replacement for the $ placeholder is a single value
Specifically what that means is the element that will be matched and returned in the positional placeholder is the value of the index from the first matching array. This means in your case the matching index on the "top" level array.
So if you look at the query notation as shown, we have "hardcoded" the first ( or 0 index ) position in the top level array, and it just so happens that the matching element within "array2" is also the zero index entry.
To demonstrate this you can change the matching _id value to "124" and the result will $push an new entry onto the element with _id "123" as they are both in the zero index entry of "array1" and that is the value returned to the placeholder.
So that is the general problem with nesting arrays. You could remove one of the levels and you would still be able to $push to the correct element in your "top" array, but there would still be multiple levels.
Try to avoid nesting arrays as you will run into update problems as is shown.
The general case is to "flatten" the things you "think" are "levels" and actually make theses "attributes" on the final detail items. For example, the "flattened" form of the structure in the question should be something like:
{
"answers": [
{ "by": "success", "type2": "123", "type1": "12" }
]
}
Or even when accepting the inner array is $push only, and never updated:
{
"array": [
{ "type1": "12", "type2": "123", "answeredBy": ["success"] },
{ "type1": "12", "type2": "124", "answeredBy": [] }
]
}
Which both lend themselves to atomic updates within the scope of the positional $ operator
MongoDB 3.6 and Above
From MongoDB 3.6 there are new features available to work with nested arrays. This uses the positional filtered $[<identifier>] syntax in order to match the specific elements and apply different conditions through arrayFilters in the update statement:
Model.update(
{
"_id": 1,
"array1": {
"$elemMatch": {
"_id": "12","array2._id": "123"
}
}
},
{
"$push": { "array1.$[outer].array2.$[inner].answeredBy": "success" }
},
{
"arrayFilters": [{ "outer._id": "12" },{ "inner._id": "123" }]
}
)
The "arrayFilters" as passed to the options for .update() or even
.updateOne(), .updateMany(), .findOneAndUpdate() or .bulkWrite() method specifies the conditions to match on the identifier given in the update statement. Any elements that match the condition given will be updated.
Because the structure is "nested", we actually use "multiple filters" as is specified with an "array" of filter definitions as shown. The marked "identifier" is used in matching against the positional filtered $[<identifier>] syntax actually used in the update block of the statement. In this case inner and outer are the identifiers used for each condition as specified with the nested chain.
This new expansion makes the update of nested array content possible, but it does not really help with the practicality of "querying" such data, so the same caveats apply as explained earlier.
You typically really "mean" to express as "attributes", even if your brain initially thinks "nesting", it's just usually a reaction to how you believe the "previous relational parts" come together. In reality you really need more denormalization.
Also see How to Update Multiple Array Elements in mongodb, since these new update operators actually match and update "multiple array elements" rather than just the first, which has been the previous action of positional updates.
NOTE Somewhat ironically, since this is specified in the "options" argument for .update() and like methods, the syntax is generally compatible with all recent release driver versions.
However this is not true of the mongo shell, since the way the method is implemented there ( "ironically for backward compatibility" ) the arrayFilters argument is not recognized and removed by an internal method that parses the options in order to deliver "backward compatibility" with prior MongoDB server versions and a "legacy" .update() API call syntax.
So if you want to use the command in the mongo shell or other "shell based" products ( notably Robo 3T ) you need a latest version from either the development branch or production release as of 3.6 or greater.
See also positional all $[] which also updates "multiple array elements" but without applying to specified conditions and applies to all elements in the array where that is the desired action.

I know this is a very old question, but I just struggled with this problem myself, and found, what I believe to be, a better answer.
A way to solve this problem is to use Sub-Documents. This is done by nesting schemas within your schemas
MainSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
array1: [Array1Schema]
})
Array1Schema = new mongoose.Schema({
array2: [Array2Schema]
})
Array2Schema = new mongoose.Schema({
answeredBy": [...]
})
This way the object will look like the one you show, but now each array are filled with sub-documents. This makes it possible to dot your way into the sub-document you want. Instead of using a .update you then use a .find or .findOne to get the document you want to update.
Main.findOne((
{
_id: 1
}
)
.exec(
function(err, result){
result.array1.id(12).array2.id(123).answeredBy.push('success')
result.save(function(err){
console.log(result)
});
}
)
Haven't used the .push() function this way myself, so the syntax might not be right, but I have used both .set() and .remove(), and both works perfectly fine.