Develop Reference

Override Mongoose save method to retry on `duplicate key error`

My Mongoose schema uses a custom _id value and the code I inherited does something like this
const sampleSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
_id: String,
key: String,
});
sampleSchema.statics.generateId = async function() {
let id;
do {
id = randomStringGenerator.generate({length: 8, charset: 'hex', capitalization: 'uppercase'});
} while (await this.exists({_id: id}));
return id;
};
let SampleModel = mongoose.model('Sample', sampleSchema);
A simple usage looks like this:
let mySample = new SampleModel({_id: await SampleModel.generateId(), key: 'a' });
await mySample.save();
There are at least three problems with this:
Every save will require at least two trips to the database, one to test for a unique id and one to save the document.
For this to work, it is necessary to manually call generateId() before each save. An ideal solution would handle that for me, like Mongoose does with ids of type ObjectId.
Most significantly, there is a potential race condition that will result in duplicate key error. Consider two clients running this code. Both coincidentally generate the same id at the same time, both look in the database and find the id absent, both try to write the record to the database. The second will fail.
An ideal solution would, on save, generate an id, save it to the database and on duplicate key error, generate a new id and retry. Do this in a loop until the document is stored successfully.
The trouble is, I don't know how to get Mongoose to let me do this.
Here's what I tried: Based on this SO Question, I found a rather old sample (using a very old mongoose version) of overriding the save function to accomplish something similar and based this attempt off it.
// First, change generateId() to force a collision
let ids = ['a', 'a', 'a', 'b'];
let index = 0;
let generateId = function() {
return ids[index++];
};
// Configure middleware to generate the id before a save
sampleSchema.pre('validate', function(next) {
if (this.isNew)
this._id = generateId();
next();
});
// Now override the save function
SampleModel.prototype.save_original = SampleModel.prototype.save;
SampleModel.prototype.save = function(options, callback) {
let self = this;
let retryOnDuplicate = function(err, savedDoc) {
if (err) {
if (err.code === 11000 && err.name === 'MongoError') {
self.save(options, retryOnDuplicate);
return;
}
}
if (callback) {
callback(err, savedDoc);
}
};
return self.save_original(options, retryOnDuplicate);
}
This gets me close but I'm leaking a promise and I'm not sure where.
let sampleA = new SampleModel({key: 'a'});
let sampleADoc = await sampleA.save();
console.log('sampleADoc', sampleADoc); // prints undefined, but should print the document
let sampleB = new SampleModel({key: 'b'});
let sampleBDoc = await sampleB.save();
console.log('sampleBDoc', sampleBDoc); // prints undefined, but should print the document
let all = await SampleModel.find();
console.log('all', all); // prints `[]`, but should be an array of two documents
Output
sampleADoc undefined
sampleBDoc undefined
all []
The documents eventually get written to the database, but not before the console.log calls are made.
Where am I leaking a promise? Is there an easier way to do this that addresses the three problems I outlined?
Edit 1:
Mongoose version: 5.11.15

I fixed the problem by changing the save override. The full solution looks like this:
const sampleSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
_id: String,
color: String,
});
let generateId = function() {
return randomStringGenerator.generate({length: 8, charset: 'hex', capitalization: 'uppercase'});
};
sampleSchema.pre('validate', function() {
if (this.isNew)
this._id = generateId();
});
let SampleModel = mongoose.model('Sample', sampleSchema);
SampleModel.prototype.save_original = SampleModel.prototype.save;
SampleModel.prototype.save = function(options, callback) {
let self = this;
let isDupKeyError = (error, field) => {
// Determine whether the error is a duplicate key error on the given field
return error?.code === 11000 && error?.name === 'MongoError' && error?.keyValue[field];
}
let saveWithRetries = (options, callback) => {
// save() returns undefined if used with callback or a Promise otherwise.
// https://mongoosejs.com/docs/api/document.html#document_Document-save
let promise = self.save_original(options, callback);
if (promise) {
return promise.catch((error) => {
if (isDupKeyError(error, '_id')) {
return saveWithRetries(options, callback);
}
throw error;
});
}
};
let retryCallback;
if (callback) {
retryCallback = (error, saved, rows) => {
if (isDupKeyError(error, '_id')) {
saveWithRetries(options, retryCallback);
} else {
callback(error, saved, rows);
}
}
}
return saveWithRetries(options, retryCallback);
}
This will generate an _id repeatedly until a successful save is called and addresses the three problems outlined in the original question:
The minimum trips to the database has been reduced from two to one. Of course, if there are collisions, more trips will occur but that's the exceptional case.
This implementation takes care of generating the id itself with no manual step to take before saving. This reduces complexity and removes the required knowledge of prerequisites for saving that are present in the original method.
The race condition has been addressed. It won't matter if two clients attempt to use the same key. One will succeed and the other will generate a new key and save again.
To improve this:
There ought to be a maximum number of save attempts for a single document followed by failure. In this case, you've perhaps used up all the available keys in whatever domain you're using.
The unique field may not be named _id or you might have multiple fields that require a unique generated value. The embedded helper function isDupKeyError() could be updated to look for multiple keys. Then on error you could add logic to regenerate just the failed key.

Want to Optimize Airtable Query with Better Operators

I’m fairly new to Airtable, and I’m unsure how to accomplish the query(ies) I’m performing in a simpler manner using Airtable commands.
The Base
I have an API with two tables: Classes and Students. The Classes table consists of classes and all the students enrolled in each class. The Students table consists of students and all the classes each student is enrolled in.
The Task
A user searches for a specific student on the front end. Using Airtable formulae, I need to query the Students table for the classes that student is taking. (NOTE: I need to return the class names, not the record IDs/codes for those classes, which are unintelligible for the user.) Using those class names, I then need to ask the Classes table for the students associated with each class, again returning the students’ actual names, not their record IDs/codes. Finally, I need to return the original student’s classes to the front end, along with the other student names associated to those classes. I would think I need to run a window function or something, but I’m unsure how to do that with Airtable.
For clarity, here is the code I’m using so far. I realize it’s very clunky, but I haven’t been able to find much documentation online.
router.get('/:name', async (req, res) => {
try {
// Retrieve submitted student
res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*');
const URL = 'http://api.airtable.com/v0/app8ZbcPx7dkpOnP0/students';
const query = '?filterByFormula=';
const filterBy = `SEARCH("${req.params.name}", {Name} )`;
const link = `${URL}${query}${filterBy}`;
const KEY = process.env.AIRTABLE_API_KEY;
const headers = {
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${KEY}`
}
}
const { data } = await axios.get(`${link}`, headers);
const records = data.records;
console.log("Object by record:", records);
const classes = records[0].fields['Classes'];
console.log("Classes by record:", classes);
let classNames = [];
let studentIds = [];
let otherStudents = [];
let zippedData = [];
let resultData;
// Swap class codes for class names
for (let i = 0; i < classes.length; i++) {
base('Classes').find(classes[i], function (err, record) {
if (err) { console.error(err); return; }
classNames.push(record.fields.Name);
});
}
// Retrieve other student codes per class associated to chosen student
for (let i = 0; i < classes.length; i++) {
base('Classes').find(classes[i], function (err, record) {
if (err) { console.error(err); return; }
studentIds.push(record.fields['Students']);
});
}
// Associate other student codes to associated student names. Zip data to send to Reducer.
setTimeout(async function () {
for (let i = 0; i < studentIds.length; i++) {
let newTempArr = [];
for (let j = 0; j < studentIds[i].length; j++) {
base('Students').find(studentIds[i][j], function (err, record) {
if (err) { console.error(err); return; }
newTempArr.push(record.fields.Name);
});
}
otherStudents.push(newTempArr);
}
}, 500);
setTimeout(function () {
for (let i = 0; i < classNames.length; i++) {
let newTempArr = [];
newTempArr.push(classNames[i]);
for (let j = 0; j < otherStudents[i].length; j++) {
newTempArr.push(otherStudents[i][j] + ", ");
}
zippedData.push(newTempArr);
}
}, 750);
setTimeout(function () {
console.log("Class names: ", classNames);
console.log("Records of other students by class:", studentIds);
console.log("Records of other student names:", otherStudents);
console.log("Zipped array:", zippedData);
resultData = { zippedData: zippedData, name: req.params.name.toString(), loading: false };
console.log(resultData);
res.send(resultData);
}, 1000);
} catch (err) {
return res.send({ zippedData: [["Name/class do not exist in Airtable database", "Associated students do not exist in Airtable database"]], name: "Error", loading: false });
}})
I’m also having issues figuring out how to properly implement asynchronicity in Airtable, but I’ve posted my questions for that topic in another thread.
Even incomplete solutions will be very helpful, so that I can better understand which direction to take in order to cut down on the verbosity of this beast.
Thank you in advance for any insights!
-Justin

Man, do not try to learn or even just brush up on the intricacies of HTTPS and JavaScript from Airtable's docs. Their documentation is arguably the best in business but it wasn't written to be accessible to anyone not already dealing with a bajillion APIs on the regular. That's definitely a silly mistake for a no-code platform to make, but it is what it is.
Regarding your question, you didn't say where you got stuck. That request isn't working? Where is it throwing?
Either way, I'd suggest saving yourself the trouble by registering for a free account with either Autocode, Syncic, or both. Either can do what you want at a moments notice, hundreds of time per day, without approaching the limits of their free plans. That's obviously just a bandaid solution but it sounds like you're under plenty duress already so this might be the least nerve-wrecking route for you to take.

Issues updating firestore document by committing a batch after an async function

I'm writing a cloud function that uses request-promise and cheerio to scrape a website and then check that information against a user document.
I am not entirely familiar with Javascript and Cloud Functions.
I've come so far that I managed to extract the information I need and navigate to the user's document and compare the data. Now the last piece of this function is to give the user points for each matching data point, so I need to update a map inside the user document.
This function has to loop through all users and change their document if the data point matches. I'm not sure the way I've written the code is the most optimal in terms of performance and billing if the userbase gets huge... Any pointers to how I could minimize the impact on the task would be of great help, as im new with JS.
So this is the code:
exports.getV75Results = functions.pubsub.schedule('every 2 minutes').onRun(async (context) => {
let linkMap = new Map();
const url = `https://www.example.com`
const options = {
uri: url,
headers: { 'User-Agent': 'test' },
transform: (body) => cheerio.load(body)
}
await rp(options)
.then(($) => {
for(let i = 1; i <= 7; i++)
{
//Find player from game
const lopp1 = $(`#mainContentHolder > div > div.mainContentStyleTrot > div > div.panel-body > table:nth-child(1) > tbody > tr:nth-child(${i}) > td:nth-child(2) > span`).text()
const lopp1StrR1 = lopp1.replace("(", "");
const lopp1StrR2 = lopp1StrR1.replace(")", "");
const lopp1StrR3 = lopp1StrR2.replace(" ", "");
linkMap.set(i, lopp1StrR3.toUpperCase());
}
console.log(linkMap);
return linkMap;
}).then(async () => {
//Start lookup users
let usersRef = db.collection('fantasyfotball').doc('users');
usersRef.listCollections().then(collections => {
collections.forEach( collection => {
var user = collection.doc(collection.id);
let batch = new admin.firestore().batch();
user.get().then(function(doc) {
let json = doc.data();
//Look in users collection if players document exist
Object.keys(json).forEach((name) => {
if(name != null) {
//Document with users active fotball players
if(name == 'players') {
let i = 0;
Object.values(json[name]).forEach((value) => {
i++;
if(value.localeCompare(linkMap.get(i)) == 0) {
//Loop through user keys and find owned players if user has the correct player
Object.keys(json).forEach((map) => {
if(map != null)
{
//Document with a map of player owned fotball players, each respective player has a key = 'fotball player' and value = '[price, points]'
if(map == 'ownedplayers')
{
Object.entries(json[map]).forEach((players) => {
if(players[0].localeCompare(value) == 0) {
console.log(players[1][1]);
//Add points to respective player field
//PROBABLY NOT HOW TO CHANGE A DOCUMENT FILED, THIS DOESNT WORK..
players[1][1]++;
}
});
//EACH TIME THIS RUNS IT SAYS: "Cannot modify a WriteBatch that has been committed"
batch.update(user, {'ownedplayers': json[map]});
}
}
});
}
});
}
} else {
console.log('user does not have a playermode document.');
}
});
});
return batch.commit().then(function () {
console.log("Succesfully commited changes.");
return null;
});
});
});
}).catch((err) => {
return err;
});
});
The issues i get in the console are "Cannot modify a WriteBatch that has been committed." and I fail to modify and add points to the player field inside the users document.
This is the console:
This is the firestore document structure:
I'm completely stuck on this.. Feels like I've tried all different approaches, but I think i dont fully understand cloud functions and javascript, so i would gladly recive feedback and help on how to make this work.
Cheers,

Finally.... i managed to update the document successfully. I put the commit outside another ".then()". Thought I tried that, but yay I guess :P
}).then(() => {
return batch.commit().then(function () {
console.log("Succesfully commited changes.");
return null;
});
The problem now is that it commits every loop. I think the most optimal here would be to batch update ALL users before committing?
And again, is there a more optimal way to do this, in terms of minimizing the operation and impact? I'm afraid I go too deep with for loops instead of directly navigating to the document, but haven't found an easier way to do that.
Any thoughts?

NodeJS and Mongoose Callback inside a For Loop

So here's the problem. I have a REST API that handles a booking creation, however, before saving the booking inside mongo it validates if there is a clash with another booking.
exports.create = function(req, res) {
var new_type = new Model(req.body);
var newBooking = new_type._doc;
//check if the new booking clashes with existing bookings
validateBooking.bookingClash(newBooking, function(clash){
if(clash == null) // no clashes, therefore save new booking
{
new_type.save(function(err, type) {
if (err)
{
res.send(err); //error saving
}
else{
res.json(type); //return saved new booking
}
});
}
else //clash with booking
{
//respond with "clashDate"
}
});
};
Here you have the validation function to check if there is a clash with bookings on the same day:
exports.bookingClash = function (booking, clash) {
//find the bookings for the same court on the same day
var courtId = (booking.courtId).toString();
Model.find({courtId: courtId, date: booking.date}, function(err, bookings) {
if(err == null && bookings == null)
{
//no bookings found so no clashes
clash(null);
}
else //bookings found
{
//for each booking found, check if the booking start hour falls between other booking hours
for(var i = 0; i<bookings.length ; i++)
{
//here is where I check if the new booking clashes with bookings that are already in the DB
{
//the new booking clashes
//return booking date of the clash
clash(clashDate); //return the clashDate in order to tell the front-end
return;
}
}
//if no clashes with bookings, return null
clash(null);
}
});
};
So, ALL of this works with one single new booking. However, now I want to be able to handle a recursive booking (booking that is made weekly). I have recreated the "create" function and call the validateBooking.bookingClash function inside a for loop.
Unfortunately, when I run this, it calls the bookingClash function perfectly, but when it reaches the line making the search in the database:
Model.find({courtId: courtId, date: booking.date}, function(err, bookings)
It does not wait for the callback and before handling the response "clash", makes i++ and continues.
How can I make it work and wait for the callback?
var array = req.body;
var clashes = [];
for(var i = 0; i<array.length;i++)
{
validateBooking.bookingClash(array[i], function(clash)
{
if(clash)
{
clashes.push(clash);
}
else{
console.log("no clash");
}
}
}

Seems like a basic async call problem, for loops do not wait for callbacks to be called.
You could use async 'series' function for exmaple instead of the for loop. This way each find will get called after the previous one.
Mongoose also has a promise based syntax which can help you : http://mongoosejs.com/docs/promises.html

You Can use async eachSeries
async.eachSeries(users, function iterator(user, callback) {
if(something) {
//thing you want to do
callback();
} else {
callback();
}
}

Since you are using callback functions there are two ways you could try to solve this:
1) use some external library that allows you to perform an asynchronous map operation and run all the checks for each clash. Once they are done check the combined results for a clash and proceed accordingly
I would suggest using the async library
your code would look something like:
async.map(array,(entry,callback) => validateBooking.bookingClash(entry,callback),(error,mappingResults)=>{...})
2) you could try to change this function to a recursive one
`function recursiveValidation(arrayToCheck,mainCallback){
if(arrayToCheck.length === 0) {
return cb(null} // end of array without errors
}
validateBooking.bookingClash(_.head(arrayToCheck), function(clash)
{
if(clash)
{
return mainCallback(clash);
}
return recursiveValidation(_.tail(arrayToCheck),mainCallback);
}
}`
The above code is just a mockup but it should show the point.
The _ is lodash

No need to changing anything in your code except the declaration use let instead of var and your loop should work.
var array = req.body;
var clashes = [];
`
for(**let** i = 0; i<array.length;i++)
{
validateBooking.bookingClash(array[i], function(clash)
{
if(clash)
{
clashes.push(clash);
}
else{
console.log("no clash");
}
}
}`
You have to understand the difference between let and var. Also why var cannot be used for running async code inside a loop.
Learn about let: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/let

I found the way to get this done after trying all of your answers.
What I had to do was this:
validateBooking.singleBooking(new_type._doc, newBookingClubId, function (clash) {
if (clash == null) // no clash
{
validatorArray.push(0);
if(validatorArray.length == array.length) //has received everything from mongo
{
console.log("Clashes: " + clashes.toString());
if(validatorArray.indexOf(1) > -1) //contains a clash
{
var error = {
code: 409,
message: "409 Conflict",
clashes: clashes
};
errorsHandler.handleError(error, res);
}
This way, I created an array called "validatorArray" that was called every time I received something back from Mongo.
This way I could easily compare the length of the array of bookings and the validatorArray length. When they were equal, it meant that it had received everything back from mongo and could send back the response.
Thanks for the help!

How to use multiple callbacks when looping data

I'm trying to get HTML form data, loop it through, change it a bit and insert it to database. I have tried like below app.js.
How can I make callbacks so that formdata what I have modified is available for .create function?
I have searched from everywhere and I always end up in dead end and undefined variable somehow.
app.js:
//Find the day where to save
Day.findById(req.params.id, function(err, day) {
if (err) {
console.log(err);
res.redirect("/diary");
} else {
// Search function to find data with _id
function ingredientIdQuery(reqBodyId) {
var ingQuery = Ingredient.find({_id:reqBodyId});
return dbQuery;
}
// This loops through HTML formdata and formats it for mongoose model
for (var i = 0; i < req.body.amount.length; i++) {
if (req.body.amount[i] !== "") {
var amount = Number(req.body.amount[i]);
var singleMealTempObj = {};
singleMealTempObj.amount = amount;
var _id = req.body.id[i];
var query = ingredientIdQuery(_id);
// Executing the query for the data I need with id
query.exec(function(err, ingr){
if(err) {
return console.log(err);
} else {
singleMealTempObj.ingredient = ingr[0];
singleMealTempArr.push(singleMealTempObj);
}
});
}
}
}
// This inserts data into day
Meal.create(singleMealTempArr, function(err, singleMealObject) {
if (err) {
console.log(err);
} else {
day.meals.push(singleMealObject);
day.save();
res.redirect("/day/" + day._id + "/dayshow");
}
});
});
});
Edit:
Thanks for reply and notices! While I was trying to do everything to get this work I missed those few things like declaring variables. Sorry for that. I threw the towel in to the cage at this point.
flow goes like this:
User sends HTML form data to app.js which is inside object of two arrays (id[] and amount[]). Amount array needs to be looped through if it has value other than 0. Same index id array value is used to fetch data from database. This data what is found from database with id from id[] is used with same index amount[] and it should be saved to mongo.
I can get the values from HTML form ok. but I have tried to make a search in Mongo in a for loop (query.exec in the code) I get the data ok. When I log the data outside the database query, variable is undefined.
I hope this clarifys a bit what I'm trying to achieve.
I'll continue this later... :)

I guess issue originates because of this function.
function ingredientIdQuery(reqBodyId) {
var ingQuery = Ingredient.find({_id:reqBodyId});
return dbQuery;
}
Is find function asynchronous or synchronous?
Also you are returning dbQuery but dbQuery does not seem to be changed inside the function.

Couple I noticed that may fix this:
You never define singleMealTempArr, so when you try to push data to it, you are gonna run into problems.
Your ingredientIdQuery function returns dbquery - which also isn't defined. You actually call it ingQuery. Even so...are you positive that this will return the data that you want?
// lets loop through all the form fields in req.body.amount
for (var i = 0; i < req.body.amount.length; i++) {
// keep going unless the form field is empty
if (req.body.amount[i] !== "") {
// assign all the form fields to the following vars
var amount = Number(req.body.amount[i]);
var singleMealTempObj = {};
singleMealTempObj.amount = amount;
var _id = req.body.id[i];
var query = ingredientIdQuery(_id);
// we are executing the ingredientIdQuery(_id), better
// double-check that this query returns the result we are
// looking for!
query.exec(function(err, ingr){
if(err) {
return console.log(err);
} else {
singleMealTempObj.ingredient = ingr[0];
// now that we've gone through and mapped all the form
// data we can assign it to the singleMealTempArr
// WOOPS! Looks like we forgot to assign it!
singleMealTempArr.push(singleMealTempObj);
}
});
}
}
}