Unrecognized datatype in Sequelize Model - node.js

Question

I am trying to create an attribute called "provider" in my postgresql model and make its data type an Object (see code below). However, I am getting the error Error: Unrecognized datatype for attribute "segment.provider".
I'm assuming this error is happening because I haven't specified what the data type of the "provider" attribute actually is (ie: type: DataTypes.OBJECT). To my knowledge, there's nothing in the Sequelize docs that demonstrates this ask of mine. Any and all help would be most appreciated. Thanks!
module.exports = (sequelize, DataTypes) => {
const Segment = sequelize.define(
'segment',
{
id: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
autoIncrement: true,
primaryKey: true
},
provider: {
providerName: DataTypes.STRING,
externalId: DataTypes.STRING,
email: DataTypes.STRING,
privacyPolicy: DataTypes.STRING
}
},
{
freezeTableName: true,
tableName: 'segment'
}
);
return Segment;
}

Answer 1

Every field defined on a model(Table) is mapped into a column on the database.
That is what sequelize basically does.
Now, is there a field on a PostgreSQL database which is an object?
For what you are trying to do, you just need to use associations between tables.
Create a new model (Table) called provider:
And add the associations as follows in the example:
module.exports = (sequelize, DataTypes) => {
const Provider = sequelize.define(
'provider',
{
id: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
autoIncrement: true,
primaryKey: true
},
name: {
type: DataTypes.STRING
},
email: {
type: DataTypes.STRING
},
privacyPolicy: {
type: DataTypes.STRING
}
},
{
freezeTableName: true,
tableName: 'provider'
}
);
// Apply the accosiation:
Provider.hasMany /* or has one */ (Segment, {foreignKey: 'provider_id'});
return Provider;
}
And in your Segment model add a foreign key and a reference to Provider
module.exports = (sequelize, DataTypes) => {
const Segment = sequelize.define(
'segment',
{
id: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
autoIncrement: true,
primaryKey: true
},
provider_id: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
references: {
model: 'provider',
key: 'id
}
}
},
{
freezeTableName: true,
tableName: 'segment'
}
);
// Apply the accosiation:
Segment.belongsTo(Provider, {foreignKey: 'id'});
return Segment;
}