How to show Created By "NAME" using MongoDB - node.js

Question

I am new to MongoDB, so I was wondering if there any way to show the name of created by or modified by XYZ user? I want it in my application to display the name who created or modified something.

Answer 1

You need to account for this info when structuring your data model. E.g. let's say you're writing posts to the posts collection, and want to add the post author from authors collection.
Now, the simplest way to do this is to have this data directly embedded in your post document. E.g. for creation data we use insert, something like this:
// posts.service.js
function save(postData, userData) {
// We return a Promise here
return db.posts.insert({
title: postData.title,
text: postData.text,
published: true,
// now comes your audit data
createdBy: user.username,
createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
});
}
module.exports = { save };
You use it like this, ie. in your /posts API controller:
// ... other stuff then:
const postsService = require('./posts.service');
route.post('/posts', function(req, res, next) {
postsService.save({
title: req.body.title,
text: req.body.text,
}, req.user)
// Handle response and error.
.then(response => res.json(response))
.catch(error => next(error));
And for updating a post, you'd add this to posts.service.js (using update):
// posts.service
// ...after your *save* function above
function update(postId, postData, userData) {
return db.posts.update({
id: postId,
}{
title: postData.title,
text: postData.text,
published: true,
// now comes your audit data
modifiedBy: user.username,
modifiedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
});
}
// update module exports:
module.exports = { save, update };
Now, on your controller, add the route to handle updates:
// ... after the creation route
route.put('/posts/:postId', function(req, res, next) {
postsService.update(req.params.postId, {
title: req.body.title,
text: req.body.text,
}, req.user)
// Handle response and error.
.then(response => res.json(response))
.catch(error => next(error));
Now, other ways to do this can mean you only include reference (ObjectId) of whomever modified the data. Or maybe more info.
But smarter and easier thing to do would be to use something like mongoose for handling your data, and then use a plugin that does all this automatically. Something like this: https://github.com/taptaptech/mongoose-audit.
You could look for something similar at npm: https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=mongoose%20audit.
What these things do is they add pre-save hooks to your documents and in those hooks the audit data is tracked. So you can use something finished, or you can look at what these packages do and try to replicate the functionality - better if this is a hobby project and you wanna learn how things work.
Now, how do you show this information in your frontend is likely good for a new question, as you specify no information about any of the software/packages you're using.

Answer 2

you should just write it down in your db upon edit/create, there is no build in functionality for this.