Mongoose Populate Not Working For Me - node.js

Question

I have this schema for users:
var mongoose = require("mongoose"),
passportLocalMongoose = require("passport-local-mongoose");
mongoose.Promise = global.Promise;
var userSchema = new mongoose.Schema ({
username: {type: String, required: true, unique: true},
password: {type: String},
role: {type: String, required: true},
confirmed: {type: Boolean, required: true, default: false},
active: {type: Boolean, required: true, default: true},
name: String,
created: {type: Date, default: Date.now},
admin: {type: Boolean, default: false, required: true}
});
userSchema.plugin(passportLocalMongoose);
module.exports = mongoose.model("User", userSchema);
And another schema for companies, where clients refer to an array of users:
var mongoose = require("mongoose");
mongoose.Promise = global.Promise;
var companySchema = new mongoose.Schema ({
name: {type: String, required: true, unique: true},
created: {type: Date, default: Date.now},
active: {type: Boolean, required: true, default: true},
staff: [{
id: {
type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
ref: "User"
},
username: String
}],
clients: [{
id: {
type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
ref: "User"
},
username: String
}]
});
module.exports = mongoose.model("Company", companySchema);
I have the below code in my route, but the user information is not being populated into the company object, what am I doing wrong?
// EDIT route
router.get("/:company_id/edit", middleware.checkCompanyOwnership, function(req, res) {
Company.findOne({_id: req.params.company_id}).populate({path: 'clients'}).exec(function(err, company) {
if (err || !company) {
console.log(err);
req.flash("error", err.message);
res.redirect("/");
} else {
console.log("Request to edit company.");
//console.log(company);
res.render("company/edit", {title: "Edit Company", company: company});
}
});
});
This is what I am getting if I console log company:
{ _id: 5a070874b4292914444b6e06,
name: 'ABC',
__v: 1,
clients:
[ { username: 'abcdefg#gmail.com',
_id: 5a070206616810129b5c876a } ],
staff: [],
active: true,
created: 2017-11-11T14:25:56.359Z }
Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Your company schema should look like this
var companySchema = new mongoose.Schema ({
...
staff: [{ type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId, ref: "User" }],
clients: [{ type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId, ref: "User" }]
});
See the docs http://mongoosejs.com/docs/populate.html