Mongoose sub Docs CastError - node.js

Question

I am new to MongoDB and MongooseJS. I'm also new to nodeJs.
I have an Angularjs project using Typescript. This project work with a "container" json, which itself contains some properties and a testList, which is a json object containing some properties and a fileList, containing an itemList.
So it's like this :
export class Container{
data:string="";
testList:Test[];
}
export class Test {
moredata:string="";
fileList:File[];
}
export class File {...}
etc.
I send this JSON to my nodejs server. I'm using bodyparser to get the json from the req.body object.
Server side, my mongoose Schema are exactly like my angularjs classes, so they look like this :
/*************** mongoose schemas **************/
// item.js
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
module.exports = mongoose.model('Item', {
Content : {type : Object, default: ''}
});
// file.js
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var Item = require('./item');
var schema = new mongoose.Schema({
Data : {type : String, default: ''},
ItemList: {type: [Item], default:[]}
});
// test.js
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var File = require('./file');
var schema = new mongoose.Schema({
Data: {type:String},
FileList: {type:[File], default:[]}
});
// container.js
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var Test = require('./test');
var schema = new mongoose.Schema({
Name : {type : String, default: '', index:true, unique:true, required: true, dropDups:true},
Test : {type:[Test], default:[]}
});
If I try to create a new Container object (Mongoose object) and assign it the json from req.body, it bugs : CastError.
If I re-create each sub document from JSON and save the main doc, it bugs too : CastError.
I don't know how to achieve this. It worked before but my mongoose schema where using [mongoose.Schema.Types.Mixed] type for sub docs, and not the "real" types. Fact is, with Mixed I had no _id on sub docs, which I want.
Using real sub docs types, I can see in logs that the _id is created, but all the lists are empty.
Here is my nodejs code :
/*************** nodejs **************/
app.post('/api/container', bodyParser.urlencoded({extended:true}), bodyParser({limit:'50mb'}), bodyParser.json(), function(req, res) {
var test = req.body._test;
var testList = [];
var fileList;
var itemList;
var itemObj;
var fileObj;
var testObj;
for(var i in test){
fileList = [];
for(var j in test[i]._fileList){
itemList = [];
for(var k in test[i]._fileList[j]._itemList){
itemObj = new Item({
Content : test[i]._fileList[j]._itemList[k]._content
});
itemList.push(itemObj);
console.log('item pushed : ' + itemObj + ' and length : ' + itemList.length);
// logs gives info OK.
}
fileObj = new File({
Data: locales[i]._fileList[j]._data,
ItemList: itemList
});
fileList.push(fileObj);
console.log('file pushed : ' + fileObj);
// logs gives info NOK. The ItemList is empty : [], instead of a 70+ item list.
}
testObj = new Test({
Data: locales[i]._data,
FileList: fileList
});
testList.push(testObj);
console.log('test pushed : ' + i);
// once again, logs are NOK : the FileList is empty : []
}
// use mongoose to save the project in the database
new Container({
Name : req.body._name.toLowerCase().trim(),
Test: testList
}).save(function(err, container, count){
if(err){
console.log('erreur : ');
console.log(err);
// we enter here as we have this error :
/*
{ [CastError: Cast to undefined failed for value "
{
_id: 5727ebf95a76ff0011374928,
FileList: [],
Data: 'data'
},
{
_id: 5727ebf95a76ff0011374970,
FileList: [],
Data: 'other data'
}" at path "Test"]
message: 'Cast to undefined failed for value "
{ _id: 5727ebf95a76ff0011374928,\n FileList: [],\n Data: \'data\' },
{ _id: 5727ebf95a76ff0011374970,\n FileList: [],\n Data: \'other data\'}"
at path "Test"',
name: 'CastError',
type: undefined,
value: [{"_id":"5727ebf95a76ff0011374928","FileList":[],"Data":"data"},{"_id":"5727ebf95a76ff0
011374970","FileList":[],"Data":"other data"}],
path: 'Test' }
*/
res.status(403).json({error: 'error'});
} else {
console.log('saved ! ');
res.json(container);
}
});
});
I'm not used to post here, I'm more a reader :) Anyway if my post is not appropriated please inform me and I'll move / edit it correctly.
Thanks for your time.

Answer 1

Checked, and working !
So my error was to use the models of my objects in mongoose schema instead of their Schema.
I'm now exporting both models and schema on each object, and using schema for schema definitions, and models for requests. Finally rid of this bug ! :)
/* Mongoose object definitions */
// grab the mongoose module
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var child = require('./child').schema; // getting the child schema
// define our parent model
var parentSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
Name : {type : String, default: ''},
ChildrenList: {type: [Child], default:[]}
});
var parentModel = mongoose.model('Parent', parentSchema);
// module.exports allows us to pass this to other files when it is called
module.exports = {
model: parentModel, // exporting model for requests
schema: parentSchema // exporting schema for others schema using "Parent"
};
And the code used for requests :
var Child = require('./models/child').model; // here using model
var Parent = require('./models/parent').model; // here using model
new Parent({
Name : req.body._name.toLowerCase().trim(),
ChildrenList : childrenList // variable defined somewhere
}).save(function(err, parent, count){
if(err){
res.status(403).json({error: 'too bad'});
} else {
res.json(parent);
}
});