How to insert data in array field in Mongodb using mongoose and NodeJs

Question

I want to insert data in mongodb where one field is of array of an objects type.I am unable to get how I can add data into array field along with other fields defined in mongoose schema. When I am trying to post data using POSTMAN with below configurations as shown in screenshot:

Its showing games array is empty and showing below error

 games: CastError: Cast to embedded failed for value "'San and'" (type string) at path "games"

Below is my code:

db.js

const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const dotEnv = require('dotenv').config();

const uri = process.env.URI;

const connect = mongoose.connect(uri,{useNewUrlParser:true,useUnifiedTopology:true})
                .then(() => console.log("Database connected"))
                .catch((err) => {
                   console.log("Something went wrong",err);
                   process.exit(1);
               });

module.exports = connect; 

publisher.js

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const publisherSchema = new mongoose.Schema({

  company_name:{
    type: String
  },
  website:{
    type: String
  }
  games: [{
    date: Date,
    name: String
   }]

 });

const publisher = mongoose.model('Publisher',publisherSchema);
module.exports = publisher;

Two fields can be inserted as given in below code but How Can I add array field along with these two fields.

server.js

const express = require('express');
const connect = require('./db.js');
const publisher = require('./models/publisher.js');
const gaming = require('./models/game.js');

const app = express();

const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;

app.use(express.json());
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true }))

app.post('/publish',async (req,res) => {

const { company_name,website,games } = req.body;

const insert = new publisher({company_name,website,games});

try{
    const data = await insert.save();
    res.send(data); 
}
catch(err){
    console.log(err);
}

});

app.listen(port, () => console.log(`App is up and runnning at ${port}`));

Someone let me know how can I perform this task.

Answer 1

You're getting the CastError because mongodb is only receiving the string "San and" for the games array schema field type.

In Postman, you need to change the games key to games[0][name] to be able to pass "San and" as the game's name. @turivishal and @KunalMukherjee both mention this in the original comments. To add additional array items, you can do so like this in Postman, using x-www-form-urlencoded:

key: games[0][name] value: San and
key: games[0][date] value: 2020-01-01
key: games[1][name] value: The Great Game
key: games[1][date] value: 2020-01-02
etc...

Alternatively, you can write the JSON directly by selecting the raw post body entry method instead of x-www-form-urlencoded. Like this:

{
    "company_name": "roveo",
    "website": "www.ro.com",
    "games": [
        {
            "date": "2020-01-01",
            "name": "San and"
        },
        {
            "date": "2020-01-02",
            "name": "The Great Game"
        }
    ]
}

Here is the output I get in PostMan using this method:

And the DB documents in MongoDB:

Here is the github repo with working code: https://github.com/angusryer/mongo-play

You'll have to point the mongodb uri to your own Cloud Atlas or local server instance. Set up Cloud Atlas by these steps here.

---

Before the question was updated, it looks like like you'd forgotten to extract the games array from your req.body in server.js as well:

const { company_name, website, games } = req.body; // <-- missed `games`

const insert = new publisher({company_name, website, games}); // <-- and `games` here too

try{
    const data = await insert.save();
    res.send(data); 
}
catch(err){
    console.log(err);
}