How to properly get array data from observable?

Question

I need two functions to return all data as well as specific filtered data, but my constructs are wrong. Below is what "think" I want, but am returning Subscriptions instead of arrays:

   allItems() {

      var collectionAll: AngularFirestoreCollection<Item> =
         this._afs.collection<Item>('items');

      var itemArray$: Observable<Item[]> =
         collectionAll.valueChanges();

      // Returns Subscription but I need Items[]
      return itemArray$.subscribe(items => {
         return items;
      })
   }

   specificItems(name: string) {

      var collectionSpecific: AngularFirestoreCollection<Item> =
         this._afs.collection<Item>('items', ref =>
            ref.where('name', '==', name));

      var itemArray$: Observable<Item[]> =
         collectionSpecific.valueChanges();

      // Returns Subscription but I need Items[]
      return itemArray$.subscribe(items => {
         return items;
      })
   }

Also I would think that it would need to be an async function, but the subscribe function doesn't return a promise.

And I'm not even sure at what point I would actually be charged a read count from Firestore...?

Answer 1

If you want a promise, you need to convert the Observable to a Promise using toPromise:

specificItems(name: string): Promise<Item[]> {
  var collectionSpecific: AngularFirestoreCollection<Item> =
     this._afs.collection<Item>('items', ref =>
        ref.where('name', '==', name));

  var itemArray$: Observable<Item[]> =
     collectionSpecific.valueChanges();

  return itemArray$.toPromise();
}