convert object literal notation to dot notation for mongoose

Question

In NodeJS I receive from Postman an object like:

sysData: {
  status: 'active'
}

This needs to be dynamically converted to dot notation like { 'sysData.status': 'active' } so I can do a find with Mongoose.

The object can change. How do I convert this dynamically?

In Postman I have created a Query Params following sysData.status, however, I don't receive this in NodeJS. When I create a Query params following SysData[status] I receive this in NodeJS in object literal notation, which in my opinion I can't use for Mongoose. So I need to convert this. Because the Query params can change, this needs to be done dynamically.

Or is there another way to resolve this?

Answer 1

Problem:

Given an object passed from postman of:

{ sysData: { status: 'active'} }

When used in a mongoose query like so:

Model.find({ sysData: { status: 'active'} })

It will match this document:

//Document 1
{
   name: 'bob',
   age: 21,
   sysData: { status: 'active' }
}

But not this document:

//Document 2
{
   name: 'sally',
   age: 60,
   sysData: { status: 'active', cores: 4 }
}

The reason this happens is because when your query object is defined like so:

{ sysData: { status: 'active'} }

MongoDB will look for an exact match for sysData. The implications are that if you have another key in the sysData object in your database (e.g. cores: 4) then there won't be an exact match.

However, when you define your query object like this:

{ 'sysData.status': 'active' }

MongoDB will find both documents above because the query is only looking for a document where the sysData.status object has a value of active. All other keys are irrelevant.

Solution:

There are many ways to transform your postman object into the desired format. One way could be by using Object.entries() with Object.keys and Object.values() like so:

const postman = { sysData: { status: 'active'} };
let query = {};
const key = `${Object.keys(postman)[0]}.${Object.keys(Object.entries(postman)[0][1])[0]}`;
const value = Object.values(Object.entries(postman)[0][1])[0];
query[key] = value;
Model.find(query);