Constructing Documents in Mongoose | Rustcode

Constructing Documents in Mongoose

In Mongoose, documents are instances of models and represent individual records in your MongoDB collections. Constructing documents involves creating instances of a model, initializing them with data, and optionally saving them to the database.

Creating a Document Instance

To construct a new document, use the new keyword with your compiled model:

const user = new User({
  name: { first: 'Jane', last: 'Doe' },
  email: 'jane.doe@example.com',
  age: 28
});

Setting and Modifying Properties

You can set properties directly via the constructor or modify the instance properties later:

// Initial properties at construction time
const post = new Post({ title: 'Hello World', content: 'My first post' });

// Modifying properties after construction
post.title = 'Updated Title';
post.content = 'Updated content';

Saving Documents to MongoDB

To persist your constructed document to the database, call the asynchronous save() method:

user.save()
  .then(doc => console.log('Document saved:', doc))
  .catch(err => console.error('Save error:', err));

Using Document Methods and Virtuals

Documents can use instance methods and virtual properties defined on the schema. This enables custom behavior and computed values.

user.fullName();   // Example instance method
console.log(user.fullName); // Example virtual property

Summary Table

Operation	Description	Code Example
Create	Initialize a new document instance	`new Model(data)`
Modify	Update document properties	`doc.property = value`
Save	Persist document to MongoDB	`doc.save()`

Best Practices

Validate data before saving documents.
Use schema methods and virtuals to encapsulate logic.
Handle errors during save operations gracefully.
Create documents using model constructors consistently.

Conclusion

Constructing documents through Mongoose models provides a powerful and flexible way to manage MongoDB records. With support for instance methods and schema validations, your documents stay consistent and your data layer clean.