DocumentRef.update() does not respect withConverter setting

[0xJem]

[READ] Step 1: Are you in the right place?

Yes.

[REQUIRED] Step 2: Describe your environment

• Operating System version: macOS 13.2.1
• Firebase SDK version: 11.5.0 of firebase-admin
• Firebase Product: database
• Node.js version: 18.2.1
• NPM version: yarn 8.19.2

[REQUIRED] Step 3: Describe the problem

Steps to reproduce:

1. Obtain a DocumentReference from a collection with the converter set.

  const firestoreClient = new firestore.Firestore();
  firestoreClient.settings({ ignoreUndefinedProperties: true });

  const testRef = firestoreClient
    .collection("tests")
    .withConverter(TestConverter)
    .doc(testId);

2. Call testRef.update() with data.

testRef.update({
 key: value,
});

The functions in the converter, TestConverter, are not called.

However, if the following is performed instead, the functions in TestConverter are called:

testRef.set({
 key: value,
}, { merge: true});

[lahirumaramba]

Hi @0xJem,

Cloud Firestore support is provided by the @google-cloud/firestore library. Therefore the easiest and most efficient way to get Firestore issues resolved is by directly reporting them at the nodejs-firestore GitHub repo.

Thanks!

[0xJem]

Ah, thanks for the correction!

[cherylEnkidu]

Hi @0xJem

The converter is designed to help convert the top level (T) data structure. In set(), the data type you passed to it is either T or partial T, that's why the converter takes effect.

On the other side, update() is used to update the fields, where the fields can sit inside the nested data structure in Document and are not necessary partial T. So it will not trigger converter.

Please let me know if further assistant is need :)

[0xJem]

That makes sense... but this nuance not mentioned in the documentation, nor is it explicitly mentioned that the converter will not be used.

For example, it is not mentioned here: https://cloud.google.com/firestore/docs/manage-data/add-data#update-data

[cherylEnkidu]

Hi @0xJem , if you search for overwrit keyword, you will find several sentences mentioning about this difference. But we agree this subtle difference needs to highlight and the team is working on this.

[0xJem]

Hi @0xJem , if you search for overwrit keyword, you will find several sentences mentioning about this difference. But we agree this subtle difference needs to highlight and the team is working on this.

Overwrite is mentioned 3 times on the page that I linked to, but nowhere does it mention that the converter will not be used.