Improperly Inserting Array Properties Into MongoDB

[kevdougful]

Description / Steps to reproduce / Feature proposal

I have a Publication model that basically describes an entry in a bibliography. I'd like to store the author names for each publication as an array of strings:

export class Publication extends Entity {
  // ...
  @property.array(String) authors: string[]
  // ...
}

and a controller like this:

export class PublicationController {

  constructor(@repository(PublicationRepository) protected repo: PublicationRepository) {}

  @post('/publications')
  async createPublication(@requestBody() publication: Publication) {
    return await this.repo.create(publication)
  }
}

Current Behavior

I'm using MongoDB as a data source and the data is not being stored as an array but rather as a single comma-separated string. I've found that if I comment out the authors property in the model, POST a new publication, then turn the authors property back on any subsequent GET /publications will return objects where the authors property is an array.

Expected Behavior

I expect the @property.array(String) to properly insert data as an array in both the database and in responses from the REST API.

See Reporting Issues for more tips on writing good issues

[jannyHou]

Trying it, will update my finding later.

---

Update

I reproduced the error. Seems decorator property.array generates a wrong definition, or it's not compatible with the mongodb connector.

I may need more time to use a LB3 app to figure out the correct property definition, then we know how to fix ^

[dhmlau]

@jannyHou , do we know enough to estimate or should i just put it in the backlog?

[jannyHou]

@dhmlau Verified it's a bug. It needs time to investigate including some debug setup, I agree to put it in the backlog, changed the pipeline.

[shimks]

Fixed with #1570. Closing as done