Remote Hook - beforeRemote - upsert not getting triggered

[pktippa]

As per Remote Hooks and PersistedModel REST API documentation, we can use 'upsert' Remote hook.

I have a mixin

module.exports = function(Model, options){
    Model.beforeRemote('upsert',function(ctx,next){
        console.log('upsert called');
        next();
    });
};

but this is not getting triggered when I add a new model instance. Please help.

[jannyHou]

hey @pktippa the main problem is that you miss an argument modelInstance in your callback function, since upsert is an instance method, the syntax should be:

Model.beforeRemote('upsert', function(ctx, modelInstance, next){
       // Your Code
});

Please check our remote hook docs for more details. In the signature part, it explains the syntax for instance method.

---

I also created a repo to reproduce your issue:
Model test has a RemoteHook for upsert:

Test.beforeRemote('upsert',function(ctx, modelInstance, next){
        console.log('upsert called');
        next();
});

And it works with endpoint PUT /tests

[pktippa]

hey @jannyHou thanks for the response.
I observed 3 things here.
a. As per API docs Upsert goes under static methods but not instance methods.
b. The 'upsert' hook getting triggered when we do a PUT but not for POST why?
c. The 'upsert' hook not getting triggered for PUT/{id}

[jannyHou]

hey @pktippa sorry for misguiding you yesterday, upsert is a static method not instance, and the point is upsert is a build-in method instead of remote method. That's why you will get problem when you use a remote hook.
So you can either do the trigger with a Model hook or Operation hook

btw, POST matches create not upsert.

Feel free to reopen it if you have other ideas! And you are welcomed to post question on our google group!

[richardpringle]

@pktippa you might have to use the alias updateOrCreate. I'm not quite sure why it doesn't work but it should.

Also, upsert was implemented as a static method because of the way prototype methods are called by strong-remoting. Any operation performed on this example endpoint /api/Examples/{id}/ will first call findById(...) and then the remote method you originally wished to call. If you try to call PUT /api/Examples/{id}/ for a model that doesn't exist, the findById call with throw an error before updateAttributes is even called.

I think this is a major design flaw and really introduces an inconsistency with the REST endpoints. We are currently working on improving the behavior.

[richardpringle]

^ EDIT:

the findById call with throw an error before upsert is even called

changed to:

the findById call with throw an error before updateAttributes is even called

[richardpringle]

@pktippa

a. As per API docs Upsert goes under static methods but not instance methods.
b. The 'upsert' hook getting triggered when we do a PUT but not for POST why?
c. The 'upsert' hook not getting triggered for PUT/{id}

a) It is a static method because of my above explanation (the design flaw)
b) The create method is mapped to POST and updateOrCreate (alias is upsert) is mapped to PUT
c) The 'updateAttributes` method is mapped to PUT MyModels/{id}

There are no bugs here, the functionality is as expected, but I agree, it is all rather inconsistent and thus confusing. I believe I created an issue somewhere to improve the design.