Parent and Subfields

[simplecommerce]

Hi,

Quick question about the behavior of a Parent and its subfields.
I am using GraphQL as a bridge.
I have a field called address that is defined as an object type with subfields, for e.g.: streetName.

In my model, address is set to null.
I have a field that points to address.streetName.

I notice that when I try to type in my field, the modelTransform always returns null for the address and doesn't seem to convert the structure to

{
   "address": {
      "streetName": ""
   }
}

I assume this is normal behavior correct?

I just did a test, if I omit the address: null it works correctly.

For what reason would a field being defined as null not change to the schema structure when a field or subfield changes?

Sorry if I am unclear.

[radekmie]

Hi there! I guess we're talking about AutoForm here? If so, the logic we use for changing the model is here. Here's a quick test to see whether it handles this case or not:

setIn = (model, key, value) => _.setWith(_.clone(model), key, value, _.clone)
setIn({ address: null }, 'address.streetName', 'Elm') // { address: null }

No, it doesn't. I don't think it should either, as null is technically not a valid address, at least by my standards. Do you think it should handle this case? If so, where is this null coming from?

[simplecommerce]

Yeah sorry about that I am talking about AutoForm.

Ah ok its the behavior of the code you showed me I understand.

The address value comes from our db, we are adding a new form or modifying an existing one and in some cases if the field doesn't exist or is undefined it might be null.

I was just trying to understand why it wouldn't consider null to be similar to undefined. Because in my mind if its null and you are trying to change a sub field, it shouldn't be null anymore because it needs to respect the structure defined.

Once we understood that this was the case, we simply forced it to be {} if its null.

But only wanted to ask to understand the logic behind it.

Do you have a scenario in mind where null would be forced and any other manipulations of subfields should not change it?

Thanks!

[simplecommerce]

In your code example _.setWith(_.clone(model), key, value, _.clone) what is the purpose of the _.clone at the end?
I tested by using {} or Object and that works if address is null and I try to apply address.streetName, it does create a blank object.

[radekmie]

The clone at the end ensures that we only shallow clone the objects we have to instead of doing a deep copy of the entire model. Using Object there breaks arrays:

setIn = (model, key, value) => _.setWith(_.clone(model), key, value, _.clone)
setIn({}, 'address.0.streetName', 'Elm') // { address: [{ streetName: "Elm" }] }

setIn = (model, key, value) => _.setWith(_.clone(model), key, value, Object)
setIn({}, 'address.0.streetName', 'Elm') // { address: { 0: { streetName: "Elm" } } }