How to assign a user a post with Mongoose and Express

Question

I am currently stuck on how I could assign a user a post when they create when in the website. So basically I want to have a logged in user create a resume and then have that resume assigned to that logged in user as a created_by in the schema. I kind of got it sorted but I don't know to create the resume and assign the logged in user to it.

const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const Schema = mongoose.Schema;
const ObjectId = Schema.ObjectId;
var moment = require('moment');
var id = require('../helpers/generator');
let beautifyUnique = require('mongoose-beautiful-unique-validation');


const ResumeSchema = new Schema({
  _id: {
    type: String,
    default: id.generate()
  },
  title: {
    type: String,
    required: true
  },
  creator: {
    type: ObjectId,
    ref: "User"
  },
  description: {
    type: String,
    default: "No description provided."
  },
  company_reviews: {
    name: {
      type: String,
      default: "RSW"
    },
    review: {
      type: String,
      default: "asodsodo"
    },
    rating: {
      type: String,
      default: "10/10"
    }
  },
  employee_reviews: {
    name: {
      type: String,
      default: "Doge Dog"
    },
    company: {
      type: String,
      default: "RSW"
    },
    review: {
      type: String,
      default: "blah blah"
    },
    rating: {
      type: String,
      default: "10/10"
    }
  },
  createdAt: {
    type: String,
    default: moment(new Date()).format("MMM DD, YYYY") // "Sun, 3PM"
  }
});

var Resume = mongoose.model('Resume', ResumeSchema);
module.exports = Resume;

const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const Schema = mongoose.Schema;
var moment = require('moment');
var bcrypt = require('bcrypt');
var id = require('../../helpers/generator');
let beautifyUnique = require('mongoose-beautiful-unique-validation');


const UserSchema = new Schema({
    _id: {
        type: String,
        default: id.generate()
    },
    firstName: {
        type: String,
        required: true
    },
    lastName: {
        type: String,
        required: true
    },
    accountType: {
        type: String,
        enum: ['Alphaneer', 'Administrator', 'Support', 'PRO'],
        default: 'Alphaneer'
    },
    email: {
        type: String,
        required: true,
        trim: true
    },
    username: {
        type: String,
        required: true,
        trim: true,
        unique: true
    },
    bio: {
        type: String,
        default: "No bio provided."
    },
    password: {
        type: String,
        required: true
    },
    createdAt: {
        type: String,
        default: moment(new Date()).format("MMM DD, YYYY") // "Sun, 3PM 17"
    }
});

// authenticate input against content from database. BLOODY HELL ITS A MESS
UserSchema.statics.authenticate = function(email, password, callback) {
    User.findOne({
            email: email
        })
        .exec(function(err, user) {
            if (err) {
                return callback(err);
            }
            bcrypt.compare(password, user.password, function(err, result) {
                if (result === true) {
                    return callback(null, user)
                } else {
                    return callback();
                }
            })
        })
}

UserSchema.pre('save', function(next) {
    var user = this;
    bcrypt.hash(user.password, 10, function(err, hash) {
        if (err) throw err;
        user.password = hash;
        console.log("LOG: Password hashed & user saved.");
        next();
    });
});

var User = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema);

module.exports = User;

And I want to create a Resume as the logged in user here

// POST /dashboard/resume/create
router.post('/resume/create', (req, res, next) => {
  Resume.create(req.body, (err, resume) => {
    if (err) {
      var err = new Error("Error:" + err);
      err.status = 404;
      next(err);
    } else {
      return res.redirect('/dashboard');
    }
  })
});

I also create a Resume when I register a user. Kind of a welcome thing but also have that resume referenced to the user

// POST /register
router.post('/', (req, res, next) => {
  var data = {
    firstName: req.body.fName,
    lastName: req.body.lName,
    username: req.body.username,
    email: req.body.email,
    password: req.body.password,
    bio: req.body.bio
  };
  User.create(data, (err, user) => {
    if (err) {
      throw err;
    }
    var resume = {
      title: "Welcome to NAME!"
    }
    Resume.create(resume, (err, resume) => {
      if (err) throw err;
      return res.redirect('/');
    });
  });
});

Any help is appreciated and I can also do some further explaining if it isn't making sense :)

Answer 1 · 2016-12-24T14:57:45Z

December 24, 2016 2:57pm

Hey Ethan,

In your userSchema you have to add a reference to the posts the user has created, you can do it with the following code:

posts: [
   {
      type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
      ref: 'Post'
   }
]

You also need to to add a reference to an user in each post you create, to assign ownership:

author: [
   {
      type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
      ref: 'User'
   }
]

Now, everytime you create a new post, you assign it an user

// We find the current logged user in our database
User.findById(req.user.id, (err, user) => {
   if (err) throw new Error(err);

   // We create an object containing the data from our post request
   const newPost = {
      title: req.body.title,
      content: req.body.content,
      // in the author field we add our current user id as a reference
      author: req.user._id
   };

   // we create our new post in our database
   Post.create(newPost, (err, post) => {
      if (err) {
         res.redirect('/');
         throw new Error(err);
      }

      // we insert our newpost in our posts field corresponding to the user we found in our database call
      user.posts.push(newPost);
      // we save our user with our new data (our new post).
      user.save((err) => {
         return res.redirect(`/posts/${post.id}`);
      });
   })
});

Now you have access to the post author using

post.author.id
post.author.username
etc.

and now you can find all posts corresponding to each user using the populate method

// this will populate the posts field in our userSchema (which contain the id references to our posts)
User.findById(req.user.id).populate('posts').exec((err, user) => {
   console.log(user.posts);
})

Answer 2 · 2016-12-29T19:42:01Z

December 29, 2016 7:42pm

Thank you!

Answer 3 · 2018-06-18T19:21:51Z

June 18, 2018 7:21pm

Very helpful! Thank you for the answer!

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