Soft delete using nodejs + mongodb

Question

How do i perform a soft delete using nodejs on mongodb

for example using this code, can it be modified to do a soft delete instead or is there another way?

Controllers/ category.js

exports.remove = (req, res) => {
    const category = req.category;
    category.remove((error, data) => {
        if (error) {
            return res.status(400).json({
                error: errorHandler(error)
            });
        }
        res.json({
            message: "Category deleted"
        });
    });
};

routes/category.js

const express = require("express");
const router = express.Router();

const { create, categoryById, read, update, remove, list } = require("../controllers/category");
const { requireSignin, isAuth, isAdmin } = require("../controllers/auth");
const { userById } = require("../controllers/user");

router.get("/category/:categoryId", read);
router.post("/category/create/:userId", requireSignin, isAuth, isAdmin, create);
router.put("/category/:categoryId/:userId", requireSignin, isAuth, isAdmin, update);
router.delete("/category/:categoryId/:userId", requireSignin, isAuth, isAdmin, remove);
router.post("/categories", list);

router.param("categoryId", categoryById);
router.param("userId", userById);

module.exports = router;

models/category.js

const mongoose = require("mongoose");

const categorySchema = new mongoose.Schema(
    {
        name: {
            type: String,
            trim: true,
            required: true,
            maxlength: 32
        }
    },
    { timestamps: true }
);

module.exports = mongoose.model("Category", categorySchema);

What does a "soft delete" mean to you? ( Don't presume this is a universal term ). Please explain what you are expecting with specific examples. Show a small sample of documents, an operation and what you expect to happen to the data as a result of that operation. Your current question really does not explain much with the code provided. We can presume that req.category has been filled with the current mongoose model, or possibly a pre-prepared query. But given no code that shows any interaction with either :categoryId or :userId from the route, it's just *not very clear. — Neil Lunn
– Neil Lunn, Commented Nov 3, 2019 at 9:35
Soft delete as in the data is not deleted from the db. The data is still there but for the user it shows that the "item" or category is deleted. — Omar
– Omar, Commented Nov 3, 2019 at 10:02
@Omar req.category is not obvious parameter. is it mongoose model? or is it model instance (result of querying db)? — num8er
– num8er, Commented Nov 3, 2019 at 10:09

num8er · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-03 13:44:37Z

1

I'm not sure req.category is instance of model or model itself.

So in my answer below I assume that somehow You've got instance of model and injected it as req.category

1) Add deleted field to schemas where You want to have soft delete:

const mongoose = require("mongoose");
const {Schema} = mongoose;

const categorySchema = new Schema(
    {
        name: {
          type: Schema.Types.String,
          trim: true,
          required: true,
          maxlength: 32
        },

        // deleted flag for soft delete feature
        deleted: {
          type: Schema.Types.Boolean,
          index: true,
          default: false
        }
    },
    { timestamps: true }
);

module.exports = mongoose.model("Category", categorySchema);

2) Change delete procedure:

module.exports.remove = async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const category = req.category; // if it's an instance of model
    // or if it's mongoose model comment line above
    // const category = await req.category.findOne({
    //                                     _id: req.params.categoryId,
    //                                     deleted: false
    //                                   });

    if (!category || category.deleted === true) {
      return res.status(404).json({
        error: 'Requested category does not exist'
      });
    }

    category.deleted = true;
    await category.save();

    res.status(200).json({
      message: "Category deleted"
    });
  }
  catch (error) {
    res.status(400).json({
      error: errorHandler(error)
    });
  }
};

3) Change category read route: /category/:categoryId handler:

module.exports.read = async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const category = req.category; // if it's an instance of model
    // or if it's mongoose model comment line above
    // const category = await req.category.findOne({
    //                                     _id: req.params.categoryId,
    //                                     deleted: false
    //                                   });

    if (!category || category.deleted === true) {
      return res.status(404).json({
        error: 'Requested category does not exist'
      });
    }
    res.status(200).json(category);
  }
  catch (error) {
    res.status(400).json({
      error: errorHandler(error)
    });
  }
};

4) Change listing procedure:

module.exports.list = async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const categories = await req.category.find({deleted: false});
    res.status(200).json({categories});
  }
  catch (error) {
    res.status(400).json({
      error: errorHandler(error)
    });
  }
};

edited Nov 3, 2019 at 13:44

answered Nov 3, 2019 at 9:43

num8er

19.5k4 gold badges50 silver badges61 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

Omar Over a year ago

Listing procedure didn't work. Returned an error, but when i ran my listing code it worked any ideas why?

num8er Over a year ago

@Omar fixed listing code I forgot to put await before req.category.find

num8er Over a year ago

@Omar keep in mind to change Schema according above code

Yassin Mo · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-20 13:29:58Z

0

Step 1: Add a new field in your Schema "Deleted" with type Boolean and Default value 'false'

deleted: { type: Boolean, default: false }

Step 2

Change Delete Process To:
router.delete('/:id', verifyTokenAndAuthorization, async (req, res) => {
  try {
    await User.findByIdAndUpdate(req.params.id, { deleted: true }); <= change delete status to 'true'
    res.status(200).json('user Deleted');
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(500).json(error)
  }
})

answered Dec 20, 2021 at 13:29

Yassin Mo

6122 gold badges5 silver badges12 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Soft delete using nodejs + mongodb

2 Answers 2

3 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

3 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related