loopbackio / loopbackio/loopback-next

@property.array doesn't work if nulls are allowed

Open
#8,466 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

bug Repository
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
5.1k
Forks
1.1k
Avg merge
2d 21h
Merged PRs (30d)
27

Description

### Describe the bug

Trying to make a model that maps to a nullable JSON or array column in PostgreSQL, so the entity property needs to permit nulls.

A property declared like this:
```typescript
@property.array('string', {
required: false,
})
foo!: string[] | null;
```
Produces a `@property.array can only decorate array properties` from here: https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/blob/a60ae8e43a1ec9d65929f19bbd364e332f28503b/packages/repository/src/decorators/model.decorator.ts#L155

Trying to "hack" it like this:
```typescript
@property({
required: false,
type: Array,
itemType: 'string',
jsonSchema: {
type: 'array',
nullable: true,
items: { type: 'string' },
},
})
```
Results in incorrect data being sent to PostgreSQL (get JSON syntax errors because it's sending the object as an array to the PG driver instead of the `JSON.stringify` it should be using, because the array check in `loopback-connector-postgresql` (https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-connector-postgresql/blob/61b5029275487fc7812d774ab4be16dc8aacd726/lib/postgresql.js#L788) fails

### Logs

_No response_

### Additional information

_No response_

### Reproduction

https://codesandbox.io/s/zen-thompson-keo2is

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Read packages/repository/src/decorators/model.decorator.ts at the reported array-property check, then compare it with the array handling in loopback-connector-postgresql/lib/postgresql.js. Reproduce the nullable array case with the linked CodeSandbox and verify that the decorator accepts it and PostgreSQL receives valid JSON without syntax errors.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
postgresql, typescript
Domain
backend, databases
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.