How to update mixed type field in Mongoose without overwriting the current data?

Question

I have the following schema

var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var Schema = mongoose.Schema;
var ShopSchema = new Schema({
    name: Schema.Types.Mixed,
    country: {
        type: String,
        default: ''
    },
    createdAt: {
        type: Date,
        default: Date.now
    },
    defaultLanguage: {
        type: String
    },
    account: {type : Schema.ObjectId, ref : 'Account'},
});
mongoose.model('Shop', ShopSchema);

"name" field is multilingual. I mean, I will keep the multilingual data like

name: {
    "en": "My Shop",
    "es": "Mi Tienda"
}

My problem is, in a controller, I am using this code to update the shop:

var mongoose = require('mongoose')
var Shop = mongoose.model('Shop')

exports.update = function(req, res) {

Shop.findByIdAndUpdate(req.params.shopid, {
    $set: {
        name: req.body.name
    }
}, function(err, shop) {
    if (err) return res.json(err);
        res.json(shop);
    });
};

and it is obvious that new data overrides the old data. What I need is to extend the old data with the new one.

Is there any method to do that?

Answer 1

You should to use the method .markModified(). See the doc http://mongoosejs.com/docs/schematypes.html#mixed

Since it is a schema-less type, you can change the value to anything else you like, but Mongoose loses the ability to auto detect and save those changes. To "tell" Mongoose that the value of a Mixed type has changed, call the .markModified(path) method of the document passing the path to the Mixed type you just changed.

person.anything = { x: [3, 4, { y: "changed" }] };
person.markModified('anything');
person.save(); // anything will now get saved

Answer 2

Use "dot notation" for the specific element:

Shop.findByIdAndUpdate(req.params.shopid, {
    "$set": {
        "name.en": req.body.name
    }
}, function(err, shop) {
    if (err) return res.json(err);
        res.json(shop);
    });
});

That wil either only overwrite the "en" element if that is what you want to do or "create" a new element with the data you set it to. So if you used "de" and that did not exist there will be the other elements and a new "de" one with the value.