Querying nested embedded documents with Mongoose

Question

I'm trying to query inside an embedded document that is nested. I've attempted to 'populate' the results but that fails.

How do I get back all of the book details inside the find call? I want all of the book objects on a users shelf that I can get data from?

###

Trying to query nested embedded documents using Mongoose.

Database Outline for example

An Owner has multiple bookshelves which each have an array of books.
A book is not unique, and the same book could be on many different shelves.

###

mongoose = require("mongoose")
Schema = mongoose.Schema
mongoose.connect "localhost", "d1"

bookSchema = new Schema(title: String)
Book = mongoose.model("Book", bookSchema)

shelfBookSchema = new Schema(
  book:
    type: Schema.ObjectId
    ref: "Book"
  )

shelfSchema = new Schema(
  name: String
  books: [ shelfBookSchema ]
  )

Shelf = mongoose.model("Shelf", shelfSchema)

ownerSchema = new Schema(
  firstName: String
  shelves: [ shelfSchema ]
  )

Owner = mongoose.model("Owner", ownerSchema)

mongoose.connection.on "open", ->
  book1 = new Book(title:"How to make stuff")
  book1.save (err) ->
    throw err if err

    owner = new Owner(firstName:"John")
    shelf = new Shelf(name:"DIY Shelf")
    shelf.books.push
      _id: book1._id
      book: book1._id
    owner.shelves.push shelf
    owner.save (err) ->
      throw err if err

      #Let's find one owner and get all of his bookshelves and the books they containa
      Owner.findOne().populate("shelves.books.book").exec (err, owner) ->
        console.error owner.shelves[0].books

        ### Log shows:

        { book: 4fe3047401fc23e79c000003,
        _id: 4fe3047401fc23e79c000003 }]

        Great but how do I get the values of book like the title etc??

        ###

        mongoose.connection.db.dropDatabase ->
          mongoose.connection.close()

Answer 1

Deep population was added in Mongoose 3.6. https://github.com/LearnBoost/mongoose/issues/1377#issuecomment-15911192

For your example, it would be something like:

Owner.find().populate('shelves').exec(PopulateBooks);

function PopulateBooks(err, owners) {
      if(err) throw err;
      // Deep population is here
      Book.populate(owners, { path: 'shelves.books' }).exec(callback);
}

Answer 2

right now nested sub document population is not supported. i added a link to this post to the open github issue for future tracking.

https://github.com/LearnBoost/mongoose/issues/601