Meteor array returned as string to this

Question

In my Meteor app, I have a simple array field called relatedSentences. It is defined using SimpleSchema

 relatedSentences: {
     type: [String],
     label: "Related Sentence",
     optional: false,
     defaultValue: [] 
 },

It's data can be seen in the Mongo console:

"_id" : "ei96FFfFdmhPXxRWb",
"sentence" : "the newest one",
"relatedSentences" : [
    "Ls6EyBkbcotcyfLyw",
    "6HKQroCjZhG9YCuBt"
],
"createdAt" : ISODate("2015-10-25T11:21:25.338Z"),
"updatedAt" : ISODate("2015-10-25T11:41:39.691Z")

But when I try to access this field using this, it is returned as a raw string.

Template.showSentence.helpers({
   translations: function() {
      console.log("related: " + this.relatedSentences);
      Meteor.subscribe('sentences', function() {
        var relatedSentences = Sentences.find({_id: {$in: this.relatedSentences} }).fetch();
        console.log("rel count" + relatedSentences.length);
        return relatedSentences;
      }); 
   }
});

In the console I get an error. See the return value from the this.relatedSentences. It is the contents of the array as a string, with a comma interpolated.

related: Ls6EyBkbcotcyfLyw,6HKQroCjZhG9YCuBt
selector.js:595 Uncaught Error: $in needs an array

Not sure what is going on here.

Some Progress

I have made some progress, but not yet at a solution. By adding blackbox: true to the SimpleSchema definition, what looks like an array is now returned... but alas it is still failing. See below.

  relatedSentences: {
     type: [String],
     label: "Related Sentence",
     optional: false,
     blackbox: true,
     defaultValue: []
  },

Now I get the results below in the console. The values are now being returned as a quoted array, which is what I expected. But the $in is still not seeing it as an array.

["Ls6EyBkbcotcyfLyw", "6HKQroCjZhG9YCuBt"]
selector.js:595 Uncaught Error: $in needs an array

How did the data get populated

In answer to @Kyll - this is how the data was originally populated. I am using AutoForm,

     {{> afQuickField name='relatedSentences.0' value=this._id type="hidden"}}

but then adding the array data via a hook.

AutoForm.addHooks('translateForm', {
   onSuccess: function (operation, result, template) {
      Meteor.subscribe('sentences', function() {
        var translatedSentence = Sentences.findOne(result);
        var originalSentenceId = translatedSentence.relatedSentences[0]
        Sentences.update(
           { _id: originalSentenceId}, 
           { $push: { relatedSentences: result}
        });
        Router.go('showSentence',{ _id: originalSentenceId } );
      });     
   }
});

realated should look like ['Ls6EyBkbcotcyfLyw','6HKQroCjZhG9YCuBt'] inside array not a string. The error tells you the same thing. $in accepts arrays only. — user5084201
– user5084201, Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 12:21
Yes I understand the error message, but I don't understand why Meteor is returning the array as a string — port5432
– port5432, Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 12:24
Thanks @Kyll I'm not sure what you mean. The template is showSentence and the helper can access this and the relatedSentence field. — port5432
– port5432, Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 12:59
Yes, but apparently your data somehow got skewed into a String on the way there. So how did it get into your template data? Through a router? A handlebars call..? — Kyll
– Kyll, Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 13:00

Autumn Leonard · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-26 21:20:51Z

1

The problem here is the scope of this. You are referring to it inside the subscribe function, where this has a different context. Set a varibale to this in the context where it works, then use that variable instead:

Template.showSentence.helpers({
   translations: function() {
      console.log("related: " + this.relatedSentences);
      var this_related_sentences = this.relatedSentences;
      Meteor.subscribe('sentences', function() {
        var relatedSentences = Sentences.find({_id: {$in: this_related_sentences} }).fetch();
        console.log("rel count" + relatedSentences.length);
        return relatedSentences;
      }); 
   }
});

answered Oct 26, 2015 at 21:20

Autumn Leonard

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