MongoDB Filter between two dates

Question

Simple code for getting documents that have a creationDate between two values in mongodb.

If the user provides only one of the values the code should still work and get the documents that have either a creationDate less than or bigger than the given value.

I'm mainly looking for more readability and simplicity.

interface mongoDateFilter {
 $gte?: Date;
 $lte?: Date;
}
export const getReportsForContent = async (
 contentId: ObjectId,
 beginDate: Date | undefined,
 endDate: Date | undefined,
): Promise<Report[]> => {
 const reportsCollection = await getCollection('reports');
 const creationDateMongoFilter: mongoDateFilter = {};
 if (beginDate) {
 creationDateMongoFilter['$gte'] = beginDate;
 }
 if (endDate) {
 creationDateMongoFilter['$lte'] = endDate;
 }
 let reportsForContent: Report[] = [];
 if (beginDate || endDate) {
 reportsForContent = await reportsCollection.find({ contentId, creationDate: creationDateMongoFilter }).toArray();
 } else {
 reportsForContent = await reportsCollection.find({ contentId }).toArray();
 }
 return reportsForContent;
};
```

Answer 1

Prefer dot notation over bracket notation when syntax permits it - it's a bit easier to read and write. ESLint rule: dot-notation.

Construct objects all in one go rather than mutating them afterwards, if you can - it's easier to write (especially in TypeScript, since you don't have to denote the type ahead of time) and can be easier to understand at a glance when unnecessary mutation is avoided.

Don't assign expressions that won't be used - with

let reportsForContent: Report[] = [];

regardless of the situation, reportsForContent will be reassigned to something else afterwards, so you can leave off the = [] part.

Or, even better:

Return the value retrieved instead of reassigning a variable and then returning the variable. This:

 if (beginDate || endDate) {
 reportsForContent = await reportsCollection.find({ contentId, creationDate: creationDateMongoFilter }).toArray();
 } else {
 reportsForContent = await reportsCollection.find({ contentId }).toArray();
 }

can be

 if (beginDate || endDate) {
 return reportsCollection.find({ contentId, creationDate: creationDateMongoFilter }).toArray();
 } else {
 return reportsCollection.find({ contentId }).toArray();
 }

Or, even better, handle the case where no date is set at the very beginning, and only construct the creationDateMongoFilter later, if it's needed.

In all:

export const getReportsForContent = async (
 contentId: ObjectId,
 beginDate: Date | undefined,
 endDate: Date | undefined,
): Promise<Report[]> => {
 const reportsCollection = await getCollection('reports');
 if (!beginDate && !endDate) {
 return reportsCollection.find({ contentId }).toArray();
 }
 const creationDateMongoFilter = {
 (...beginDate && { $gte: beginDate }),
 (...endDate && { $lte: endDate }),
 };
 return reportsCollection.find({ contentId, creationDate: creationDateMongoFilter }).toArray();
};

No need for the mongoDateFilter interface anymore.

• ATheCoder: Sending undefined to one of $gte or $lte while the other one is a defined and a date, will not result in the same behavior as supplying only one of $gte or $lte that's why I had those if statements and conditionally filled the creationDateMongoFilter object
• CertainPerformance: Oh, that's unfortunate, that's a surprisingly strict interpretation Mongo has. Tweak is simple enough, you can conditionally add properties to the object during its definition, see stackoverflow.com/q/11704267