The problem is, I'm getting an error in my Console:

{ [MongoError: $regex has to be a string]
  name: 'MongoError',
  message: '$regex has to be a string',
  waitedMS: 0,
  ok: 0,
  errmsg: '$regex has to be a string',
  code: 2 }

Basically I'm using Ajax to get data from my MongoDB, where I'm searching for a user. Without Ajax, my search function is working correctly, but I want to search for a user without the need of refreshing the web-page and just fill up my HTML. Here is all my code:

Server code:

app.post("/searchresult", function(req, res){
    var thename = req.body.thename;
    LoginUser.find({
        $or: [

            {"firstname": {$regex: thename, $options: 'i'}},
            {"lastname": {$regex: thename, $options: 'i'}}
        ]
    }, function(err, searchedUser){
        if(err){
            console.log(err);
            res.redirect("back");
        } else {
            res.render("searchprofile", {foundUser: searchedUser});
        }
    });
});

HTML code:

<form class="form-inline" id="searchform" action="/searchresult" method="POST">
   <input type="text" class="form-control" placeholder="Search people" name="thename" id="searchinput">
   <button type="submit" class="btn btn-default">Submit</button>
</form>

JQuery code:

$("#searchform").on('submit', function(e){
  e.preventDefault();

  var searchInp = $("#searchinput");

  $.ajax({
    url: '/searchresult',
    method: 'POST',
    contentType: 'application/json',
    data: JSON.stringify({ firstname: searchInp.val() }),
    success: function(response){
      console.log(response);
      searchInp.val('');
    }
  });
});

The problem is, I'm getting an error in my Console:

{ [MongoError: $regex has to be a string]
  name: 'MongoError',
  message: '$regex has to be a string',
  waitedMS: 0,
  ok: 0,
  errmsg: '$regex has to be a string',
  code: 2 }

Basically I'm using Ajax to get data from my MongoDB, where I'm searching for a user. Without Ajax, my search function is working correctly, but I want to search for a user without the need of refreshing the web-page and just fill up my HTML. Here is all my code:

Server code:

app.post("/searchresult", function(req, res){
    var thename = req.body.thename;
    LoginUser.find({
        $or: [

            {"firstname": {$regex: thename, $options: 'i'}},
            {"lastname": {$regex: thename, $options: 'i'}}
        ]
    }, function(err, searchedUser){
        if(err){
            console.log(err);
            res.redirect("back");
        } else {
            res.render("searchprofile", {foundUser: searchedUser});
        }
    });
});

HTML code:

<form class="form-inline" id="searchform" action="/searchresult" method="POST">
   <input type="text" class="form-control" placeholder="Search people" name="thename" id="searchinput">
   <button type="submit" class="btn btn-default">Submit</button>
</form>

JQuery code:

$("#searchform").on('submit', function(e){
  e.preventDefault();

  var searchInp = $("#searchinput");

  $.ajax({
    url: '/searchresult',
    method: 'POST',
    contentType: 'application/json',
    data: JSON.stringify({ firstname: searchInp.val() }),
    success: function(response){
      console.log(response);
      searchInp.val('');
    }
  });
});

• javascript
• html
• ajax
• node.js
• mongodb

• What does console.log(thename) show? – JohnnyHK Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 2:17
• with ajax: thename is undefined. without ajax: thename has a value – John Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 2:21
• 1 undefined isn't a string, so that's your problem – JohnnyHK Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 2:32
• any idea why it is returning undefined? is my ajax wrong? thanks! – John Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 2:33
• 1 Well, you're posting firstname instead of thename in your ajax, so... – JohnnyHK Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 2:36

3 Answers 3

// thename = ${thename}

LoginUser.find({ $or: [

    {"firstname": {$regex: `${thename}`, $options: 'i'}},
    {"lastname": {$regex: `${thename}`, $options: 'i'}}
]

},

check your data maybe < thename > is something else than string.

This might also be an issue with the actual type inside mongoDB. I had this error when I was trying to query on a boolean, so my schema was

      const schema = {
         email:string,
         active: boolean,
         role:string
      }

but I was trying to query on all of these, with $or.

     if (typeof query === 'string') {
          queryObject['$or'] = [
            { email: { $regex: `${query}`, $options: 'i' } },
            { role: { $regex: `${query}`, $options: 'i' } },
            { active: { $regex: `${query}`, $options: 'i' } },
          ]
        }

So the issue was with the active it's a boolean, however I was trying to query it with a regex and this cause the issue.

Summary:

• Check your schema types if you're using mongoose, or your data type inside mongodb.
• Query also should be a string for sure.