BigAl

Known Issues ​

Entity collections must be optional ​

Collection properties (one-to-many, many-to-many) must be declared as optional. They are only present after .populate() and will cause QueryResult type errors if required:

ts
// Correct
@column({ collection: () => 'Product', via: 'store' })
public products?: Product[];

// Incorrect — causes type issues
@column({ collection: () => 'Product', via: 'store' })
public products!: Product[];

Non-entity objects with id fields ​

If a JSON column contains objects with an id property, TypeScript may mistake them for BigAl entities. Wrap the type with NotEntity<T>:

ts
import type { NotEntity } from 'bigal';

interface IMyJsonType {
  id: string;
  foo: string;
}

@column({ type: 'json' })
public metadata?: NotEntity<IMyJsonType>;

Without NotEntity, BigAl's type system treats the type as an entity relationship, which leads to incorrect type narrowing in QueryResult.

Debugging queries ​

Set the DEBUG_BIGAL environment variable to see generated SQL:

sh
DEBUG_BIGAL=true node app.js

This logs all SQL statements and parameter values to the console.