mongoose saving a model with a reference

Question

I have a model that looks something like this

var UserSchema = new Schema({
    id:                 ObjectId,
    username:           { type: String, trim: true, required: true, unique: true, lowercase: true },
    location:           [{ type: ObjectId, ref: 'Location', required: false }],
    attachments:        [{ type: ObjectId, ref: 'Attachment', required: false }]
})

When a user registers I need to create the location and attachments objects before I save/create the user to get those ObjectIds. I feel like the way I am doing this might be wrong and that is why it is confusing or there is something I am missing.

My question is how do I go about saving those collections before I save the user collection so I can have those references included in my user collection.

Similar to this question, except multiple references.

Answer 1

Use mongoose hooks to solve the dependency relations. if you want to get the location attachment before saving the user use pre hooks otherwise use post hooks.