Using EntityRepository instead of EntityManager

More convenient way of fetching entities from database is by using EntityRepository, that carries the entity name so you do not have to pass it to every find and findOne calls:

Example:

const booksRepository = orm.em.getRepository(Book);

// with sorting, limit and offset parameters, populating author references
const books = await booksRepository.find({ author: '...' }, ['author'], { title: QueryOrder.DESC }, 2, 1);

// or with options object
const books = await booksRepository.find({ author: '...' }, {
  populate: ['author'],
  limit: 1,
  offset: 2,
  sort: { title: QueryOrder.DESC },
});

console.log(books); // Book[]

Custom Repository

To use custom repository, just extend EntityRepository<T> class:

@Repository(Author)
export class CustomAuthorRepository extends EntityRepository<Author> {

  // your custom methods...
  public findAndUpdate(...) {
    // ...
  }

}

You can also omit the @Repository decorator and register your repository in @Entity decorator instead:

@Entity({ customRepository: () => CustomAuthorRepository })
export class Author {
  // ...
}

Note that we need to pass that repository reference inside a callback so we will not run into circular dependency issues when using entity references inside that repository.

Now you can access your custom repository via em.getRepository() method.

You can also register custom base repository (for all entities where you do not specify customRepository) globally, via MikroORM.init({ entityRepository: CustomBaseRepository }).

For more examples, take a look at tests/EntityManager.mongo.test.ts or tests/EntityManager.mysql.test.ts.

EntityRepository<T> API

find(where: FilterQuery<T>, options?: FindOptions): Promise<T[]>

Returns array of entities found for given condition. You can specify FindOptions to request population of referenced entities or control the pagination:

export interface FindOptions {
  populate?: string[];
  orderBy?: { [k: string]: QueryOrder };
  limit?: number;
  offset?: number;
  schema?: string;
}

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find(where: FilterQuery<T>, populate?: string[], orderBy?: { [k: string]: QueryOrder }, limit?: number, offset?: number): Promise<T[]>

Same as previous find method, just with dedicated parameters for populate, orderBy, limit and offset.

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findAndCount(where: FilterQuery<T>, populate?: string[], orderBy?: { [k: string]: QueryOrder }, limit?: number, offset?: number): Promise<T[]>

Combination of find and count methods.

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findAll(options?: FindOptions): Promise<T[]>

Returns all entities for given type.

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findAll(populate?: string[], orderBy?: { [k: string]: QueryOrder }, limit?: number, offset?: number): Promise<T[]>

Same as previous findAll method, just with dedicated parameters for populate, orderBy, limit and offset.

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findOne(where: FilterQuery<T> | string, populate?: string[]): Promise<T | null>

Finds an entity by given where condition. You can use primary key as where value, then if the entity is already managed, no database call will be made.

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findOneOrFail(where: FilterQuery<T> | string, populate?: string[]): Promise<T>

Just like findOne, but throws when entity not found, so it always resolves to given entity. You can customize the error either globally via findOneOrFailHandler option, or locally via failHandler option in findOneOrFail call.

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merge(data: EntityData<T>): T

Adds given entity to current Identity Map. After merging, entity becomes managed. This is useful when you want to work with cached entities.

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getReference(id: string): T

Gets a reference to the entity identified by the given type and identifier without actually loading it, if the entity is not yet loaded.

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count(where?: FilterQuery<T>): Promise<number>

Gets count of entities matching the where condition.

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persist(entity: AnyEntity | AnyEntity[], flush?: boolean): Promise<void>

Tells the EntityManager to make an instance managed and persistent. The entity will be entered into the database at or before transaction commit or as a result of the flush operation. You can control immediate flushing via flush parameter and via autoFlush configuration option.

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persistAndFlush(entity: AnyEntity | AnyEntity[]): Promise<void>

Shortcut for persist & flush.

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persistLater(entity: AnyEntity | AnyEntity[]): void

Shortcut for just persist, without flushing.

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flush(): Promise<void>

Flushes all changes to objects that have been queued up to now to the database.

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remove(where: AnyEntity | FilterQuery<T>, flush?: boolean): Promise<number>

When provided entity instance as where value, then it calls removeEntity(entity, flush), otherwise it fires delete query with given where condition.

This method fires beforeDelete and afterDelete hooks only if you provide entity instance.

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removeAndFlush(entity: AnyEntity): Promise<void>

Shortcut for removeEntity & flush.

This method fires beforeDelete and afterDelete hooks.

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removeLater(entity: AnyEntity): void

Shortcut for removeEntity without flushing.

This method fires beforeDelete and afterDelete hooks.

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canPopulate(property: string): boolean

Returns whether given entity has given property which can be populated (is reference or collection).

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