Cannot read property '_self' of undefined in DocumentDB

Question

I want to create a collection in DocumentDB by using Azure. I have a written a code but when executing it throws an error saying that "Cannot read property '_self' of undefined". Below is my code,can any one please do look into my code and help me out.

app.js

var DocumentClient = require("documentdb").DocumentClient;

//the URI value from the DocumentDB Keys blade on http://portal.azure.com 

var endpoint ="https://somedbname.documents.azure.com:443/";

//the PRIMARY KEY value from the DocumentDB Keys blade on 

http://portal.azure.com 

var authkey = 

"SomeAuthKey=="; 

var client = new DocumentClient(endpoint,{"masterkey": authkey});

var databaseDefinition = {"id": "documentdb1"};

var collectionDefinition = {"id": "table1"};

var documentDefinition = {

        "id": "pgogula",

        "stuff": "Hello World",

        "bibbidi": {

        "bobbidi": "boo"

        }
};


client.createDatabase(databaseDefinition, function(err,database){

client.createCollection(database._self,collectionDefinition, 

function(err,collection){

client.createDocument(collection._self, documentDefinition, 

function(err,document){

client.queryDocuments(collection._self,"SELCT * FROM docs d WHERE 

d.bibbidi.bobbidi='boo'").toArray(function(err, results){

 console.log("Query Results:");

 console.log(results);

 });

});

});

});

Error:

D:\Node.js\azure\nodetest>node app.js

D:\Node.js\azure\nodetest\app.js:20

client.createCollection(database._self,collectionDefinition, function(err,coll
                                ^
TypeError: Cannot read property '_self' of undefined

at D:\Node.js\azure\nodetest\app.js:20:33

    at IncomingMessage.<anonymous> (D:\Node.js\azure\nodetest\node_modules\docum

entdb\lib\request.js:49:14)

    at IncomingMessage.emit (events.js:129:20)

    at _stream_readable.js:908:16

    at process._tickCallback (node.js:355:11)

Answer 1

Here are a few tips:

1. Looking at the exception you are getting:

   client.createCollection(database._self,collectionDefinition, function(err,coll ^ TypeError: Cannot read property '_self' of undefined

   database is undefined because you are getting an error passed in to the callback. Looks like you the error message you are receiving is:

   { code: 401, body: '{"code":"Unauthorized","message":"Required Header authorization is miss ing. Ensure a valid Authorization token is passed.\\r\\nActivityId: a98d9f51-982 a-450d-8bc1-f1a0ce5c7eb2"}' }

   The error message indicates that the client failed to sign the database request with your authkey. Looking at your code, the client expects a masterKey property (note camel-case) rather than masterkey. Replacing the following string will fix your code:

   var client = new DocumentClient(endpoint,{"masterkey": authkey});

   with:

   var client = new DocumentClient(endpoint,{"masterKey": authkey});

2. It's dangerous to post your auth key publicly - as anyone can now access your database. I'd strongly recommend regenerating the key; removing it from stackoverflow isn't enough.

3. You have a typo in the following document query which will cause the query to fail. Please replace:

   client.queryDocuments(collection._self,"SELCT * FROM docs d WHERE d.bibbidi.bobbidi='boo'")

   with:

   client.queryDocuments(collection._self,"SELECT * FROM docs d WHERE d.bibbidi.bobbidi='boo'")

This should get your code working; or at least it did on my computer :)