fix(repository): allow model classes with recursive type references

Fixes #3671 (comment)


Co-authored-by: Miroslav Bajtoš <[email protected]>

packages/repository/src/__tests__/unit/repositories/legacy-juggler-bridge.unit.ts

@@ -210,6 +210,35 @@ describe('DefaultCrudRepository', () => {
       expect(User.definition.properties.roles.itemType).to.equal(Role);
       expect(User.definition.properties.address.type).to.equal(Address);
     });
+
+    it('handles recursive model references', () => {
+      @model()
+      class ReportState extends Entity {
+        @property({id: true})
+        id: string;
+
+        @property.array(ReportState, {})
+        states: ReportState[];
+
+        @property({
+          type: 'string',
+        })
+        benchmarkId?: string;
+
+        @property({
+          type: 'string',
+        })
+        color?: string;
+
+        constructor(data?: Partial<ReportState>) {
+          super(data);
+        }
+      }
+      const repo = new DefaultCrudRepository(ReportState, ds);
+      const definition = repo.modelClass.definition;
+      const typeOfStates = definition.properties.states.type;
+      expect(typeOfStates).to.eql([repo.modelClass]);
+    });
   });
 
   it('shares the backing PersistedModel across repo instances', () => {

packages/repository/src/repositories/legacy-juggler-bridge.ts

@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ export class DefaultCrudRepository<
       return model as typeof juggler.PersistedModel;
     }
 
+    // To handle circular reference back to the same model,
+    // we create a placeholder model that will be replaced by real one later
+    dataSource.getModel(definition.name, true /* forceCreate */);
+
     // We need to convert property definitions from PropertyDefinition
     // to plain data object because of a juggler limitation
     const properties: {[name: string]: object} = {};