Why two remove reference item are there for Model.

Question

After landing into the API docs of mongoose, there is left side menu, Under model.js section. We see something like this:

- model.js

    -Model
    -save
    -increment
    -remove      <== 1
    -model
    -$where
    -ensureIndexes
    -remove      <== 2
    ...

Both remove are having the link to Model#remove([fn])

There is one more topic which is not linked. Titled Model.remove(conditions, [callback]) which is documented under the same model.js section. (just after the topic Model.ensureIndexes)

Could anyone one tell me what is the difference between both?

Answer 1

You can always browse the source code for mongoose. It's a great way to learn how it works.

There are two removes:

1. Model.prototype.remove => this removes a specific mongoose Model object from a collection. It works on an instance.

   Model.prototype.remove = function remove (fn) { ... }

2. Model.remove => this bypasses the Mongoose library and uses conditions supplied as the first parameter to perform a remove:

   Model.remove = function remove (conditions, callback) { ... }

(It is documented on the page as Model.remove, but it appears there's something wrong with the anchors on the page are pointed to the wrong function, likely because of the duplicated name.)