Using dataviewjs to retrieve data from a linked note in YAML

[flatlines]

I am trying to replicate the following query in dataviewjs, as doing so will help me make it more dynamic:

table parent.conditions.potting_mix AS "Potting Mix", final_size.spread AS spacing, final_size.role AS role, parent.postage.amount_pp AS "p/p", parent.companion.works_well_with AS "likes"
from #variety and -"templates"
flatten this.site.conditions.light AS Light
flatten this.site.conditions.wind AS Wind
flatten this.site.conditions.support AS Support
where contains(row.parent.conditions.light, Light) and contains(row.final_size.support, Support)

Unfortunately, I am running into issues when trying to retrieve linked notes from the query results. To clarify, dv.pages('#variety and -"templates"') will return all #variety notes, which then have the following structure each:

---
aliases: [Vespa Field Bean]
variety: [equina]
name: [Vespa]
parent: "[[Bean]]"
created: [[{{date}}]]
---

Conceptually, these notes inherit properties from their parent, which in turn are structured as follows:

---
aliases: [Vicia faba, broad bean, english bean, european bean, field bean, horse bean, straight bean, fava bean]
kingdom: plantae
family: [Fabaceae, Leguminosae]
binomial: [Vicia faba]
type: vegetable
lifecycle: annual
tags: plantae
created: [[2022-03-12]]
conditions:
  light: [partial sun]
  soil: [moist]
  wind: [exposed]
  support: [cane]
  potting_mix: "[[grow bag soil mix recipe|epic grow bag mix]]"
  pH: [neutral, alkaline, acid]
  hardiness_zones:
    RHS: "[[RHS H4|H4]]"
---

When I use query language, dataview has no problem traversing to the parent via parent.postage.amount_pp. However, when I try and do the equivalent in dataviewjs, I get stuck.

The parent isn't directly referenced from the current note in which the code is run, so I don't think I can use dv.current() to solve this one. Instead, my starting point is the array object that is returned by dv.pages('#variety and -"templates"'). I have included a truncated version here:

// initialise potential matches ---
// this will load up *all* the variet notes
// that exist within obsidian
let varietyArr = dv.pages('#variety and -"templates"')

// initialise search process
for (var index = 0; index < varietyArr.length; index++) {
	shortlist(varietyArr[index]);
}

// begin shortlisting potential matches
function shortlist(component){
	parentObj = component.parent;
	dv.paragraph(parentObj);
	let test = dv.page(parentObj);
        // dv.paragraph(test);
}

When I print dv.paragraph(parentObj), I get a list of clickable links (one for every matching note).
When I print dv.paragraph(test), the system embeds the full file structure of the parent note into my workspace, i.e.

file: 
   path: plantae/Beans, Broad.md

etc.

But when I try something like: dv.paragraph(test.file.name); the code fails and returns TypeError: Cannot read the properties of undefined". How come dataviewjs is able to render the contents of the file but won't let me traverse it?

I've also tried let link = app.getObsidianUrl(parentObj) and printing those. For these, Obsidian returns a full text string along the lines of obsidian://open?vault=abc&file=Pepper%2C%20Chili. Is there an Obsidian app command that would simply extract the file name as text? Perhaps I could try passing that to dv.pages() instead to see does it make a difference?

My sincere thanks.

[flatlines]

Right, I have figured it out.

In my variety pages, I was using an alias to refer to the parent link. For the curious among you, the alias was "[[Tomatoes]]", and the source file was called Tomato.md. Dataviewjs was unable to resolve this link when querying for properties of the Tomato.md page (e.g. dv.page("Tomatoes").file.name), causing the entire array and script to crash with TypeError undefined. Simply running dv.paragraph(dv.page("beans")) rendered the underlying pages (except tomatoes) fine, further hiding the problem.

On hindsight, seeing something like this would have been really helpful:

Peas
-
Potatoes

It's possible that something like this already exists in the console and I am just not experienced enough to see it.

After several dead ends, I eventually started testing by running dv.page() manually, with all the different strings from the array. This in turn surfaced the error.

Interestingly, the dataview query language has never thrown an error like this before (it handles aliases with aplomb) which is why the issue flew under my radar for so long.

TL;DR: if dv.page( ) isn't running, troubleshoot by checking the strings manually (typing them in) because one mis-matched string in the array will cause it to fall over. Also beware use of aliases in dataviewjs.