Sequelize v5.21 error while initializing model. Dependency name must be given as a not empty string - express

Question

I have managed to pinpoint the source of the error, despite it not mentioning any file name or anything. The error is Unhandled rejection TypeError: Dependency name must be given as a not empty string
It is occurring when I try to initialize the below model in my Express App
'use strict';
module.exports = (sequelize, DataTypes) => {
const Order = sequelize.define('Order', {
customerName: {
type: DataTypes.STRING,
allowNull: true
},
customerContact: {
type: DataTypes.STRING,
allowNull: true
},
address: {
type: DataTypes.TEXT,
allowNull: true
},
additionalDetails: {
type: DataTypes.TEXT,
allowNull: true
},
areaId: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
allowNull: false,
references: {
model: sequelize.Area,
key: 'id'
}
},
createdBy: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
allowNull: true,
references: {
model: sequelize.User,
key: 'id'
}
},
}, {});
Order.associate = function(models) {
// Order.belongsTo(models.Area, {foreignKey: 'areaId', as: 'area'});
};
return Order;
};
However, if I comment/remove the areaId and createdBy attributes the app runs without error and the corresponding tables are created in MySQL Database.
Is there something I am doing wrong, I am using the same syntax in my other models to define foreign keys and they seem to run without error.
Any help would be appreciated, also if someone could point a way to get more descriptive errors while using Sequelize in Express it would be very helpful, as locating the source took me a lot of time due to numerous model definitions.

Answer 1

This problem was resolved after I defined the associations that used areaId and createdBy as foreign keys. Don't know why but without the associations defined, the foreign keys would give an error. Now my model definition is as below
'use strict';
module.exports = (sequelize, DataTypes) => {
const Order = sequelize.define('Order', {
customerName: {
type: DataTypes.STRING,
allowNull: true
},
customerContact: {
type: DataTypes.STRING,
allowNull: true
},
address: {
type: DataTypes.TEXT,
allowNull: true
},
additionalDetails: {
type: DataTypes.TEXT,
allowNull: true
},
areaId: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
references: {
model: sequelize.Area,
key: 'id'
}
},
createdBy: {
type: DataTypes.INTEGER,
allowNull: true,
references: {
model: sequelize.User,
key: 'id'
}
},
status: {
type: DataTypes.STRING,
allowNull: true,
defaultValue: 'pending'
}
}, {});
Order.associate = function(models) {
Order.belongsTo(models.Area, {foreignKey: 'areaId', as: 'area'});
Order.belongsTo(models.User, {foreignKey: 'createdBy', as: 'user'});
};
return Order;
};