fix(db-postgres): selectDistinct might remove expected rows when querying with nested fields or relations (#12365)

Fixes https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/issues/12263
This was caused by passing not needed columns to the `SELECT DISTINCT`
query, which we execute in case if we have a filter / sort by a nested
field / relationship. Since the only columns that we need to pass to the
`SELECT DISTINCT` query are: ID and field(s) specified in `sort`, we now
filter the `selectFields` variable.

packages/drizzle/src/find/findMany.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import type { DrizzleAdapter } from '../types.js'
 import buildQuery from '../queries/buildQuery.js'
 import { selectDistinct } from '../queries/selectDistinct.js'
 import { transform } from '../transform/read/index.js'
+import { getNameFromDrizzleTable } from '../utilities/getNameFromDrizzleTable.js'
 import { getTransaction } from '../utilities/getTransaction.js'
 import { buildFindManyArgs } from './buildFindManyArgs.js'
 
@@ -75,6 +76,26 @@ export const findMany = async function find({
     tableName,
     versions,
   })
+
+  if (orderBy) {
+    for (const key in selectFields) {
+      const column = selectFields[key]
+      if (column.primary) {
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (
+        !orderBy.some(
+          (col) =>
+            col.column.name === column.name &&
+            getNameFromDrizzleTable(col.column.table) === getNameFromDrizzleTable(column.table),
+        )
+      ) {
+        delete selectFields[key]
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   const selectDistinctResult = await selectDistinct({
     adapter,
     db,

test/fields/collections/Date/index.ts

@@ -115,6 +115,16 @@ const DateFields: CollectionConfig = {
         },
       ],
     },
+    {
+      type: 'array',
+      name: 'array',
+      fields: [
+        {
+          name: 'date',
+          type: 'date',
+        },
+      ],
+    },
   ],
 }
 

test/fields/int.spec.ts

@@ -600,6 +600,56 @@ describe('Fields', () => {
 
       expect(result.docs[0].id).toEqual(doc.id)
     })
+
+    // Function to generate random date between start and end dates
+    function getRandomDate(start: Date, end: Date): string {
+      const date = new Date(start.getTime() + Math.random() * (end.getTime() - start.getTime()))
+      return date.toISOString()
+    }
+
+    // Generate sample data
+    const dataSample = Array.from({ length: 100 }, (_, index) => {
+      const startDate = new Date('2024-01-01')
+      const endDate = new Date('2025-12-31')
+
+      return {
+        array: Array.from({ length: 5 }, (_, listIndex) => {
+          return {
+            date: getRandomDate(startDate, endDate),
+          }
+        }),
+        ...dateDoc,
+      }
+    })
+
+    it('should query a date field inside an array field', async () => {
+      await payload.delete({ collection: 'date-fields', where: {} })
+      for (const doc of dataSample) {
+        await payload.create({
+          collection: 'date-fields',
+          data: doc,
+        })
+      }
+
+      const res = await payload.find({
+        collection: 'date-fields',
+        where: { 'array.date': { greater_than: new Date('2025-06-01').toISOString() } },
+      })
+
+      const filter = (doc: any) =>
+        doc.array.some((item) => new Date(item.date).getTime() > new Date('2025-06-01').getTime())
+
+      expect(res.docs.every(filter)).toBe(true)
+      expect(dataSample.filter(filter)).toHaveLength(res.totalDocs)
+      // eslint-disable-next-line jest/no-conditional-in-test
+      if (res.totalDocs > 10) {
+        // This is where postgres might fail! selectDistinct actually removed some rows here, because it distincts by:
+        // not only ID, but also created_at, updated_at, items_date
+        expect(res.docs).toHaveLength(10)
+      } else {
+        expect(res.docs.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(res.totalDocs)
+      }
+    })
   })
 
   describe('select', () => {

test/fields/payload-types.ts

@@ -929,6 +929,12 @@ export interface DateField {
         id?: string | null;
       }[]
     | null;
+  array?:
+    | {
+        date?: string | null;
+        id?: string | null;
+      }[]
+    | null;
   updatedAt: string;
   createdAt: string;
 }
@@ -1326,10 +1332,16 @@ export interface RelationshipField {
       } | null);
   relationshipDrawerHasMany?: (string | TextField)[] | null;
   relationshipDrawerHasManyPolymorphic?:
+    | (
         | {
             relationTo: 'text-fields';
             value: string | TextField;
-      }[]
+          }
+        | {
+            relationTo: 'array-fields';
+            value: string | ArrayField;
+          }
+      )[]
     | null;
   relationshipDrawerWithAllowCreateFalse?: (string | null) | TextField;
   relationshipDrawerWithFilterOptions?: {
@@ -2492,6 +2504,12 @@ export interface DateFieldsSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
         dayAndTime_tz?: T;
         id?: T;
       };
+  array?:
+    | T
+    | {
+        date?: T;
+        id?: T;
+      };
   updatedAt?: T;
   createdAt?: T;
 }