Retrieve only the queried element in an object array in MongoDB collection

General Tech Bugs & Fixes 2 years ago

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manpreet Tuteehub forum best answer Best Answer 2 years ago

Retrieve only the queried element in an object array in MongoDB collection

 

Suppose you have the following documents in my collection:

  { "_id":ObjectId("562e7c594c12942f08fe4192"), "shapes":[ { "shape":"square", "color":"blue" }, { "shape":"circle", "color":"red" } ] }, { "_id":ObjectId("562e7c594c12942f08fe4193"), "shapes":[ { "shape":"square", "color":"black" }, { "shape":"circle", "color":"green" } ] }

Do query:

db.test.find({"shapes.color": "red"}, {"shapes.color": 1})

Or

db.test.find({shapes: {"$elemMatch": {color: "red"}}}, {"shapes.color": 1})

Returns matched document (Document 1), but always with ALL array items in shapes:

{ "shapes": [ {"shape": "square", "color": "blue"}, {"shape": "circle", "color": "red"} ] }

However, I'd like to get the document (Document 1) only with the array that contains color=red:

{ "shapes": [ {"shape": "circle", "color": "red"} ] }

How can I do this?

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manpreet 2 years ago

You just need to run query

db.test.find(
{"shapes.color": "red"}, 
{shapes: {$elemMatch: {color: "red"}}});

output of this query is

{
    "_id" : ObjectId("562e7c594c12942f08fe4192"),
    "shapes" : [ 
        {"shape" : "circle", "color" : "red"}
    ]
}

as you expected it'll gives the exact field from array that matches color:'red'.

 

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manpreet 2 years ago

Better you can query in matching array element using $slice is it helpful to returning the significant object in an array.

db.test.find({"shapes.color" : "blue"}, {"shapes.$" : 1})

$slice is helpful when you know the index of the element, but sometimes you want whichever array element matched your criteria. You can return the matching element with the $ operator.

 
 
12
db.getCollection('aj').find({"shapes.color":"red"},{"shapes.$":1})

OUTPUTS

{

"shapes" : [ { "shape" : "circle", "color" : "red" } ] }

 

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manpreet 2 years ago

The syntax for find in mongodb is

    db.<collection name>.find(query, projection);

and the second query that you have written, that is

    db.test.find(
    {shapes: {"$elemMatch": {color: "red"}}}, 
    {"shapes.color":1})

in this you have used the $elemMatch operator in query part, whereas if you use this operator in the projection part then you will get the desired result. You can write down your query as

     db.users.find(
     {"shapes.color":"red"},
     {_id:0, shapes: {$elemMatch : {color: "red"}}})

This will give you the desired result.


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manpreet 2 years ago

Here I just want to add some more complex usage.

// Document 
{ 
"_id" : 1
"shapes" : [
  {"shape" : "square",  "color" : "red"},
  {"shape" : "circle",  "color" : "green"}
  ] 
} 

{ 
"_id" : 2
"shapes" : [
  {"shape" : "square",  "color" : "red"},
  {"shape" : "circle",  "color" : "green"}
  ] 
} 


// The Query   
db.contents.find({
    "_id" : ObjectId(1),
    "shapes.color":"red"
},{
    "_id": 0,
    "shapes" :{
       "$elemMatch":{
           "color" : "red"
       } 
    }
}) 


//And the Result

{"shapes":[
    {
       "shape" : "square",
       "color" : "red"
    }
]}

 

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manpreet 2 years ago

Another interesing way is to use $redact, which is one of the new aggregation features of MongoDB 2.6. If you are using 2.6, you don't need an $unwind which might cause you performance problems if you have large arrays.

db.test.aggregate([
    { $match: { 
         shapes: { $elemMatch: {color: "red"} } 
    }},
    { $redact : {
         $cond: {
             if: { $or : [{ $eq: ["$color","red"] }, { $not : "$color" }]},
             then: "$$DESCEND",
             else: "$$PRUNE"
         }
    }}]);

$redact "restricts the contents of the documents based on information stored in the documents themselves". So it will run only inside of the document. It basically scans your document top to the bottom, and checks if it matches with your if condition which is in $cond, if there is match it will either keep the content($$DESCEND) or remove($$PRUNE).

In the example above, first $match returns the whole shapes array, and $redact strips it down to the expected result.

Note that {$not:"$color"} is necessary, because it will scan the top document as well, and if $redact does not find a color field on the top level this will return false that might strip the whole document which we don't want.

 

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manpreet 2 years ago

along with $project it will be more appropriate other wise matching elements will be clubbed together with other elements in document.

db.test.aggregate(
  { "$unwind" : "$shapes" },
  { "$match" : {
     "shapes.color": "red"
  }},
{"$project":{
"_id":1,
"item":1
}}
)
 

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