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In this article, we will address how to perform basic query operations in MongoDB. We are producing data at an unparalleled pace now following the global spread of the internet. Since it will require us to collect/request the required data from the database to conduct some kind of analysis, it is of utmost importance that we choose the right tool to query the data.

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This is where MongoDB comes in, specifically. MongoDB is an unstructured database which, in the form of documents, stores data. In addition, MongoDB is very effective in handling enormous amounts of data and is the most commonly used NoSQL database as it provides rich query language and versatile and easy data access.

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Create a Sample Database

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Before the start, we will create a sample DB with some sample data to perform all operations.

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We will create a database with name myDB and will create a collection with name orders. For this, the statement would be as follows.

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> use myDB\n> db.createCollection("orders")\n>
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MongoDB doesn't use the rows and columns. It stores the data in a document format. A collection is a group of documents.

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You can check all collections in a database by using the following statement.

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> use myDB\n>show collections\norders\nsystem.indexes\n>
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Let's insert some documents by using the following statement.

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> db.orders.insert([\n\t{\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tAddress:{"City":"Jaipur","Country":"India"},\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Card",\n\t\tEmail:"abc@mail.in",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 1000.00,\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":10},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"paper","Price":"10.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"journal","Price":"200.00","Qty":2},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":500}\n\t\t]\t\t\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz",\n\t\tAddress:{"City":"Delhi","Country":"India"},\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Cash",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 800.00,\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"paper","Price":"10.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":500}\n\t\t]\t\t\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\tCustomer: "ron",\n\t\tAddress:{"City":"New York","Country":"USA"},\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Card",\n\t\tEmail:"ron@mail.com",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 800.00,\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":00}\n\t\t]\t\t\n\t}\n])
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A document is the equivalent of an RDBMS row. It doesn't need to have the same schema in each document. It means a document might not have any field that doesn't have any value.

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Query Documents

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find() method

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You need to use the find() method to query documents from MongoDB collections. The following statement will retrieve all documents from the collection.

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> db.orders.find()\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607534c")\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tAddress:{"City":"Jaipur","Country":"India"},\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Card",\n\t\tEmail:"abc@mail.com",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 1000.00,\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":10},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"paper","Price":"10.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"journal","Price":"200.00","Qty":2},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":500}\n\t\t]\t\t\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607544c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz",\n\t\tAddress:{"City":"Delhi","Country":"India"},\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Cash",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 800.00,\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"paper","Price":"10.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":500}\n\t\t]\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607644c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "ron",\n\t\tAddress:{"City":"New York","Country":"USA"},\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Card",\n\t\tEmail:"ron@mail.com",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 600.00,\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":00}\n\t\t]\n\t}\n>
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Projection

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If you want to fetch only selected fields then you can use the projection. Following statement will fetch only Customer and Email field.

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> db.orders.find( { }, { Customer: 1, Email: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607534c")\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tEmail:"abc@mail.com"\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607544c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz"\t\t\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607644c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "ron",\n\t\tEmail:"ron@mail.com"\t\t\n\t}\n>
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Filter the Documents by Specifying a Condition

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Now we will learn how we can fetch the documents that match a specified condition. MongoDB provides many comparison operators for this.

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1. $eq Operator

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The $eq operator checks the equality of the field value with the specified value. To fetch the order where PaymentMode is 'Card' you can use the following statement

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>db.orders.find( { PaymentMode: { $eq: "Card" } } )
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This query can be written also like below

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>db.orders.find( { PaymentMode: "Card" } )
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A similar SQL statement would be as follows

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SELECT * FROM orders WHERE PaymentMode="Card"
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Example

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>db.orders.find( { PaymentMode: "Card" }, { Customer: 1, PaymentMode: 1 } )\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607534c")\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Card"\t\t\t\t\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607644c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "ron",\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Card"\n\t}\n>
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$eq Operator with embedded document

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You may have noticed that we inserted an embedded document Address in the Orders collection. If you want to fetch the order where Country is 'India' you can use a dot notation like the following statement.

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>db.Orders.find( { "Address.Country": { $eq: "India" } } )
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This query can be written also like below

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>db.Orders.find( { "Address.Country":"India" } )
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { "Address.Country": { $eq: "India" } } , { Customer: 1, Address: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607534c")\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tAddress:{"City":"Jaipur","Country":"India"}\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607544c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz",\n\t\tAddress:{"City":"Delhi","Country":"India"}\n\t}\n>
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$eq Operator with array

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$eq operator will retrieve all the documents if the specified condition is true for any item in an array. We have an OrderItems array in the document. If you want to filter the documents where 'paper' were also ordered then the statement would be as follows.

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>db.Orders.find( { "OrderItems.ItemName": { $eq: "paper" } } )
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This query can be written also like below

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>db.Orders.find( { "OrderItems.ItemName": "paper"  } )
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { "OrderItems.ItemName": { $eq: "paper" } } , { Customer: 1, OrderItems: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607534c")\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":10},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"paper","Price":"10.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"journal","Price":"200.00","Qty":2},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":500}\n\t\t]\t\t\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607544c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz",\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"paper","Price":"10.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":500}\n\t\t]\n\t}\n>
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2. $gt Operator

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You can use the $gt operator to retrieve the documents where a field’s value is greater than the specified value. The following statement will fetch the documents where OrderTotal is greater than 800.

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>db.orders.find( { OrderTotal: { $gt: 800.00 } } )
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A similar SQL statement would be as follows

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SELECT * FROM orders WHERE OrderTotal>800.00
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { "OrderTotal": { $gt: 800.00 } } , { Customer: 1, OrderTotal: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607534c")\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 1000.00\n\t}\n>
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3. $gte Operator

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You can use the $gte operator to retrieve the documents where a field’s value is greater than or equal to the specified value. The following statement will fetch the documents where OrderTotal is greater than or equal to 800.

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>db.orders.find( { OrderTotal: { $gte: 800.00 } } )
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A similar SQL statement would be as follows

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SELECT * FROM orders WHERE OrderTotal>=800.00
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { "OrderTotal": { $gte: 800.00 } } , { Customer: 1, OrderTotal: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607534c")\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 1000.00\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607544c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 800.00\n\t}\n>
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4. $lt Operator

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You can use the $lt operator to retrieve the documents where a field’s value is less than the specified value. The following statement will fetch the documents where OrderTotal is less than 800.

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>db.orders.find( { OrderTotal: { $lt: 800.00 } } )
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A similar SQL statement would be as follows

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SELECT * FROM orders WHERE OrderTotal<800.00
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { "OrderTotal": { $lt: 800.00 } } , { Customer: 1, OrderTotal: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607644c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "ron",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 600.00\n\t}\n>
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4. $lte Operator

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You can use the $lte operator to retrieve the documents where a field’s value is less than or equal to the specified value. Following statement will fetch the documents where OrderTotal is less than or equal to 800.

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>db.orders.find( { OrderTotal: { $lte: 800.00 } } )
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A similar SQL statement would be as follows

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SELECT * FROM orders WHERE OrderTotal<=800.00
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { "OrderTotal": { $lte: 800.00 } } , { Customer: 1, OrderTotal: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607544c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 800.00\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607644c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "ron",\n\t\tOrderTotal: 600.00\n\t}\n>
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5. $ne Operator

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You can use the $ne operator to retrieve the documents where a field’s value is not equal to the specified value.

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>db.orders.find( { PaymentMode: { $ne: "Card" } } )
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A similar SQL statement would be as follows

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SELECT * FROM orders WHERE PaymentMode != "Card"
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { "PaymentMode": { $ne: "Card" } } , { Customer: 1, PaymentMode: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607544c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz",\n\t\tPaymentMode":"Cash"\n\t}\n>
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6. $in Operator

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You can use the $in operator to retrieve the documents where a field’s value is equal to any value in the specified array.

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>db.orders.find( { OrderItems.ItemName: { $in: ["journal","paper"] } } )
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { OrderItems.ItemName: { $in: ["journal","paper"] } } , { Customer: 1, OrderItems: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607534c")\n\t\tCustomer: "abc",\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":10},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"paper","Price":"10.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"journal","Price":"200.00","Qty":2},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":500}\n\t\t]\t\t\n\t},\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607544c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "xyz",\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"paper","Price":"10.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":500}\n\t\t]\n\t}\n>
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7. $nin Operator

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You can use the $nin operator to retrieve the documents where a field’s value is not equal to any value in the specified array. It will also select the documents where the field does not exist.

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>db.orders.find( { OrderItems.ItemName: { $nin: ["journal","paper"] } } )
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Example

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>db.Orders.find( { OrderItems.ItemName: { $nin: ["journal","paper"] } } , { Customer: 1, OrderItems: 1 })\n\t{\n\t\t"_id" : ObjectId("5dd4e2cc0821d3b44607644c"),\n\t\tCustomer: "ron",\n\t\tOrderItems:[\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"notebook","Price":"150.00","Qty":5},\n\t\t\t{"ItemName":"postcard","Price":"10.00","Qty":00}\n\t\t]\n\t}\n>
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Indexing

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We know that indexing is very important if we are performing the queries on a large database. Without indexing execution of a query can be expensive. We can add a simple ascending index on a single field by using the following statement.

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>db.Orders.createIndex({"Customer":1})
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MongoDB creates a unique index on ‘_id’ field by default. A unique index will prevent insertion of two documents with the same value for that field. If you want to create a unique index then the statement would be as follows.

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db.Orders.createIndex( { "OrderId": 1 }, { unique: true } )
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Conclusion

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I hope you learned something new today, If you want to learn few more stuff on MongoDB, here is an interesting article on Self-Hosted MongoDB I also invite you to try stuff on your own and share your experience in the comment section. Furthermore, if you face any problems with any of the above definitions, please feel free to ask me in the comments below.

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