Closed Questions that Have not Been Answered

MongoDB University
1

The question: The course Ch 1, says that geospatial is not a value type per se, but then the question asks is geospatial data is both a data type and is provided special support by Mongo. The second conjunct is true, the first conjunct is false, so the correct answer is false. (assuming that data type is synonymous with value type, which it better be, because data type is the more common name for the same concept). But the ‘right’ answer is according to the quiz is true. Someone pointed this out. The question was closed by a teaching staff member, Shubham Ranjan, with no explanation. Why was it closed?

2

I believe because geospatial data (having actually worked with geospatial data) is not a specific value type, but is a type of data that is specific to conventions outside of “normal” value types and structures. The reason being there are multiple conventions used in describing geospatial data. You can describe geospatial data in traditional lat-long coordinates, in precise or not so suprise NW coordinates, geo-cords, the US Army has it’s own geospatial convention, and the list goes on and on… :upside_down_face:.

I can see why from an outsider perspective this might seem odd, and I can assure you it is, but it’s more or less about syntax and what system you are working on/with. Would you complain that other NoSQL DBMS use different syntax than MongoDB’s? Probably not. Every language has its own syntax and way of handling certain datatypes.

Hope this answers your question!

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3

Ah, you are right! Because the question does not say “data type”, it says “type of data”. And, Geospatial data is a type of data that is handled in a special way in Mongo. Even though geospatial data is not a datatype in mongo. And, the official answer is right. But pretty subtle. “kind of data” would be less easy to confuse with datatype.

My mistake. Thanks so much for your clarification.

4

Hi @William_Frank_90755,

As I can see your doubts are clear now.

But just for the sake of clarification for any other community members who may or might have some doubts about it.

In the video Lecture: MongoDB Documents: Geospatial Data, the instructor said : While geospatial is not a value type per se, using document structures-- such as the one we're looking at here-- MongoDB provides far reaching support for geospatial data.

Geospatial is not a value type per se means this is not an internal data type in MongoDB. However, MongoDB and Compass recognizes this type of data and provide specialized support. It is easier to work with this type of data in MongoDB because of the the built-in support and functionalities provided.

We at MongoDB University strive to provide a quality learning experience to our learners and your valuable feedbacks are always welcome :slight_smile:.

I hope it helps. If you have any other queries, please feel free to reach out to us.

Happy Learning :slight_smile:

Thanks,
Shubham Ranjan
Curriculum Support Engineer

5

Thanks, yes, your citation makes the fact that the mongo answer is correct even more clear, on top of the fact that the question said “type of data”, which geospatial data surely is, even though it is not a datatype. I was also wondering, though, why the original entry on the subject was closed, without an answer.

1 Like
6

Hi @William_Frank_90755,

Thanks for surfacing the issue. The post has been updated.

If you have any other queries, please feel free to reach out to us.

Happy Learning :slight_smile:

Thanks,
Shubham Ranjan
Curriculum Support Engineer