Trouble importing JSON array of objectID {$oid:XXX}

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1

I have been wrestling with trying to import JSON – using mongoimport or the Javascript insert/replace calls – an array of mongo ObjectIds.

According to Mongo docs, to specify a Mongo Id in JSON, one uses {“$oid”:XXXX}.

The long and short of it is that if the data is in a JSON array, the mongo import – both command line and API – does not recognize {“$oid”:XXXX} and convert it to an Object Id.

Below is a test case, using Compass as the viewer, and what I see is the array members are not recognized as ObjectIds. I have no idea if this is a bug, or a feature. It even manifests itself with JSON.stringify.

Given a test case where we insert the JSON below

{
"_id": {"$oid": "fa3e6fe626f94cdfe8558a6e"},
"members1": [
{"$oid:": "6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7"},
{"$oid:": "fe8ce32ad418303ed38aec47"},
{"$oid:": "9d4076461b20770443d46327"},
{"$oid:": "28b730141139503b00128eb4"}
],
"members2": {
"1": {"$oid": "6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7"},
"2": {"$oid": "fe8ce32ad418303ed38aec47"},
"3": {"$oid": "9d4076461b20770443d46327"},
"4": {"$oid": "28b730141139503b00128eb4"}
},
"embed1": {"2": {"$oid": "fe8ce32ad418303ed38aec47"},
"_id": {"$oid": "6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7"}
},
"embed2": {"type": "vessel-status",
"lookupValue": "A",
"description": "Active",
"isActive": true,
"isAshop": true,
"isWcgop": true,
"_id": {"$oid": "6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7"}
},
"parent": {"$oid": "d9630c927bc17266f4549426"}
}

When we retrieve the data we get:

t> db.resources.findOne(ObjectId('fa3e6fe626f94cdfe855
8a6e'))
{
  _id: ObjectId("fa3e6fe626f94cdfe8558a6e"),  
  members1: [
    { '$oid:': '6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7' },  
    { '$oid:': 'fe8ce32ad418303ed38aec47' },  
    { '$oid:': '9d4076461b20770443d46327' },  
    { '$oid:': '28b730141139503b00128eb4' }   
  ],
  members2: {
    '1': ObjectId("6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7"),
    '2': ObjectId("fe8ce32ad418303ed38aec47"),
    '3': ObjectId("9d4076461b20770443d46327"),
    '4': ObjectId("28b730141139503b00128eb4")
  },
  embed1: {
    '2': ObjectId("fe8ce32ad418303ed38aec47"),
    _id: ObjectId("6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7")
  },
  embed2: {
    type: 'vessel-status',
    lookupValue: 'A',
    description: 'Active',
    isActive: true,
    isAshop: true,
    isWcgop: true,
    _id: ObjectId("6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7")
  },
  parent: ObjectId("d9630c927bc17266f4549426")
}
2

Syntax error:

"members1": [
{"$oid:": "6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7"},
{"$oid:": "fe8ce32ad418303ed38aec47"},
{"$oid:": "9d4076461b20770443d46327"},
{"$oid:": "28b730141139503b00128eb4"}
],

vs:

"members1": [
{"$oid": "6d51c5346c5060a572c4cbc7"},
{"$oid": "fe8ce32ad418303ed38aec47"},
{"$oid": "9d4076461b20770443d46327"},
{"$oid": "28b730141139503b00128eb4"}
],

You have the “:” characher within the $oid prefix.

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