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Update Data in MongoDB

Deployment Type:

Client:

---

Author: MongoDB Documentation Team

In this guide, you will update documents in a MongoDB database.

Time required: 10 minutes

What You’ll Need

• • If you have not already installed a client (e.g. a driver, MongoDB Compass, or the mongo shell), complete the Connect to MongoDB guide before attempting this guide.

  • If you have not already installed a client (e.g. a driver, MongoDB Compass, or the mongo shell), complete the Connect to MongoDB guide before attempting this guide.
  • Enable Auth on your local instance of MongoDB.

  Warning

  If you are running MongoDB locally and have not enabled authentication, your MongoDB instance is not secure.

• Complete the Import Data into MongoDB guide so that there is data in your database to update.

Procedure

1

Connect to your MongoDB instance.

• Mongo Shell
• Compass
• Python
• Java (Sync)
• Node.js
• Other
  • C#
  • Go

Select the operating system platform on which you are running the MongoDB client you have selected.

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux

Pass the URI to the mongo shell followed by the --password option. You will then be prompted for your password.

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mongo.exe <URISTRING_SHELL_NOUSER>

Pass the URI to the mongo shell followed by the --password option. You will then be prompted for your password.

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mongo <URISTRING_SHELL_NOUSER>

Pass the URI to the mongo shell followed by the --password option. You will then be prompted for your password.

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mongo <URISTRING_SHELL_NOUSER>

If you wish to manually configure your Compass connection, load Compass and select the New Connection link. You will see a form where you can enter connection information for MongoDB.

Atlas users can copy a URI string from the Atlas console into Compass. MongoDB Compass can detect whether you have a MongoDB URI connection string in your system clipboard and auto- populate the connection dialog from the URI.

See Set Up Atlas Connectivity for information on how to get the Atlas connection string URI into your copy buffer.

If Compass was already running when you copied the URI string, click the NEW CONNECTION button.

You will be prompted to populate the connection dialog. Click Yes.

You should then populate the password field with the proper password for your MongoDB user in the connection form.

Note

Errors related to connecting through Compass will appear in red at the top of the Connect screen.

It’s a good idea to put your connection code in a class so that it can be reused.

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from pymongo import MongoClient

class Connect(object):
    @staticmethod    
    def get_connection():
        return MongoClient("<URISTRING>")

If your connection_string starts with mongodb+srv, you need to install the dnspython module with

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python -m pip install dnspython

Now add code to call the class you just created.

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from connect import Connect
from pymongo import MongoClient

connection = Connect.get_connection()

For the MongoDB java driver 3.7 and beyond, use the MongoClients.create() method.

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    final String uriString = "<URISTRING>";
    MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create(uriString);

For legacy drivers (prior to 3.7), use:

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    final String uriString = "<URISTRING>";
    MongoClientURI uri = new MongoClientURI(uriString);
    MongoClient mongoClient = new MongoClient(uri);

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The MongoDB.Bson package is used in CRUD operations, so you’ll import it here.

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using System;
using MongoDB.Bson;
using MongoDB.Driver;

namespace csharptest
{
    class Connect
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
           var client = new MongoClient("<URISTRING>");
        }
    }
}

Replace your password and any parameters surrounded by $[] in the connection string in the code below.

For now, you will use the context.TODO().

Later you’ll configure the context specific to your requirements.

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client, err := mongo.Connect(context.TODO(), "<URISTRING>");

if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}

You won’t know if the connection has been successful until you use the connection. A ping is one way you can test the connection. This is a full example of a Go connection to mongoDB, including a test ping.

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package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"github.com/mongodb/mongo-go-driver/mongo"
	"log"
)

func main() {
	// Open Connection
	client, err := mongo.Connect(context.TODO(), "<URISTRING>");

	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}

	// End Open Connection Code

	// Check the connection
	err = client.Ping(context.TODO(), nil)

	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}

	fmt.Println("Connected to MongoDB!")

}

In your Go workspace and project folder, run build.

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go build

Now run the binary. For binaries that are not installed, you’ll have to specify the path.

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go <path-to-yourproject>

If you’d like to run the resulting binary without specifying a path, install the binary you just built into your Go workspace.

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go install

Now run the code. “yourprojectname” is the name of the project directory that contains the file with your main() function.

For installed binaries use:

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go yourprojectname

For binaries that are not installed, you’ll have to specify the path.

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go ./yourprojectname

The default timeout for the Go driver to connect to the database is 30 seconds. In the event that you are unable to connect, you will see an error that resembles this:

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2019/01/09 10:01:50 server selection timeout

2

Switch to the test database.

In this guide, you will update documents in a collection in the test database.

• Mongo Shell
• Compass
• Python
• Java (Sync)
• Node.js
• Other
  • Motor
  • C#
  • Go

To switch to the test database in the mongo shell, type

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use test

If the database has not been created already, click the Create Database button.

Select the test database on the left side of the Compass interface. Compass will list all of the collections in the database below the database name.

To access the test database:

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db = client.test

Switch to the test database and access the inventory collection.

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MongoDatabase mongoDB = mongoClient.getDatabase("test");
MongoCollection<Document> collection = mongoDB.getCollection("inventory");

Within the connect block, set db to the test database.

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const db = client.db("test");

To access the test database:

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db = client.test

Switch to the test database and access the inventory collection.

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var database = client.GetDatabase("test");
var collection = database.GetCollection<BsonDocument>("inventory");

To access the test database:

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db := client.Database("test")

3

Update a single document in the inventory collection.

To change a field value, MongoDB provides update operators to modify values. Some update operators, including will create the specified field if the field does not exist in the document.

The following operation updates the first document with item equal to paper. The operation uses:

• Mongo Shell
• Compass
• Python
• Java (Sync)
• Node.js
• Other
  • Motor
  • C#
  • Go

• $set to update the status field and the uom field embedded in the size document. To access the fields within embedded documents, the operation uses dot notation.
• $currentDate to set the lastModified field to the current date.

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db.inventory.updateOne(
    { "item" : "paper" }, // specifies the document to update
    {
      $set: {  "size.uom" : "cm",  "status" : "P" },
      $currentDate: { "lastModified": true }
    }
)

1. Copy the following filter into the Compass query bar and click Find:

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   { "item" : "paper" }
   

2. Click the edit icon on the first document returned:

   

3. Expand the size field and update the uom value to cm. Click inside the status field and click the plus button, then click Add field after status. Add a lastModified field, select Date as its type using the drop-down menu on the right, and input today’s date:

   

4. Click Update.

   

• $set to update the status field and the uom field embedded in the size document. To access the fields within embedded documents, the operation uses dot notation.
• $currentDate to set the lastModified field to the current date.

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db.inventory.update_one(
    {"item": "paper"},
    {"$set": {"size.uom": "cm", "status": "P"}, "$currentDate": {"lastModified": True}},
)

Run the loop:

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loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
loop.run_until_complete(do_update_one())

• set to update the status field and the uom field embedded in the size document. To access the fields within embedded documents, the operation uses dot notation.
• currentDate to set the lastModified field to the current date.

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collection.updateOne(eq("item", "paper"),
        combine(set("size.uom", "cm"), set("status", "P"), currentDate("lastModified")));

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db.collection('inventory').updateOne(
  { item: "paper" },
  { $set: { "size.uom": "cm", status: "P" },
    $currentDate: { lastModified: true } })
.then(function(result) {
  // process result
})            

• $set to update the status field and the uom field embedded in the size document. To access the fields within embedded documents, the operation uses dot notation.
• $currentDate to set the lastModified field to the current date.

• $set to update the status field and the uom field embedded in the size document. To access the fields within embedded documents, the operation uses dot notation.
• $currentDate to set the lastModified field to the current date.

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await db.inventory.update_one(
    {"item": "paper"},
    {"$set": {"size.uom": "cm", "status": "P"}, "$currentDate": {"lastModified": True}},
)

For completeness, the following example shows how you might wrap the update one operation with the asyncio event loop:

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async def do_update_one():
    document = await db.inventory.update_one(
                   {"item": "paper"},
                   {"$set": {"size.uom": "cm", "status": "P"},
                    "$currentDate": {"lastModified": True}})
    pprint.pprint(document.raw_result)

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var filter = Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Eq("item", "paper");
var update = Builders<BsonDocument>.Update.Set("size.uom", "cm").Set("status", "P").CurrentDate("lastModified");
var result = collection.UpdateOne(filter, update);

• $set to update the status field and the uom field embedded in the size document. To access the fields within embedded documents, the operation uses dot notation.
• $currentDate to set the lastModified field to the current date.

Before updating the data, you’ll need to assign the inventory collection in the test database to a variable:

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       coll := db.Collection("inventory")

Followed by the call to update:

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	result, err := coll.UpdateOne(
		context.Background(),
		bson.D{
			{"item", "paper"},
		},
		bson.D{
			{"$set", bson.D{
				{"size.uom", "cm"},
				{"status", "P"},
			}},
			{"$currentDate", bson.D{
				{"lastModified", true},
			}},
		},
	)

4

Update multiple documents.

The following operation updates all of the documents with quantity value less than 50.

• Mongo Shell
• Compass
• Python
• Java (Sync)
• Node.js
• Other
  • Motor
  • C#
  • Go

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db.inventory.updateMany(
    { "qty" : { $lt: 50 } }, // specifies the documents to update
    {
       $set: { "size.uom" : "cm", "status": "P" },
       $currentDate : { "lastModified": true }
    }
)

1. Copy the following filter into the Compass query bar and click Find:

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   { "qty" : { $lt: 50 } }
   

2. For each document, click the edit icon:

   

3. Make the following changes:

   • Expand the size field and update the uom value to cm.
   • Change the value of the status field to P.
   • Click inside the status field and click the plus button, then click Add field after status. Add a lastModified field, select Date as its type using the drop-down menu on the right, and input today’s date:
   

4. Click Update.

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db.inventory.update_many(
    {"qty": {"$lt": 50}},
    {"$set": {"size.uom": "in", "status": "P"}, "$currentDate": {"lastModified": True}},
)

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collection.updateMany(lt("qty", 50),
        combine(set("size.uom", "in"), set("status", "P"), currentDate("lastModified")));

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db.collection('inventory').updateMany(
  { qty: { $lt: 50 } },
  { $set: { "size.uom": "in", status: "P" },
    $currentDate: { lastModified: true } })
.then(function(result) {
  // process result
})            

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await db.inventory.update_many(
    {"qty": {"$lt": 50}},
    {"$set": {"size.uom": "in", "status": "P"}, "$currentDate": {"lastModified": True}},
)

For completeness, the following example shows how you might wrap the update many operation with the asyncio event loop:

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async def do_update_many():
    document = await db.inventory.update_many(
                   {"qty": {"$lt": 50}},
                   {"$set": {"size.uom": "in", "status": "P"},
                    "$currentDate": {"lastModified": True}})
    pprint.pprint(document.raw_result)

Run the asyncio loop to execute both the update_one and update_many operations:

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loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()

tasks = [
    asyncio.ensure_future(do_update_one()),
    asyncio.ensure_future(do_update_many()),
]

loop.run_until_complete(asyncio.wait(tasks))
loop.close()

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var filter = Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Lt("qty", 50);
var update = Builders<BsonDocument>.Update.Set("size.uom", "in").Set("status", "P").CurrentDate("lastModified");
var result = collection.UpdateMany(filter, update);

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	result, err := coll.UpdateMany(
		context.Background(),
		bson.D{
			{"qty", bson.D{
				{"$lt", 50},
			}},
		},
		bson.D{
			{"$set", bson.D{
				{"size.uom", "cm"},
				{"status", "P"},
			}},
			{"$currentDate", bson.D{
				{"lastModified", true},
			}},
		},
	)

• Mongo Shell
• Python
• Java (Sync)
• Node.js
• Motor
• Other
  • C#

The operation returns a WriteResult document that contains the status of the operation:

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WriteResult({ "nMatched" : 1, "nUpserted" : 0, "nModified" : 1 })

The operation returns an instance of pymongo.results.UpdateResult that contains the status of the operation.

The operation returns an instance of com.mongodb.client.result.UpdateResult with the status of the operation.

The operation returns a promise that provides a result containing the status of the operation.

The operations asynchronously return instances of pymongo.results.UpdateResult that contains the status of the operation.

Upon successful execution, the operation returns an instance of UpdateResult that contains the status of the operation.

• Python
• Java (Sync)
• Motor

When you are done working with your MongoDB data, close your connection to MongoDB:

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mongoClient.close();

Summary

If you have successfully completed this guide, you have updated documents in MongoDB. In the next guide, you’ll see how to delete a document from a MongoDB collection.

What’s Next

In this guide, you will delete documents from a MongoDB database.

• Delete Data from MongoDB

See Also

For other CRUD guides:

• Insert Data into MongoDB
• Read Data using Operators and Compound Queries
• Read Data from MongoDB With Queries
• Delete Data from MongoDB

For method reference:

• db.collection.update()
• db.collection.updateOne()
• db.collection.updateMany()
• db.collection.findAndModify()

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