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db.collection.group()

db.collection.group({ key, reduce, initial, [keyf,] [cond,] finalize })

The db.collection.group() method groups documents in a collection by the specified keys and performs simple aggregation functions such as computing counts and sums. The method is analogous to a SELECT .. GROUP BY statement in SQL. The group() method returns an array.

The db.collection.group() accepts a single document that contains the following:

Fields:
  • key – Specifies one or more document fields to group by.
  • reduce – Specifies a function for the group operation perform on the documents during the grouping operation, such as compute a sum or a count. The aggregation function takes two arguments: the current document and the aggregate result for the previous documents in the.
  • initial – Initializes the aggregation result document.
  • keyf – Optional. Alternative to the key field. Specifies a function that creates a “key object” for use as the grouping key. Use the keyf instead of key to group by calculated fields rather than existing document fields.
  • cond – Optional. Specifies the selection criteria to determine which documents in the collection to process. If you omit the cond field, db.collection.group() processes all the documents in the collection for the group operation.
  • finalize – Optional. Specifies a function that runs each item in the result set before db.collection.group() returns the final value. This function can either modify the result document or replace the result document as a whole.

The db.collection.group() method is a shell wrapper for the group command; however, the db.collection.group() method takes the keyf field and the reduce field whereas the group command takes the $keyf field and the $reduce field.

Warning

Note

  • The result set must fit within the maximum BSON document size.
  • In version 2.2, the returned array can contain at most 20,000 elements; i.e. at most 20,000 unique groupings. For group by operations that results in more than 20,000 unique groupings, use mapReduce. Previous versions had a limit of 10,000 elements.

Consider the following examples of the db.collection.group() method:

The examples assume an orders collection with documents of the following prototype:

{
  _id: ObjectId("5085a95c8fada716c89d0021"),
  ord_dt: ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"),
  ship_dt: ISODate("2012-07-02T04:00:00Z"),
  item: { sku: "abc123",
          price: 1.99,
          uom: "pcs",
          qty: 25 }
}
  • The following example groups by the ord_dt and item.sku fields those documents that have ord_dt greater than 01/01/2011:

    db.orders.group( {
                       key: { ord_dt: 1, 'item.sku': 1 },
                       cond: { ord_dt: { $gt: new Date( '01/01/2012' ) } },
                       reduce: function ( curr, result ) { },
                       initial: { }
                    } )
    

    The result is an array of documents that contain the group by fields:

    [ { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc123"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc456"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "bcd123"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "efg456"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc123"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "efg456"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "ijk123"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-05-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc123"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-05-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc456"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-08T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc123"},
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-08T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc456"} ]
    

    The method call is analogous to the SQL statement:

    SELECT ord_dt, item_sku
    FROM orders
    WHERE ord_dt > '01/01/2012'
    GROUP BY ord_dt, item_sku
    
  • The following example groups by the ord_dt and item.sku fields, those documents that have ord_dt greater than 01/01/2011 and calculates the sum of the qty field for each grouping:

    db.orders.group( {
                       key: { ord_dt: 1, 'item.sku': 1 },
                       cond: { ord_dt: { $gt: new Date( '01/01/2012' ) } },
                       reduce: function ( curr, result ) {
                                   result.total += curr.item.qty;
                               },
                       initial: { total : 0 }
                    } )
    

    The result is an array of documents that contain the group by fields and the calculated aggregation field:

    [ { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc123", "total" : 25 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc456", "total" : 25 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "bcd123", "total" : 10 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-07-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "efg456", "total" : 10 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc123", "total" : 25 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "efg456", "total" : 15 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "ijk123", "total" : 20 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-05-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc123", "total" : 45 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-05-01T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc456", "total" : 25 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-08T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc123", "total" : 25 },
      { "ord_dt" : ISODate("2012-06-08T04:00:00Z"), "item.sku" : "abc456", "total" : 25 } ]
    

    The method call is analogous to the SQL statement:

    SELECT ord_dt, item_sku, SUM(item_qty) as total
    FROM orders
    WHERE ord_dt > '01/01/2012'
    GROUP BY ord_dt, item_sku
    
  • The following example groups by the calculated day_of_week field, those documents that have ord_dt greater than 01/01/2011 and calculates the sum, count, and average of the qty field for each grouping:

    db.orders.group( {
                       keyf: function(doc) {
                                 return { day_of_week: doc.ord_dt.getDay() } ; },
                       cond: { ord_dt: { $gt: new Date( '01/01/2012' ) } },
                       reduce: function ( curr, result ) {
                                  result.total += curr.item.qty;
                                  result.count++;
                               },
                       initial: { total : 0, count: 0 },
                       finalize: function(result) {
                                   var weekdays = [ "Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday",
                                                    "Wednesday", "Thursday",
                                                    "Friday", "Saturday" ];
    
                                   result.day_of_week = weekdays[result.day_of_week];
                                   result.avg = Math.round(result.total / result.count);
    
                       }
                    } )
    

    The result is an array of documents that contain the group by fields and the calculated aggregation field:

    [ { "day_of_week" : "Sunday", "total" : 70, "count" : 4, "avg" : 18 },
      { "day_of_week" : "Friday", "total" : 110, "count" : 6, "avg" : 18 },
      { "day_of_week" : "Tuesday", "total" : 70, "count" : 3, "avg" : 23 } ]