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cursor.allowDiskUse()

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  • Definition
  • Compatibility
  • Behavior
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cursor.allowDiskUse()

Important

mongosh Method

This is a mongosh method. This is not the documentation for Node.js or other programming language specific driver methods.

In most cases, mongosh methods work the same way as the legacy mongo shell methods. However, some legacy methods are unavailable in mongosh.

For the legacy mongo shell documentation, refer to the documentation for the corresponding MongoDB Server release:

For MongoDB API drivers, refer to the language specific MongoDB driver documentation.

allowDiskUse() allows MongoDB to use temporary files on disk to store data exceeding the 100 megabyte system memory limit while processing a blocking sort operation. If MongoDB requires using more than 100 megabytes of system memory for the blocking sort operation, MongoDB returns an error unless the query specifies cursor.allowDiskUse().

allowDiskUse() has the following form:

db.collection.find(<match>).sort(<sort>).allowDiskUse()

See Sort and Index Use for more information on blocking sort operations.

This method is available in deployments hosted in the following environments:

  • MongoDB Atlas: The fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud

Note

This command is supported in all MongoDB Atlas clusters. For information on Atlas support for all commands, see Unsupported Commands.

cursor.allowDiskUse() has no effect on sort operations answered using an index or non-indexed ("blocking") sort operations which require less than 100 megabytes of memory. For more complete documentation on blocking sorts and sort index use, see Sort and Index Use.

To check if MongoDB must perform an blocking sort, append cursor.explain() to the query and check the explain results. If the query plan contains a SORT stage, then MongoDB must perform an blocking sort operation subject to the 100 megabyte memory limit.

Consider a collection sensors with only the default index on _id. The collection contains documents similar to the following:

{
"sensor-name" : "TEMP-21425",
"sensor-location" : "Unit 12",
"reading" : {
"timestamp" : Timestamp(1580247215, 1),
"value" : 212,
"unit" : "Fahrenheit"
}
}

The following operation includes a cursor.sort() on the field reading.timestamp. The operation also includes cursor.allowDiskUse() to support the sort operation.

db.sensors.find({"sensor-location" : "Unit 12"}).
sort({"reading.timestamp" : 1}).
allowDiskUse()

Since reading.timestamp is not included in an index, MongoDB must perform a blocking sort operation to return results in the requested sort order. By specifying allowDiskUse(), MongoDB can process the sort operation even if it requires more than 100 megabytes of system memory. If allowDiskUse() was omitted and the operation required more than 100 megabytes of system memory, MongoDB would return an error.

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