This module provides an API for accessing the document database MongoDB. It defines functions to connect to the DBMS, retrieve documents from databases and collections, update resources, perform map-reduce queries, and execute server-side JavaScript functions and database commsands.

The module has been designed to be compatible with XQuery 3.1 and XPath 3.1, and later versions. It has been inspired by existing [=MongoDB Drivers=] and the [=MongoDB Meta Driver=] recommendations. Its initial version was based on [=Mongrel=].

Introduction

Namespace conventions

The module defined by this document defines functions and errors in the namespace http://expath.org/ns/mongo. In this document, the mongo prefix is bound to this namespace URI. Error codes are defined in the same namespace and are displayed with the same prefix.

The err prefix denotes the namespace for XPath and XQuery errors, http://www.w3.org/2005/xqt-errors, as defined in the [=XQuery 3.1=] specification.

Error management

Error conditions are identified by a code (a QName). When such an error condition is reached in the evaluation of an expression, a dynamic error is thrown, with the corresponding error code (as if the standard XPath function error() had been called).

The following errors apply to most functions of this specification:

Remaining error codes are specified along with the functions. For a list of all errors, see the

Summary of Error Conditions

section of this document.

JSON Data

Since Version 3.1, maps and arrays are available in XQuery and XPath. This specification makes heavy use of the feature: all JSON objects and arrays are represented in the equivalent XQuery data types.

If JSON strings are preferred as input and output, the functions fn:parse-json and fn:serialize of the [=XPath and XQuery Functions and Operators 3.1=] specification can be used for conversion. The following query parses a JSON string and returns an XQuery map. The "liberal" option accepts deviation from [=RFC 7159=], such as the omission of quotes on keys:

The next example shows how XQuery maps can be serialized as JSON:

Query Execution

All functions in this module are ·nondeterministic·. Non-deterministic functions may return different results when executed more than once. This is illustrated by two examples:

A query processor must ensure that non-deterministic functions are not relocated or rewritten in the query, and that its results are not cached at runtime.

Test suite

A [=MongoDB Test Suite=] is provided to ensure compatibility across different implementations of the specification. It is based on the QT3 format; see [=XML Query Test Suite=] for more details.

Client Operations

mongo:connect

Signatures
Rules

Establishes a connection to MongoDB and returns a client id as string that identifies the opened connection.

The $uri string follows the MongoDB URI format. It must at least contain one host name, and it may be prefixed with the mongo scheme and suffixed with a port number. Multiple hosts, e.g. for a replica set, are separated with commas.

Implementation Notes

The format of the returned client id string is implementation-defined, but all returned ids must be unique during the evaluation of a query.

Error Conditions
  • [=mongo:connect=] is raised if the connection could not be established, possibly due to a wrong URL or a connection failure.

Examples

mongo:list-databases

Signatures
Rules

Returns the names of all databases on the connected server.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id.

Examples

The following query lists all databases on localhost:

mongo:close

Signatures
Rules

Closes an open database connection. The connection to be closed is identified by the supplied $client-id. When a database connection is closed, the associated id is discarded and invalidated. As a consequence, each database can be closed once.

Implementation Notes

A connection must be kept open as long as it has not explicitly been closed by the user, and as long as the query has not been fully evaluated. After query evaluation, an implementation must ensure that all remaining connections are automatically closed.

Examples

The following expression closes a connection that has just been opened:

Database Operations

The module provides no function for creating new databases, because non-existing databases will automatically be created by MongoDB with the first write operation.

mongo:list-collections

Signatures
Rules

Returns the names of all collections contained in a databases.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database is supplied via $database.

mongo:command

Signatures
Rules

Executes a [=MongoDB Command=], supplied via $command, and returns the result as a map.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database is supplied via $database.

Implementation Notes

The object returned by MongoDB contains the field ok, which must be parsed by the implementation to decide if command execution was successful (indicated by the integer value 1) or not (0). The field must be removed from the object before the result is returned as map. If execution failed, the field errmsg can be parsed to return a proper error message.

Error Conditions
  • [=mongo:exec=] is raised if command execution failed.

Examples

mongo:eval

Signatures
Rules

Runs server-server JavaScript script code, supplied via $code. Function arguments can be supplied via $args. Arguments can be booleans, strings, numbers, arrays or maps. An error will be raised if any other type is supplied. Items of type xs:untypedAtomic are converted to strings.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database is supplied via $database.

Implementation Notes

Due to the different type systems of XQuery and JavaScript, it is not possible to losslessly convert all values to one language and back. To ensure compatibility, an implementation must obey the following conversion rules:

Conversion of XQuery arguments to JavaScript:

  • A value of type xs:boolean is converted to a boolean.

  • A value of type xs:string and xs:untypedAtomic are converted to a string.

  • A value of type xs:numeric is converted to a number (i.e. a double-precision floating-point format value).

  • A value of type map(*) is converted to an object. Its entries must be converted recursively according to the given rules.

  • A value of type array(*) is converted to an array. Its members must be converted recursively according to the given rules.

  • The error [=mongo:type=] is raised for any other type.

Conversion of JavaScript results to XQuery:

  • A boolean is converted to xs:boolean.

  • A string is converted to xs:string.

  • A number is converted to xs:double.

  • An object is converted to map(*). Its entries must be converted recursively according to the given rules.

  • An array is converted to array(*). Its members must be converted recursively according to the given rules.

  • The error [=mongo:type=] is raised for any other type.

Error Conditions
  • [=mongo:type=] is raised if an XQuery argument cannot be converted to Javascript, or if a Javascript result cannot be converted to XQuery.

  • [=mongo:exec=] is raised if JavaScript execution failed.

Examples

The following query returns the result of an arithmetic expression:

mongo:drop-database

Signatures
Rules

Drops a database. No operation will be performed if the database does not exist.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database is supplied via $database.

Examples

The following query drops five databases (provided they exist):

Collections: Read Operations

mongo:find

Signatures
Rules

Returns documents of a collection. If a query is supplied via the

$query

argument, the documents are filtered by that query. The

$options

argument can have the following entries:

  • "fields": map(*): Restricts the returned fields. The field _id will always be returned.

  • "sort": map(*): Sorts the returned documents.

  • "limit": xs:integer: Limits the number of returned documents by the specified integer.

  • "skip": xs:integer: Skips the number of specified documents.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following expression queries an addressbook and selects all persons living in Tokyo. It sorts results by the names and returns the first 50 documents:

mongo:find-one

Signatures
Rules

Returns the first document of a database that optionally matches a supplied

$query

. The

$options

argument can have have the following entries:

  • "fields": map(*): Restricts the returned fields. The field _id will always be returned.

  • "sort": map(*): Sorts the documents before returning the first result.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following query returns the first document that matches the specified query:

mongo:count

Signatures
Rules

Counts documents in a collection. If a query is supplied via the $query argument, the documents are filtered by that query.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following expression counts the number of documents in the "addressbook" collection:

mongo:aggregate

Signatures
Rules

Calculates aggregate values for the documents in a collection and returns the results. The operations to be performed are supplied via the $pipeline argument.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following query selects all documents with "Tokyo" as city and returns their names:

mongo:group

Signatures
Rules

Groups documents in a collection by the supplied

$fields

, aggregates the documents via the

$reduce

function, and returns the results.

$initial

provides an initial result document, which will be modified by the reduce function. The

$options

argument can have the following entries:

  • "cond": map(*): Filters the documents before being processed.

  • "finalize": xs:string: Follows the reduce function and modifies the output.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following groups documents with age > 60 by the city field and returns the summed up orders field:

mongo:map-reduce

Signatures
Rules

Runs a map-reduce aggregation operation over the documents of a collection. The map and reduce functions are supplied via the

$map

and

$reduce

arguments. The

$options

argument can have the following entries:

  • "query": map(*): Filters the documents before being processed.

  • "output": xs:string: Specifies the output target of the result.

  • "type": xs:string: Specifies the output type. Allowed values are INLINE (default), REPLACE, MERGE and REDUCE.

  • "finalize": xs:string: Follows the reduce function and modifies the output.

  • "sort": map(*): Sorts the returned documents.

  • "limit": xs:integer: Limits the number of returned documents by the specified integer.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following query sums up the numbber of orders from all documents of the "addressbook" collection:

Collections: Update Operations

mongo:find-and-modify

Signatures
Rules

Finds a document that has been selected via the $query argument, modifies it according to the $update argument, and returns the document as it was before the modifications. An empty sequence is returned if no document was found. The $options argument can have the following entries:

  • "fields": map(*): Restricts the returned fields. The field _id will always be returned.

  • "sort": map(*): Sorts the documents before choosing the first one as candidate for modification.

  • "new": xs:boolean: Returns the modified document rather than the original.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following query modifies a document with the specified id:

mongo:find-and-remove

Signatures
Rules

Finds a document that has been selected via the $query argument and returns it after removing it from the database. An empty sequence is returned if no document was found.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following query removes a document with the specified id:

mongo:insert

Signatures
Rules

Inserts documents into a collection. If the collection does not exists on the server, it will be created. If the new document does not contain an _id field, it will be added.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Error Conditions
  • [=mongo:write=] is raised if a document cannot be inserted. This can e.g. happen if document with an identical id already exists.

Examples

The following expression inserts two new documents into a collection:

mongo:save

Signatures
Rules

Updates an existing document in a collection or inserts a new document. If the supplied document has no _id field, or if the id does not exist in the collection, the document will be inserted. Otherwise, the existing document will be replaced.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following expression updates or inserts a single document:

mongo:update

Signatures
Rules

Finds one or more document that have been selected via the $query argument and modifies them according to the $update argument. The $options argument can have have the following entries:

  • "upsert": xs:boolean: Inserts a new document if no document matches the query criteria.

  • "multi": xs:boolean: Updates all documents in the collection that match the update query. Otherwise, updates only one document.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Error Conditions
  • [=mongo:write=] is raised if a document cannot be inserted. This can e.g. happen if a user tries to change the id of the document.

Examples

The following update applies to all documents in the addressed collection. It replaces the value of the info field with null, or adds a new name/value pair if the field does not exist:

mongo:remove

Signatures
Rules

Removes documents from a collection that are selected by the $query argument.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following expression removes all documents from a collection:

mongo:drop-collection

Signatures
Rules

Drops a collection. No operation will be performed if the collection does not exist.

The connection is identified by the supplied $client-id, and the name of the database and collection are supplied via $database and $collection.

Examples

The following query drops five collections in a database:

References

MongoDB Command
MongoDB Database Commands. URL: http://docs.mongodb.org/manual/reference/command/
MongoDB Drivers
MongoDB Drivers. URL: http://docs.mongodb.org/ecosystem/drivers
MongoDB Meta Driver
MongoDB Meta Driver. URL: http://docs.mongodb.org/meta-driver/latest
MongoDB Test Suite
MongoDB Test Suite. URL: http://github.com/expath/expath-cg, directory: tests/qt3/mongo/.
Mongrel
Mongrel, the eXist-db MongoDB extension. URL: https://github.com/dizzzz/Mongrel
XML Query Test Suite
XML Query Test Suite. URL: http://dev.w3.org/2011/QT3-test-suite
XQuery 3.1
XQuery 3.1: An XML Query Language. Jonathan Robie, Don Chamberlin, Michael Dyck, John Snelson, Editors. World Wide Web Consortium. URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-31
XPath and XQuery Functions and Operators 3.1
XPath and XQuery Functions and Operators 3.1. Michael Kay, Editor. World Wide Web Consortium. URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath-functions-31
RFC 7159
RFC 7159 – The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data Interchange Format. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). URL: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7159.txt

Summary of Error Conditions

mongo:connect
A new database connection could not be established.
mongo:exec
Command execution failed.
mongo:id
No open database connection exists for the supplied client id.
mongo:io
An unexpected error occurred while interacting with the database.
mongo:json
A supplied XQuery map could be converted to a JSON object.
mongo:name
The name of a database or collection is invalid.
mongo:type
An XQuery argument cannot be converted to Javascript, or a Javascript result cannot be converted to XQuery.
mongo:write
A write operation failed.