Handling JSON in MongoDB

MongoDB is a high-performance, document-oriented NoSQL database which came to light in the mid-2000s. Unlike SQL-based databases, MongoDB uses documents (records) and collections (tables) to store non-relational data. <!--more--> MongoDB has grown in its use due to the scalability and its ease of use.

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a data exchange format solely based on JavaScript. JSON objects can easily get transferred from one system to another due to their compatibility with the majority of systems.

JSON is simple and easy to use besides being independent of any language. For these reasons, JSON has a wide range of applications in programming and data representation.

JSON can store various data types like strings, arrays, objects, and Binary JSON (BSON). What makes it easy to access data is its set of various tools to export and import JSON documents between systems. JSON makes use of key-value pair notation presumed to be the basic units of data.

Table of contents #

• Goal
• Prerequisites
• Structuring JSON data for use in MongoDB Database
  • Getting into JSON
  • Modeling Embedded Data
• Creating the JSON file
• Import JSON data to MongoDB Database
• Save JSON data to MongoDB Database
• Export JSON to MongoDB Database
• Conclusion
• Further reading

Goal #

The aim of this article is to provide a clear understanding on how to handle JSON data in MongoDB. By the end of the article, the reader is expected to be able to structure, import-export, and save JSON data in MongoDB.

Prerequisites #

• General knowledge of working with MongoDB.
• A basic understanding of JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).
• MongoDB installed on your machine.

Structuring JSON data for use in MongoDB Database #

Let's say we want to store data for a blog page in MongoDB. First, we'll need to have an idea of what the data will look like and how different fields will relate to each other.

For instance, let's say this is the record we want to capture:

post ID	post title	post body	post category	post author	post date
1	Post one	An awesome post 1	Programming, Coding, States	John Doe	24, 08, 2020
2	Post two	JSON data type	Databases, Coding, Programming	Jane Doe	01, 01, 2021
3	Post three	REST API tutorial	APIs, Data transfer, JavaScript	Jim Doe	08, 06, 2021

Getting into JSON #

Let's structure the table above in JSON format bearing in mind that JSON is formatted as name or key-pair values. The field names and values are separated by a colon, the filename-value pairs are separated by commas, and a set of records are enclosed in curly brackets.

For instance:

{
    "post id": 1, "post title": " post one"
}

Modeling embedded data #

Let us visit SQL for a moment, in this case of data, some data fields require multiple values that may not be easy to display if modeled in a single column for example post category. In SQL, we would solve this problem by creating a relational table.

With MongoDB, this problem can easily be solved by embedding data using JSON as it supports embedded files. It can embed related data and lists in the same document instead of creating a new table as shown below.

{
    "post category": ["Programming", "Coding", "States"]
} 

For the case of post dates, each date has values for day, month, and year, below is how to go about it:

{
    "post date": {
        "day": 24, "month": 08, "year": 2020        
    }
}

We just structured our JSON data for use in MongoDB. Let's go on to the next step.

Creating the JSON file #

First, we need to have our JSON file which we will import to the MongoDB database. So we will create a new folder called project. In this folder, create a new file and name it file.json then paste the code in the snippets below into that file.

[
    {
        "student_number": 1,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "age": 17,
        "Course": "Computer Science"
    },
    {
        "student_number": 2,
        "name": "Joan Dee",
        "age": 23,
        "Course": "Computer Animation"
    },
    {
        "student_number": 3,
        "name": "Jim Doeh",
        "age": 19,
        "Course": "Industrial Science"
    },
    {
        "student_number": 4,
        "name": "John Dohn",
        "age": 37,
        "Course": "Political Science"
    }
]

Import JSON to MongoDB #

Next, you need to create a database to hold the JSON object that you will import. Execute the command below to create the database and import the JSON file as a student collection.

mongoimport --jsonArray --db studentinfo --collection students --file path-to-your-file\filename.json

If your import was a success, you should get the message below in the terminal:

2021-06-29T22:35:18.454+0300    connected to: mongodb://localhost/
2021-06-29T22:35:18.500+0300    4 document(s) imported successfully. 0 document(s) failed to import.

Now to verify the import, run the command below to view the imported data:

db.students.find()

This command should fetch all objects from the JSON file that was imported as below:

db.students.find()
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db758c4a433597bcae61c0"), "student_number" : 1, "name" : "John Doe", "age" : 17, "Course" : "Computer Science" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db758c4a433597bcae61c1"), "student_number" : 4, "name" : "John Dohn", "age" : 37, "Course" : "Political Science" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db758c4a433597bcae61c2"), "student_number" : 2, "name" : "Joan Dee", "age" : 23, "Course" : "Computer Animation" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db758c4a433597bcae61c3"), "student_number" : 3, "name" : "Jim Doeh", "age" : 19, "Course" : "Industrial Science" }

Save JSON data to MongoDB database #

Now that we have imported a JSON file into MongoDB, we will add two records to the database then export the data to a new JSON file.

Use the command below to add records to the database:

db.students.insert({"student_number":5, "name":"Last student added", "age":22, "Course":"Engineering"})

You should get the response below in the terminal:

WriteResult({ "nInserted" : 1 })

Now if we run the command, we find an extra record in the database:

db.students.find()
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db758c4a433597bcae61c0"), "student_number" : 1, "name" : "John Doe", "age" : 17, "Course" : "Computer Science" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db758c4a433597bcae61c1"), "student_number" : 4, "name" : "John Dohn", "age" : 37, "Course" : "Political Science" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db758c4a433597bcae61c2"), "student_number" : 2, "name" : "Joan Dee", "age" : 23, "Course" : "Computer Animation" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db758c4a433597bcae61c3"), "student_number" : 3, "name" : "Jim Doeh", "age" : 19, "Course" : "Industrial Science" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60db7a59ee65088f9b51677e"), "student_number" : 5, "name" : "Last student added", "age" : 22, "Course" : "Engineering" }

Export JSON to MongoDB database #

Now let us export the new file to JSON using the following command:

mongoexport --db studentinfo --collection student --out d:\out.json --pretty

You should have the response below in your terminal:

2021-06-29T23:02:50.046+0300    connected to: mongodb://localhost/
2021-06-29T23:02:50.071+0300    exported 4 records

Now if you navigate to your D drive, you should find your exported JSON file named out.json, and the records are as below:

{
    "_id": {
        "$oid": "60db75f6f8992a3dd20bb089"
    },
    "student_number": 3,
    "name": "Jim Doeh",
    "age": 19,
    "Course": "Industrial Science"
}
{
    "_id": {
        "$oid": "60db75f6f8992a3dd20bb08a"
    },
    "student_number": 2,
    "name": "Joan Dee",
    "age": 23,
    "Course": "Computer Animation"
}
{
    "_id": {
        "$oid": "60db75f6f8992a3dd20bb08b"
    },
    "student_number": 1,
    "name": "John Doe",
    "age": 17,
    "Course": "Computer Science"
}
{
    "_id": {
        "$oid": "60db75f6f8992a3dd20bb08c"
    },
    "student_number": 4,
    "name": "John Dohn",
    "age": 37,
    "Course": "Political Science"
}

Conclusion #

In this article, we've learned how to handle JSON data in MongoDB and the various operations that can be performed on JSON using MongoDB. Among the operations are structuring data, importing and exporting data from JSON to MongoDB, and vice versa.

You can find the JSON files here.

Further reading #

Now that you have an understanding of how to use JSON in MongoDB, you can check out these links to find out more on this topic:

• JSON and BSON
• Mongoexport
• Mongoimport

Happy coding!

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Peer Review Contributions by: Eric gacoki