db.collection.findOneAndDelete()

Definition

  • db.collection.findOneAndDelete(filter, options)

mongo Shell Method

This page documents the mongo shell method, and doesnot refer to the MongoDB Node.js driver (or any other driver)method. For corresponding MongoDB driver API, refer to your specificMongoDB driver documentation instead.

New in version 3.2.

Deletes a single document based on the filter andsort criteria, returning the deleted document.

The findOneAndDelete() method has the followingform:

  1. db.collection.findOneAndDelete(
  2.    <filter>,
  3.    {
  4.      projection: <document>,
  5.      sort: <document>,
  6.      maxTimeMS: <number>,
  7.      collation: <document>
  8.    }
  9. )

The findOneAndDelete() method takes the followingparameters:

ParameterTypeDescriptionfilterdocumentThe selection criteria for the deletion. The same queryselectors as in the find() method are available.

Specify an empty document { } to delete the first document returned inthe collection.

If unspecified, defaults to an empty document.

Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operationerrors if the query argument is not a document.projectiondocumentOptional. A subset of fields to return.

To return all fields in the returned document, omit this parameter.

Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operationerrors if the projection argument is not a document.sortdocumentOptional. Specifies a sorting order for the documents matched by the filter.

Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operationerrors if the sort argument is not a document.

See cursor.sort().maxTimeMSnumberOptional. Specifies a time limit in milliseconds within which the operation mustcomplete within. Throws an error if the limit is exceeded.collationdocumentOptional.

Specifies the collation to use for the operation.

Collation allows users to specifylanguage-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules forlettercase and accent marks.

The collation option has the following syntax:

  1. collation: {
  2.    locale: <string>,
  3.    caseLevel: <boolean>,
  4.    caseFirst: <string>,
  5.    strength: <int>,
  6.    numericOrdering: <boolean>,
  7.    alternate: <string>,
  8.    maxVariable: <string>,
  9.    backwards: <boolean>
  10. }

When specifying collation, the locale field is mandatory; allother collation fields are optional. For descriptions of the fields,see Collation Document.

If the collation is unspecified but the collection has adefault collation (see db.createCollection()), theoperation uses the collation specified for the collection.

If no collation is specified for the collection or for theoperations, MongoDB uses the simple binary comparison used in priorversions for string comparisons.

You cannot specify multiple collations for an operation. Forexample, you cannot specify different collations per field, or ifperforming a find with a sort, you cannot use one collation for thefind and another for the sort.

New in version 3.4.

Returns:Returns the deleted document.

Behavior

Document Match

findOneAndDelete() deletes the first matchingdocument in the collection that matches the filter.The sort parameter can be used to influence which document is deleted.

Projection

The projection parameter takes a document in the following form:

  1. { field1 : < boolean >, field2 : < boolean> ... }

The <boolean> value can be any of the following:

  • 1 or true to include the field. The method returns the_id field even if it is not explicitly stated in the projectionparameter.
  • 0 or false to exclude the field. This can be used on anyfield, including _id.

Transactions

db.collection.findOneAndDelete() can be used inside multi-document transactions.

Do not explicitly set the write concern for the operation if run ina transaction. To use write concern with transactions, seeTransactions and Write Concern.

Important

In most cases, multi-document transaction incurs a greaterperformance cost over single document writes, and theavailability of multi-document transactions should not be areplacement for effective schema design. For many scenarios, thedenormalized data model (embedded documents and arrays) will continue to be optimal for yourdata and use cases. That is, for many scenarios, modeling your dataappropriately will minimize the need for multi-documenttransactions.

For additional transactions usage considerations(such as runtime limit and oplog size limit), see alsoProduction Considerations.

Examples

Delete A Document

The scores collection contains documents similar to the following:

  1. { _id: 6305, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 24 },
  2. { _id: 6308, name : "B. Batlock", "assignment" : 3, "points" : 22 },
  3. { _id: 6312, name : "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 },
  4. { _id: 6319, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 12 },
  5. { _id: 6322, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 },
  6. { _id: 6234, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 1, "points" : 10 }

The following operation finds the first document where name : M. Tagnumand deletes it:

  1. db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
  2.    { "name" : "M. Tagnum" }
  3. )

The operation returns the original document that has been deleted:

  1. { _id: 6312, name: "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 }

Sort And Delete A Document

The scores collection contains documents similar to the following:

  1. { _id: 6305, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 24 },
  2. { _id: 6308, name : "B. Batlock", "assignment" : 3, "points" : 22 },
  3. { _id: 6312, name : "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 },
  4. { _id: 6319, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 12 },
  5. { _id: 6322, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 },
  6. { _id: 6234, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 1, "points" : 10 }

The following operation first finds all documents wherename : "A. MacDyver". It then sorts by points ascending beforedeleting the document with the lowest points value:

  1. db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
  2.    { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
  3.    { sort : { "points" : 1 } }
  4. )

The operation returns the original document that has been deleted:

  1. { _id: 6322, name: "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 }

Projecting the Deleted Document

The following operation uses projection to only return the _id andassignment fields in the returned document:

  1. db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
  2.    { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
  3.    { sort : { "points" : 1 }, projection: { "assignment" : 1 } }
  4. )

The operation returns the original document with theassignment and _id fields:

  1. { _id: 6322, "assignment" : 2 }

Update Document with Time Limit

The following operation sets a 5ms time limit to complete the deletion:

  1. try {
  2.    db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
  3.       { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
  4.       { sort : { "points" : 1 }, maxTimeMS : 5 };
  5.    );
  6. }
  7. catch(e){
  8.    print(e);
  9. }

If the operation exceeds the time limit, it returns:

  1. Error: findAndModifyFailed failed: { "ok" : 0, "errmsg" : "operation exceeded time limit", "code" : 50 }

Specify Collation

New in version 3.4.

Collation allows users to specifylanguage-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules forlettercase and accent marks.

A collection myColl has the following documents:

  1. { _id: 1, category: "café", status: "A" }
  2. { _id: 2, category: "cafe", status: "a" }
  3. { _id: 3, category: "cafE", status: "a" }

The following operation includes the collationoption:

  1. db.myColl.findOneAndDelete(
  2.    { category: "cafe", status: "a" },
  3.    { collation: { locale: "fr", strength: 1 } }
  4. );

The operation returns the following document:

  1. { "_id" : 1, "category" : "café", "status" : "A" }