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Delete Documents from MongoDB

Overview

The code snippets on this page demonstrate how to delete documents that are stored in a MongoDB collection. Delete operations use a query filter to specify which documents to delete.

Data Model

The examples on this page use a collection named store.items that models various items available for purchase in an online store. Each item has a name, an inventory quantity, and an array of customer reviews.

// store.items
{
    _id:      <ObjectID>,
    name:     <string>,
    quantity: <int>,
    reviews:  [ { username: <string>, comment: <string> } ]
}

Snippet Setup

To use a code snippet in a function, you must first instantiate a MongoDB collection handle:

exports = function() {
  const mongodb = context.services.get("mongodb-atlas");
  const itemsCollection = mongodb.db("store").collection("items");
  const purchasesCollection = mongodb.db("store").collection("purchases");
}

To use a code snippet in a JavaScript project, you must first do the following:

1

Import Stitch Dependencies

Import from CDN
<!-- Import the Stitch JS SDK at the top of the file -->
<script src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/stitch-sdks/js/bundles/4/stitch.js"></script>
<script>
  // Destructure Stitch JS SDK Components
  const { Stitch, RemoteMongoClient, BSON } = stitch;
</script>

– or –

Import from Module
// Import components of the Stitch JS SDK at the top of the file
import {
  Stitch,
  RemoteMongoClient,
  BSON
} from "mongodb-stitch-browser-sdk";
2

Instantiate a MongoDB Remote Collection Handle

const stitchApp = Stitch.initializeDefaultAppClient("<Your App ID>");
const mongodb = stitchApp.getServiceClient(RemoteMongoClient.factory, "mongodb-atlas");
const itemsCollection = mongodb.db("store").collection("items");
const purchasesCollection = mongodb.db("store").collection("purchases");

To use a code snippet in an Android project, you must first do the following:

1

Set Up Your Project

Follow the steps in the Set up a MongoDB Mobile Project guide.

Note

For more details on setting up your Android app to use Stitch, refer to Build a Mobile App with Sync or Build a Local-Only Mobile App.

2

Import Stitch Dependencies

For CRUD operations on a remote MongoDB collection, you will use one or more of the following import statements:

// Base Stitch Packages
import com.mongodb.stitch.android.core.Stitch;
import com.mongodb.stitch.android.core.StitchAppClient;
// Stitch Authentication Packages
import com.mongodb.stitch.android.core.auth.StitchUser;
import com.mongodb.stitch.core.auth.providers.anonymous.AnonymousCredential;
// MongoDB Service Packages
import com.mongodb.client.MongoClient;
import com.mongodb.client.MongoCollection;
// Utility Packages
import com.mongodb.stitch.core.internal.common.BsonUtils;

To Sync documents between a remote and a local MongoDB instance, you will also need to import the following packages:

// Stitch Sync Packages
import com.mongodb.stitch.core.services.mongodb.remote.sync.ChangeEventListener;
import com.mongodb.stitch.core.services.mongodb.remote.sync.DefaultSyncConflictResolvers;
import com.mongodb.stitch.core.services.mongodb.remote.sync.ErrorListener;
import com.mongodb.stitch.core.services.mongodb.remote.sync.internal.ChangeEvent;

Important

If you use Sync, be sure to add .sync() before every remote database call in the examples below, as in the following:

itemsCollections.sync().find()

To perform CRUD operations only on the local (on-device) database, import the following packages:

// MongoDB Mobile Local Database Packages
import com.mongodb.stitch.android.services.mongodb.local.LocalMongoDbService;
3

Instantiate a MongoDB Collection Handle

Top of Activity File
private StitchAppClient stitchClient;
private RemoteMongoClient mongoClient;
private RemoteMongoCollection itemsCollection;
In Activity.onCreate()
stitchClient = Stitch.getDefaultAppClient();
mongoClient = stitchClient.getServiceClient(RemoteMongoClient.factory, "mongodb-atlas");
itemsCollection = mongoClient.getDatabase("store").getCollection("items");
purchasesCollection = mongoClient.getDatabase("store").getCollection("purchases");

To use a code snippet in an iOS project, you must first do the following:

1

Set Up Your Project

Follow the steps in the Set up a MongoDB Mobile Project guide.

2

Import Stitch Dependencies

In scope (e.g. UIViewController)
import StitchCore
import StitchCoreRemoteMongoDBService
import StitchRemoteMongoDBService
3

Initialize the MongoDB Stitch iOS SDK

Application Startup (e.g. AppDelegate.didFinishLaunchingWithOptions())
do {
    let _ = try Stitch.initializeDefaultAppClient(
        withClientAppID: "YOUR-APP-ID"
    )
} catch {
    print("Failed to initialize MongoDB Stitch iOS SDK: \(error)")
}
4

Instantiate a MongoDB Collection Handle

In scope (e.g. UIViewController)
// Variables in scope:
private lazy var stitchClient = Stitch.defaultAppClient!
private var mongoClient: RemoteMongoClient?
private var itemsCollection: RemoteMongoCollection<Document>?

// Set the stitch variables declared above in viewDidLoad()
mongoClient = stitchClient.serviceClient(
    fromFactory: remoteMongoClientFactory,
    withName: "mongodb-atlas"
)
itemsCollection = mongoClient?.db("store").collection("items")
purchasesCollection = mongoClient?.db("store").collection("purchases")

Methods

Delete a Single Document

You can delete a single document from a collection using the collection.deleteOne() action.

The following snippet deletes one document in the items collection that has a name value of legos:

const query = { "name": "legos" };

itemsCollection.deleteOne(query)
  .then(result => console.log(`Deleted ${result.deletedCount} item.`))
  .catch(err => console.error(`Delete failed with error: ${err}`))
const query = { "name": "legos" };

itemsCollection.deleteOne(query)
  .then(result => console.log(`Deleted ${result.deletedCount} item.`))
  .catch(err => console.error(`Delete failed with error: ${err}`))
Document filterDoc = new Document().append("name", "legos");

final Task<RemoteDeleteResult> deleteTask = itemsCollection.deleteOne(filterDoc);
deleteTask.addOnCompleteListener(new OnCompleteListener <RemoteDeleteResult> () {
    @Override
    public void onComplete(@NonNull Task <RemoteDeleteResult> task) {
        if (task.isSuccessful()) {
            long numDeleted = task.getResult().getDeletedCount();
            Log.d("app", String.format("successfully deleted %d documents", numDeleted));
        } else {
            Log.e("app", "failed to delete document with: ", task.getException());
        }
    }
});
let query : Document = ["name": "legos"];

itemsCollection?.deleteOne(query) { result in
    switch result {
    case .success(let result):
        print("Deleted \(result.deletedCount) item.");
    case .failure(let error):
        print("Delete failed with error: \(error)");
    }
}

Delete One or More Documents

You can delete multiple items from a collection using the collection.deleteMany() action.

The following snippet deletes all documents in the items collection that do not have any reviews:

const query = { "reviews": { "$size": 0 } };

itemsCollection.deleteMany(query)
  .then(result => console.log(`Deleted ${result.deletedCount} item(s).`))
  .catch(err => console.error(`Delete failed with error: ${err}`))
const query = { "reviews": { "$size": 0 } };

itemsCollection.deleteMany(query)
  .then(result => console.log(`Deleted ${result.deletedCount} item(s).`))
  .catch(err => console.error(`Delete failed with error: ${err}`))
Document filterDoc = new Document().append("reviews", new Document().append("$size", 0));

final Task <RemoteDeleteResult> deleteTask = itemsCollection.deleteMany(filterDoc);
deleteTask.addOnCompleteListener(new OnCompleteListener <RemoteDeleteResult> () {
    @Override
    public void onComplete(@NonNull Task <RemoteDeleteResult> task) {
        if (task.isSuccessful()) {
            long numDeleted = task.getResult().getDeletedCount();
            Log.d("app", String.format("successfully deleted %d documents", numDeleted));
        } else {
            Log.e("app", "failed to delete document with: ", task.getException());
        }
    }
});
let query : Document = ["reviews": ["$size": 0] as Document];

itemsCollection?.deleteMany(query) { result in
    switch result {
    case .success(let result):
        print("Deleted \(result.deletedCount) item(s).");
    case .failure(let error):
        print("Delete failed with error: \(error)");
    }
}