Database Manual / Reference / Query Language / Expressions

$documentNumber (expression operator)

Definition

New in version 5.0.

$documentNumber

Returns the position of a document (known as the document number) in the $setWindowFields stage partition.

The $setWindowFields stage sortBy field determines the document number. For more information on how MongoDB compares fields with different types, see BSON comparison order.

$documentNumber returns a unique number for each document in a partition, even if multiple documents have identical sortBy field values in the partition.

$documentNumber is only available in the $setWindowFields stage.

$documentNumber syntax:

{ $documentNumber: { } }

$documentNumber does not accept any parameters.

Behavior

$documentNumber includes documents that have a sortBy field that is null or missing.

$documentNumber, $rank, and $denseRank return the position of the documents based on the sortBy field values.

$documentNumber differs from $rank and $denseRank in how documents with identical sortBy field values in a partition are treated:

  • $rank and $denseRank return the same position (known as the rank) for those documents.
  • $documentNumber returns a unique position (known as the document number) for those documents.

See the example in Document Number for Duplicate, Null, and Missing Values.

Examples

Document Number for Each State

Create a cakeSales collection that contains cake sales in the states of California (CA) and Washington (WA):

db.cakeSales.insertMany( [
   { _id: 0, type: "chocolate", orderDate: new Date("2020-05-18T14:10:30Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 13, quantity: 120 },
   { _id: 1, type: "chocolate", orderDate: new Date("2021-03-20T11:30:05Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 14, quantity: 140 },
   { _id: 2, type: "vanilla", orderDate: new Date("2021-01-11T06:31:15Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 12, quantity: 145 },
   { _id: 3, type: "vanilla", orderDate: new Date("2020-02-08T13:13:23Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 13, quantity: 104 },
   { _id: 4, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2019-05-18T16:09:01Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 41, quantity: 162 },
   { _id: 5, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2019-01-08T06:12:03Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 43, quantity: 134 }
] )

This example uses $documentNumber in the $setWindowFields stage to output the cake sales document number for each state:

db.cakeSales.aggregate( [
   {
      $setWindowFields: {
         partitionBy: "$state",
         sortBy: { quantity: -1 },
         output: {
            documentNumberForState: {
               $documentNumber: {}
            }
         }
      }
   }
] )

In the example:

  • partitionBy: "$state" partitions the documents in the collection by state. There are partitions for CA and WA.

  • sortBy: { quantity: -1 } sorts the documents in each partition by quantity in descending order (-1), so the highest quantity is first.

  • output sets the document number in a new field called documentNumberForState shown in the following results. documentNumberForState is unique within each state partition.
{ "_id" : 4, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2019-05-18T16:09:01Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 41, "quantity" : 162, "documentNumberForState" : 1 }
{ "_id" : 2, "type" : "vanilla", "orderDate" : ISODate("2021-01-11T06:31:15Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 12, "quantity" : 145, "documentNumberForState" : 2 }
{ "_id" : 0, "type" : "chocolate", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-05-18T14:10:30Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 13, "quantity" : 120, "documentNumberForState" : 3 }
{ "_id" : 1, "type" : "chocolate", "orderDate" : ISODate("2021-03-20T11:30:05Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 14, "quantity" : 140, "documentNumberForState" : 1 }
{ "_id" : 5, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2019-01-08T06:12:03Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 43, "quantity" : 134, "documentNumberForState" : 2 }
{ "_id" : 3, "type" : "vanilla", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-02-08T13:13:23Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 13, "quantity" : 104, "documentNumberForState" : 3 }

Document Number for Duplicate, Null, and Missing Values

Create a cakeSalesWithDuplicates collection where:

  • Cake sales are placed in the state of California (CA) and Washington (WA).
  • Documents 6 to 8 have the same quantity and state as document 5.
  • Document 9 has the same quantity and state as document 4.
  • Document 10 has a null quantity.
  • Document 11 is missing the quantity.
db.cakeSalesWithDuplicates.insertMany( [
   { _id: 0, type: "chocolate", orderDate: new Date("2020-05-18T14:10:30Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 13, quantity: 120 },
   { _id: 1, type: "chocolate", orderDate: new Date("2021-03-20T11:30:05Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 14, quantity: 140 },
   { _id: 2, type: "vanilla", orderDate: new Date("2021-01-11T06:31:15Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 12, quantity: 145 },
   { _id: 3, type: "vanilla", orderDate: new Date("2020-02-08T13:13:23Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 13, quantity: 104 },
   { _id: 4, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2019-05-18T16:09:01Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 41, quantity: 162 },
   { _id: 5, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2019-01-08T06:12:03Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 43, quantity: 134 },
   { _id: 6, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2020-01-08T06:12:03Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 41, quantity: 134 },
   { _id: 7, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2020-01-01T06:12:03Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 34, quantity: 134 },
   { _id: 8, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2020-01-02T06:12:03Z"),
     state: "WA", price: 40, quantity: 134 },
   { _id: 9, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2020-05-11T16:09:01Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 39, quantity: 162 },
   { _id: 10, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2020-05-11T16:09:01Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 39, quantity: null },
   { _id: 11, type: "strawberry", orderDate: new Date("2020-05-11T16:09:01Z"),
     state: "CA", price: 39 }
] )

This example uses $documentNumber in the $setWindowFields stage to output the cakeSalesWithDuplicates document number for each state:

db.cakeSalesWithDuplicates.aggregate( [
   {
      $setWindowFields: {
         partitionBy: "$state",
         sortBy: { quantity: -1 },
         output: {
            documentNumberForState: {
               $documentNumber: {}
            }
         }
      }
   }
] )

In the example:

  • partitionBy: "$state" partitions the documents in the collection by state. There are partitions for CA and WA.

  • sortBy: { quantity: -1 } sorts the documents in each partition by quantity in descending order (-1), so the highest quantity is first.

  • output sets the document number in a new field called documentNumberForState shown in the following results. documentNumberForState is unique within each state partition, and there are documentNumberForState values for documents with null quantity and missing quantity values.
{ "_id" : 4, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2019-05-18T16:09:01Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 41, "quantity" : 162, "documentNumberForState" : 1 }
{ "_id" : 9, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-05-11T16:09:01Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 39, "quantity" : 162, "documentNumberForState" : 2 }
{ "_id" : 2, "type" : "vanilla", "orderDate" : ISODate("2021-01-11T06:31:15Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 12, "quantity" : 145, "documentNumberForState" : 3 }
{ "_id" : 0, "type" : "chocolate", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-05-18T14:10:30Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 13, "quantity" : 120, "documentNumberForState" : 4 }
{ "_id" : 10, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-05-11T16:09:01Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 39, "quantity" : null, "documentNumberForState" : 5 }
{ "_id" : 11, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-05-11T16:09:01Z"),
  "state" : "CA", "price" : 39, "documentNumberForState" : 6 }
{ "_id" : 1, "type" : "chocolate", "orderDate" : ISODate("2021-03-20T11:30:05Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 14, "quantity" : 140, "documentNumberForState" : 1 }
{ "_id" : 5, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2019-01-08T06:12:03Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 43, "quantity" : 134, "documentNumberForState" : 2 }
{ "_id" : 6, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-01-08T06:12:03Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 41, "quantity" : 134, "documentNumberForState" : 3 }
{ "_id" : 7, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-01-01T06:12:03Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 34, "quantity" : 134, "documentNumberForState" : 4 }
{ "_id" : 8, "type" : "strawberry", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-01-02T06:12:03Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 40, "quantity" : 134, "documentNumberForState" : 5 }
{ "_id" : 3, "type" : "vanilla", "orderDate" : ISODate("2020-02-08T13:13:23Z"),
  "state" : "WA", "price" : 13, "quantity" : 104, "documentNumberForState" : 6 }