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db.collection.mapReduce()¶
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db.collection.mapReduce(map, reduce, {<out>, <query>, <sort>, <limit>, <finalize>, <scope>, <jsMode>, <verbose>})¶ mongoShell MethodThis page documents the
mongoshell method, and does not refer to the MongoDB Node.js driver (or any other driver) method. For corresponding MongoDB driver API, refer to your specific MongoDB driver documentation instead.Note
Starting in version 4.2, MongoDB deprecates:
- The map-reduce option to create a new sharded collection as well as the use of the sharded option for map-reduce. To output to a sharded collection, create the sharded collection first. MongoDB 4.2 also deprecates the replacement of an existing sharded collection.
- The explicit specification of nonAtomic: false option.
The
db.collection.mapReduce()method provides a wrapper around themapReducecommand.Note
Views do not support map-reduce operations.
db.collection.mapReduce()has the following syntax:db.collection.mapReduce()takes the following parameters:Parameter Type Description mapfunction A JavaScript function that associates or “maps” a
valuewith akeyand emits thekeyand valuepair.See Requirements for the map Function for more information.
reducefunction A JavaScript function that “reduces” to a single object all the
valuesassociated with a particularkey.See Requirements for the reduce Function for more information.
optionsdocument A document that specifies additional parameters to db.collection.mapReduce().The following table describes additional arguments that
db.collection.mapReduce()can accept.Field Type Description outstring or document Specifies the location of the result of the map-reduce operation. You can output to a collection, output to a collection with an action, or output inline. You may output to a collection when performing map-reduce operations on the primary members of the set; on secondary members you may only use the
inlineoutput.See out Options for more information.
querydocument Specifies the selection criteria using query operators for determining the documents input to the mapfunction.sortdocument Sorts the input documents. This option is useful for optimization. For example, specify the sort key to be the same as the emit key so that there are fewer reduce operations. The sort key must be in an existing index for this collection. limitnumber Specifies a maximum number of documents for the input into the mapfunction.finalizefunction Optional. Follows the
reducemethod and modifies the output.See Requirements for the finalize Function for more information.
scopedocument Specifies global variables that are accessible in the map,reduceandfinalizefunctions.jsModeboolean Specifies whether to convert intermediate data into BSON format between the execution of the
mapandreducefunctions.Defaults to
false.If
false:- Internally, MongoDB converts the JavaScript objects emitted
by the
mapfunction to BSON objects. These BSON objects are then converted back to JavaScript objects when calling thereducefunction. - The map-reduce operation places the intermediate BSON objects in temporary, on-disk storage. This allows the map-reduce operation to execute over arbitrarily large data sets.
If
true:- Internally, the JavaScript objects emitted during
mapfunction remain as JavaScript objects. There is no need to convert the objects for thereducefunction, which can result in faster execution. - You can only use
jsModefor result sets with fewer than 500,000 distinctkeyarguments to the mapper’semit()function.
verboseboolean Specifies whether to include the
timinginformation in the result information. Setverbosetotrueto include thetiminginformation.Defaults to
false.collationdocument Optional.
Specifies the collation to use for the operation.
Collation allows users to specify language-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules for lettercase and accent marks.
The collation option has the following syntax:
When specifying collation, the
localefield is mandatory; all other collation fields are optional. For descriptions of the fields, see Collation Document.If the collation is unspecified but the collection has a default collation (see
db.createCollection()), the operation uses the collation specified for the collection.If no collation is specified for the collection or for the operations, MongoDB uses the simple binary comparison used in prior versions for string comparisons.
You cannot specify multiple collations for an operation. For example, you cannot specify different collations per field, or if performing a find with a sort, you cannot use one collation for the find and another for the sort.
New in version 3.4.
bypassDocumentValidationboolean Optional. Enables
mapReduceto bypass document validation during the operation. This lets you insert documents that do not meet the validation requirements.New in version 3.2.
Note
map-reduce operationsand$whereoperator expressions cannot access certain global functions or properties, such asdb, that are available in themongoshell.The following JavaScript functions and properties are available to
map-reduce operationsand$whereoperator expressions:Available Properties Available Functions argsMaxKeyMinKeyassert()BinData()DBPointer()DBRef()doassert()emit()gc()HexData()hex_md5()isNumber()isObject()ISODate()isString()Map()MD5()NumberInt()NumberLong()ObjectId()print()printjson()printjsononeline()sleep()Timestamp()tojson()tojsononeline()tojsonObject()UUID()version()
Requirements for the map Function¶
The map function is responsible for transforming each input document into
zero or more documents. It can access the variables defined in the scope
parameter, and has the following prototype:
The map function has the following requirements:
- In the
mapfunction, reference the current document asthiswithin the function. - The
mapfunction should not access the database for any reason. - The
mapfunction should be pure, or have no impact outside of the function (i.e. side effects.) - A single emit can only hold half of MongoDB’s maximum BSON document size.
- The
mapfunction may optionally callemit(key,value)any number of times to create an output document associatingkeywithvalue. - Starting in version 4.2.1, MongoDB deprecates the use of BSON type
JavaScript code with scope (BSON type 15) for the
mapfunction. Using JavaScript code with scope with themapfunction will print a warning to the log. Instead, use BSON type String (BSON type 2) or BSON type JavaScript (BSON type 13). To pass constant values which will be accessible in themapfunction, use thescopeparameter.
The following map function will call emit(key,value) either
0 or 1 times depending on the value of the input document’s
status field:
The following map function may call emit(key,value)
multiple times depending on the number of elements in the input
document’s items field:
Requirements for the reduce Function¶
The reduce function has the following prototype:
The reduce function exhibits the following behaviors:
- The
reducefunction should not access the database, even to perform read operations. - The
reducefunction should not affect the outside system. - MongoDB will not call the
reducefunction for a key that has only a single value. Thevaluesargument is an array whose elements are thevalueobjects that are “mapped” to thekey. - MongoDB can invoke the
reducefunction more than once for the same key. In this case, the previous output from thereducefunction for that key will become one of the input values to the nextreducefunction invocation for that key. - The
reducefunction can access the variables defined in thescopeparameter. - The inputs to
reducemust not be larger than half of MongoDB’s maximum BSON document size. This requirement may be violated when large documents are returned and then joined together in subsequentreducesteps. - Starting in version 4.2.1, MongoDB deprecates the use of BSON type
JavaScript code with scope (BSON type 15) for the
reducefunction. Using JavaScript code with scope with thereducefunction will print a warning to the log. Instead, use BSON type String (BSON type 2) or BSON type JavaScript (BSON type 13). To pass constant values which will be accessible in thereducefunction, use thescopeparameter.
Because it is possible to invoke the reduce function
more than once for the same key, the following
properties need to be true:
the type of the return object must be identical to the type of the
valueemitted by themapfunction.the
reducefunction must be associative. The following statement must be true:the
reducefunction must be idempotent. Ensure that the following statement is true:the
reducefunction should be commutative: that is, the order of the elements in thevaluesArrayshould not affect the output of thereducefunction, so that the following statement is true:
out Options¶
You can specify the following options for the out parameter:
Output to a Collection¶
This option outputs to a new collection, and is not available on secondary members of replica sets.
Output to a Collection with an Action¶
Note
Starting in version 4.2, MongoDB deprecates:
- The map-reduce option to create a new sharded collection as well as the use of the sharded option for map-reduce. To output to a sharded collection, create the sharded collection first. MongoDB 4.2 also deprecates the replacement of an existing sharded collection.
- The explicit specification of nonAtomic: false option.
This option is only available when passing a collection that
already exists to out. It is not available
on secondary members of replica sets.
When you output to a collection with an action, the out has the
following parameters:
<action>: Specify one of the following actions:replaceReplace the contents of the
<collectionName>if the collection with the<collectionName>exists.mergeMerge the new result with the existing result if the output collection already exists. If an existing document has the same key as the new result, overwrite that existing document.
reduceMerge the new result with the existing result if the output collection already exists. If an existing document has the same key as the new result, apply the
reducefunction to both the new and the existing documents and overwrite the existing document with the result.
db:Optional. The name of the database that you want the map-reduce operation to write its output. By default this will be the same database as the input collection.
sharded:Note
Starting in version 4.2, the use of the
shardedoption is deprecated.Optional. If
trueand you have enabled sharding on output database, the map-reduce operation will shard the output collection using the_idfield as the shard key.If
trueandcollectionNameis an existing unsharded collection, map-reduce fails.nonAtomic:Note
Starting in MongoDB 4.2, explicitly setting
nonAtomictofalseis deprecated.Optional. Specify output operation as non-atomic. This applies only to the
mergeandreduceoutput modes, which may take minutes to execute.By default
nonAtomicisfalse, and the map-reduce operation locks the database during post-processing.If
nonAtomicistrue, the post-processing step prevents MongoDB from locking the database: during this time, other clients will be able to read intermediate states of the output collection.
Output Inline¶
Perform the map-reduce operation in memory and return the result. This
option is the only available option for out on secondary members of
replica sets.
The result must fit within the maximum size of a BSON document.
Requirements for the finalize Function¶
The finalize function has the following prototype:
The finalize function receives as its arguments a key
value and the reducedValue from the reduce function. Be
aware that:
- The
finalizefunction should not access the database for any reason. - The
finalizefunction should be pure, or have no impact outside of the function (i.e. side effects.) - The
finalizefunction can access the variables defined in thescopeparameter. - Starting in version 4.2.1, MongoDB deprecates the use of BSON type
JavaScript code with scope (BSON type 15) for the
finalizefunction. Using JavaScript code with scope with thefinalizefunction will print a warning to the log. Instead, use BSON type String (BSON type 2) or BSON type JavaScript (BSON type 13). To pass constant values which will be accessible in thefinalizefunction, use thescopeparameter.
Map-Reduce Examples¶
Aggregation Pipeline as Alternative
Aggregation pipeline provides better performance and a more coherent interface than map-reduce.
Various map-reduce expressions can be
rewritten using aggregation pipeline operators, such as $group,
$merge, etc.
The example below includes aggregation pipeline alternatives.
Create a sample collection orders with these documents:
Return the Total Price Per Customer¶
Perform the map-reduce operation on the orders collection to group
by the cust_id, and calculate the sum of the price for each
cust_id:
Define the map function to process each input document:
- In the function,
thisrefers to the document that the map-reduce operation is processing. - The function maps the
priceto thecust_idfor each document and emits thecust_idandprice.
- In the function,
Define the corresponding reduce function with two arguments
keyCustIdandvaluesPrices:- The
valuesPricesis an array whose elements are thepricevalues emitted by the map function and grouped bykeyCustId. - The function reduces the
valuesPricearray to the sum of its elements.
- The
Perform map-reduce on all documents in the
orderscollection using themapFunction1map function and thereduceFunction1reduce function:This operation outputs the results to a collection named
map_reduce_example. If themap_reduce_examplecollection already exists, the operation will replace the contents with the results of this map-reduce operation.Query the
map_reduce_examplecollection to verify the results:The operation returns these documents:
Aggregation Alternative¶
Using the available aggregation pipeline operators, you can rewrite the map-reduce operation without defining custom functions:
The
$groupstage groups by thecust_idand calculates thevaluefield using$sum. Thevaluefield contains the totalpricefor eachcust_id.This stage outputs these documents to the next stage:
Then, the
$outwrites the output to the collectionagg_alternative_1. Alternatively, you could use$mergeinstead of$out.Query the
agg_alternative_1collection to verify the results:The operation returns these documents:
Calculate Order and Total Quantity with Average Quantity Per Item¶
In the following example, you will see a map-reduce operation on the
orders collection for all documents that have an ord_date value
greater than or equal to 2020-03-01.
The operation in the example:
- Groups by the
item.skufield, and calculates the number of orders and the total quantity ordered for eachsku. - Calculates the average quantity per order for each
skuvalue and merges the results into the output collection.
When merging results, if an existing document has the same key as the new result, the operation overwrites the existing document. If there is no existing document with the same key, the operation inserts the document.
Example steps:
Define the map function to process each input document:
- In the function,
thisrefers to the document that the map-reduce operation is processing. - For each item, the function associates the
skuwith a new objectvaluethat contains thecountof1and the itemqtyfor the order and emits thesku(stored in thekey) and thevalue.
- In the function,
Define the corresponding reduce function with two arguments
keySKUandcountObjVals:countObjValsis an array whose elements are the objects mapped to the groupedkeySKUvalues passed by map function to the reducer function.- The function reduces the
countObjValsarray to a single objectreducedValuethat contains thecountand theqtyfields. - In
reducedVal, thecountfield contains the sum of thecountfields from the individual array elements, and theqtyfield contains the sum of theqtyfields from the individual array elements.
Define a finalize function with two arguments
keyandreducedVal. The function modifies thereducedValobject to add a computed field namedavgand returns the modified object:Perform the map-reduce operation on the
orderscollection using themapFunction2,reduceFunction2, andfinalizeFunction2functions:This operation uses the
queryfield to select only those documents withord_dategreater than or equal tonew Date("2020-03-01"). Then it outputs the results to a collectionmap_reduce_example2.If the
map_reduce_example2collection already exists, the operation will merge the existing contents with the results of this map-reduce operation. That is, if an existing document has the same key as the new result, the operation overwrites the existing document. If there is no existing document with the same key, the operation inserts the document.Query the
map_reduce_example2collection to verify the results:The operation returns these documents:
Aggregation Alternative¶
Using the available aggregation pipeline operators, you can rewrite the map-reduce operation without defining custom functions:
The
$matchstage selects only those documents withord_dategreater than or equal tonew Date("2020-03-01").The
$unwindsstage breaks down the document by theitemsarray field to output a document for each array element. For example:The
$groupstage groups by theitems.sku, calculating for each sku:- The
qtyfield. Theqtyfield contains the totalqtyordered per eachitems.skuusing$sum. - The
orders_idsarray. Theorders_idsfield contains an array of distinct order_id’s for theitems.skuusing$addToSet.
- The
The
$projectstage reshapes the output document to mirror the map-reduce’s output to have two fields_idandvalue. The$projectsets:Finally, the
$mergewrites the output to the collectionagg_alternative_3. If an existing document has the same key_idas the new result, the operation overwrites the existing document. If there is no existing document with the same key, the operation inserts the document.Query the
agg_alternative_3collection to verify the results:The operation returns these documents:
Output¶
The output of the db.collection.mapReduce() method is
identical to that of the mapReduce command. See the
Output section of the mapReduce
command for information on the db.collection.mapReduce()
output.
Restrictions¶
MongoDB drivers automatically set afterClusterTime for operations associated with causally
consistent sessions. Starting in MongoDB 4.2, the
db.collection.mapReduce() no longer support
afterClusterTime. As such,
db.collection.mapReduce() cannot be associatd with
causally consistent sessions.