How Do I Update Fields Inside An Array?

[Floppy Disk]

I have a document with an array for developers and I've incorrectly inserted one of their names. How would I correct just "Judy Graham"?

{
 "_id" : ObjectId("57e5a1fe67b6bb963d17818d"),
 "app" : "Solarbreeze",
 "active" : true,
 "lastUpdated" : ISODate("2016-09-23T21:43:26.941Z"),
 "ver" : 9,
 "developers" : [
 {
 "name" : "Judith Graham",
 "customers" : [
 {
 "customer" : "Katz",
 "ver" : 8,
 "loc" : "USA",
 "active" : true,
 "lastUpdated" : ISODate("2016-09-23T21:43:26.941Z")
 },
 {
 "customer" : "Blogspan",
 "ver" : 5,
 "loc" : "USA",
 "active" : false,
 "lastUpdated" : ISODate("2016-01-28T11:28:26.941Z")
 }
 ]
 },
 {
 "name" : "Bruce Mason",
 "customers" : [
 {
 "customer" : "Tagopia",
 "ver" : 3,
 "loc" : "USA",
 "active" : false,
 "lastUpdated" : ISODate("2014-14-12T19:40:26.941Z")
 },
 {
 "customer" : "Feedfire",
 "ver" : 3,
 "loc" : "China",
 "active" : false,
 "lastUpdated" : ISODate("2015-12-11T21:00:26.941Z")
 },
 {
 "customer" : "Wikido",
 "ver" : 9,
 "loc" : "Japan",
 "active" : true,
 "lastUpdated" : ISODate("2014-03-23T13:13:26.941Z")
 }

[Chris Cunningham]

Hi Carlos,

There are a couple of ways you may want to update just “Judith Graham” of the developers array:

• To change the “Judith Graham” to “Judy Graham”, use the $ (update) positional operator. The query would look like this:

  db.collection.update({ "_id": ObjectId("57e5a1fe67b6bb963d17818d"),"developers.name": "Judith Graham" },
      { $set: { "developers.$.name" : "Judy Graham" } })
  

• To change the customer name “Katz” to “Dogz” for the developer “Judith Graham” use $set elements in an array. The query would look like this:

  db.collection.update({_id:ObjectId("57e5a1fe67b6bb963d17818d")},
    {$set:{"developers.0.customers.0.customer":"Dogz"}})
  

• To change the customer name “Blogspan” to “C-Span” for the developer “Judith Graham” you would use $set and would select the next element in the array. The query would look like this:

  db.collection.update({_id:ObjectId("57e5a1fe67b6bb963d17818d")},
    {$set:{"developers.0.customers.1.customer":"C-Span"}})
  

• To add a new customer for the developer “Judith Graham” without overwriting any existing customers, combine $addToSet and the $ (update) positional operator.
  The query would look like this:

  db.collection.update({ "_id": ObjectId("57e5a1fe67b6bb963d17818d"), "developers.name": "Judith Graham" },
  { $addToSet: 
    {"developers.$.customers" : 
      {"customer" : 
          "ACME, Inc.", 
          "ver" : 1, 
          "loc" : "American Southwest", 
          "active" : true, 
          "lastUpdated" : ISODate("1968-09-23T21:43:26.941Z") 
        }
    } 
  }
  )
  

Please note that MongoDB supports a flexible schema, if this kind of update is part of a frequently used operation in your use case you may want to reconsider your data model/schema. Please review the Data Model Design documentation for more information.

Thanks,

Chris

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