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distinct

Definition

distinct

Finds the distinct values for a specified field across a single collection. distinct returns a document that contains an array of the distinct values. The return document also contains an embedded document with query statistics and the query plan.

The command takes the following form

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{
  distinct: "<collection>",
  key: "<field>",
  query: <query>,
  readConcern: <read concern document>,
  collation: <collation document>,
  comment: <any>
}

The command contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
distinct	string	The name of the collection to query for distinct values.
key	string	The field for which to return distinct values.
query	document	Optional. A query that specifies the documents from which to retrieve the distinct values.
readConcern	document	Optional. Specifies the read concern. Starting in MongoDB 3.6, the readConcern option has the following syntax: readConcern: { level: <value> } Possible read concern levels are: "local". This is the default read concern level for read operations against primary and read operations against secondaries when associated with causally consistent sessions. "available". This is the default for reads against secondaries when when not associated with causally consistent sessions. The query returns the instance’s most recent data. "majority". Available for replica sets that use WiredTiger storage engine. "linearizable". Available for read operations on the primary only. For more formation on the read concern levels, see Read Concern Levels.
collation	document	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: copy collation: { locale: <string>, caseLevel: <boolean>, caseFirst: <string>, strength: <int>, numericOrdering: <boolean>, alternate: <string>, maxVariable: <string>, backwards: <boolean> } When specifying collation, the locale field 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.
comment	any	Optional. A user-provided comment to attach to this command. Once set, this comment appears alongside records of this command in the following locations: mongod log messages, in the attr.command.cursor.comment field. Database profiler output, in the command.comment field. currentOp output, in the command.comment field. A comment can be any valid BSON type (string, integer, object, array, etc). New in version 4.4.

Note

Results must not be larger than the maximum BSON size. If your results exceed the maximum BSON size, use the aggregation pipeline to retrieve distinct values using the $group operator, as described in Retrieve Distinct Values with the Aggregation Pipeline.

MongoDB also provides the shell wrapper method db.collection.distinct() for the distinct command. Additionally, many MongoDB drivers provide a wrapper method. Refer to the specific driver documentation.

Behavior

In a sharded cluster, the distinct command may return orphaned documents.

Array Fields

If the value of the specified field is an array, distinct considers each element of the array as a separate value.

For instance, if a field has as its value [ 1, [1], 1 ], then distinct considers 1, [1], and 1 as separate values.

For an example, see Return Distinct Values for an Array Field.

Index Use

When possible, distinct operations can use indexes.

Indexes can also cover distinct operations. See Covered Query for more information on queries covered by indexes.

Transactions

To perform a distinct operation within a transaction:

• For unsharded collections, you can use the db.collection.distinct() method/the distinct command as well as the aggregation pipeline with the $group stage.

• For sharded collections, you cannot use the db.collection.distinct() method or the distinct command.

  To find the distinct values for a sharded collection, use the aggregation pipeline with the $group stage instead. See Distinct Operation for details.

Important

In most cases, multi-document transaction incurs a greater performance cost over single document writes, and the availability of multi-document transactions should not be a replacement for effective schema design. For many scenarios, the denormalized data model (embedded documents and arrays) will continue to be optimal for your data and use cases. That is, for many scenarios, modeling your data appropriately will minimize the need for multi-document transactions.

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

Client Disconnection

Starting in MongoDB 4.2, if the client that issued the distinct disconnects before the operation completes, MongoDB marks the distinct for termination (i.e. killOp on the operation).

Replica Set Member State Restriction

Starting in MongoDB 4.4, to run on a replica set member, distinct operations require the member to be in PRIMARY or SECONDARY state. If the member is in another state, such as STARTUP2, the operation errors.

In previous versions, the operations can also be run when the member is in STARTUP2. However, the operations wait until the member transitions to RECOVERING.

Examples

The examples use the inventory collection that contains the following documents:

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{ "_id": 1, "dept": "A", "item": { "sku": "111", "color": "red" }, "sizes": [ "S", "M" ] }
{ "_id": 2, "dept": "A", "item": { "sku": "111", "color": "blue" }, "sizes": [ "M", "L" ] }
{ "_id": 3, "dept": "B", "item": { "sku": "222", "color": "blue" }, "sizes": "S" }
{ "_id": 4, "dept": "A", "item": { "sku": "333", "color": "black" }, "sizes": [ "S" ] }

Return Distinct Values for a Field

The following example returns the distinct values for the field dept from all documents in the inventory collection:

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db.runCommand ( { distinct: "inventory", key: "dept" } )

The command returns a document with a field named values that contains the distinct dept values:

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{
   "values" : [ "A", "B" ],
   "ok" : 1
}

Return Distinct Values for an Embedded Field

The following example returns the distinct values for the field sku, embedded in the item field, from all documents in the inventory collection:

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db.runCommand ( { distinct: "inventory", key: "item.sku" } )

The command returns a document with a field named values that contains the distinct sku values:

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{
  "values" : [ "111", "222", "333" ],
  "ok" : 1
}

See also

Dot Notation for information on accessing fields within embedded documents

Return Distinct Values for an Array Field

The following example returns the distinct values for the field sizes from all documents in the inventory collection:

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db.runCommand ( { distinct: "inventory", key: "sizes" } )

The command returns a document with a field named values that contains the distinct sizes values:

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{
  "values" : [ "M", "S", "L" ],
  "ok" : 1
}

For information on distinct and array fields, see the Behavior section.

Specify Query with distinct

The following example returns the distinct values for the field sku, embedded in the item field, from the documents whose dept is equal to "A":

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db.runCommand ( { distinct: "inventory", key: "item.sku", query: { dept: "A"} } )

The command returns a document with a field named values that contains the distinct sku values:

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{
  "values" : [ "111", "333" ],
  "ok" : 1
}

Specify a Collation

New in version 3.4.

Collation allows users to specify language-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules for lettercase and accent marks.

A collection myColl has the following documents:

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

The following aggregation operation includes the Collation option:

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db.runCommand(
   {
      distinct: "myColl",
      key: "category",
      collation: { locale: "fr", strength: 1 }
   }
)

For descriptions on the collation fields, see Collation Document.

Override Default Read Concern

To override the default read concern level of "local", use the readConcern option.

The following operation on a replica set specifies a Read Concern of "majority" to read the most recent copy of the data confirmed as having been written to a majority of the nodes.

Note

• To use read concern level of "majority", replica sets must use WiredTiger storage engine.

  You can disable read concern "majority" for a deployment with a three-member primary-secondary-arbiter (PSA) architecture; however, this has implications for change streams (in MongoDB 4.0 and earlier only) and transactions on sharded clusters. For more information, see Disable Read Concern Majority.

• Regardless of the read concern level, the most recent data on a node may not reflect the most recent version of the data in the system.

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db.runCommand(
   {
     distinct: "restaurants",
     key: "rating",
     query: { cuisine: "italian" },
     readConcern: { level: "majority" }
   }
)

To ensure that a single thread can read its own writes, use "majority" read concern and "majority" write concern against the primary of the replica set.

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