" fields stored in the db can't have . in them."

Question

I try to rewrite this mongodb query (that works in command line):

db.projects.update({"tools.name" : "gitlab"}, {"$set" : {"tools.$.status" : "error"}})

in java:

DBObject queryUpdate = new BasicDBObject("tools.name", "gitlab");
queryUpdate.put("$set", new BasicDBObject("tools.$.status", "error"));
projects.update(null, queryUpdate, false, true);

I need to update every status if the tools name is "gitlab".

My collection looks like this (I put only one document for testing):

[{
_id: {
    $oid: "531f0e4dd14c366cef214fe7"
},
tools:[
    {
        name: "gitlab",
        url: "https://url/",
        status: "success",
        selected: true
    }, {
        name: "svn",
        url: "https://url/",
        status: "error",
        selected: true
    }]
}]

I think I'm really missing something...

Anand Jayabalan · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-18T15:48:54.330

1

By default, the update query only updates one document (the first matched). You will need to set the multi flag to true.

Also the update query in your statement is incorrect. You should try:

DBObject querySelect = new BasicDBObject("tools.name", "gitlab");
DBObject queryUpdate = new BasicDBObject("$set", new BasicDBObject("tools.$.status", "error"));
projects.update(querySelect, queryUpdate, false, true);

Note: The $ positional operator matches only the first element within the array. So, if you had multiple elements within the "tools" array with name="gitlab", only the first element will be updated.

edited Mar 18 '14 at 15:48

answered Mar 18 '14 at 15:41

Anand Jayabalan

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Thanks. I already try this, but the problem is near DBObject queryUpdate = new BasicDBObject("tools.name", "gitlab"); I got this error “ fields stored in the db can't have . in them.” – Tommy V Mar 18 '14 at 15:43
There's an error in your update statement. I've updated my post with the fix. Try it out. – Anand Jayabalan Mar 18 '14 at 15:45
I've added another note. Review that too. – Anand Jayabalan Mar 18 '14 at 15:49
Yea, but in my case i'll had only 1 element with "name"="gitlab". Thanks again :) – Tommy V Mar 18 '14 at 15:50
No issues then. Just wanted to highlight how "$" operator works, as the fact that it matches only the first element is often overlooked. – Anand Jayabalan Mar 18 '14 at 15:52

" fields stored in the db can't have . in them."

1 Answers1