How to Convert List to BsonArray to save a MongoDB Document

Question

I'm having an Model Class, I need to Save it in a MongoDB Collection.

My Model Class:

public Class Employee
{
    public string EmpID { get; set; }
    public string EmpName { get; set; }
    public List<Mobile> EmpMobile { get; set; }
}

public Class Mobile
{
    public string MobID { get; set; }
    public string MobNumber { get; set; }
    public bool IsPreferred { get; set; }
}

The Values are

Employee EmpInfo = new Employee()
{
    EmpID = "100",
    EmpName = "John",
    EmpMobile = new List<Mobile>()
    {
        { MobNumber = "55566610", IsPreferred = true },
        { MobNumber = "55566611", IsPreferred = false },
    }
}

BsonDocument _employee = new BsonDocument()
                             {
                                 { "Emp_ID", EmpInfo.EmpID },
                                 { "Emp_Name", EmpInfo.EmpName },
                                 { "Emp_Mobile", new BsonArray (EmpInfo.EmpMobile.Select(m => new 
                                     {
                                         MobID = new ObjectId(),
                                         MobNumber = m.MobNumber,
                                         IsPreferred = m.IsPreferred
                                     })) }
                             };

var collection = _database.GetCollection<BsonDocument>("EmployeeInfo");
collection.InsertOne(_employee);

I wish to save the above EmpInfo of type Employee in a MongoDB. But I can't able to create a BsonDocument. Kindly assist me is there is anything wrong in the above code. If yes kindly assist me.

What is `employee.Email`? Could you try changing it to `EmpInfo.EmpMobile.Select(...)`? — Rob Purcell, Jun 13 '16 at 10:13
sorry, it s EmpMobile. Typing mistake. Now check the post, I edited the mistakes. — , Jun 13 '16 at 10:14

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 13 '16 at 10:52

there is no need to serialize to bson document You can use TYPED collection and just insert data Please see attached code snipet with updated class structure

void Main()
{
    // To directly connect to a single MongoDB server
    // or use a connection string
    var client = new MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017");
    var database = client.GetDatabase("test");      

var collectionEmpInfo = database.GetCollection<Employee>("Employee");

Employee EmpInfo = new Employee
{       
    EmpID = "100",
    EmpName = "John",
    EmpMobile = new List<Mobile>
    {
        new Mobile{ MobNumber = "55566610", IsPreferred = true, MobID = ObjectId.GenerateNewId() },
        new Mobile{ MobNumber = "55566611", IsPreferred = false, MobID = ObjectId.GenerateNewId() },
    }
};

collectionEmpInfo.InsertOne(EmpInfo);
var empList = collectionEmpInfo.Find(new BsonDocument()).ToList();
empList.Dump(); //dump is used in linqPad

}

public class Employee
{
   public ObjectId Id  { get; set; }
    public string EmpID { get; set; }
    public string EmpName { get; set; }
    public List<Mobile> EmpMobile { get; set; }
}

public class Mobile
{
    public ObjectId MobID { get; set; }
    public string MobNumber { get; set; }
    public bool IsPreferred { get; set; }
}

Let me know one more information please. How could I add DateTime in MongoDB Document. Right now I'm using new DateTime() but in MongoDB it shows -62135596800000. — , Jun 13 '16 at 11:04
@IRPunch I added CreatedAt field in Employee, with initialisation CreatedAt = DateTime.Now, and it looks good — profesor79, Jun 13 '16 at 11:09
I'm having two more questions in mongodb - can you please assist me please 1. [Where Clause in Embedded Document](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37801269/step-by-step-single-where-clause-query-in-a-embedded-document-of-mongodb-collect) 2. [Insert Many Document](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37802690/insertmany-document-in-a-mongodb-collection-using-c-sharp-bsonarray) — , Jun 14 '16 at 03:58

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:45

In addition to answer above, I can suggest following code if you want to deal directly with Bson for some reason:

BsonDocument _employee = new BsonDocument()
{
    { "Emp_ID", EmpInfo.EmpID },
    { "Emp_Name", EmpInfo.EmpName },
    { "Emp_Mobile", BsonArray.Create(EmpInfo.EmpMobile.Select(m => new BsonDocument()
        {
            { "MobID" , new ObjectId() },
            { "MobNumber", m.MobNumber },
            { "IsPreferred", m.IsPreferred }
        })) }
};

The reason of the error you've got is that BsonArray.Create creates an array of values, not an array of objects. See this question for details.

How to Convert List to BsonArray to save a MongoDB Document

2 Answers2