PyMongo - Create database with no collections or documents

Working with Data Drivers
1

Hello,

I’m creating some functions with Python using PyMongo, create database and create collection. I’ve read the docs and it says that in order to databases to be created (committed) a document must be written.

Is there a way to only create a database without having collections and documents? Or is there a way to handle this kind of situation?

2

Short answer no… MongoDB doesn’t provide any command to create “database”

if you drop all collections in a database, you delete the database too.

you may try yourself;

List all databases.

show dbs

switch the database you want to create (non-exists database name will work)

use new_database;

Insert an empty document into the collection you want to create (again, non-exists collection name will work)

db.new_collection.insertOne({});

drop the collection, you just created and inserted a document.

db.new_collection.drop();

List all databases, again.

show dbs
3

Why do you want/need to create an empty database? It doesn’t feel very MongoDB-ish…

4

I arrived here with same question :grimacing:.
It’s first time for me with Mongo, and I have the mental model from SQL.

My test case is a CMS (payload) that need a MongoDB instance in order to persist data.
Payload will create and fill “collections”. I do not even know collections names.

Typical connection string for payload are - in local env - mongodb://localhost:27017/payload-db
Here payload-db is the name of the database.

But when i launch a MongoDb instance locally, there is no “payload-db” database.
There are admin, config, local.

At this point, for me , the natural things to do is the mongo’s equivalent of SQL’s CREATE DATABASE payload-db