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Define Path for S3 Data

On this page

  • Overview
  • Supported Parsing Functions
  • Parsing Null Values from Filenames
  • Parsing Padded Numbers from Filenames
  • Unsupported Parsing Functions
  • Examples
  • Parse Single Field from Filename
  • Parse Multiple Fields from Filename
  • Use Regular Expression to Parse Fields from Filename
  • Identify Ranges of Queryable Data from Filename
  • Identify Nested Fields from Filename
  • Create Partitions from ObjectIds
  • Create Partitions from File Path
  • Create Partitions from ISODate
  • Generate Dynamic Collection Names from File Path

When you query documents in your S3 buckets, the Atlas Data Federation path value allows Data Federation to map the data inside your document to the filename of the document.

path supports parsing filenames in S3 buckets into computed fields. Data Federation can add the computed fields to each document generated from the parsed file. Data Federation can target queries on those computed field values to only those files with a matching file name. See Supported Parsing Functions and Examples for more information.

path also supports creating partitions using partition attributes in the path to the file. Data Federation can target queries on the parameter defined in the partition attribute to only those files that contain the query in the filename or partition prefix.

Example

Consider the following files in your S3 bucket:

/users/26/1234.json
/users/26/5678.json

The JSON document 1234.json contains the following:

{
"name": "jane doe",
"age": 26,
"userID": "1234"
}

your federated database instance configuration for the files in your S3 bucket defines the following path:

"path": "/users/{age int}/{userID string}"

The following shows how Data Federation maps a query to the partitions created from the path definition:

db.users.findOne( /users
{ /40
"age": 26 -----------------> /26
"userID": "1234" ----------> /1234.json
} /5678.json
)

If the computed field for the partition attribute already exists in your document, Data Federation maps your query to the appropriate file. If the computed field does not exist, Data Federation adds the computed field to the document. For example, if the age field does not exist in 1234.json, Data Federation adds the age field and value to 1234.json.

You can specify a single parsing function on the filename.
/path/to/files/{<fieldA> <data-type>}
You can specify multiple parsing functions on the filename.
/path/to/files/{<fieldA> <data-type>}-{<fieldB> <data-type>}
You can specify parsing functions alongside static strings in the filename:
/path/to/files/prefix-{<fieldA> <data-type>}-suffix
You can specify dot (i.e. .) along the path to the filename.
/path/to/files/{<fieldA>.<fieldB> <data-type>}
You can specify ObjectIds in the path to the files to create partitions.
/path/to/files/{objid objectid}
You can specify a range of ObjectIds in the path to the files to create partitions.
/path/to/files/{min(obj) objectid}-{max(obj) objectid}
You can specify parsing functions along the path to the filename.
/path/{<fieldA> <data-type>}/{<fieldB> <data-type>}/{<fieldC> <data-type>}/*
You can specify regex for ISODate along the path to the filename.
/path/to/files/{<field-name> isodate("<date-format>"):\\<regex>}

Note

When specifying the path:

  • Specify the data type for the partition attribute.

  • Ensure that the partition attribute type matches the data type to parse.

  • Use the delimiter specified in delimiter.

When specifying attributes of the same type, do any of the following:

  • Add a constant separator between the attributes.

  • Use regular expressions to describe the search pattern. To learn more, see Unsupported Parsing Functions.

Data Federation automatically parses an empty string ("") in the place of an attribute in the file path as the BSON null value for all the Atlas Data Federation attribute types except string. With a string, empty string could either represent a BSON null value or a BSON empty string value. Atlas Data Federation does not parse any BSON value for string attribute type. This avoids adding a BSON value with a conflicting type to documents read from S3.

Example

Consider the following S3 federated database instance store:

/records/january/1.json
/records/february/1.json
/records//1.json
For the path ``/records/{month string}/*``, Data Federation does not add any
computed fields for the ``month`` attribute to documents generated
from the third record in the above store.

Note

When writing files to S3, write BSON null values as empty strings in filenames for all Atlas Data Federation attribute types.

File path can include numeric values that are padded with leading zeros. For Data Federation to correctly parse padded numeric values for attribute types like int, epoch_millis, and epoch_secs, specify the number of digits in the value using regular expressions.

Example

Consider a S3 store with the following files:

|--users
|--001.json
|--002.json
...

The following path syntax uses a regular expression to specify the number of digits in the filename. Data Federation identifies the portion of the path that corresponds to the partition attribute and then maps that partition attribute to a type int:

/users/{user_id int:\\d{3}}

Specifying consecutive parsing functions on the same filename with no way of differentiating them could lead to inconsistent results.

Example

Consider a S3 store with the following files:

|--food
|--icecream
|--peanutbutter

Now consider the following path to the files in the food directory:

/food/{first string}{second string}/

There is no way to determine which part of the filename substring should match the first versus second string attributes. Therefore, Atlas Data Federation matches everything to first.

Consider using attributes with regex similar to the following instead:

  • /food/{first string:\\D{3}}{second string:\\D{5}}

    The preceding path specifies that first matches 3 non-digit characters and second matches the next 5 non-digit characters.

  • /food/{first string:[A-Z]{3}}{second string:[a-z]{5}}

    The preceding path matches first to 3 uppercase letters and second to 5 lowercase letters.

The following examples demonstrate how to parse filenames into computed fields:

Consider a federated database instance store accountingArchive containing files where the filename describes an invoice date. For example, the filename /invoices/1564671291998.json contains the invoices for the UNIX timestamp 1564671291998.

The following databases object generates a field invoiceDate by parsing the filename as a UNIX timestamp:

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{invoiceDate epoch_millis}"
}
]
}
]
}
]

Data Federation adds the computed field and value to each document generated from the filename. Documents generated from the example filename includes a field invoiceDate: ISODate("2019-08-01T14:54:51Z"). Queries on the invoiceDate field can be targeted to only those files that match the specified value.

Consider a federated database instance store accountingArchive containing files where the filename describes an invoice number and invoice date. For example, the filename /invoices/MONGO12345-1564671291998.json contains the invoice MONGODB12345 for the UNIX timestamp 1564671291998.

The following databases object generates:

  • A field invoiceNumber by parsing the first segment of the filename as a string.

  • A field invoiceDate by parsing the second segment of the filename as a UNIX timestamp.

"databases" : [
{
"name": "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{invoiceNumber string}-{invoiceDate epoch_millis}"
}
]
}
]
}
]

Data Federation adds the computed fields and values to each document generated from the filename. Documents generated from the example filename include the following fields:

  • invoiceNumber : "MONGODB12345"

  • invoiceDate : ISODate("2019-08-01T14:54:51Z")

Queries that include both the invoiceNumber and invoiceDate fields can be targeted to only those files that match the specified values.

Consider a federated database instance store accountingArchive containing files where the filename describes an invoice number and invoice date. For example, the filename /invoices/MONGODB12345-20190102.json contains the invoice MONGODB12345 for the date 20190102.

The following databases object generates:

  • A field invoiceNumber by parsing the first segment of the filename as a string

  • A field year by using a regular expression to parse only the first 4 digits of the second segment of the filename as an int.

  • A field month by using a regular expression to parse only the next 2 digits of the second segment of the filename as an int.

  • A field day by using a regular expression to parse only the next 2 digits of the second segment of the filename as an int.

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{invoiceNumber string}-{year int:\\d{4}}{month int:\\d{2}}{day int:\\d{2}}"
}
]
}
]
}
]

Data Federation adds the computed fields and values to each document generated from the filename. Documents generated from the example filename include the following fields:

  • invoiceNumber : "MONGODB12345"

  • year : 2019

  • month: 01

  • day: 02

Important

You must escape the regex string specified in the path. For example, if the regex string includes double quotes, you must escape those values. Data Federation supports the Package Syntax for regular expressions in the storage configuration.

Queries that include all generated fields can be targeted to only those files that match the specified values.

Tip

See also:

Consider a federated database instance store accountingArchive containing files where the filename describes the range of data contained in the file. For example, the filename /invoices/1546367712000-1549046112000.json contains invoices for the time period between 2019-01-01 and 2019-01-02 with the date range represented as milliseconds elapsed since the UNIX epoch.

The following databases object identifies the minimum time range as the first segment of the filename and the maximum time range as the second segment of the filename:

"databases" : [
{
"name: "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name: "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{min(invoiceDate) epoch_millis}-{max(invoiceDate) epoch_millis}"
}
]
}
]
}
]

When Data Federation receives a query on the "invoiceDate" field, it uses the specified path to identify which files contain the data that matches the query.

Queries on the invoiceDate field can be targeted to only those files whose range captures the specified value, including the min and max date.

Important

The field specified for the min and max ranges must exist in every document contained in the file to avoid unexpected or undesired behavior. Data Federation does not perform any validation that the underlying data conforms to this constraint.

Data Federation supports querying nested data when the nested data value is also the filename. You can use the dot operator (i.e. .) in your path to map the partitions attributes in your storage configuration to nested fields in your documents.

Consider a federated database instance store accountingArchive. The federated database instance store contains files with names that match values of nested fields in the documents. For example:

accountingArchive
|--invoices
|--January.json
|--February.json
...

Suppose the January.json file contains a document with the following fields:

{
"invoice": {
"invoiceNumber" : "MONGODB12345",
"year" : 2019,
"month": "January", //value matches filename
"date": 02
},
"vendor": "MONGODB",
...
}

The following databases object identifies month as a nested field inside a document. The databases object also identifies the value of month as the name of the file that contains the document.

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{invoice.month string}"
}
]
}
]
}
]

When Atlas Data Federation receives a query on a specific month such as January, it uses the specified path to identify which file contains the data that matches the query.

You can specify ObjectIds in the path to the files. For files that contain ObjectId in the filename, Atlas Data Federation creates partitions for each ObjectId.

Consider the following federated database instance store, accountingArchive. This data store contains files that include ObjectId in the filename:

accountingArchive
|--invoices
|--507f1f77bcf86cd799439011.json
|--507f1f77bcf86cd799439012.json
|--507f1f77bcf86cd799439013.json
|--507f1f77bcf86cd799439014.json
|--507f1f77bcf86cd799439015.json

The following databases object creates partitions for the ObjectIds.

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{objid objectid}"
}
]
}
]
}
]

Or, suppose the federated database instance store accountingArchive contains files that include a range of ObjectIds in the filename. For example:

accountingArchive
|--invoices
|--507f1f77bcf86cd799439011-507f1f77bcf86cd799439020.json
|--507f1f77bcf86cd799439021-507f1f77bcf86cd799439030.json
|--507f1f77bcf86cd799439031-507f1f77bcf86cd799439040.json

The following databases object creates partitions for the given range of ObjectIds.

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{min(obj) objectid}-{max(obj) objectid}"
}
]
}
]
}
]

When Data Federation receives a query on the ObjectId, it uses the specified path to identify which file contains the data that matches the query.

You can specify parsing functions on any path leading up to the filename. Each computed field is based on a parsing function along the path. When querying the data, Atlas Data Federation converts each computed field to a partition. Partitions, which are synonymous with subdirectories, are then used to filter files with increasing precision.

Consider a federated database instance store accountingArchive with the following directory structure:

invoices
|--MONGO12345
|--2019
|--01
|--02

The following databases object creates the invoiceNumber, year, month, and day partitions with a small set of filtered files:

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{invoiceNumber string}/{year int}/{month int:\\d{2}}/{day int:\\d{2}}/*"
}
]
}
]
}
}

You can specify ISODate in the path to the files. For files that contain ISODate in the filename, Atlas Data Federation creates partitions for each ISODate.

Consider the following federated database instance store, accountingArchive. This data store contains files that include ISODate in the filename:

accountingArchive
|--invoices
|--01_02_2022_2301.json
|--02_02_2022_2301.json
|--03_02_2022_2301.json
|--04_02_2022_2301.json
|--05_02_2022_2301.json

The following databases object creates partitions for the ISODate. The path demonstrates how to use regex for the date format if the date is not in RFC 3339 format.

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "accounting",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/creationDate isodate('01_02_2006_1504'):\\d{2}_\\d{2}_\\d{4}_\\d{4}.json"
}
]
}
]
}
]

To learn more about other supported formats, see Use Partition Attribute Types.

Consider a federated database instance store accountingArchive with the following directory structure:

invoices
|--SuperSoftware
|--UltraSoftware
|--MegaSoftware

The following databases object generates a dynamic collection name from the file path:

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "*",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/invoices/{collectionName()}/"
}
]
}
]
}
]

When applied to the example directory structure, the path results in the following collections:

  • SuperSoftware

  • UltraSoftware

  • MegaSoftware

Or, consider a federated database instance store accountingArchive with the following files:

/orders/MONGODB/invoices/January.json
/orders/MONGODB/purchaseOrders/January.json
/orders/MONGODB/invoices/February.json
...

The following databases object generates a dynamic collection name from the file path:

"databases" : [
{
"name" : "invoices",
"collections" : [
{
"name" : "*",
"dataSources" : [
{
"storeName" : "accountingArchive",
"path" : "/orders/MONGODB/{collectionName()}/{invoiceMonth string}.json/"
}
]
}
]
}
]

When applied to the example filenames, the path results in the following collections:

  • invoices

  • purchaseOrders

Note

When you dynamically generate collections from filenames, the number of collections is not accurately reported in the Data Federation view.

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