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Connect to MongoDB

1

Create a project directory

From your root directory, run the following command in your shell to create a directory called cpp-quickstart for this project:

mkdir cpp-quickstart

Run the following commands to create a quickstart.cpp application file in the cpp-quickstart directory:

cd cpp-quickstart
touch quickstart.cpp
2

Create your C++ driver application

Copy and paste the following code into the quickstart.cpp file, which queries the movies collection in the sample_mflix database:

#include <cstdint>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <bsoncxx/builder/basic/document.hpp>
#include <bsoncxx/json.hpp>
#include <mongocxx/client.hpp>
#include <mongocxx/instance.hpp>
#include <mongocxx/uri.hpp>
using bsoncxx::builder::basic::kvp;
using bsoncxx::builder::basic::make_document;
int main() {
    mongocxx::instance instance;
    mongocxx::uri uri("<connection string>");
    mongocxx::client client(uri);
    auto db = client["sample_mflix"];
    auto collection = db["movies"];
    auto result = collection.find_one(make_document(kvp("title", "The Shawshank Redemption")));
    std::cout << bsoncxx::to_json(*result) << std::endl;
}
3

Assign the connection string

Replace the <connection string> placeholder with the connection string that you copied from the Create a Connection String step of this guide.

4

Run your C++ application

In your shell, run the following commands to compile and run this application:

c++ --std=c++17 quickstart.cpp $(pkg-config --cflags --libs libmongocxx) -o ./app.out
./app.out

Tip

MacOS users might see the following error after running the preceding commands:

dyld[54430]: Library not loaded: @rpath/libmongocxx._noabi.dylib

To resolve this error, use the -Wl,-rpath linker option to set the @rpath, as shown in the following code:

c++ --std=c++17 quickstart.cpp -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/lib/ $(pkg-config --cflags --libs libmongocxx) -o ./app.out
./app.out

The command line output contains details about the retrieved movie document:

{ "_id" : { "$oid" : "573a1399f29313caabceeb20" },
"plot" : "Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace
and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.",
...
"title" : "The Shawshank Redemption",
...

If you encounter an error or see no output, ensure that you specified the proper connection string in the quickstart.cpp file and that you loaded the sample data.

After you complete these steps, you have a working application that uses the driver to connect to your MongoDB deployment, runs a query on the sample data, and prints out the result.

Note

If you run into issues on this step, ask for help in the MongoDB Community Forums or submit feedback by using the Rate this page tab on the right or bottom right side of this page.

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Create a Connection String