Aggregation

Overview

In this guide, you can learn how to use aggregation operations in the MongoDB Kotlin driver.

Aggregation operations process data in your MongoDB collections and return computed results. MongoDB's Aggregation pipeline, part of the Query API, is modeled on the concept of data processing pipelines. Documents enter a multi-staged pipeline that transforms the documents into an aggregated result.

Another way to think of aggregation is like a car factory. Within the car factory is an assembly line, along which are assembly stations with specialized tools to do a specific job, like drills and welders. Raw parts enter the factory, which are then transformed and assembled into a finished product.

The aggregation pipeline is the assembly line, aggregation stages are the assembly stations, and operator expressions are the specialized tools.

Example Data

The examples use a collection of the following data in MongoDB:

[
   {"name": "Sun Bakery Trattoria", "contact": {"phone": "386-555-0189", "email": "SunBakeryTrattoria@example.org", "location": [-74.0056649, 40.7452371]}, "stars": 4, "categories": ["Pizza", "Pasta", "Italian", "Coffee", "Sandwiches"]},
   {"name": "Blue Bagels Grill", "contact": {"phone": "786-555-0102", "email": "BlueBagelsGrill@example.com", "location": [-73.92506, 40.8275556]}, "stars": 3, "categories": ["Bagels", "Cookies", "Sandwiches"]},
   {"name": "XYZ Bagels Restaurant", "contact": {"phone": "435-555-0190", "email": "XYZBagelsRestaurant@example.net", "location": [-74.0707363, 40.59321569999999]}, "stars": 4, "categories": ["Bagels", "Sandwiches", "Coffee"]},
   {"name": "Hot Bakery Cafe", "contact": {"phone": "264-555-0171", "email": "HotBakeryCafe@example.net", "location": [-73.96485799999999, 40.761899]}, "stars": 4, "categories": ["Bakery", "Cafe", "Coffee", "Dessert"]},
   {"name": "Green Feast Pizzeria", "contact": {"phone": "840-555-0102", "email": "GreenFeastPizzeria@example.com", "location": [-74.1220973, 40.6129407]}, "stars": 2, "categories": ["Pizza", "Italian"]},
   {"name": "ZZZ Pasta Buffet", "contact": {"phone": "769-555-0152", "email": "ZZZPastaBuffet@example.com", "location": [-73.9446421, 40.7253944]}, "stars": 0, "categories": ["Pasta", "Italian", "Buffet", "Cafeteria"]},
   {"name": "XYZ Coffee Bar", "contact": {"phone": "644-555-0193", "email": "XYZCoffeeBar@example.net", "location": [-74.0166091, 40.6284767]}, "stars": 5, "categories": ["Coffee", "Cafe", "Bakery", "Chocolates"]},
   {"name": "456 Steak Restaurant", "contact": {"phone": "990-555-0165", "email": "456SteakRestaurant@example.com", "location": [-73.9365108, 40.8497077]}, "stars": 0, "categories": ["Steak", "Seafood"]},
   {"name": "456 Cookies Shop", "contact": {"phone": "604-555-0149", "email": "456CookiesShop@example.org", "location": [-73.8850023, 40.7494272]}, "stars": 4, "categories": ["Bakery", "Cookies", "Cake", "Coffee"]},
   {"name": "XYZ Steak Buffet", "contact": {"phone": "229-555-0197", "email": "XYZSteakBuffet@example.org", "location": [-73.9799932, 40.7660886]}, "stars": 3, "categories": ["Steak", "Salad", "Chinese"]}
]

The data in the collection is modeled by the following Restaurant data class:

data class Restaurant(
    val name: String,
    val contact: Contact,
    val stars: Int,
    val categories: List<String>
) {
    data class Contact(
        val phone: String,
        val email: String,
        val location: List<Double>
    )
}

Basic Aggregation

To perform an aggregation, pass a list of aggregation stages to the MongoCollection.aggregate() method.

The Kotlin driver provides the Aggregates helper class that contains builders for aggregation stages.

In the following example, the aggregation pipeline:

• Uses a $match stage to filter for documents whose categories array field contains the element Bakery. The example uses Aggregates.match to build the $match stage.

• Uses a $group stage to group the matching documents by the stars field, accumulating a count of documents for each distinct value of stars.

data class Results(@BsonId val id: Int, val count: Int)
val resultsFlow = collection.aggregate<Results>(
    listOf(
        Aggregates.match(Filters.eq(Restaurant::categories.name, "Bakery")),
        Aggregates.group("\$${Restaurant::stars.name}",
            Accumulators.sum("count", 1))
    )
)
resultsFlow.collect { println(it) }

Results(id=4, count=2)
Results(id=5, count=1)

For more information about the methods and classes mentioned in this section, see the following API Documentation:

• MongoCollection.aggregate()

• Aggregates.match

Explain Aggregation

To view information about how MongoDB executes your operation, use the explain() method of the AggregateFlow class. The explain() method returns execution plans and performance statistics. An execution plan is a potential way MongoDB can complete an operation. The explain() method provides both the winning plan (the plan MongoDB executed) and rejected plans.

You can specify the level of detail of your explanation by passing a verbosity level to the explain() method.

The following table shows all verbosity levels for explanations and their intended use cases:

In the following example, we print the JSON representation of the winning plans for aggregation stages that produce execution plans:

data class Results (val name: String, val count: Int)
val explanation = collection.aggregate<Results>(
    listOf(
        Aggregates.match(Filters.eq(Restaurant::categories.name, "bakery")),
        Aggregates.group("\$${Restaurant::stars.name}", Accumulators.sum("count", 1))
    )
).explain(ExplainVerbosity.EXECUTION_STATS)
// Prettyprint the output
println(explanation.toJson(JsonWriterSettings.builder().indent(true).build()))

{
   "explainVersion": "2",
   "queryPlanner": {
      // ...
   },
   "command": {
      // ...
   },
   // ...
}

For more information about the topics mentioned in this section, see the following resources:

• Explain Output Server Manual Entry

• Query Plans Server Manual Entry

• ExplainVerbosity API Documentation

• explain() API Documentation

• AggregateFlow API Documentation

Document("\$arrayElemAt", listOf("\$categories", 0))
// is equivalent to
Document.parse("{ \$arrayElemAt: ['\$categories', 0] }")

data class Results(val name: String, val firstCategory: String)
val resultsFlow = collection.aggregate<Results>(
    listOf(
        Aggregates.project(
            Projections.fields(
                Projections.excludeId(),
                Projections.include("name"),
                Projections.computed(
                    "firstCategory",
                    Document("\$arrayElemAt", listOf("\$categories", 0))
                )
            )
        )
    )
)
resultsFlow.collect { println(it) }

Results(name=Sun Bakery Trattoria, firstCategory=Pizza)
Results(name=Blue Bagels Grill, firstCategory=Bagels)
Results(name=XYZ Bagels Restaurant, firstCategory=Bagels)
Results(name=Hot Bakery Cafe, firstCategory=Bakery)
Results(name=Green Feast Pizzeria, firstCategory=Pizza)
Results(name=ZZZ Pasta Buffet, firstCategory=Pasta)
Results(name=XYZ Coffee Bar, firstCategory=Coffee)
Results(name=456 Steak Restaurant, firstCategory=Steak)
Results(name=456 Cookies Shop, firstCategory=Bakery)
Results(name=XYZ Steak Buffet, firstCategory=Steak)