Specify Documents to Return

Overview

In this guide, you can learn how to specify which documents to return from a read operation by chaining the following methods to the Find() method:

• Limit(): Specifies the maximum number of documents to return from a query

• Sort(): Specifies the sort order for the returned documents

• Skip(): Specifies the number of documents to skip before returning query results

[BsonIgnoreExtraElements]
public class Restaurant {
    public ObjectId Id { get; set; }
    [BsonElement("name")]
    public string Name { get; set; }
    [BsonElement("cuisine")]
    public string Cuisine { get; set; }
}

Limit

To specify the maximum number of documents returned from a read operation, use the Limit() method provided by the IFindFluent interface. After calling the Find() method, chain the Limit() method to modify the behavior of the operation.

The following example finds all restaurants that have a cuisine field value of "Italian" and limits the results to 5 documents:

var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq("cuisine", "Italian");
var results = collection.Find(filter).Limit(5).ToList();
foreach (var result in results)
{
    Console.WriteLine(result.Name);
}

V & T Restaurant
Mimis Restaurant & Bar
Venice Restaurant
Areo Restaurant
Tre Giovani Pizza & Pasta

Sort

To return documents in a specified order, use the Sort() method provided by the IFindFluent interface. After calling the Find() method, chain the Sort() method to modify the behavior of the operation.

When calling Sort(), you must pass in the sort definition as a parameter. You can construct a sort definition by using the Builders<T>.Sort.Ascending() method to sort values from lowest to highest, or the Builders<T>.Sort.Ascending() method to sort them from highest to lowest. Both of these methods take the field name to sort by as a parameter. These methods can be chained to sort returned documents by multiple fields.

The following example returns all documents that have a cuisine field value of "Italian", sorted in ascending order of name field values:

var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq("cuisine", "Italian");
var sort = Builders<Restaurant>.Sort.Ascending("name");
var results = collection.Find(filter).Sort(sort).ToList();
foreach (var result in results)
{
    Console.WriteLine(result.Name);
}

(Lewis Drug Store) Locanda Vini E Olii
101 Restaurant And Bar
44 Sw Ristorante & Bar
900 Park
A Voce
...

Skip

To skip a specified number of documents before returning your query results, use the Skip() method provided by the IFindFluent interface. After calling the Find() method, chain the Skip() method to modify the behavior of the operation.

The following example returns all documents that have a cuisine field value of "Italian" and skips the first 10 documents:

var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq("cuisine", "Italian");
var results = collection.Find(filter).Skip(10).ToList();
foreach (var result in results)
{
    Console.WriteLine(result.Name);
}

Trattoria Alba
Da Umberto Restaurant
La Strada Restaurant
Pasta Lovers Trattoria
Nanni Restaurant
Villa Mosconi Restaurant
Villa Berulia
Marco Polo Ristorante
Cafe Luna
Baraonda

Combine Limit, Sort, and Skip

You can chain the Limit(), Sort(), and Skip() methods to a single Find() method call. This allows you to set a maximum number of sorted documents to return from the read operation, skipping a specified number of documents before returning.

The following example returns 5 documents that have a cuisine value of "Italian". The results are sorted in ascending order by the name field value, skipping the first 10 documents:

var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq("cuisine", "Italian");
var sort = Builders<Restaurant>.Sort.Ascending("name");
var results = collection.Find(filter).Limit(10).Sort(sort).Skip(10).ToList();
foreach (var result in results)
{
    Console.WriteLine(result.Name);
}

Acqua
Acqua Restaurant
Acqua Santa
Acquista Trattoria
Acquolina Catering
Adriatic Restaurant Pizzeria Bar
Adrienne'S Pizza Bar
Ai Fiori
Aita Restaurant
Al Di La

Additional Information

For more information about retrieving documents, see the Retrieve Data guide.

For more information about specifying a query, see the Specify a Query guide.