Chapter 3 Using MySQL as a Document Store

For Linux distributions supported by the MySQL APT repository, follow one of the paths below:

For Linux distributions supported by the MySQL Yum repository, follow these steps to install MySQL Shell:

RPM, Debian, and source packages for installing MySQL Shell are also available for download at Download MySQL Shell.

To show the value that is assigned to the schema variable, type db.

mysql-js> db
<Schema:world_x>

If the schema value is not Schema:world_x, then set the db variable as follows:

mysql-js> \use world_x
Schema `world_x` accessible through db.

To create a new collection in an existing schema, use the createCollection() method.

The following example creates in the world_x database a collection called flags. The method returns a collection object.

mysql-js> db.createCollection("flags")
<Collection:flags>

To display all collections in the world_x database, use the getCollections() method on the schema object. Collections returned by the server appear between brackets.

mysql-js> db.getCollections()
[
    <Collection:countryinfo>,
    <Collection:flags>
]

To drop an existing collection from a database, use the dropCollection() method on the session object. For example, to drop the flags collection from the world_x database, type:

mysql-js> session.dropCollection("world_x", "flags")
Query OK (0.04 sec)

To show the value that is assigned to the schema variable, type db.

mysql-js> db
<Schema:world_x>

If the schema value is not Schema:world_x, then set the db variable as follows:

mysql-js> \use world_x
Schema `world_x` accessible through db.

Insert the following document into the countryinfo collection. Press Enter twice to insert the document.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.add(
 {
    GNP: .6,
    IndepYear: 1967,
    Name: "Sealand",
    _id: "SEA",
    demographics: {
        LifeExpectancy: 79,
        Population: 27
    },
    geography: {
        Continent: "Europe",
        Region: "British Islands",
        SurfaceArea: 193
    },
    government: {
        GovernmentForm: "Monarchy",
        HeadOfState: "Michael Bates"
    }
  }
)
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

The method returns the status of the operation.

Each document requires an identifier field called _id. The value of the _id field must be unique among all documents in the same collection. If the document passed to the add() method does not contain the _id field, MySQL Shell automatically inserts a field into the document and sets the value to a generated universal unique identifier (UUID).

To return all documents in a collection, use the find() method without specifying search conditions. For example, the following operation returns all documents in the countryinfo collection.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find()
[
     {
          "GNP": 828,
          "IndepYear": null,
          "Name": "Aruba",
          "_id": "ABW",
          "demographics": {
              "LifeExpectancy": 78.4000015258789,
              "Population": 103000
          },
          "geography": {
              "Continent": "North America",
              "Region": "Caribbean",
              "SurfaceArea": 193
          },
          "government": {
              "GovernmentForm": "Nonmetropolitan Territory of The Netherlands",
              "HeadOfState": "Beatrix"
          }
          ...
      }
 ]
240 documents in set (0.00 sec)

The method produces results that contain operational information in addition to all documents in the collection.

An empty set (no matching documents) returns the following information:

Empty set (0.00 sec) 

You can include search conditions with the find() method. The syntax for expressions that form a search condition is the same as that of traditional MySQL. You must enclose all expressions in quotes.

All examples in this section use the countryinfo collection in the world_x database. For the sake of brevity, some of the examples do not display output.

A simple search condition consists of the _id field and unique identifier of a document. The following example returns a single document matching the identifier string:

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find("_id = 'AUS'")
[
    {
        "GNP": 351182,
        "IndepYear": 1901,
        "Name": "Australia",
        "_id": "AUS",
        "demographics": {
            "LifeExpectancy": 79.80000305175781,
            "Population": 18886000
        },
        "geography": {
            "Continent": "Oceania",
            "Region": "Australia and New Zealand",
            "SurfaceArea": 7741220
        },
        "government": {
            "GovernmentForm": "Constitutional Monarchy, Federation",
            "HeadOfState": "Elisabeth II"
        }
    }
]
1 document in set (0.01 sec)

The following example searches for all countries that have a GNP higher than $500 billion. The countryinfo collection measures GNP in units of million.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find("GNP > 500000")
...[output removed]
10 documents in set (0.00 sec)

The Population field in the following query is embedded within the demographics object. To access the embedded field, use a period between demographics and Population to identify the relationship. Document and field names are case sensitive.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find("GNP > 500000 and demographics.Population < 100000000")
...[output removed]
6 documents in set (0.00 sec)

Arithmetic operators in the following expression are used to query for countries with a GNP per capita higher than $30000. Search conditions can include arithmetic operators and most MySQL functions.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find("GNP*1000000/demographics.Population > 30000")
...[output removed]
9 documents in set, 7 warnings (0.00 sec)
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0

You can separate a value from the search condition by using the bind() method. For example, instead of specifying a hard-coded country name as the condition, substitute a named placeholder consisting of a colon followed by a name that begins with a letter, such as country. Then include the placeholder and value in the bind() method as follows:

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find("Name = :country").bind("country", "Italy")
[
    {
        "GNP": 1161755,
        "IndepYear": 1861,
        "Name": "Italy",
        "_id": "ITA",
        "demographics": {
            "LifeExpectancy": 79,
            "Population": 57680000
        },
        "geography": {
            "Continent": "Europe",
            "Region": "Southern Europe",
            "SurfaceArea": 301316
        },
        "government": {
            "GovernmentForm": "Republic",
            "HeadOfState": "Carlo Azeglio Ciampi"
        }
    }
]
1 document in set (0.01 sec)

You can return specific fields of a document, instead of returning all the fields. The following example returns the GNP and Name fields of all documents in the countryinfo collection matching the search conditions.

Use the fields() method to pass the list of fields to return.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find("GNP > 5000000").fields(["GNP", "Name"])
[
    {
        "GNP": 8510700,
        "Name": "United States"
    }
]
1 document in set (0.00 sec)
 

In addition, you can alter the returned documents—adding, renaming, nesting and even computing new field values—with an expression that describes the document to return. For example, alter the names of the fields with the following expression to return only two documents.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find().
fields(mysqlx.expr('{"Name": upper(Name), "GNPPerCapita": GNP*1000000/demographics.Population}')).
limit(2)
[
    {
        "GNPPerCapita": 8038.834951456311,
        "Name": "ARUBA"
    },
    {
        "GNPPerCapita": 263.0281690140845,
        "Name": "AFGHANISTAN"
    }
]
2 documents in set (0.00 sec)

You can apply the limit(), sort(), and skip() methods to manage the number and order of documents returned by the find() method.

To specify the number of documents included in a result set, append the limit() method with a value to the find() method. The following query returns the first five documents in the countryinfo collection.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find().limit(5)
... [output removed]
5 documents in set (0.00 sec)

To specify an order for the results, append the sort() method to the find() method. Pass to the sort() method a list of one or more fields to sort by and, optionally, the descending (desc) or ascending (asc) attribute as appropriate. Ascending order is the default order type.

For example, the following query sorts all documents by the IndepYear field and then returns the first eight documents in descending order.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find().sort(["IndepYear desc"]).limit(8)
... [output removed]
8 documents in set (0.00 sec)

By default, the limit() method starts from the first document in the collection. You can use the skip() method to change the starting document. For example, to ignore the first document and return the next eight documents matching the condition, pass to the skip() method a value of 1.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find().sort(["IndepYear desc"]).limit(8).skip(1)
... [output removed]
8 documents in set (0.00 sec)

The modify() method works by filtering a collection to include only the documents to be modified and then applying the operations that you specify to those documents.

In the following example, the modify() method uses the search condition to identify the document to change and then the set() method replaces two values within the nested demographics object.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.modify("_id = 'SEA'").
set("demographics", {LifeExpectancy: 78, Population: 28})
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.04 sec)

After you modify a document, use the find() method to verify the change.

To remove content from a document, use the modify() and unset() methods. For example, the following query removes the GNP from a document that matches the search condition.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.modify("Name = 'Sealand'").unset("GNP")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.01 sec)   

Use the find() method to verify the change.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.find("Name = 'Sealand'")
[
    {
        "IndepYear": 1967,
        "Name": "Sealand",
        "_id": "SEA",
        "demographics": {
            "LifeExpectancy": 78,
            "Population": 28
        },
        "geography": {
            "Continent": "Europe",
            "Region": "British Islands",
            "SurfaceArea": 193
        },
        "government": {
            "GovernmentForm": "Monarchy",
            "HeadOfState": "Michael Bates"
        }
    }
]
1 document in set (0.00 sec)

To append an element to an array field, or insert, or delete elements in an array, use the arrayAppend(), arrayInsert(), or arrayDelete() methods. The following examples modify the countryinfo collection to enable tracking of international airports.

The first example uses the modify() and set() methods to create a new Airports field in all documents.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.modify().set("Airports", [])
Query OK, 240 items affected (0.07 sec)

With the Airports field added, the next example uses the arrayAppend() method to add a new airport to one of the documents. $.Airports in the following example represents the Airports field of the current document.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.modify("Name = 'France'").arrayAppend("$.Airports", "ORY")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

Use db.countryinfo.find("Name = 'France'") to see the change.

To insert an element at a different position in the array, use the arrayInsert() method to specify which index to insert in the path expression. In this case, the index is 0, or the first element in the array.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.modify("Name = 'France'").arrayInsert("$.Airports[0]", "CDG")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.04 sec)

To delete an element from the array, you must pass to the arrayDelete() method the index of the element to be deleted.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.modify("Name = 'France'").arrayDelete("$.Airports[1]")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.03 sec)

The example that follows passes a search condition to the remove() method. All documents matching the condition will be removed from the countryinfo collection. In this example, one document matches the condition.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.remove("_id = 'SEA'")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

To remove the first document in the countryinfo collection, use the limit() method with a value of 1.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.remove().limit(1)
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.03 sec)

The following example removes the last document in the countryinfo collection by country name.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.remove().sort(["Name desc"]).limit(1)
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

You can remove all documents in a collection. To do so, use the remove() method without specifying a search condition.

To create a nonunique index, pass to the createIndex() method an index name. Duplicate index names are prohibited.

In the following example, the first parameter of the field() method specifies the Population field inside the demographics object and the next parameter indicates that the field should be indexed as an Integer numeric value. The last parameter indicates whether the field should require the NOT NULL constraint. If the value is false, the field can contain NULL values.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.createIndex("pop").
field("demographics.Population", "INTEGER", false).execute()
Query OK (0.04 sec)

To create a unique index, pass to the createIndex() method an index name and the mysqlx.IndexType.UNIQUE type. Country "Name" is another common field in the countryinfo collection to index. In the following example, "Text(40)" represents the number of characters to index and true indicates that the field cannot contain any NULL values.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.createIndex("name", mysqlx.IndexType.UNIQUE).
field("Name", "TEXT(40)", true).execute()
Query OK (0.04 sec)

To drop an index, pass to the dropIndex() method the name of the index to drop. For example, you can drop the “pop” index as follows:

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.dropIndex("pop").execute()
Query OK (0.58 sec)

To insert a complete record, pass to the insert() method all columns in the table. Then pass to the values() method one value for each column in the table. For example, to add a new record to the city table in the world_x database, insert the following record and press Enter twice.

mysql-js> db.city.insert("ID", "Name", "CountryCode", "District", "Info").
values(null, "Olympia", "USA", "Washington", '{"Population": 5000}')
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.01 sec)

The city table has five columns: ID, Name, CountryCode, District, and Info. Each value must match the data type of the column it represents.

The following example inserts values into the ID, Name, and CountryCode columns of the city table.

mysql-js> db.city.insert("ID", "Name", "CountryCode").
values(null, "Little Falls", "USA").values(null, "Happy Valley", "USA")
Query OK, 2 item affected (0.03 sec)

When you specify columns using the insert() method, the number of values must match the number of columns. In the previous example, you must supply three values to match the three columns specified.

To issue a query that returns all records from an existing table, use the select() method without specifying search conditions. The following example selects all records from the city table in the world_x database.

mysql-js> db.city.select()
+------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
| ID   | Name       | CountryCode | District   | Info                    |
+------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
|    1 | Kabul      | AFG         | Kabol      |{"Population": 1780000}  |
|    2 | Qandahar   | AFG         | Qandahar   |{"Population": 237500}   |
|    3 | Herat      | AFG         | Herat      |{"Population": 186800}   |
...    ...          ...           ...          ...
| 4079 | Rafah      | PSE         | Rafah      |{"Population": 92020}    |
+------+------- ----+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
4082 rows in set (0.01 sec)

An empty set (no matching records) returns the following information:

Empty set (0.00 sec)

To issue a query that returns a set of table columns, use the select() method and specify the columns to return between square brackets. This query returns the Name and CountryCode columns from the city table.

mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"])
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Kabul             | AFG         |
| Qandahar          | AFG         |
| Herat             | AFG         |
| Mazar-e-Sharif    | AFG         |
| Amsterdam         | NLD         |
...                 ...
| Rafah             | PSE         |
| Olympia           | USA         |
| Little Falls      | USA         |
| Happy Valley      | USA         |
+-------------------+-------------+
4082 rows in set (0.00 sec)

To issue a query that returns rows matching specific search conditions, use the where() method to include those conditions. For example, the following example returns the names and country codes of the cities that start with the letter Z.

mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).where("Name like 'Z%'")
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Zaanstad          | NLD         |
| Zoetermeer        | NLD         |
| Zwolle            | NLD         |
| Zenica            | BIH         |
| Zagazig           | EGY         |
| Zaragoza          | ESP         |
| Zamboanga         | PHL         |
| Zahedan           | IRN         |
| Zanjan            | IRN         |
| Zabol             | IRN         |
| Zama              | JPN         |
| Zhezqazghan       | KAZ         |
| Zhengzhou         | CHN         |
...                 ...
| Zeleznogorsk      | RUS         |
+-------------------+-------------+
59 rows in set (0.00 sec)

You can separate a value from the search condition by using the bind() method. For example, instead of using "Name = 'Z%' " as the condition, substitute a named placeholder consisting of a colon followed by a name that begins with a letter, such as name. Then include the placeholder and value in the bind() method as follows:

mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).
              where("Name like :name").bind("name", "Z%")

To issue a query using the AND operator, add the operator between search conditions in the where() method.

mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).
               where("Name like 'Z%' and CountryCode = 'CHN'")
+----------------+-------------+
| Name           | CountryCode |
+----------------+-------------+
| Zhengzhou      | CHN         |
| Zibo           | CHN         |
| Zhangjiakou    | CHN         |
| Zhuzhou        | CHN         |
| Zhangjiang     | CHN         |
| Zigong         | CHN         |
| Zaozhuang      | CHN         |
...              ...
| Zhangjiagang   | CHN         |
+----------------+-------------+
22 rows in set (0.01 sec)

To specify multiple conditional operators, you can enclose the search conditions in parenthesis to change the operator precedence. The following example demonstrates the placement of AND and OR operators.

mysql-js> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).
where("Name like 'Z%' and (CountryCode = 'CHN' or CountryCode = 'RUS')")
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Zhengzhou         | CHN         |
| Zibo              | CHN         |
| Zhangjiakou       | CHN         |
| Zhuzhou           | CHN         |
...                 ...
| Zeleznogorsk      | RUS         |
+-------------------+-------------+
29 rows in set (0.01 sec)

You can apply the limit(), orderBy(), and offSet() methods to manage the number and order of records returned by the select() method.

To specify the number of records included in a result set, append the limit() method with a value to the select() method. For example, the following query returns the first five records in the country table.

mysql-js> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).limit(5)
+------+-------------+
| Code | Name        |
+------+-------------+
| ABW  | Aruba       |
| AFG  | Afghanistan |
| AGO  | Angola      |
| AIA  | Anguilla    |
| ALB  | Albania     |
+------+-------------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

To specify an order for the results, append the orderBy() method to the select() method. Pass to the orderBy() method a list of one or more columns to sort by and, optionally, the descending (desc) or ascending (asc) attribute as appropriate. Ascending order is the default order type.

For example, the following query sorts all records by the Name column and then returns the first three records in descending order .

mysql-js> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).orderBy(["Name desc"]).limit(3)
+------+------------+
| Code | Name       |
+------+------------+
| ZWE  | Zimbabwe   |
| ZMB  | Zambia     |
| YUG  | Yugoslavia |
+------+------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

By default, the limit() method starts from the first record in the table. You can use the offset() method to change the starting record. For example, to ignore the first record and return the next three records matching the condition, pass to the offset() method a value of 1.

mysql-js> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).orderBy(["Name desc"]).limit(3).offset(1)
+------+------------+
| Code | Name       |
+------+------------+
| ZMB  | Zambia     |
| YUG  | Yugoslavia |
| YEM  | Yemen      |
+------+------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

The example that follows passes search conditions to the delete() method. All records matching the condition will be deleted from the city table. In this example, one record matches the condition.

mysql-js> db.city.delete().where("Name = 'Olympia'")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.01 sec)

To delete the first record in the city table, use the limit() method with a value of 1.

mysql-js> db.city.delete().limit(1)
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

You can delete all records in a table. To do so, use the delete() method without specifying a search condition.

To show the value that is assigned to the schema variable, type db.

mysql-py> db
<Schema:world_x>

If the schema value is not Schema:world_x, then set the db variable as follows:

mysql-py> \use world_x
Schema `world_x` accessible through db.

To create a new collection in an existing schema, use the create_collection() method.

The following example creates in the world_x database a collection called flags. The method returns a collection object.

mysql-py> db.create_collection("flags")
<Collection:flags>

To display all collections in the world_x database, use the get_collections() method on the schema object. Collections returned by the server appear between brackets.

mysql-py> db.get_collections()
[
    <Collection:countryinfo>,
    <Collection:flags>
]

To drop an existing collection from a database, use the drop_collection() method on the session object. For example, to drop the flags collection from the world_x database, type:

mysql-py> session.drop_collection("world_x", "flags")
Query OK (0.04 sec)

To show the value that is assigned to the schema variable, typedb.

mysql-py> db
<Schema:world_x>

If the schema value is not Schema:world_x, then set the db variable as follows:

mysql-py> \use world_x
Schema `world_x` accessible through db.

Insert the following document into the countryinfo collection. Press Enter twice to insert the document.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.add(
 {
    "GNP": .6,
    "IndepYear": 1967,
    "Name": "Sealand",
    "_id": "SEA",
    "demographics": {
        "LifeExpectancy": 79,
        "Population": 27
    },
    "geography": {
        "Continent": "Europe",
        "Region": "British Islands",
        "SurfaceArea": 193
    },
    "government": {
        "GovernmentForm": "Monarchy",
        "HeadOfState": "Michael Bates"
    }
  }
)
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

The method returns the status of the operation.

Each document requires an identifier field called _id. The value of the _id field must be unique among all documents in the same collection. If the document passed to the add() method does not contain the _id field, MySQL Shell automatically inserts a field into the document and sets the value to a generated universal unique identifier (UUID).

To return all documents in a collection, use the find() method without specifying search conditions. For example, the following operation returns all documents in the countryinfo collection.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find()
[
     {
          "GNP": 828,
          "IndepYear": null,
          "Name": "Aruba",
          "_id": "ABW",
          "demographics": {
              "LifeExpectancy": 78.4000015258789,
              "Population": 103000
          },
          "geography": {
              "Continent": "North America",
              "Region": "Caribbean",
              "SurfaceArea": 193
          },
          "government": {
              "GovernmentForm": "Nonmetropolitan Territory of The Netherlands",
              "HeadOfState": "Beatrix"
          }
          ...
      }
 ]
240 documents in set (0.00 sec)

The method produces results that contain operational information in addition to all documents in the collection.

An empty set (no matching documents) returns the following information:

Empty set (0.00 sec) 

You can include search conditions with the find() method. The syntax for expressions that form a search condition is the same as that of traditional MySQL. You must enclose all expressions in quotes.

All examples in this section use the countryinfo collection in the world_x database. For the sake of brevity, some of the examples do not display output.

A simple search condition consists of the _id field and unique identifier of a document. The following example returns a single document matching the identifier string:

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find("_id = 'AUS'")
[
    {
        "GNP": 351182,
        "IndepYear": 1901,
        "Name": "Australia",
        "_id": "AUS",
        "demographics": {
            "LifeExpectancy": 79.80000305175781,
            "Population": 18886000
        },
        "geography": {
            "Continent": "Oceania",
            "Region": "Australia and New Zealand",
            "SurfaceArea": 7741220
        },
        "government": {
            "GovernmentForm": "Constitutional Monarchy, Federation",
            "HeadOfState": "Elisabeth II"
        }
    }
]
1 document in set (0.01 sec)

The following example searches for all countries that have a GNP higher than $500 billion. The countryinfo collection measures GNP in units of million.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find("GNP > 500000")
...[output removed]
10 documents in set (0.00 sec)

The Population field in the following query is embedded within the demographics object. To access the embedded field, use a period between demographics and Population to identify the relationship. Document and field names are case sensitive.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find("GNP > 500000 and demographics.Population < 100000000")
...[output removed]
6 documents in set (0.00 sec)

Arithmetic operators in the following expression are used to query for countries with a GNP per capita higher than $30000. Search conditions can include arithmetic operators and most MySQL functions.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find("GNP*1000000/demographics.Population > 30000")
...[output removed]
9 documents in set, 7 warnings (0.00 sec)
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0
Warning (Code 1365): Division by 0

You can separate a value from the search condition by using the bind() method. For example, instead of specifying a hard-coded country name as the condition, substitute a named placeholder consisting of a colon followed by a name that begins with a letter, such as country. Then include the placeholder and value in the bind() method as follows:

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find("Name = :country").bind("country", "Italy")
[
    {
        "GNP": 1161755,
        "IndepYear": 1861,
        "Name": "Italy",
        "_id": "ITA",
        "demographics": {
            "LifeExpectancy": 79,
            "Population": 57680000
        },
        "geography": {
            "Continent": "Europe",
            "Region": "Southern Europe",
            "SurfaceArea": 301316
        },
        "government": {
            "GovernmentForm": "Republic",
            "HeadOfState": "Carlo Azeglio Ciampi"
        }
    }
]
1 document in set (0.01 sec)

You can return specific fields of a document, instead of returning all the fields. The following example returns the GNP and Name fields of all documents in the countryinfo collection matching the search conditions.

Use the fields() method to pass the list of fields to return.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find("GNP > 5000000").fields(["GNP", "Name"])
[
    {
        "GNP": 8510700,
        "Name": "United States"
    }
]
1 document in set (0.00 sec)
 

In addition, you can alter the returned documents—adding, renaming, nesting and even computing new field values—with an expression that describes the document to return. For example, alter the names of the fields with the following expression to return only two documents.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find().\
fields(mysqlx.expr('{"Name": upper(Name), "GNPPerCapita": GNP*1000000/demographics.Population}')).\
limit(2)
[
    {
        "GNPPerCapita": 8038.834951456311,
        "Name": "ARUBA"
    },
    {
        "GNPPerCapita": 263.0281690140845,
        "Name": "AFGHANISTAN"
    }
]
2 documents in set (0.00 sec)

You can apply the limit(), sort(), and skip() methods to manage the number and order of documents returned by the find() method.

To specify the number of documents included in a result set, append the limit() method with a value to the find() method. The following query returns the first five documents in the countryinfo collection.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find().limit(5)
... [output removed]
5 documents in set (0.00 sec)

To specify an order for the results, append the sort() method to the find() method. Pass to the sort() method a list of one or more fields to sort by and, optionally, the descending (desc) or ascending (asc) attribute as appropriate. Ascending order is the default order type.

For example, the following query sorts all documents by the IndepYear field and then returns the first eight documents in descending order.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find().sort(["IndepYear desc"]).limit(8)
... [output removed]
8 documents in set (0.00 sec)

By default, the limit() method starts from the first document in the collection. You can use the skip() method to change the starting document. For example, to ignore the first document and return the next eight documents matching the condition, pass to the skip() method a value of 1.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find().sort(["IndepYear desc"]).limit(8).skip(1)
... [output removed]
8 documents in set (0.00 sec)

The modify() method works by filtering a collection to include only the documents to be modified and then applying the operations that you specify to those documents.

In the following example, the modify() method uses the search condition to identify the document to change and then the set() method replaces two values within the nested demographics object.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.modify("_id = 'SEA'").\
set("demographics", {"LifeExpectancy": 78, "Population": 28})
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.04 sec)

After you modify a document, use the find() method to verify the change.

To remove content from a document, use the modify() and unset() methods. For example, the following query removes the GNP from a document that matches the search condition.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.modify("Name = 'Sealand'").unset("GNP")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.01 sec)   

Use the find() method to verify the change.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.find("Name = 'Sealand'")
[
    {
        "IndepYear": 1967,
        "Name": "Sealand",
        "_id": "SEA",
        "demographics": {
            "LifeExpectancy": 78,
            "Population": 28
        },
        "geography": {
            "Continent": "Europe",
            "Region": "British Islands",
            "SurfaceArea": 193
        },
        "government": {
            "GovernmentForm": "Monarchy",
            "HeadOfState": "Michael Bates"
        }
    }
]
1 document in set (0.00 sec)

To append an element to an array field, or insert, or delete elements in an array, use the array_append(), array_insert(), or array_delete() methods. The following examples modify the countryinfo collection to enable tracking of international airports.

The first example uses the modify() and set() methods to create a new Airports field in all documents.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.modify().set("Airports", [])
Query OK, 240 items affected (0.07 sec)

With the Airports field added, the next example uses the array_append() method to add a new airport to one of the documents. $.Airports in the following example represents the Airports field of the current document.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.modify("Name = 'France'").array_append("$.Airports", "ORY")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

Use db.countryinfo.find("Name = 'France'") to see the change.

To insert an element at a different position in the array, use the array_insert() method to specify which index to insert in the path expression. In this case, the index is 0, or the first element in the array.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.modify("Name = 'France'").array_insert("$.Airports[0]", "CDG")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.04 sec)

To delete an element from the array, you must pass to the array_delete() method the index of the element to be deleted.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.modify("Name = 'France'").array_delete("$.Airports[1]")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.03 sec)

The example that follows passes a search condition to the remove() method. All documents matching the condition will be removed from the countryinfo collection. In this example, one document matches the condition.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.remove("_id = 'SEA'")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

To remove the first document in the countryinfo collection, use the limit() method with a value of 1.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.remove().limit(1)
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.03 sec)

The following example removes the last document in the countryinfo collection by country name.

mysql-py> db.countryinfo.remove().sort(["Name desc"]).limit(1)
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

You can remove all documents in a collection. To do so, use the remove() method without specifying a search condition.

To create a nonunique index, pass to the create_index() method an index name. Duplicate index names are prohibited.

In the following example, the first parameter of the field() method specifies the Population field inside the demographics object and the next parameter indicates that the field should be indexed as an Integer numeric value. The last parameter indicates whether the field should require the NOT NULL constraint. If the value is False, the field can contain NULL values.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.create_index("pop").\
field("demographics.Population", "INTEGER", False).execute()
Query OK (0.04 sec)

To create a unique index, pass to the create_index() method an index name and the mysqlx.IndexType.UNIQUE type. Country "Name" is another common field in the countryinfo collection to index. In the following example, "Text(40)" represents the number of characters to index and True indicates that the field cannot contain any NULL values.

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.create_index("name", mysqlx.IndexType.UNIQUE).\
field("Name", "TEXT(40)", True).execute()
Query OK (0.04 sec)

To drop an index, pass to the drop_index() method the name of the index to drop. For example, you can drop the “pop” index as follows:

mysql-js> db.countryinfo.drop_index("pop").execute()
Query OK (0.58 sec)

To insert a complete record, pass to the insert() method all columns in the table. Then pass to the values() method one value for each column. For example, to add a new record to the city table in the world_x database, insert the following record and press Enter twice.

mysql-py> db.city.insert("ID", "Name", "CountryCode", "District", "Info").\
values(None, "Olympia", "USA", "Washington", '{"Population": 5000}')
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.01 sec)

The city table has five columns: ID, Name, CountryCode, District, and Info. Each value must match the data type of the column it represents.

The following example inserts values into the ID, Name, and CountryCode columns of the city table.

mysql-py> db.city.insert("ID", "Name", "CountryCode").\
values(None, "Little Falls", "USA").values(None, "Happy Valley", "USA")
Query OK, 2 item affected (0.03 sec)

When you specify columns using the insert() method, the number of values must match the number of columns. In the previous example, you must supply three values to match the three columns specified.

To issue a query that returns all records from an existing table, use the select() method without specifying search conditions. The following example selects all records from the city table in the world_x database.

mysql-py> db.city.select()
+------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
| ID   | Name       | CountryCode | District   | Info                    |
+------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
|    1 | Kabul      | AFG         | Kabol      |{"Population": 1780000}  |
|    2 | Qandahar   | AFG         | Qandahar   |{"Population": 237500}   |
|    3 | Herat      | AFG         | Herat      |{"Population": 186800}   |
...    ...          ...           ...          ...
| 4079 | Rafah      | PSE         | Rafah      |{"Population": 92020}    |
+------+------- ----+-------------+------------+-------------------------+
4082 rows in set (0.01 sec)

An empty set (no matching records) returns the following information:

Empty set (0.00 sec)

To issue a query that returns a set of table columns, use the select() method and specify the columns to return between square brackets. This query returns the Name and CountryCode columns from the city table.

mysql-py> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"])
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Kabul             | AFG         |
| Qandahar          | AFG         |
| Herat             | AFG         |
| Mazar-e-Sharif    | AFG         |
| Amsterdam         | NLD         |
...                 ...
| Rafah             | PSE         |
| Olympia           | USA         |
| Little Falls      | USA         |
| Happy Valley      | USA         |
+-------------------+-------------+
4082 rows in set (0.00 sec)

To issue a query that returns rows matching specific search conditions, use the where() method to include those conditions. For example, the following example returns the names and country codes of the cities that start with the letter Z.

mysql-py> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).where("Name like 'Z%'")
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Zaanstad          | NLD         |
| Zoetermeer        | NLD         |
| Zwolle            | NLD         |
| Zenica            | BIH         |
| Zagazig           | EGY         |
| Zaragoza          | ESP         |
| Zamboanga         | PHL         |
| Zahedan           | IRN         |
| Zanjan            | IRN         |
| Zabol             | IRN         |
| Zama              | JPN         |
| Zhezqazghan       | KAZ         |
| Zhengzhou         | CHN         |
...                 ...
| Zeleznogorsk      | RUS         |
+-------------------+-------------+
59 rows in set (0.00 sec)

You can separate a value from the search condition by using the bind() method. For example, instead of using "Name = 'Z%' " as the condition, substitute a named placeholder consisting of a colon followed by a name that begins with a letter, such as name. Then include the placeholder and value in the bind() method as follows:

mysql-py> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).\
              where("Name like :name").bind("name", "Z%")

To issue a query using the AND operator, add the operator between search conditions in the where() method.

mysql-py> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).\
               where("Name like 'Z%' and CountryCode = 'CHN'")
+----------------+-------------+
| Name           | CountryCode |
+----------------+-------------+
| Zhengzhou      | CHN         |
| Zibo           | CHN         |
| Zhangjiakou    | CHN         |
| Zhuzhou        | CHN         |
| Zhangjiang     | CHN         |
| Zigong         | CHN         |
| Zaozhuang      | CHN         |
...              ...
| Zhangjiagang   | CHN         |
+----------------+-------------+
22 rows in set (0.01 sec)

To specify multiple conditional operators, you can enclose the search conditions in parenthesis to change the operator precedence. The following example demonstrates the placement of AND and OR operators.

mysql-py> db.city.select(["Name", "CountryCode"]).\
where("Name like 'Z%' and (CountryCode = 'CHN' or CountryCode = 'RUS')")
+-------------------+-------------+
| Name              | CountryCode |
+-------------------+-------------+
| Zhengzhou         | CHN         |
| Zibo              | CHN         |
| Zhangjiakou       | CHN         |
| Zhuzhou           | CHN         |
...                 ...
| Zeleznogorsk      | RUS         |
+-------------------+-------------+
29 rows in set (0.01 sec)

You can apply the limit(), order_by(), and offset() methods to manage the number and order of records returned by the select() method.

To specify the number of records included in a result set, append the limit() method with a value to the select() method. For example, the following query returns the first five records in the country table.

mysql-py> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).limit(5)
+------+-------------+
| Code | Name        |
+------+-------------+
| ABW  | Aruba       |
| AFG  | Afghanistan |
| AGO  | Angola      |
| AIA  | Anguilla    |
| ALB  | Albania     |
+------+-------------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

To specify an order for the results, append the order_by() method to the select() method. Pass to the order_by() method a list of one or more columns to sort by and, optionally, the descending (desc) or ascending (asc) attribute as appropriate. Ascending order is the default order type.

For example, the following query sorts all records by the Name column and then returns the first three records in descending order .

mysql-py> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).order_by(["Name desc"]).limit(3)
+------+------------+
| Code | Name       |
+------+------------+
| ZWE  | Zimbabwe   |
| ZMB  | Zambia     |
| YUG  | Yugoslavia |
+------+------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

By default, the limit() method starts from the first record in the table. You can use the offset() method to change the starting record. For example, to ignore the first record and return the next three records matching the condition, pass to the offset() method a value of 1.

mysql-py> db.country.select(["Code", "Name"]).order_by(["Name desc"]).limit(3).offset(1)
+------+------------+
| Code | Name       |
+------+------------+
| ZMB  | Zambia     |
| YUG  | Yugoslavia |
| YEM  | Yemen      |
+------+------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

The example that follows passes search conditions to the delete() method. All records matching the condition will be deleted from the city table. In this example, one record matches the condition.

mysql-py> db.city.delete().where("Name = 'Olympia'")
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.01 sec)

To delete the first record in the city table, use the limit() method with a value of 1.

mysql-py> db.city.delete().limit(1)
Query OK, 1 item affected (0.02 sec)

You can delete all records in a table. To do so, use the delete() method without specifying a search condition.

The global session variable is set when a global session is established. When a global session is established, issuing a session statement in MySQL Shell displays the session type and its URI as follows:

mysql-js> session
<XSession:root@localhost:33060>
mysql-js>

If no global session has been established, MySQL Shell displays the following:

mysql-js> session
<Undefined>
mysql-js>

If you attempt to use the session variable when no global session is established, interactive error resolution starts and you are prompted to provide the required information to establish a global session. If the session is successfully established, it is assigned to the session variable. The prompts are:

For example:

mysql-js> session.uri
The global session is not set, do you want to establish a session? [y/N]: y
Please specify the session type:

1) X
2) Node
3) Classic

Type: 2
Please specify the MySQL server URI (or $slias): root@localhost
Enter password:*******
root@localhost:33060
mysql-js>

The global db variable is set when a global session is established and a default schema is configured. For example, using a URI such as root@localhost/sakila to establish a global session connected to the MySQL Server at localhost, on port 33060, as the user root, assigns the schema sakila to the global variable db. Once a schema is defined, issuing db at the MySQL Shell prompt prints the schema name as follows:

mysql-js> db
<Schema:world_x>
mysql-js>

If there is no global session established, the following is displayed:

mysql-js> db
<Undefined>
mysql-js>

If you attempt to use the db variable when no global session has been established, the following error is displayed:

mysql-js> db.getCollections()
LogicError: The db variable is not set, establish a global session first.
at (shell):1:2
in db.getCollections()
^

If a global session has been established but you attempt to use an undefined db, interactive error resolution begins and you are prompted to define an active schema by providing the schema name. If this succeeds the db variable is set to the defined schema. For example:

mysql-js> db.getCollections()
The db variable is not set, do you want to set the active schema? [y/N]:y
Please specify the schema:world_x
[
<Collection:countryinfo>
]
mysql-js> db
<Schema:world_x>
mysql-js>

If you attempt to use session to retrieve an nonexistent schema, interactive error resolution provides the option to create the schema.

mysql-js> var mySchema = session.getSchema('my_test')
The schema my_test does not exist, do you want to create it? [y/N]: y

mysql-js> mySchema
<Schema:my_test>
mysql-js>

In all cases, if you do not provide the information required to resolve each situation, a proper result of executing the requested statement on an undefined variable is displayed.

Starting with version 1.0.4, on Linux you can create executable scripts that run with MySQL Shell by including a #! line as the first line of the script. This line should provide the full path to MySQL Shell and include the --file option. For example:

#!/usr/local/mysql-shell/bin/mysqlsh --file
print("Hello World\n");

The script file must be marked as executable in the filesystem. Running the script invokes MySQL Shell and it executes the contents of the script.

The \help command can be used with or without parameters. When used without parameters a general help is printed including information about:

When used with a parameter, the parameter must be a valid command. If that is the case, help for that specific command is printed including:

For example:

\help connect

If the parameter is not a valid command, the general help is printed.

The \connect command is used to connect to a MySQL Server using an URI. This command creates an X Protocol connection by default.

For example:

\connect root@localhost:3306

If a password is required you are prompted for it.

Use the -n option to create a Node session, using the X Protocol to connect to a single server. For example:

\connect -n root@localhost:3306

Use the -c option to create a Classic session, enabling you to use the MySQL Protocol to issue SQL commands directly on a server. For example:

\connect -c root@localhost:3306

The \source command is used to execute code from a script at a given path. For example:

\source /tmp/mydata.sql

It can be used to execute either SQL, JavaScript or Python code. The code in the file is executed using the active language, so to process SQL code the MySQL Shell must be in SQL mode.

The \use command enables you to choose which schema is active, for example:

\use schema_name

The \use command requires a global development session to be active. If the global development session is an XSession then the \use command only sets db to the object representing the schema_name but does not set a current schema on the database. If the global development session is one of NodeSession or ClassicSession the \use command sets the current schema to the specified schema_name and updates the db variable to the object that represents the selected schema.

To add connection data for a session use:

\saveconn name [URI]

To update the connection data for a specific session name use:

\saveconn -f name URI

To remove a connection use:

\rmconn name

To list the stored connections use:

\lsconn

Stored connections can be used to create a global session by issuing a \connect name command. The stored session is loaded and used to create the global session.

When using a stored connection through the connect shell commands, you are prompted for the password if it is missing from the stored connection data.