MongoDB - Import Data

• Drop a Collection
• Create a Backup

Use the mongoimport utility to import data into a MongoDB database.

MongoDB provides the mongoimport utility that can be used to import JSON, CSV, or TSV files into a MongoDB database.

mongoimport is located in the bin directory (eg, /mongodb/bin or wherever you installed it).

To import data, open a new Terminal/Command Prompt window and enter mongoimport followed by parameters such as database name, collection name, source file name, etc.

Import JSON File

Here's an example of running mongoimport to import a JSON file.

You might remember that we previously used mongoexport to export the artists collection to a JSON file.

We later dropped the artists collection altogether.

Now, we'll import that collection back into our database.

Resulting message:

2016-07-12T13:34:04.904+0700	no collection specified
2016-07-12T13:34:04.905+0700	using filename 'artists' as collection
2016-07-12T13:34:04.911+0700	connected to: localhost
2016-07-12T13:34:04.968+0700	imported 13 documents

Now, let's switch back to our mongo Terminal/Command Prompt window and retrieve the list of collections in our database:

Result:

artists
musicians
producers

Now we'll query our revived collection.

Result:

{ "_id" : 1, "artistname" : "AC/DC" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5781d7f248ef8c6b3ffb014d"), "artistname" : "The Kooks" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5780fbf948ef8c6b3ffb0149"), "artistname" : "The Tea Party" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5781d7f248ef8c6b3ffb014f"), "artistname" : "Gang of Four" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5781d7f248ef8c6b3ffb014e"), "artistname" : "Bastille" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5781c9ac48ef8c6b3ffb014a"), "artistname" : "Jorn Lande" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5781f85d48ef8c6b3ffb0150"), "artistname" : "Deep Purple", "albums" : [ { "album" : "Machine Head", "year" : 1972, "genre" : "Rock" }, { "album" : "Stormbringer", "year" : 1974, "genre" : "Rock" } ] }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("578214f048ef8c6b3ffb0159"), "artistname" : "Miles Davis", "albums" : [ { "album" : "Kind of Blue", "year" : 1959, "genre" : "Jazz" }, { "album" : "Bitches Brew", "year" : 1970, "genre" : "Jazz" } ] }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("578217c248ef8c6b3ffb015a"), "artistname" : "Robben Ford", "albums" : [ { "album" : "Bringing it Back Home", "year" : 2013, "genre" : "Blues" }, { "album" : "Talk to Your Daughter", "year" : 1988, "genre" : "Blues" } ] }
{ "_id" : 2, "artistname" : "Prince", "address" : { "street" : "Audubon Road", "city" : "Chanhassen", "state" : "Minnesota", "country" : "United States" } }
{ "_id" : 4, "artistname" : "Rush" }
{ "_id" : 3, "artistname" : "Moby", "albums" : [ { "album" : "Play", "year" : 1999, "genre" : "Electronica" }, { "album" : "Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.", "year" : 2016, "genre" : "Ambient" } ] }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("578217c248ef8c6b3ffb015b"), "artistname" : "Snoop Dogg", "albums" : [ { "album" : "Tha Doggfather", "year" : 1996, "genre" : "Rap" }, { "album" : "Reincarnated", "year" : 2013, "genre" : "Reggae" } ] }

Specify a Collection Name

You can use the --collection argument to provide a name of the collection that the data should go into.

Let's import another file, but this time, specify a collection name:

Resulting message:

2016-07-12T14:09:01.793+0700	connected to: localhost
2016-07-12T14:09:01.849+0700	imported 1 document

Now switch back to mongo and check the list of collections:

Resulting message:

artists
jazz
musicians
producers

And finally, query the jazz collection:

Resulting message:

{
	"_id" : ObjectId("578214f048ef8c6b3ffb0159"),
	"artistname" : "Miles Davis",
	"albums" : [
		{
			"album" : "Kind of Blue",
			"year" : 1959,
			"genre" : "Jazz"
		},
		{
			"album" : "Bitches Brew",
			"year" : 1970,
			"genre" : "Jazz"
		}
	]
}

Import CSV File

You can import a CSV file by using --type csv.

If the CSV file has a header row, use --headerline to tell mongoimport to use the first line to determine the name of the fields in the resulting document.

If the CSV file doesn't have a header row, use the --fields parameter to set the field names.

With Header Row

Here's an example of importing a document with a header row.

The contents of the CSV file:

_id,albumname,artistname
1,Killers,"Iron Maiden"
2,Powerslave,"Iron Maiden"
12,"Somewhere in Time","Iron Maiden"
3,"Surfing with the Alien","Joe Satriani"
10,"Flying in a Blue Dream","Joe Satriani"
11,"Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards","Joe Satriani"
6,"Out of the Loop","Mr Percival"
7,"Suck on This",Primus
8,"Pork Soda",Primus
9,"Sailing the Seas of Cheese",Primus

Import the file:

Query the collection:

> db.catalog.find()
{ "_id" : 2, "albumname" : "Powerslave", "artistname" : "Iron Maiden" }
{ "_id" : 1, "albumname" : "Killers", "artistname" : "Iron Maiden" }
{ "_id" : 3, "albumname" : "Surfing with the Alien", "artistname" : "Joe Satriani" }
{ "_id" : 12, "albumname" : "Somewhere in Time", "artistname" : "Iron Maiden" }
{ "_id" : 10, "albumname" : "Flying in a Blue Dream", "artistname" : "Joe Satriani" }
{ "_id" : 6, "albumname" : "Out of the Loop", "artistname" : "Mr Percival" }
{ "_id" : 7, "albumname" : "Suck on This", "artistname" : "Primus" }
{ "_id" : 8, "albumname" : "Pork Soda", "artistname" : "Primus" }
{ "_id" : 11, "albumname" : "Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards", "artistname" : "Joe Satriani" }
{ "_id" : 9, "albumname" : "Sailing the Seas of Cheese", "artistname" : "Primus" }

Without Header Row

Here's another CSV file, but this one doesn't have a header row:

Mutt Lange, 1948
John Petrucci, 1967
DJ Shadow, 1972
George Clinton, 1941

Now we'll import it and specify the field names to use:

Query the collection:

> db.producers.find()
{ "_id" : 1, "name" : "Bob Rock" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5784a3a5dfad478c015f6b72"), "name" : "John Petrucci", "born" : 1967 }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5784a3a5dfad478c015f6b73"), "name" : "Mutt Lange", "born" : 1948 }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5784a3a5dfad478c015f6b74"), "name" : "George Clinton", "born" : 1941 }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5784a3a5dfad478c015f6b75"), "name" : "DJ Shadow", "born" : 1972 }

You'll see that the ObjectId field has been automatically created and populated for us.

Also, we already had one document in this collection before we ran the import: { "_id" : 1, "name" : "Bob Rock" }. Therefore, you can see that the import has simply added to the collection (as opposed to replacing it and all its contents).

• Drop a Collection
• Create a Backup