Create a Query Filter

Overview

In this guide, you can learn how to use the MongoDB .NET/C# Driver to create a query filter. A query filter is an expression that specifies the documents to read, update, or delete in a CRUD operation. You can use builder methods, available from the Builders<TDocument>.Filter static property, to create query filters and add operations to them.

{ "_id": 1, "make": "Fender", "models": ["Stratocaster", "Telecaster"], "establishedYear": 1946, "rating": 9 }
{ "_id": 2, "make": "Gibson", "models": ["Les Paul", "SG", "Explorer"], "establishedYear": 1902, "rating": 8 }
{ "_id": 3, "make": "PRS", "models": ["Silver Sky", "SE", "Custom"], "establishedYear": 1985, "rating": 9 }
{ "_id": 4, "make": "Kiesel", "models": ["Ares", "Vader", "Solo"], "establishedYear": 2015 }
{ "_id": 5, "make": "Ibanez", "models": ["RG", "AZ"], "establishedYear": 1957, "rating": 7 }
{ "_id": 6, "make": "Strandberg", "models": ["Boden", "Salen"], "establishedYear": 1982 }

public class Guitar
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Make { get; set; }
    public List<string> Models { get; set; }
    public int EstablishedYear { get; set; }
    public int? Rating { get; set; }
}

var client = new MongoClient("localhost://27017");
var guitarCollection = client.GetDatabase("example").GetCollection<Guitar>("guitars");

Find All Documents

An empty query filter matches all documents in a collection. The following example shows how to create an empty query filter:

var filter = Builders<Guitar>.Filter.Empty;

Comparison Operators

Comparison operators compare the query value to the value in a specified field. Some of these methods have alternative syntax that you can use in place of the method, as shown in the following example:

var filter = Builders<Guitar>.Filter.Eq(g => g.Make, "Fender");
var results = guitarCollection.Find(filter).ToList();
// Alternative syntax
var results = guitarCollection.Find(g => g.Make == "Fender").ToList();;

The following table lists the .NET/C# Driver methods for comparison operations and the equivalent MongoDB Server operators:

The following example calls the Find() method and passes a lambda filter, which the driver translates to a query filter. The query matches all documents where the establishedYear field is greater than 1985.

// Finds all documents with an "establishedYear" value greater than 1985
var results = guitarCollection.Find(g => g.EstablishedYear > 1985).ToList();
foreach (var doc in results)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 4, "make" : "Kiesel", "models" : ["Ares", "Vader", "Solo"], "establishedYear" : 2015, "rating" : null }

The following example uses builders to create a query filter that matches the same documents as the preceding example:

// Creates a filter for all documents with an "establishedYear" value greater
// than 1985
var filter = Builders<Guitar>.Filter.Gt(g => g.EstablishedYear, 1985);
// Finds all documents that match the filter
var result = guitarCollection.Find(filter).ToList();
foreach (var doc in result)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 4, "make" : "Kiesel", "models" : ["Ares", "Vader", "Solo"], "establishedYear" : 2015, "rating" : null }

The following example calls the Find() method and passes a lambda expression, which the driver translates to a query filter. The query matches all documents where the make field equals "Fender".

// Finds all documents with a "make" value of "Fender"
var results = guitarCollection.Find(g => g.Make == "Fender").ToList();
foreach (var doc in results)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 1, "make" : "Fender", "models" : ["Stratocaster", "Telecaster"], "establishedYear" : 1946, "rating" : 9 }

The following example uses builders to create a query filter that matches the same documents as the preceding example:

// Creates a filter for all documents with a "make" value of "Fender"
var filter = Builders<Guitar>.Filter.Eq(g => g.Make, "Fender");
// Finds all documents that match the filter
var result = guitarCollection.Find(filter).ToList();
foreach (var doc in result)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 1, "make" : "Fender", "models" : ["Stratocaster", "Telecaster"], "establishedYear" : 1946, "rating" : 9 }

Logical Operators

Logical operators combine two or more expressions and return results based on the results of those expressions. These methods have alternative syntax that you can use in place of the method, as shown in the following example:

var builder = Builders<Guitar>.Filter;
var filter = builder.And(
   builder.Gte(g => g.EstablishedYear, 1985),
   builder.Ne(r => r.Make, "Kiesel"));
var results = guitarCollection.Find(filter).ToList();
// Alternative syntax
var results = guitarCollection.Find(
   g => g.EstablishedYear >= 1985
   && g.Make != "Kiesel")
.ToList();

The following table lists the .NET/C# Driver methods for logical operations and the equivalent MongoDB Server operators:

The following example calls the Find() method and passes a lambda expression, which the driver translates to a query filter. The query matches all documents where the establishedYear field is greater than or equal to 1985, and the make field is not equal to "Kiesel".

// Finds all documents with an "establishedYear" value greater than 1985
// and a "make" value that is not equal to "Kiesel"
var results = guitarCollection.Find(g => g.EstablishedYear >= 1985 && r.Make != "Kiesel").ToList();
foreach (var doc in results)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 3, "make" : "PRS", "models" : ["Silver Sky", "SE", "Custom"], "establishedYear" : 1985, "rating" : 9 }

The following example uses builders to create a query filter that matches the same documents as the preceding example:

// Creates a filter for all documents with an "establishedYear" value greater
// than 1985 and a "make" value that does not equal "Kiesel"
var builder = Builders<Guitar>.Filter;
var filter = builder.And(builder.Gte(g => g.EstablishedYear, 1985), builder.Ne(r => r.Make, "Kiesel"));
// Finds all documents that match the filter
var result = guitarCollection.Find(filter).ToList();
foreach (var doc in result)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 3, "make" : "PRS", "models" : ["Silver Sky", "SE", "Custom"], "establishedYear" : 1985, "rating" : 9 }

Array Operators

Array operators match documents based on the value or quantity of elements in an array field. The following table lists the .NET/C# Driver methods for array operations and the equivalent MongoDB Server operators:

The following example uses builders to create a query filter that matches all documents that have exactly three elements in the models field:

// Creates a filter for all documents with 3 elements in the "models" field
var filter = Builders<Guitar>.Filter.Size(g => g.Models, 3);
// Finds all documents that match the filter
var result = guitarCollection.Find(filter).ToList();
foreach (var doc in result)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 2, "make" : "Gibson", "models" : ["Les Paul", "SG", "Explorer"], "establishedYear" : 1902, "rating" : 8 }
{ "_id" : 3, "make" : "PRS", "models" : ["Silver Sky", "SE", "Custom"], "establishedYear" : 1985, "rating" : 9 }
{ "_id" : 4, "make" : "Kiesel", "models" : ["Ares", "Vader", "Solo"], "establishedYear" : 2015, "rating" : null }

Element Operators

Element operators match document query data based on the presence or type of a field. The following table lists the .NET/C# Driver methods for element operations and the equivalent MongoDB Server operators:

The following example uses builders to create a query filter that matches all documents that have a rating field:

// Creates a filter for all documents with a populated "ratings" field
var filter = Builders<Guitar>.Filter.Exists(g => g.Rating);
// Finds all documents that match the filter
var result = guitarCollection.Find(filter).ToList();
foreach (var doc in result)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 1, "make" : "Fender", "models" : ["Stratocaster", "Telecaster"], "establishedYear" : 1946, "rating" : 9 }
{ "_id" : 2, "make" : "Gibson", "models" : ["Les Paul", "SG", "Explorer"], "establishedYear" : 1902, "rating" : 8 }
{ "_id" : 3, "make" : "PRS", "models" : ["Silver Sky", "SE", "Custom"], "establishedYear" : 1985, "rating" : 9 }
{ "_id" : 5, "make" : "Ibanez", "models" : ["RG", "AZ"], "establishedYear" : 1957, "rating" : 7 }

Evaluation Operators

Evaluation operators analyze data in individual fields or all documents in the collection. The following table lists the .NET/C# Driver methods for evaluation operations and the equivalent MongoDB Server operators:

The following example uses builders to create a query filter that matches all documents that have a value in the make field that starts with the letter "G":

// Creates a filter for all documents with a populated "ratings" field
var filter = Builders<Guitar>.Filter.Regex(g => g.Make, "^G");
// Finds all documents that match the filter
var result = guitarCollection.Find(filter).ToList();
foreach (var doc in result)
{
    // Prints the documents in bson (json) format
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToBsonDocument());
}

{ "_id" : 2, "make" : "Gibson", "models" : ["Les Paul", "SG", "Explorer"], "establishedYear" : 1902, "rating" : 8 }

Geospatial Operators

Geospatial operators return data based on geospatial expression conditions. The following table lists the .NET/C# Driver methods for geospatial operations and the equivalent MongoDB Server operators:

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators matches documents based on bit-position conditions. The following table lists the .NET/C# Driver methods for bitwise operations and the equivalent MongoDB Server operators:

Other Operators

The .NET/C# Driver also provides the following methods that create filter definitions:

Additional Information

For more information about any of the driver methods on this page, see the API documentation for the FilterDefinitionBuilder<TDocument> class.