How to project a specific index inside a multilevel nested array in mongodb - arrays

Question

I have a particular field in my document which has a multilevel nested array structure. The document looks like something this
{
"_id" : ObjectId("62171b4207476091a17f595f"),
"data" : [
{
"id" : "1",
"content" : [
{
"id" : "1.1",
"content" : []
},
{
"id" : "1.2",
"content" : [
{
"id" : "1.2.1",
"content" : [
{
"id" : "1.2.1.1",
"content" : []
}
]
},
{
"id" : "1.2.2",
"content" : []
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
(The ids in my actual data is a random string, I have added a more defined id here just for readability)
In my application code the nesting level is controlled so it won't go more than 5 levels deep.
I need to project a particular object inside one of the deeply nested arrays.
I have all the information needed to traverse the nested structure. For example if I need to fetch the object with id "1.2.2" my input will look something like this:
[{id: 1, index: 0}, {id: 1.2, index: 1}, {id: 1.2.2, index: 1}]
In the above array, each element represents one level of nesting. I have the Id and the index. So in the above example, I know I first need to travel to index 0 at the top level, then inside that to index 1 , then inside that to index 1 again to find my object.
Is there a way I can only get the inner object that I want directly using a query. Or will I need to get the whole "data" field and do the traversal in my application code. I have been unable to figure out any way to construct a query that would satisfy my need.

Answer 1

Query
if you know the path, you can do it using a series of nested
$getField
$arrayElemAt
you can do it in one stage with nested calls, or with many new fields like i did bellow, or with mongodb variables
*i am not sure what output you need, this goes inside to get the 2 using the indexes (if this is not what you need add if you can the expected output)
Test code here
Data
[
{
"_id": ObjectId( "62171b4207476091a17f595f"),
"data": [
{
"id": "1",
"content": [
{
"id": "1.1",
"content": []
},
{
"id": "1.2",
"content": [
{
"id": "1.2.1",
"content": [
{
"id": "1.2.1.1",
"content": []
}
]
},
{
"id": "1.2.2",
"content": [1,2]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
Query
aggregate(
[{"$set":
{"c1":
{"$getField":
{"field":"content", "input":{"$arrayElemAt":["$data", 0]}}}}},
{"$set":
{"c2":
{"$getField":
{"field":"content", "input":{"$arrayElemAt":["$c1", 1]}}}}},
{"$set":
{"c3":
{"$getField":
{"field":"content", "input":{"$arrayElemAt":["$c2", 1]}}}}},
{"$project":{"_id":0, "c4":{"$arrayElemAt":["$c3", 1]}}}])
Results
[{
"c4": 2
}]