Mongo DB: how to select items with nested array count > 0 - mongodb

Question

The database is near 5GB. I have documents like:
{
_id: ..
user: "a"
hobbies: [{
_id: ..
name: football
},
{
_id: ..
name: beer
}
...
]
}
I want to return users who have more then 0 "hobbies"
I've tried
db.collection.find({"hobbies" : { &gt : 0}}).limit(10)
and it takes all RAM and no result.
How to do conduct this select?
And how to return only: id, name, count ?
How to do it with c# official driver?
TIA
P.S.
near i've found:
"Add new field to hande category size. It's a usual practice in mongo world."
is this true?

Answer 1

In this specific case, you can use list indexing to solve your problem:
db.collection.find({"hobbies.0" : {$exists : true}}).limit(10)
This just makes sure a 0th element exists. You can do the same to make sure the list is shorter than n or between x and y in length by checking the existing of elements at the ends of the range.

Answer 2

Have you tried using hobbies.length. i haven't tested this, but i believe this is the right way to query the range of the array in mongodb
db.collection.find({$where: '(this.hobbies.length > 0)'})

Answer 3

You can (sort of) check for a range of array lengths with the $size operator using a logical $not:
db.collection.find({array: {$not: {$size: 0}}})

Answer 4

That's somewhat true.
According to the manual
http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Advanced+Queries#AdvancedQueries-%24size
$size
The $size operator matches any array with the specified number of
elements. The following example would match the object {a:["foo"]},
since that array has just one element:
db.things.find( { a : { $size: 1 } } );
You cannot use $size to find a range of sizes (for example: arrays
with more than 1 element). If you need to query for a range, create an
extra size field that you increment when you add elements
So you can check for array size 0, but not for things like 'larger than 0'

Answer 5

Earlier questions explain how to handle the array count issue. Although in your case if ZERO really is the only value you want to test for, you could set the array to null when it's empty and set the option to not serialize it, then you can test for the existence of that field. Remember to test for null and to create the array when you want to add a hobby to a user.
For #2, provided you added the count field it's easy to select the fields you want back from the database and include the count field.

Answer 6

if you need to find only zero hobbies, and if the hobbies key is not set for someone with zero hobbies , use EXISTS flag.
Add an index on "hobbies" for performance enhancement :
db.collection.find( { hobbies : { $exists : true } } );
However, if the person with zero hobbies has empty array, and person with 1 hobby has an array with 1 element, then use this generic solution :
Maintain a variable called "hcount" ( hobby count), and always set it equal to size of hobbies array in any update.
Index on the field "hcount"
Then, you can do a query like :
db.collection.find( { hcount : 0 } ) // people with 0 hobbies
db.collection.find( { hcount : 5 } ) // people with 5 hobbies
3 - From #JohnPs answer, "$size" is also a good operator for this purpose.
http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Advanced+Queries#AdvancedQueries-%24size