How to Extract the String from ObjectId in MongoDB v3.6

Discover a practical workaround to extract strings from ObjectId in MongoDB v3.6, given the limitations of the version.
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How to Extract the String from ObjectId in MongoDB v3.6

When working with MongoDB, especially in version 3.6, developers often run into issues when attempting to manipulate and extract data types like ObjectId. In this post, we will address a particular challenge: how to extract the string from an ObjectId when the built-in operators available in later versions (like $toString and $convert) are not supported.

The Problem at Hand

Imagine you run an aggregation query, and your MongoDB response includes an _id in the format of an ObjectId, such as ObjectId('5e822d6c87502b3a9b751786'). Your goal is to get just the string portion, 5e822d6c87502b3a9b751786, without any additional syntax or conversion dependencies unique to later versions of MongoDB.

In MongoDB v3.6, you may notice that several operators that could assist with this task, such as:

$toString

$toObjectId

$convert

are not supported. This leaves you searching for alternatives.

The Solution: Using JavaScript for Extraction

Given the limitation of the existing MongoDB v3.6 environment, you can use JavaScript for extracting the string representation of your ObjectId. Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

Step 1: Insert Sample Data

Firstly, ensure that you have some sample data in your MongoDB collection. You can insert a document with an ObjectId like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Retrieve and Process the Data

Next, you will want to retrieve your documents from the collection and run a loop that processes each document. Here’s an example of how to achieve this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 3: Output the Result

After running the above code, you will see your output formatted as follows:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This output confirms that you successfully extracted the string from the ObjectId.

Conclusion

While it may be frustrating to deal with version-specific limitations in MongoDB, using JavaScript to access and manipulate data can often serve as a practical workaround. In MongoDB v3.6, simply leveraging the forEach method allows you to easily convert your ObjectId to a string format without needing any unsupported operators.

If you encounter any more challenges or need further assistance with MongoDB or data type manipulation, feel free to reach out! Happy coding!