We can merge/join all data inside only one collection with a easy function in few lines using the mongodb client console, and now we could be able of perform the desired query. Below a complete example,
.- Authors:
db.authors.insert([
{
_id: 'a1',
name: { first: 'orlando', last: 'becerra' },
age: 27
},
{
_id: 'a2',
name: { first: 'mayra', last: 'sanchez' },
age: 21
}
]);
.- Categories:
db.categories.insert([
{
_id: 'c1',
name: 'sci-fi'
},
{
_id: 'c2',
name: 'romance'
}
]);
.- Books
db.books.insert([
{
_id: 'b1',
name: 'Groovy Book',
category: 'c1',
authors: ['a1']
},
{
_id: 'b2',
name: 'Java Book',
category: 'c2',
authors: ['a1','a2']
},
]);
.- Book lending
db.lendings.insert([
{
_id: 'l1',
book: 'b1',
date: new Date('01/01/11'),
lendingBy: 'jose'
},
{
_id: 'l2',
book: 'b1',
date: new Date('02/02/12'),
lendingBy: 'maria'
}
]);
.- The magic:
db.books.find().forEach(
function (newBook) {
newBook.category = db.categories.findOne( { "_id": newBook.category } );
newBook.lendings = db.lendings.find( { "book": newBook._id } ).toArray();
newBook.authors = db.authors.find( { "_id": { $in: newBook.authors } } ).toArray();
db.booksReloaded.insert(newBook);
}
);
.- Get the new collection data:
db.booksReloaded.find().pretty()
.- Response :)
{
"_id" : "b1",
"name" : "Groovy Book",
"category" : {
"_id" : "c1",
"name" : "sci-fi"
},
"authors" : [
{
"_id" : "a1",
"name" : {
"first" : "orlando",
"last" : "becerra"
},
"age" : 27
}
],
"lendings" : [
{
"_id" : "l1",
"book" : "b1",
"date" : ISODate("2011-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
"lendingBy" : "jose"
},
{
"_id" : "l2",
"book" : "b1",
"date" : ISODate("2012-02-02T00:00:00Z"),
"lendingBy" : "maria"
}
]
}
{
"_id" : "b2",
"name" : "Java Book",
"category" : {
"_id" : "c2",
"name" : "romance"
},
"authors" : [
{
"_id" : "a1",
"name" : {
"first" : "orlando",
"last" : "becerra"
},
"age" : 27
},
{
"_id" : "a2",
"name" : {
"first" : "mayra",
"last" : "sanchez"
},
"age" : 21
}
],
"lendings" : [ ]
}
I hope this lines can help you.