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    MongoCollection::insert

    (PECL mongo >=0.9.0)

    MongoCollection::insert — Inserts a document into the collection

    Description

    public MongoCollection::insert ( array|object $document [, array $options = array() ] ) : bool|array

    All strings sent to the database must be UTF-8. If a string is not UTF-8, a MongoException will be thrown. To insert (or query for) a non-UTF-8 string, use MongoBinData.

    Parameters

    document

    An array or object. If an object is used, it may not have protected or private properties.

    Note:

    If the parameter does not have an _id key or property, a new MongoId instance will be created and assigned to it. This special behavior does not mean that the parameter is passed by reference.

    options

    An array of options for the insert operation. Currently available options include:

    • "fsync"

      Boolean, defaults to FALSE. If journaling is enabled, it works exactly like "j". If journaling is not enabled, the write operation blocks until it is synced to database files on disk. If TRUE, an acknowledged insert is implied and this option will override setting "w" to 0.

      Note: If journaling is enabled, users are strongly encouraged to use the "j" option instead of "fsync". Do not use "fsync" and "j" simultaneously, as that will result in an error.

    • "j"

      Boolean, defaults to FALSE. Forces the write operation to block until it is synced to the journal on disk. If TRUE, an acknowledged write is implied and this option will override setting "w" to 0.

      Note: If this option is used and journaling is disabled, MongoDB 2.6+ will raise an error and the write will fail; older server versions will simply ignore the option.

    • "socketTimeoutMS"

      This option specifies the time limit, in milliseconds, for socket communication. If the server does not respond within the timeout period, a MongoCursorTimeoutException will be thrown and there will be no way to determine if the server actually handled the write or not. A value of -1 may be specified to block indefinitely. The default value for MongoClient is 30000 (30 seconds).

    • "w"

      See Write Concerns. The default value for MongoClient is 1.

    • "wTimeoutMS"

      This option specifies the time limit, in milliseconds, for write concern acknowledgement. It is only applicable when "w" is greater than 1, as the timeout pertains to replication. If the write concern is not satisfied within the time limit, a MongoCursorException will be thrown. A value of 0 may be specified to block indefinitely. The default value for MongoClient is 10000 (ten seconds).

    The following options are deprecated and should no longer be used:

    • "safe"

      Deprecated. Please use the write concern "w" option.

    • "timeout"

      Deprecated alias for "socketTimeoutMS".

    • "wtimeout"

      Deprecated alias for "wTimeoutMS".

    Return Values

    Returns an array containing the status of the insertion if the "w" option is set. Otherwise, returns TRUE if the inserted array is not empty (a MongoException will be thrown if the inserted array is empty).

    If an array is returned, the following keys may be present:

    ok

    This should almost always be 1 (unless last_error itself failed).

    err

    If this field is non-null, an error occurred on the previous operation. If this field is set, it will be a string describing the error that occurred.

    code

    If a database error occurred, the relevant error code will be passed back to the client.

    errmsg

    This field is set if something goes wrong with a database command. It is coupled with ok being 0. For example, if w is set and times out, errmsg will be set to "timed out waiting for slaves" and ok will be 0. If this field is set, it will be a string describing the error that occurred.

    n

    If the last operation was an update, upsert, or a remove, the number of documents affected will be returned. For insert operations, this value is always 0.

    wtimeout

    If the previous option timed out waiting for replication.

    waited

    How long the operation waited before timing out.

    wtime

    If w was set and the operation succeeded, how long it took to replicate to w servers.

    upserted

    If an upsert occurred, this field will contain the new record's _id field. For upserts, either this field or updatedExisting will be present (unless an error occurred).

    updatedExisting

    If an upsert updated an existing element, this field will be true. For upserts, either this field or upserted will be present (unless an error occurred).

    Errors/Exceptions

    Throws MongoException if the inserted document is empty or if it contains zero-length keys. Attempting to insert an object with protected and private properties will cause a zero-length key error.

    Throws MongoCursorException if the "w" option is set and the write fails.

    Throws MongoCursorTimeoutException if the "w" option is set to a value greater than one and the operation takes longer than MongoCursor::$timeout milliseconds to complete. This does not kill the operation on the server, it is a client-side timeout. The operation in MongoCollection::$wtimeout is milliseconds.

    Changelog

    Version Description
    1.5.0

    Added the "wTimeoutMS" option, which replaces "wtimeout". Emits E_DEPRECATED when "wtimeout" is used.

    Added the "socketTimeoutMS" option, which replaces "timeout". Emits E_DEPRECATED when "timeout" is used.

    Emits E_DEPRECATED when "safe" is used.

    1.3.4 Added "wtimeout" option.
    1.3.0

    Added "w" option.

    The options parameter no longer accepts a boolean to signify an acknowledged write. Instead, this now has to be done with array('w' => 1) (the default behaviour of MongoClient).

    1.2.0 Added "timeout" option.
    1.0.11 Disconnects on "not master" errors if "safe" is set.
    1.0.9

    Added ability to pass integers to the "safe" option, which previously only accepted booleans.

    Added "fsync" option.

    The return type was changed to be an array containing error information if the "safe" option is used. Otherwise, a boolean is returned as before.

    1.0.2 Changed second parameter to be an array of options. Pre-1.0.2, the second parameter was a boolean indicating the "safe" option.
    1.0.1 Throw a MongoCursorException if the "safe" option is set and the insert fails.

    Examples

    Example #1 MongoCollection::insert() _id example

    An _id field will be added to the inserted document if not already present. Depending on how the parameter is passed, a generated _id may or may not be available to calling code.

    <?php

    $m     = new MongoClient();
    $collection = $m->selectCollection('test', 'phpmanual');

    // If an array literal is used, there is no way to access the generated _id
    $collection->insert(array('x' => 1));

    // The _id is available on an array passed by value
    $a = array('x' => 2);
    $collection->insert($a);
    var_dump($a);

    // The _id is not available on an array passed by reference
    $b = array('x' => 3);
    $ref = &$b;
    $collection->insert($ref);
    var_dump($ref);

    // The _id is available if a wrapping function does not trigger copy-on-write
    function insert_no_cow($collection, $document)
    {
            $collection->insert($document);
    }

    $c = array('x' => 4);
    insert_no_cow($collection, $c);
    var_dump($c);

    // The _id is not available if a wrapping function triggers copy-on-write
    function insert_cow($collection, $document)
    {
            $document['y'] = 1;
            $collection->insert($document);
    }

    $d = array('x' => 5);
    insert_cow($collection, $d);
    var_dump($d);

    ?>

    The above example will output something similar to:

    array(2) {
  ["x"]=>
  int(2)
  ["_id"]=>
  object(MongoId)#4 (0) {
  }
}
array(1) {
  ["x"]=>
  int(3)
}
array(2) {
  ["x"]=>
  int(4)
  ["_id"]=>
  object(MongoId)#5 (0) {
  }
}
array(1) {
  ["x"]=>
  int(5)
}

    Example #2 MongoCollection::insert() acknowledged write example

    This example shows inserting two elements with the same _id, which causes a MongoCursorException to be thrown, as w was set.

    <?php

    $person     = array("name" => "Joe", "age" => 20);
    $collection->insert($person);

    // now $person has an _id field, so if we save it 
    // again, we will get an exception
    try {
            $collection->insert($person, array("w" => 1));
    } catch(    MongoCursorException $e) {
        echo     "Can't save the same person twice!\n";
    }

    ?>

    See Also

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    User Contributed Notes 6 notes

    up
    3
    Christer Edvartsen
    13 years ago
    Also worth noting is that the MongoCollection::insert() method accepts objects as the first argument as well as arrays.

    <?php
    $data     = new stdClass;
    $data->foo = 'foo';
    $data->bar = 'bar';
    $collection->insert($data);
    var_dump($data->_id); // An instance of MongoId
    ?>

    You can use other classes as well, but MongoCollection::insert() will fail if the object contains any protected or private properties. Public properties listed in the class will also be inserted:

    <?php
    class SomeClass {
        public     $foo = 'bar';
        public     $bar = 'foo';
    }

    $data = new SomeClass;
    $data->foobar = 42;
    $collection->insert($data);
    var_dump($data->_id); // An instance of MongoId
    ?>

    will result in a document with four elements:

    _id => some mongoid
    foo => 'bar'
    bar => 'foo'
    foobar => 42
    up
    2
    gmail.com@mspreij
    11 years ago
    "Note: If the parameter does not have an _id key or property, a new MongoId instance will be created and assigned to it."

    Note on note: this is true even if the insert *fails* (because of, say, duplicate key error). So even if no new document was inserted, the supplied array will still have a new MongoID key ->_id after the ->insert().

    (which can make an attempted update after that fail, because you cannot update the _id value of a document..)
    up
    1
    root at php dot net
    11 years ago
    _id and MongoId can be a source of problems that can make what would seem a trivial operation potentially complicated.

    MongoId is not as predictable or safe as mysql's auto increment (an example that most PHP developers will be familiar with). _id is generated by the client rather than the server and so does not guarantee that it will be collision free.

    By comparison, server side auto_increment mechanisms that PHP programmers might typically be used to wont collide until every single id had been used and with 64bits you can ensure this will almost never happen. You will also know when your table is getting full, and you can predict the rate. Most importantly, no matter the mechanism, being server side guarantees two clients wont collide. Mongo's behaviour is different to this.

    Generally speaking inserting without specifying _id will tend to work, but there are some cases where is can fail or is particularly prone to failure.

    The total size I believe is 96 bits. This might seem like a lot but the value is not created randomly. It is generated like this:

    $unixtime . $machine_id . $pid . $counter

    The counter starts from zero and is attached to each instance of MongoClient thus two MongoClient connections to the same server will almost certainly not work (produce a collision):

    $m=new MongoWrapper();
    $m->insert([0]);
    $m=new MongoWrapper();
    $m->insert([1]);

    If MongoWrapper is not using a singleton for the connection or something to the same effect, the second call will most likely have the same unixtime. It will certainly have the same machine_id, pid and counter. The insert will fail.

    If you are not using a singleton, this will work:

    $m=new MongoWrapper();
    $m->insert([0]);
    $m->insert([1]);

    You may also have difficulties in a multiple machine environment.

    machine_id is a hash of gethostname. This is not guaranteed to be unique across machines. Some people do not set hostnames at all. If you do not ensure that your machines all have unique hostnames then if in the same second, two machines run a script that inserts, the second will have a 1 in 2^15 chance of colliding (assuming the most common PID max). Depending on how the system handles pids, the probability may actually be a little less. In short, make sure any host accessing your mongodb has a hostname that is unique among any other host accessing your mongodb.

    I've seen some specs specify that counter should start from a random value but I highly recommend against this as it merely hides/obscures the problem.
    up
    1
    mike at eastghost dot com
    10 years ago
    Attempting to insert() an array containing a NULL value followed by a blank space, in a non-utf8 encoding, results in the entire array (and all of its data) being ignored and the $opts array parameter being substituted instead as the data.
    up
    0
    cuisdy at gmail dot com
    11 years ago
    Another rarity to keep in mind. Passing references has the same effect as passing a referenced object. Even if there's no different for PHP between those two, it's probably not evident. So, this code would not have the _id field added to $a:

    <?php

    $b     = &$a;

    /* ... more code here ... */

    $m = new MongoClient;
    $collection = $m->test->phpmanual;

    $a = array('x' => 12);

    $collection->insert($a);
    var_dump($a);
    // array(1) { ["x"]=> int(12) }

    ?>

    I've made the assignment above to show how this situation could happen, if you reassigned a var, for example. But it could be some normal referencing after giving $a its final value (but before calling insert), and the consequence would be the same: if a var is referenced, it won't get the _id appended.
    up
    0
    John S.
    12 years ago
    Note, that the _id field will only be added to an inserted array if it does not already exist in the supplied array:

    <?php
    $data     = array('x' => 12);
    var_dump($data);
    $collection->insert($data);
    var_dump($data);
    ?>

    Will output something like:

    array(1) {
      ["x"]=>
      int(12)
    }
    array(2) {
      ["x"]=>
      int(12)
      ["_id"]=>
      object(MongoId)#196 (1) {
        ["$id"]=>
        string(24) "503e21fc0605290912000000"
      }
    }

    however,

    $data = array('x' => 12, '_id' => NULL);
    var_dump($data);
    $collection->insert($data);
    var_dump($data);

    will not have the same result:

    array(2) {
      ["x"]=>
      int(12)
      ["_id"]=>
      NULL
    }
    array(2) {
      ["x"]=>
      int(12)
      ["_id"]=>
      NULL
    }
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