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MongoDB

Remove the `tempToken` field from user with `_id: 1`. Return the user.

Problem Statement

<p>Remove the <code>tempToken</code> field from user with <code>_id: 1</code>. Return the user.</p>

Examples

Input: users collection: +-----+-------+-----------+ | _id | name | tempToken | +-----+-------+-----------+ | 1 | Alice | abc123 | | 2 | Bob | def456 | +-----+-------+-----------+

Output: +-----+-------+ | _id | name | +-----+-------+ | 1 | Alice | +-----+-------+

Explanation: The target document is modified according to the update operators and the updated document is returned.

Complexity

Time Complexity: -

Space Complexity: -

Hints

šŸ’” Hint 1: Use db.<collection>.find(<filter>) to query the documents in the collection. šŸ’” Hint 2: Pass an empty object {} to retrieve all documents, or specify key-value pairs for exact matching. šŸ’” Hint 3: Chain .toArray() to resolve the MongoDB cursor into a JavaScript array: return db.<collection>.find(...).toArray();

Editorial & Approach

Problem Overview & Intuition

To solve "Remove a Field ($unset)", we query the MongoDB document store. The goal is to remove the `temptoken` field from user with `_id: 1`. return the user. Using a targeted find query, the database engine filters and structures the BSON documents efficiently.

Step-by-Step Approach

  1. Identify Target Collection: Access the collection through the db instance.
  2. Construct Query / Pipeline: Build the query filter with appropriate comparison operators.
  3. Resolve Cursor: Invoke .toArray() to transform the query cursor into the required array of documents.

Optimal Implementation (MongoDB)

function solve(db) {
  db.users.updateOne({ _id: 1 }, { $unset: { tempToken: "" } });
  return db.users.findOne({ _id: 1 });
}

Complexity Analysis

Time Complexity O(N) collection scan (O(log N) if index is present on filtered fields).
Space Complexity O(K) where K is the number of returned documents in memory.

Key Considerations & Edge Cases

  • Empty Collections: If no documents match, the query cleanly returns an empty array [].
  • Missing / NULL Fields: Missing fields in documents are handled safely without throwing runtime exceptions.
  • Type Coercion: BSON types (ObjectId, Numbers, Strings) are compared strictly according to MongoDB specifications.

Remove a Field ($unset)

Easy

Remove the tempToken field from user with _id: 1. Return the user.

Example Scenarios
1Example 1
Input:
users collection
_idnametempToken
1Aliceabc123
2Bobdef456
Output:
_idname
1Alice
Explanation:

The target document is modified according to the update operators and the updated document is returned.

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Query Results (JSON)

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