$ifNull

The $ifNull operator is used to evaluate an expression and return a specified value if the expression resolves to null.

$ifNull

The $ifNull operator is used to evaluate an expression and return a specified value if the expression resolves to null. This operator is useful in scenarios where you want to provide a default value for fields that may not exist or may have null values.

Syntax

{
  $ifNull: [ <expression>, <replacement-value> ]
}

Parameters

ParameterDescription
<expression>The expression to evaluate.
<replacement-value>The value to return if the expression evaluates to null

Examples

Consider this sample document from the stores collection.

{
    "_id": "0fcc0bf0-ed18-4ab8-b558-9848e18058f4",
    "name": "First Up Consultants | Beverage Shop - Satterfieldmouth",
    "location": {
        "lat": -89.2384,
        "lon": -46.4012
    },
    "staff": {
        "totalStaff": {
            "fullTime": 8,
            "partTime": 20
        }
    },
    "sales": {
        "totalSales": 75670,
        "salesByCategory": [
            {
                "categoryName": "Wine Accessories",
                "totalSales": 34440
            },
            {
                "categoryName": "Bitters",
                "totalSales": 39496
            },
            {
                "categoryName": "Rum",
                "totalSales": 1734
            }
        ]
    },
    "promotionEvents": [
        {
            "eventName": "Unbeatable Bargain Bash",
            "promotionalDates": {
                "startDate": {
                    "Year": 2024,
                    "Month": 6,
                    "Day": 23
                },
                "endDate": {
                    "Year": 2024,
                    "Month": 7,
                    "Day": 2
                }
            },
            "discounts": [
                {
                    "categoryName": "Whiskey",
                    "discountPercentage": 7
                },
                {
                    "categoryName": "Bitters",
                    "discountPercentage": 15
                },
                {
                    "categoryName": "Brandy",
                    "discountPercentage": 8
                },
                {
                    "categoryName": "Sports Drinks",
                    "discountPercentage": 22
                },
                {
                    "categoryName": "Vodka",
                    "discountPercentage": 19
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "eventName": "Steal of a Deal Days",
            "promotionalDates": {
                "startDate": {
                    "Year": 2024,
                    "Month": 9,
                    "Day": 21
                },
                "endDate": {
                    "Year": 2024,
                    "Month": 9,
                    "Day": 29
                }
            },
            "discounts": [
                {
                    "categoryName": "Organic Wine",
                    "discountPercentage": 19
                },
                {
                    "categoryName": "White Wine",
                    "discountPercentage": 20
                },
                {
                    "categoryName": "Sparkling Wine",
                    "discountPercentage": 19
                },
                {
                    "categoryName": "Whiskey",
                    "discountPercentage": 17
                },
                {
                    "categoryName": "Vodka",
                    "discountPercentage": 23
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Example 1: Default value for missing store.manager field

To ensure that the $staff.totalStaff.intern field is always a number, you can use $ifNull to replace null values with 0.

db.stores.aggregate([
  {
    $project: {
      name: 1,
      interns: { $ifNull: ["$staff.totalStaff.intern", 0] }
    }
  },
  // Limit the result to the first 3 documents
  { $limit: 3 } 
])

The first three results returned by this query are:

[
  {
    "_id": "7954bd5c-9ac2-4c10-bb7a-2b79bd0963c5",
    "name": "Lakeshore Retail | DJ Equipment Stop - Port Cecile",
    "interns": 0
  },
  {
    "_id": "649626c9-eda1-46c0-a27f-dcee19d97f41",
    "name": "VanArsdel, Ltd. | Musical Instrument Outlet - East Cassie",
    "interns": 0
  },
  {
    "_id": "8345de34-73ec-4a99-9cb6-a81f7b145c34",
    "name": "Northwind Traders | Bed and Bath Place - West Oraland",
    "interns": 0
  }
]

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