MongoDB and Python: A Simple Example

The code below demonstrates how to use Python to connect to a MongoDB database. I chose to use a cloud based instance of MongoDB provided free of charge by MongoLab.com. The script demonstrates how to:

• Use the PyMongo library to connect to a Mongo database
• Insert documents into a collection
• Display all of the documents from the collection

I also used a local instance of MongoDB for testing. You will will need to use a Python package manager such as EasyInstall to install the PyMongo library.

Here is the Python code:

# mongo_hello_world.py
# Author: Bruce Elgort
# Date: March 18, 2014
# Purpose: To demonstrate how to use Python to
# 1) Connect to a MongoDB document collection
# 2) Insert a document
# 3) Display all of the documents in a collection</code>

from pymongo import MongoClient

# connect to the MongoDB on MongoLab
# to learn more about MongoLab visit http://www.mongolab.com
# replace the "" in the line below with your MongoLab connection string
# you can also use a local MongoDB instance
connection = MongoClient("yourmongodbconnectionstring")

# connect to the students database and the ctec121 collection
db = connection.students.ctec121

# create a dictionary to hold student documents

# create dictionary
student_record = {}

# set flag variable
flag = True

# loop for data input
while (flag):
   # ask for input
   student_name,student_grade = input("Enter student name and grade: ").split(',')
   # place values in dictionary
   student_record = {'name':student_name,'grade':student_grade}
   # insert the record
   db.insert(student_record)
   # should we continue?
   flag = input('Enter another record? ')
   if (flag[0].upper() == 'N'):
      flag = False

# find all documents
results = db.find()

print()
print('+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-')

# display documents from collection
for record in results:
# print out the document
print(record['name'] + ',',record['grade'])

print()

# close the connection to MongoDB
connection.close()

If you have any questions please let me know.