listCollections¶

On this page

Definition
Behavior
Output
Required Access
Example

New in version 3.0.0.

Definition¶

listCollections¶

Retrieve information, i.e. the name and options, about the collections and views in a database. Specifically, the command returns a document that contains information with which to create a cursor to the collection information. The mongo shell provides the db.getCollectionInfos() and the db.getCollectionNames() helper methods.

The command has the following form:

copy

{ listCollections: 1, filter: <document> }

The listCollections command can take the following optional field:

Field Type Description

filter

document

Optional. A query expression to filter the list of collections.

You can specify a query expression on any of the fields returned in the result set.

Behavior¶

Use a filter to limit the results of listCollections. You can specify a filter on any of the fields returned in the listCollections result set.

Output¶

listCollections.cursor¶

A document that contains information with which to create a cursor to documents that contain collection names and options. The cursor information includes the cursor id, the full namespace for the command, as well as the first batch of results. Each document in the batch output contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
name	String	Name of the collection.
type	String	Type of data store: `collection` for collections. `view` for views.
options	Document	Collection options. These options correspond directly to the options available in `db.createCollection()`, with the exception of the `"options.flags"`. The `"options.flags"` corresponds to the `usePowerOf2Sizes` and the `noPadding` options in the `db.createCollection()` method: `0` corresponds to `usePowerOf2Sizes` flag set to `false` and `noPadding` flag set to `false`. `1` corresponds to `usePowerOf2Sizes` flag set to `true` and `noPadding` flag set to `false`. `2` corresponds to `usePowerOf2Sizes` flag set to `false` and `noPadding` flag set to `true`. `3` corresponds to `usePowerOf2Sizes` flag set to `true` and `noPadding` flag set to `true`. Note MongoDB 3.0 ignores the `usePowerOf2Sizes` flag. See `collMod` and `db.createCollection()` for more information. For the descriptions on the options, see `db.createCollection()`.
info	Document	Lists the following fields related to the collection: readOnly `boolean`. If `true`, the data store is read only.
idIndex	Document	Provides information on the `_id` index for the collection.

listCollections.ok¶: The return value for the command. A value of 1 indicates success.

listCollections.ok¶: The return value for the command. A value of 1 indicates success.

Required Access¶

The user executing the command requires either find privileges on the system.namespaces collection or the listCollections privilege action. At a minimum, the read built-in role provide the requisite permissions.

Example¶

List All Collections¶

The following example uses the db.getCollectionInfos() helper to return information for all collections in the records database:

copy

use records
db.getCollectionInfos();