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179 changes: 179 additions & 0 deletions source/crud/query/cursors.txt
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
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.. _csharp-cursors:

=========================
Access Data From a Cursor
=========================

.. contents:: On this page
:local:
:backlinks: none
:depth: 1
:class: singlecol

.. facet::
:name: genre
:values: reference

.. meta::
:keywords: read, results, oplog

Overview
--------

In this guide, you can learn how to access data from a **cursor** by using the
{+driver-short+}.

A cursor is a tool that returns the results of a read operation in iterable
batches. Because a cursor holds only a subset of documents at any given time,
cursors reduce both memory consumption and network bandwidth usage.

You can retrieve a cursor by using the ``FindSync()`` or ``FindAsync()`` method. You can
also convert the results of the ``Find()`` method to a cursor by chaining the ``ToCursor()``
or ``ToCursorAsync()`` method.

Sample Data
~~~~~~~~~~~

The examples in this guide use the ``restaurants`` collection
in the ``sample_restaurants`` database provided in the :atlas:`Atlas sample datasets </sample-data>`.
To learn how to create a free MongoDB Atlas cluster and load the sample datasets,
see the :ref:`<csharp-get-started>` tutorial.

The examples on this page use the following ``Restaurant`` object to model the documents
in the ``restaurants`` collection:

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-restaurant-class
:end-before: end-restaurant-class
:language: csharp

.. _csharp-cursors-iterate:

Access Cursor Contents Iteratively
----------------------------------

To iterate over the contents of a cursor, use a ``foreach`` loop inside a ``using`` block.
The following example retrieves documents from the ``restaurants`` collection in which the
value of the ``name`` field is ``"Starbucks"``, then iterates over the results.
Select the :guilabel:`Synchronous` or :guilabel:`Asynchronous` tab to see the corresponding
code:

.. tabs::

.. tab:: Synchronous
:tabid: sync

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-cursor-iterate
:end-before: end-cursor-iterate
:language: csharp
:dedent:
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S: for all examples, consider showing some output to demonstrate the differences in how results look when accessing iteratively vs from a list, etc

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Pretty sure there's no difference in output between cursors and lists, it's just differences in program flow. With the current filters this would just be printing Starbucks/Dunkin' Donuts a bunch. I'm not sure including output would help illustrate any functionality differences. Should I tweak the filters so it at least prints different restaurant names?

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I think that showing a print statement in the code example might lead users to expect an output block, but it's up to you.


.. tab:: Asynchronous
:tabid: async

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-cursor-iterate-async
:end-before: end-cursor-iterate-async
:language: csharp
:dedent:

The following example performs the same operation but uses the ``ToCursor()`` method.
Select the :guilabel:`Synchronous` or :guilabel:`Asynchronous`
tab to see the corresponding code:

.. tabs::

.. tab:: Synchronous
:tabid: sync

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-cursor-iterate-to-cursor
:end-before: end-cursor-iterate-to-cursor
:language: csharp
:dedent:

.. tab:: Asynchronous
:tabid: async

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-cursor-iterate-to-cursor-async
:end-before: end-cursor-iterate-to-cursor-async
:language: csharp
:dedent:

Retrieve All Documents
----------------------

.. warning::

If the number and size of documents returned by your query exceeds available
application memory, your program might crash. If you expect a large result
set, :ref:`access your cursor iteratively <csharp-cursors-iterate>`.

To retrieve all documents from a cursor, use the ``ToList()`` method, as shown in the
following example. Select the :guilabel:`Synchronous` or :guilabel:`Asynchronous`
tab to see the corresponding code:

.. tabs::

.. tab:: Synchronous
:tabid: sync

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-cursor-to-list
:end-before: end-cursor-to-list
:language: csharp
:dedent:

.. tab:: Asynchronous
:tabid: async

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-cursor-to-list-async
:end-before: end-cursor-to-list-async
:language: csharp
:dedent:

Tailable Cursors
----------------

When querying on a :manual:`capped collection </core/capped-collections/>`, you
can use a **tailable cursor** that remains open after the client exhausts the
results in a cursor. To create a tailable cursor, create a ``FindOptions`` object and set the
``CursorType`` property to ``CursorType.TailableAwait``. Then, pass the ``FindOptions`` object
to one of the find operation methods. The following example shows how to create a tailable
cursor on a capped collection. Select the :guilabel:`Synchronous` or
:guilabel:`Asynchronous` tab to see the corresponding code:

.. tabs::

.. tab:: Synchronous
:tabid: sync

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-tailable-cursor
:end-before: end-tailable-cursor
:language: csharp
:dedent:

.. tab:: Asynchronous
:tabid: async

.. literalinclude:: /includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
:start-after: start-tailable-cursor-async
:end-before: end-tailable-cursor-async
:language: csharp
:dedent:

API Documentation
-----------------

To learn more about the methods and classes used in this guide, see the
following API documentation:

- `FindSync() <{+new-api-root+}/MongoDB.Driver/MongoDB.Driver.IMongoCollection-1.FindSync.html>`__
- `FindAsync() <{+new-api-root+}/MongoDB.Driver/MongoDB.Driver.IMongoCollection-1.FindAsync.html>`__
- `Find() <{+new-api-root+}/MongoDB.Driver/MongoDB.Driver.IMongoCollectionExtensions.Find.html>`__
- `IAsyncCursor<TDocument> <{+new-api-root+}/MongoDB.Driver/MongoDB.Driver.IAsyncCursor-1.html>`__
- `FindOptions <{+new-api-root+}/MongoDB.Driver/MongoDB.Driver.FindOptions.html>`__
155 changes: 155 additions & 0 deletions source/includes/fundamentals/code-examples/Cursor.cs
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using System.Threading.Tasks;
using MongoDB.Bson;
using MongoDB.Bson.Serialization.Attributes;
using MongoDB.Driver;

public class Cursor
{
// Replace with your connection string
private const string MongoConnectionString = "<connection URI>";

public static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
var mongoClient = new MongoClient(MongoConnectionString);
var database = mongoClient.GetDatabase("sample_restaurants");
var collection = database.GetCollection<Restaurant>("restaurants");

{
// start-cursor-iterate
var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq(r => r.Name, "Starbucks");

using (var cursor = collection.FindSync(filter))
{
while (cursor.MoveNext())
{
foreach (var restaurant in cursor.Current)
{
Console.WriteLine(restaurant.Name);
}
}
}
// end-cursor-iterate
}

{
// start-cursor-iterate-async
var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq(r => r.Name, "Starbucks");

using (var cursor = await collection.FindAsync(filter))
{
while (await cursor.MoveNextAsync())
{
foreach (var restaurant in cursor.Current)
{
Console.WriteLine(restaurant.Name);
}
}
}
// end-cursor-iterate-async
}

{
// start-cursor-iterate-to-cursor
var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq(r => r.Name, "Starbucks");

using (var cursor = collection.Find(filter).ToCursor())
{
while (cursor.MoveNext())
{
foreach (var restaurant in cursor.Current)
{
Console.WriteLine(restaurant.Name);
}
}
}
// end-cursor-iterate-to-cursor
}

{
// start-cursor-iterate-to-cursor-async
var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq(r => r.Name, "Starbucks");

using (var cursor = await collection.Find(filter).ToCursorAsync())
{
while (await cursor.MoveNextAsync())
{
foreach (var restaurant in cursor.Current)
{
Console.WriteLine(restaurant.Name);
}
}
}
// end-cursor-iterate-to-cursor-async
}

{
// start-cursor-to-list
var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq(r => r.Name, "Dunkin' Donuts");
var results = collection.FindSync(filter).ToList();
// end-cursor-to-list
}

{
// start-cursor-to-list-async
var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq(r => r.Name, "Dunkin' Donuts");
var results = (await collection.FindAsync(filter)).ToList();
// end-cursor-to-list-async
}

{
// start-tailable-cursor
var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq(r => r.Name, "Dunkin' Donuts");
var options = new FindOptions<Restaurant>
{
CursorType = CursorType.TailableAwait
};

using (var cursor = collection.FindSync(filter, options))
{
while (cursor.MoveNext())
{
foreach (var restaurant in cursor.Current)
{
Console.WriteLine(restaurant.Name);
}
}
}
// end-tailable-cursor
}

{
{
// start-tailable-cursor-async
var filter = Builders<Restaurant>.Filter.Eq(r => r.Name, "Dunkin' Donuts");
var options = new FindOptions<Restaurant>
{
CursorType = CursorType.TailableAwait
};

using (var cursor = await collection.FindAsync(filter, options))
{
while (await cursor.MoveNext())
{
foreach (var restaurant in cursor.Current)
{
Console.WriteLine(restaurant.Name);
}
}
}
// end-tailable-cursor-async
}
}

}
}

// start-restaurant-class
[BsonIgnoreExtraElements]
public class Restaurant
{
public ObjectId Id { get; set; }

[BsonElement("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
}
// end-restaurant-class
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