When the command-line utility and the GUI client stop being enough

MongoToFile » Use cases » MongoToFile or mongoexport

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The situation

There are two free ways to get data out of MongoDB, and both are good at what they do. The official mongoexport utility is right there in the shell and handles JSON and CSV. The GUI client's own export button writes a file from whatever is on screen.

They stop being convenient at the same set of edges: a format that is not JSON or CSV, a document that has to be flattened before it is readable, dozens of collections, a task that has to run by itself at night, or a machine where the shell and the client are simply not part of the plan.

Where the line is

• mongoexport is the better answer when you live in a shell, you want JSON or CSV, you are exporting one collection, and installing anything else is unwelcome.
• MongoToFile is the better answer when the output has to be Excel, XML or SQL as well as CSV and JSON; when the export should come straight from a query so no temporary collection is needed; when it is many collections in one run rather than one; when the same export has to be repeated as a scheduled task; or when the work is being done by someone who would rather have a screen in front of them.

Both routes keep the data on your machine, and neither needs a cloud service or a copy of the data somewhere else. Choosing between them is about formats, repetition and who is doing the work - not about where the data goes.

What it will not do

• It does not replace the utility for scripting purists. If your pipeline is already a shell script that runs mongoexport and pipes the result, nothing here is broken and there is no reason to move it.
• It is not a MongoDB backup or a mongodump replacement. It writes readable data files for people and for imports - not a restorable image of the database.
• It does not support every BSON corner case as a data interchange format. Exotic types survive better in a JSON or BSON export than in a spreadsheet cell; check the preview when a collection carries unusual values.
• It is a licence, not a service. A scheduled export needs MongoToFile installed on the machine that runs the task, and a valid licence there.

Related

The exports themselves: collection to file, query to file, collections to files. Nested documents: flat files from nested fields. Repeating it: on a schedule, command line. The other direction: FileToMongo.