$nin

The $nin (Not In) operator is used to filter documents where the value of a field is not in a specified array. It selects the documents where the field value is either not in the specified array or the field does not exist.

Syntax

To use the $nin operator in a query, you can use the following syntax:

{ field: { $nin: [<value1>, <value2>, ..., <valueN>] } }

<field> is the name of the field you want to apply the $nin condition on, and <value1>, <value2>, ..., <valueN> are the values that the field should not have.

Example

Suppose you have a books collection with documents containing title and genre fields, and you want to find books that are not in the genres 'Mystery', 'Sci-Fi', or 'Thriller'. You can use the $nin operator like this:

db.books.find({ genre: { $nin: ['Mystery', 'Sci-Fi', 'Thriller'] } });

This query will return all documents where the genre field is not one of the specified values or the field does not exist.

Conclusion

In summary, the $nin operator is a powerful tool that allows you to filter documents based on the absence of specific values in an array. By incorporating $nin into your MongoDB queries, you can effectively narrow down your search and retrieve the desired documents more efficiently.