Find values with OR operator in MongoDB and format the result.?

Use $or operator to fetch values matching any of multiple conditions and pretty() to format the result with proper indentation and readability.

Syntax

db.collection.find({
    $or: [
        { field1: value1 },
        { field2: value2 }
    ]
}).pretty();

Sample Data

Let us create a collection with documents:

db.demo304.insertMany([
    { "StudentName": "Chris", "StudentAge": 23 },
    { "StudentName": "David", "StudentAge": 22 },
    { "StudentName": "Mike", "StudentAge": 24 },
    { "StudentName": "Carol", "StudentAge": 22 }
]);

{
    "acknowledged": true,
    "insertedIds": [
        ObjectId("5e4ea3ccf8647eb59e562034"),
        ObjectId("5e4ea3d7f8647eb59e562035"),
        ObjectId("5e4ea3e2f8647eb59e562036"),
        ObjectId("5e4ea3eef8647eb59e562037")
    ]
}

Display all documents from the collection:

db.demo304.find();

{ "_id": ObjectId("5e4ea3ccf8647eb59e562034"), "StudentName": "Chris", "StudentAge": 23 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("5e4ea3d7f8647eb59e562035"), "StudentName": "David", "StudentAge": 22 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("5e4ea3e2f8647eb59e562036"), "StudentName": "Mike", "StudentAge": 24 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("5e4ea3eef8647eb59e562037"), "StudentName": "Carol", "StudentAge": 22 }

Example: Using $or Operator with pretty()

Find students with name "David" OR age 22 and format the output:

db.demo304.find({
    $or: [
        { "StudentName": "David" },
        { "StudentAge": 22 }
    ]
}).pretty();

{
    "_id": ObjectId("5e4ea3d7f8647eb59e562035"),
    "StudentName": "David",
    "StudentAge": 22
}
{
    "_id": ObjectId("5e4ea3eef8647eb59e562037"),
    "StudentName": "Carol",
    "StudentAge": 22
}

Key Points

• $or returns documents that match any of the specified conditions
• pretty() formats output with proper JSON indentation for better readability
• Both David and Carol are returned - David matches by name, Carol matches by age

Conclusion

The $or operator enables flexible querying by matching multiple conditions, while pretty() improves output readability. This combination is essential for complex searches with formatted results.