Abstract

This article describes the steps to install MongoDB on Windows platform. Furthermore, it shows some basic examples accessing a database using VB.NET and the MongoDB - .NET client library.

According to this source, MongoDB is ranked #4 on the list of most popular databases, while CouchDB (another NoSQL database) is ranked at #23.

Some good examples for VB.NET can be found here

Objective

Install MongoDB, create a sample database and perform CRUD operations.

Process

1. Download MongoDB from here
2. Install MongoDB completely
3. Create a path for MongoDB databases C:\mongo\db\ and for logs C:\mongo\logs\
4. Create a config file C:\mongo\mongod.conf with the following content:
   dbpath = c:/mongo/db
   logpath = c:/mongo/logs/mongo.log
5. Install MongoDB as Service with the config file created before:

   Open a cmd window as administrator (e.g. C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.2\bin) and run

   mongod --config "c:\mongo\mongod.conf" -install)

   Run services.msc, refresh and check if service is running properly

6. Create a new .NET project for Visual Basic (e.g. a windows form app)
7. Install .NET driver for MongoDB via Visual Studio Package Manager
   
   Install-Package mongocsharpdriver
   (requires .NET Framework 4.5?)

For new projects, the mongocsharpdriver should not be used (cf. here)

Instead, install the MongoDB Driver and Bson library via NuGet package manager in Visual Studio:

Install-Package MongoDB.Driver
Install-Package MongoDB.Driver.Core
Install-Package MongoDB.Bson

8. Perform CRUD operations with the sample code given below

---

Optional steps

9. Download DB Management UI Robomongo from https://robomongo.org/download
10. Download UI client from https://github.com/rsercano/mongoclient

Sample Code (VB.NET) - *legacy*

1. DB CONNECTION
   Imports MongoDB.Bson
   Imports MongoDB.Driver
   
   Dim server As MongoServer
   Dim client As MongoClient
   Dim db As MongoDatabase
   
   client= New MongoClient("mongodb://localhost/")
   db = client.GetServer().GetDatabase("test")
   

   Note: If a the requested database does not exist it will automatically be created the first time you add a collection.

2. CREATE
   Dim collection As MongoCollection= db.GetCollection(Of BsonDocument)("employees")
   
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'CREATE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim emp As BsonDocument = New BsonDocument
   With emp
   .Add("_id", Guid.NewGuid().ToString)
   .Add("name", "Neumann")
   .Add("first_name", "Peter")
   .Add("job_desc", "Developer")
   .Add("location", "hks-hq")
   End With
   collection.Insert(emp)
   
   
3. READ
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'READ
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim query = New QueryDocument("name", "Neumann")
   For Each item As BsonDocument In collection.Find(query)
   Dim name As BsonElement = item.GetElement("name")
   Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}", name.Value)
   Next
   
4. UPDATE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'UPDATE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim qs = New QueryDocument("_id", 23)
   Dim found As BsonDocument= collection.Find(qs).First
   ' Console.WriteLine(found.GetElement("location").Value.ToString)
   found.Set("location", "Heiligkreuzsteinach")
   collection.Save(found)
   
   
5. DELETE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'DELETE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim q = New QueryDocument("_id", 24)
   collection.Remove(q)
   
6. REMOVE DB
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'REMOVE DB
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim rdb As MongoDatabase
   rdb = client.GetServer().GetDatabase("alf")
   rdb.Drop()
   

Sample Code (VB.NET) - *new*

1. DB CONNECTION
   Imports MongoDB.Bson
   Imports MongoDB.Driver
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'CONNECTION
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim client As MongoClient
   Dim db As IMongoDatabase
   
   client= New MongoClient("mongodb://localhost/")
   db = client.GetDatabase("db")
   
2. CREATE
   Dim collection As IMongoCollection(Of BsonDocument) = db.GetCollection(Of BsonDocument)("employees")
   
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'CREATE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim emp As BsonDocument = New BsonDocument
   With emp
   .Add("_id", 24) 'Guid.NewGuid().ToString)
   .Add("name", "Neumann")
   .Add("first_name", "Dieter")
   .Add("job_desc", "Developer")
   .Add("location", "hks-hq")
   End With
   collection.InsertOne(emp)
   
3. READ
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'READ
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim filter = Builders(OfBsonDocument).Filter.Eq(Of String)("name", "Neumann")
   For Each item As BsonDocument In collection.Find(filter).ToList
   Dim name As BsonElement = item.GetElement("name")
   Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}", name.Value)
   Next
   
4. UPDATE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'UPDATE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim fltr = Builders(OfBsonDocument).Filter.Eq(Of Long)("_id", 24)
   collection.UpdateOne(fltr,New BsonDocument("$set", New BsonDocument("location", "Heiligkreuzsteinach")))
   
   'many records
   Dim f = Builders(Of BsonDocument).Filter.Eq(Of String)("name", "Neumann")
   collection.UpdateMany(f, New BsonDocument("$set", New BsonDocument("location", "HKS")))
   
   DELETE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'DELETE
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   Dim q = Builders(Of BsonDocument).Filter.Eq(Of Long)("_id", 22)
   collection.DeleteOne(q)
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   'DELETE COLLECTION
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   db.DropCollection("employees")
   
5. REMOVE DB
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   ' REMOVE DB
   ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
   client.DropDatabase("db1")
   

Sample Code Collection

Find some typical functions here:

Conclusion

The installation of MongoDB and the .NET library ran without problems. The Robomongo UI is a great tool.

One step is unclear: Is MongoDB already available as service w/o running the install command via command line?