Introduction to MongoDB collection.renameCollection() Method

MongoDB is a document-oriented NoSQL database management system. renameCollection() is a collection management method in MongoDB that can be used to rename a collection.

Syntax

db.collection.renameCollection (newName, dropTarget, [options])

where:

• newName: the new name of the collection after renaming.
• dropTarget: whether to drop the existing collection with the same name. If set to true, the existing collection with the same name will be dropped. Otherwise, an error will be thrown.
• options: optional parameters that control the behavior of the rename operation.

Use Cases

renameCollection() is primarily used to rename a collection in MongoDB, usually to give a more intuitive name to a collection. Additionally, if a collection needs to be refactored, renameCollection() can be used to rename the collection and then recreate a collection with the same name.

Example

Suppose we have a collection named old_collection and we need to rename it to new_collection. We can use the following command:

db.old_collection.renameCollection("new_collection")

If new_collection already exists when executing this command, an error will be thrown. To avoid this error, dropTarget can be set to true, as shown below:

db.old_collection.renameCollection("new_collection", true)

Conclusion

renameCollection() is a collection management method in MongoDB that can be used to rename a collection. The syntax of this method is simple and easy to use. In practical development, if you need to modify the name of a collection, you can consider using this method.