How to Format the Date in MongoDB

If you have documents that store dates as Date objects, but you want to return them in a different format, you can use the $dateToString aggregate pipeline operator.

For example, you might want a date to be returned in mm/dd/yyyy format instead of the long ISODate() format that includes minutes, seconds, milliseconds, etc

The $dateToString operator converts the Date object to a string, and optionally allows you to specify a format for the resulting output.

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How the BINARY Operator Works in MariaDB

In MariaDB, the BINARY operator casts the string following it to a binary string.

The BINARY operator enables you to do a column comparison byte by byte rather than character by character. This causes the comparison to be case sensitive even if the column isn’t defined as BINARY or BLOB. It also means that leading/trailing spaces become significant.

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MongoDB $isArray

In MongoDB you can use the $isArray aggregation pipeline operator to check whether or not a value is an array.

It accepts any valid expression, and returns true if the expression is an array, false if it’s not.

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MongoDB $literal

In MongoDB, the $literal aggregation pipeline operator returns a value without parsing.

It accepts any valid expression, and returns the unparsed expression.

The $literal operator can be useful for when you have a value that MongoDB could inadvertently interpret as an expression, but you don’t want it to.

For example, if you have a monetary amount that includes a dollar sign, MongoDB might inadvertently interpret that as a field name. You can use $literal to prevent MongoDB from interpreting such expressions.

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