Can I sort by multiple fields?

Yes, you can sort by multiple fields in MongoDB using the sort stage in an aggregation pipeline or in a query. You specify the fields you want to sort by in an array, and you can define the sort order for each field (ascending or descending).

Syntax

The syntax for sorting by multiple fields is as follows:

db.collection.find().sort({ field1: 1, field2: -1 })

• 1 indicates ascending order.
• -1 indicates descending order.

Example

Here’s an example of sorting documents in a collection called products by category in ascending order and by price in descending order:

db.products.find().sort({ category: 1, price: -1 })

Explanation

• category: The documents will be sorted first by the category field in ascending order.
• price: Within each category, the documents will be sorted by the price field in descending order.

Aggregation Example

You can also sort by multiple fields in an aggregation pipeline:

db.orders.aggregate([
    {
        $sort: {
            customerId: 1, // Sort by customerId in ascending order
            orderDate: -1  // Then sort by orderDate in descending order
        }
    }
])

Summary

Sorting by multiple fields allows you to control the order of your results more precisely, enabling you to organize data according to your specific requirements.