Update a document (Python)

Finds a single document in a collection using filter and sort clauses, and then updates properties in that document. Optionally, if no document matches the filter, inserts a new document.

This method and the method to find and update a document have the same database effect but differ in their return value. This method returns details about the success of the update. The method to find and update a document returns the document that was found and updated.

Ready to write code? See the examples for this method to get started. If you are new to the Data API, check out the quickstart.

Result

Updates a document that matches the specified parameters and returns a CollectionUpdateResult object that includes details about the operation.

Example response:

CollectionUpdateResult(update_info={'n': 1, 'updatedExisting': True, 'ok': 1.0, 'nModified': 1}, raw_results=...)

Parameters

Use the update_one method, which belongs to the astrapy.Collection class.

Method signature 
update_one(
  filter: Dict[str, Any],
  update: Dict[str, Any],
  *,
  sort: Dict[str, Any],
  upsert: bool,
  general_method_timeout_ms: int,
  request_timeout_ms: int,
  timeout_ms: int,
) -> CollectionUpdateResult:
Name Type Summary

filter

Dict[str, Any]

Optional. An object that defines filter criteria using the Data API filter syntax. The method only finds documents that match the filter criteria. Filters can improve performance by reducing the number of documents that the Data API processes.

You must use & to escape any . or & in field names in the filter clause. You cannot use & to escape any other characters. For more information, see Work with . and & in field names (Python).

For a list of available filter operators and more examples, see Filter operators for collections (Python).

Filters can use only indexed fields. If you apply selective indexing when you create a collection, you cannot reference non-indexed fields in a filter.

For an example, see Update a document that matches a filter.

update

object

An object that defines the updates using Data API operators.

For a list of available operators and more examples, see Update operators for collections (Python).

You must use & to escape any . or & in field names in the update clause. You cannot use & to escape any other characters. For more information, see Work with . and & in field names (Python).

sort

Dict[str, Any]

Optional. Sorts documents by one or more fields, or performs a vector search.

You must use & to escape any . or & in field names in the sort clause. You cannot use & to escape any other characters. For more information, see Work with . and & in field names (Python).

For more information, see Sort clauses for collections (Python).

Sort clauses can use only indexed fields. If you apply selective indexing when you create a collection, you cannot reference non-indexed fields in sort queries.

For vector searches, this parameter can use $vector.

upsert

bool

Optional. Whether to insert a new document if no document matches the filter criteria.

For an example, see Insert a new document if no matching document exists.

Default: False

general_method_timeout_ms

int

Optional. The maximum time, in milliseconds, that the client should wait for the underlying HTTP request.

Default: The default value for the collection. This default is 30 seconds unless you specified a different default when you initialized the Collection or DataAPIClient object. For more information, see Timeout options.

request_timeout_ms

int

Optional. An alias for general_method_timeout_ms. Since this method issues a single HTTP request, general_method_timeout_ms and request_timeout_ms are equivalent.

timeout_ms

int

Optional. An alias for general_method_timeout_ms.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate how to update a document in a collection.

Update a document by ID

All documents have a unique _id property. You can use a filter to find a document with a specific _id, and then update that document.

The following example uses untyped documents or rows, but you can define a client-side type for your collection to help statically catch errors. For examples, see Typing support.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Update a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {"_id": "101"}, {"$set": {"color": "blue"}}
)

print(result)

Update a document that matches a filter

You can use a filter to find a document that matches specific criteria. For example, you can find a document with an is_checked_out value of false and a number_of_pages value less than 300.

For a list of available filter operators and more examples, see Filter operators for collections (Python).

Filters can use only indexed fields. If you apply selective indexing when you create a collection, you cannot reference non-indexed fields in a filter.

The following example uses untyped documents or rows, but you can define a client-side type for your collection to help statically catch errors. For examples, see Typing support.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Update a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {
        "$and": [
            {"is_checked_out": False},
            {"number_of_pages": {"$lt": 300}},
        ]
    },
    {"$set": {"color": "blue"}},
)

print(result)

Update a document that is most similar to a search vector

To find the document whose $vector value is most similar to a given vector, use a sort with the vector embeddings that you want to match. For more information, see Find data with vector search.

Vector search is only available for vector-enabled collections. For more information, see Create a collection that can store vector embeddings and $vector in collections (Python).

The following example uses untyped documents or rows, but you can define a client-side type for your collection to help statically catch errors. For examples, see Typing support.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Update a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {}, {"$set": {"color": "blue"}}, sort={"$vector": [0.08, -0.62, 0.39]}
)

print(result)

Update a document based on lexicographical matching

Lexicographical matching is currently in public preview. Development is ongoing, and the features and functionality are subject to change. Hyper-Converged Database (HCD), and the use of such, is subject to the DataStax Preview Terms.

There are two ways to use lexicographical matching to find documents with the Data API:

You can use these strategies together or separately.

You can only use lexicographical matching on collections that have lexical enabled. For more information, see Create a collection that supports lexicographical matching.

Documents must have the $lexical field populated to be included in lexicographical matching. For examples, see Insert a document for retrieval with lexicographical matching and Insert documents for retrieval with lexicographical matching.

The following example uses untyped documents or rows, but you can define a client-side type for your collection to help statically catch errors. For examples, see Typing support.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Update a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {"$lexical": {"$match": "tree hill"}},
    {"$set": {"color": "blue"}},
    sort={"$lexical": "tree hill grassy"},
)

print(result)

Update multiple properties

You can combine multiple operators and properties in a single call. For the full list of operators, see Update operators for collections (Python).

The following example uses untyped documents or rows, but you can define a client-side type for your collection to help statically catch errors. For examples, see Typing support.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Update a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {"_id": "101"},
    {
        "$set": {
            "color": "blue",
            "classes": ["biology", "algebra", "swimming"],
        },
        "$unset": {"phone": ""},
        "$inc": {"age": 1},
    },
)

print(result)

Update nested properties

To update a nested property, use dot notation. For example, field.subfield.subsubfield.

To update an item in a list, specify a numeric index. For example, listProperty.3.

The following example uses untyped documents or rows, but you can define a client-side type for your collection to help statically catch errors. For examples, see Typing support.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Update a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {"_id": "101"},
    {
        "$set": {
            "color": "blue",
            "address.city": "Austin",
            "classes.2": "biology",
        }
    },
)

print(result)

Insert a new document if no matching document exists

You can use upsert to insert a new document if no document matches the filter criteria.

In addition to any fields you explicitly set in the update parameter, the new document also includes any top-level equality conditions from the filter parameter. Equality conditions that are nested within $and from the filter parameter are not included. If a field is defined both in the filter and in the update, the explicitly set value takes precedence.

The following example uses untyped documents or rows, but you can define a client-side type for your collection to help statically catch errors. For examples, see Typing support.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Update a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {
        "$and": [
            {"is_checked_out": False},
            {"number_of_pages": {"$lt": 300}},
        ]
    },
    {"$set": {"color": "blue"}},
    upsert=True,
)

print(result)

You can also use the setOnInsert operator to specify additional fields to set if a new document is created:

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Update a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {
        "$and": [
            {"is_checked_out": False},
            {"number_of_pages": {"$lt": 300}},
        ]
    },
    {
        "$set": {"color": "blue"},
        "$setOnInsert": {"customer.name": "James"},
    },
    upsert=True,
)

print(result)

Work with . and & in field names

You must use & to escape any . or & in field names when the field is used in a filter, sort, projection, update, or indexing clause. Dot notation, which is used to reference nested fields, should not be escaped. For more information, see Work with . and & in field names (Python).

For example, in the following document, you would use escaping like this: areas.r&&d, costs.price&.usd, and costs.price&.cad.

{
  "areas": {
    "r&d": true,
    "design": false
  },
  "costs": {
    "price.usd": 100,
    "price.cad": 90
  }
}

The following example uses untyped documents or rows, but you can define a client-side type for your collection to help statically catch errors. For examples, see Typing support.

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Find a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {
        "$and": [
            {"areas.r&&d": False},
            {"costs.price&.usd": {"$lt": 300}},
        ]
    },
    {"$set": {"areas.r&&d": True, "costs.price&.usd": 310}},
)

print(result)

You can also use the escape_field_names function provided by the client:

from astrapy import DataAPIClient
from astrapy.authentication import UsernamePasswordTokenProvider
from astrapy.constants import Environment
from astrapy.utils.document_paths import escape_field_names

# Get an existing collection
client = DataAPIClient(environment=Environment.HCD)
database = client.get_database(
    "API_ENDPOINT",
    token=UsernamePasswordTokenProvider("USERNAME", "PASSWORD"),
    keyspace="KEYSPACE_NAME",
)
collection = database.get_collection("COLLECTION_NAME")

# Find a document
result = collection.update_one(
    {
        "$and": [
            {escape_field_names("areas", "r&d"): False},
            {escape_field_names("costs", "price.usd"): {"$lt": 300}},
        ]
    },
    {
        "$set": {
            escape_field_names("areas", "r&d"): True,
            escape_field_names("costs", "price.usd"): 310,
        }
    },
)

print(result)

Client reference

For more information, see the client reference.

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