$box (geospatial)

APPLIES TO: MongoDB vCore

The $box operator defines a rectangular area for geospatial queries using two coordinate pairs. It's useful for finding locations within a rectangular geographical boundary.

Syntax

The syntax for the $box operator is as follows:

{
  <location field>: {
    $geoWithin: {
      $box: [
        [<lower_left_longitude>, <lower_left_latitude>],
        [<upper_right_longitude>, <upper_right_latitude>]
      ]
    }
  }
}

Parameters

Parameter Type Description
location field Field The field containing the geospatial data
lower_left Array An array of [longitude, latitude] specifying the bottom-left corner
upper_right Array An array of [longitude, latitude] specifying the top-right corner

Example

Using the stores collection, let's find stores within a rectangular region:

db.stores.find({
  location: {
    $geoWithin: {
      $box: [
        [-142.0012, -51.3041],  // Lower left corner (First Up Consultants location)
        [123.3403, 70.1272]     // Upper right corner (Northwind Traders location)
      ]
    }
  }
},
{
  name: 1,
  location: 1
})

This query will return all stores that fall within the rectangular region defined by these coordinates.

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