Can't access collection from the shell - SyntaxError: missing ; before statement (shell):1

Question

I wrote a script that uses mongoimport to load csv files into mongodb. When I run this for two similar csv files (of the same type) both upload fine, however I can only access one of them from the mongodb shell. Here is a transcript of a mongodb shell session:

> show collections
3mLgQAYJCq6_20110802
eTByWMY7zO6_20110802NonUniCode
system.indexes
> db.3mLgQAYJCq6_20110802
Thu Aug 18 18:44:49 SyntaxError: missing ; before statement (shell):1
> db.eTByWMY7zO6_20110802NonUniCode
vh.eTByWMY7zO6_20110802NonUniCode

However, I can access both collections from a python script and using mongoexport. I suspect there is a problem with the 3mLgQAYJCq6_20110802 file but I don't know where to start looking. Any ideas?

score 11 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 04 '11 at 15:34

11

This works for me when my collection names include special characters:

db["3mLgQAYJCq6_20110802"].findOne();

edited Oct 04 '11 at 15:34

Hasturkun

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answered Oct 03 '11 at 16:48

code_monk

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findOne() returns for me null, but other methods works great. find(), drop(), remove() etc. Clue is db["3mLgQAYJCq6_20110802"] – Saint Apr 30 '12 at 13:19
+1 This worked for me. I had underscores and a hyphen in my collection name. – Aafreen Sheikh Jan 31 '13 at 09:24

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 29 '11 at 13:48

3

The collection name should start with a letter or the underscore.You can get the info about the naming convention for the collections in mongodb from below link- http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Collections

answered Aug 29 '11 at 13:48

azhar_salati

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score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 18 '11 at 17:57

-1

lovely collection names... it's probably because it's starts with a 3.

answered Aug 18 '11 at 17:57

Karoly Horvath

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Can't access collection from the shell - SyntaxError: missing ; before statement (shell):1

3 Answers3

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