Node.js Delete Database in MongoDB

In this Node.js tutorial, we will learn how to delete a database from MongoDB in a Node.js application through an example.

Example

Here is a step-by-step guide, along with an example of deleting a database from a MongoDB into a Node.js application.

Start the MongoDB service. Run the following command to start the MongoDB service

sudo service mongod start

Get the basic URL of the MongoDB service. To understand the basic URL of the MongoDB service, a simple trick is to open the terminal and run the Mongo Shell.

Terminal-Mongo Shell

arjun@nodejs:~$ mongo
MongoDB shell version v3.4.9
connecting to: mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017
MongoDB server version:　3.4.9
Server has startup warnings:　　
2017-10-29T18:15:36.110+0530 I STORAGE [initandlisten]

When the Mongo Shell starts, it echoes the basic URL of MongoDB.

mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017

Prepare the complete URL. Attach the name of the database to be deleted (e.g., newdb) to the basic URL.

mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/newdb

Create a MongoClient.

var MongoClient = require('mongodb').MongoClient;

Connect to the MongoDB server with the help of the URL using MongoClient.

MongoClient.connect(url, <callback_function>);

If the connection is successful, the db object points to the database newdb.
Use the dropDatabase(callback) method to delete the database.

db.dropDatabase(<callback_function>);

Close the connection to the database. After completing all operations, close the db object. Note: For nested callback functions (as shown in the example below), close the connection to the database (or execute lastly) in the innermost callback function to ensure that all database operations are completed before closing the connection.

db.close();

Example Node.js Program

//　newdb is the database we deleted
var url = "mongodb://localhost:27017/newdb";　
　
//　Create a client to mongodb
var MongoClient = require('mongodb').MongoClient;　
　
//　Make the client connect to the mongo service
MongoClient.connect(url, function(err, db) {　
　　　　if (err) throw err;　
　　　　console.log("Connected to Database!");　
　　　　//　Print Database Name
　　　　console.log("db object points to the database: ");+　db.databaseName);　
　　　　//　Delete Database
　　　　db.dropDatabase(function(err, result){　
　　　　　　　　console.log("Error: ");+err);　
　　　　　　　　if (err) throw err;　
　　　　　　　　console.log("Operation Success? ");+result);　
　　　　　　　　//　Close db after completing all operations with it.
　　　　　　　　db.close();　
　　　　});　
　});

Output Result

arjun@w3codebox:~/workspace/nodejs/mongodb$ node node-js-mongodb-drop-database.js　
Connected to Database!
db object points to the database: newdb
Error: null
Operation Success? true

Conclusion:

In this Node.js MongoDB tutorial – Placing Node.js in the database of MongoDB, we learned how to delete the database from the Node.js application using the mongodb package. In our next tutorial – Creating Collections in MongoDB with Node.js, we will learn how to create MongoDB collections.