Troubleshooting MongoDB ID Retrieval with Golang's MGO Library

When using the mgo library for MongoDB operations in Golang, developers may encounter an issue where they are unable to find an ID using the FindId method. This problem is evident from the following code snippet and its output:

session.SetMode(mgo.Monotonic, true)
coll := session.DB("aaaw_web").C("cron_emails")
var result Result
fmt.Printf("%v", message.ID)
err = coll.FindId(bson.ObjectId(message.ID)).One(&result)
fmt.Printf("%v", result)
fmt.Println(err)

Output:

595f2c1a6edcba0619073263
{ObjectIdHex("") 0   0  0    0 {         0    false 0    } 0 0 0  0 0 0 0}
ObjectIDs must be exactly 12 bytes long (got 24)
not found

Despite the document existing in MongoDB, the code fails to retrieve it. To resolve this issue, it is crucial to understand the nature of object IDs in MongoDB.

Understanding Object IDs in MongoDB

Object IDs in MongoDB are 12-byte values consisting of the following components:

• 4 bytes of timestamp representing the time the object was created
• 3 bytes of machine identifier
• 2 bytes of process identifier
• 3 bytes of random bytes

Converting Hexadecimal String to MongoDB Object ID

In the code snippet provided, the value of message.ID is a 24-character hexadecimal string representation of the object ID. To convert this string to a MongoDB object ID, you must use the bson.ObjectIdHex() function:

err = coll.FindId(bson.ObjectIdHex(message.ID)).One(&result)

Conclusion

By understanding the nature of object IDs in MongoDB and utilizing the appropriate functions to convert between hexadecimal representations and object IDs, developers can effectively retrieve documents using the mgo library.