Process Overview

The implementation of updating a specific field across all documents in a MongoDB collection involves three main steps:

Step	Description
1	Establish connection to MongoDB instance
2	Reference the target collection
3	Execute bulk update operation

Implementation

Step 1: Connect to MongoDB

Establish a connection to the MongoDB server using the official driver:

const { MongoClient } = require('mongodb');

const connectionString = 'mongodb://localhost:27017';

MongoClient.connect(connectionString, (err, client) => {
  if (err) {
    throw err;
  }
  
  const db = client.db('testdb');
  updateCollection(db, client);
});

Step 2: Reference the Collection

Obtain a reference to the collection requiring updates:

function updateCollection(database, client) {
  const collection = database.collection('users');
  performBulkUpdate(collection, client);
}

Step 3: Execute Bulk Update

Use the updateMany method with an empty filter document to match all documents in the collection:

function performBulkUpdate(collection, client) {
  const updateFilter = {};
  const updateOperation = { $set: { processed: true } };
  
  collection.updateMany(updateFilter, updateOperation, (err, result) => {
    if (err) {
      throw err;
    }
    
    console.log(`Documents updated: ${result.modifiedCount}`);
    client.close();
  });
}

Execution Flow

Client → MongoDB Server → Collection → Update All Documents → Return Result

The empty filter object {} passed to updateMany acts as a wildcard, matching every document in the collection. The $set operator adds or updates the specified field without removing existing fields.