cursor.pretty.txt

===============
cursor.pretty()
===============

.. default-domain:: mongodb

.. contents:: On this page
   :local:
   :backlinks: none
   :depth: 1
   :class: singlecol

Definition
----------

.. method:: cursor.pretty()

   Configures the cursor to display results in an easy-to-read format.

   The :method:`~cursor.pretty()` method has the following prototype form:

   .. code-block:: javascript

      db.collection.find(<query>).pretty()

Examples
--------

Consider the following document:

.. code-block:: javascript

   db.books.save({
       "_id" : ObjectId("54f612b6029b47909a90ce8d"),
       "title" : "A Tale of Two Cities",
       "text" : "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...",
       "authorship" : "Charles Dickens"})

By default, :method:`db.collection.find()` returns data in a dense format:

.. code-block:: javascript

   db.books.find()
   { "_id" : ObjectId("54f612b6029b47909a90ce8d"), "title" : "A Tale of Two Cities", "text" : "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...", "authorship" : "Charles Dickens" }

By using :method:`cursor.pretty()` you can set the cursor to return data in a
format that is easier for humans to parse:

.. code-block:: javascript

   db.books.find().pretty()
   {
       "_id" : ObjectId("54f612b6029b47909a90ce8d"),
       "title" : "A Tale of Two Cities",
       "text" : "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...",
       "authorship" : "Charles Dickens"
   }