$derivative (aggregation)¶

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Definition
Behavior
Example

Definition¶

New in version 5.0.

$derivative¶

Returns the average rate of change within the specified window, which is calculated using the:

First and last documents in the $setWindowFields stage window.
Numerator, which is set to the result of subtracting the numeric expression value for the first document from the expression value for the last document.
Denominator, which is set to the result of subtracting the sortBy field value for the first document from the sortBy field value for the last document.

$derivative is only available in the $setWindowFields stage. You must specify a window in the $setWindowFields stage when using $derivative.

$derivative syntax:

{
   $derivative: {
      input: <expression>,
      unit: <time unit>
   }
}

$derivative takes a document with these fields:

Field Description

input

Specifies the expression to evaluate. The expression must evaluate to a number.

unit

A string that specifies the time unit. Use one of these strings:

"week"
"day"
"hour"
"minute"
"second"
"millisecond"

If the sortBy field is not a date, you must omit a unit. If you specify a unit, you must specify a date in the sortBy field.

Behavior¶

You must specify a window in the $setWindowFields stage when using $derivative.

Example¶

Create a deliveryFleet collection that contains odometer readings for delivery trucks recorded at 30 second intervals:

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db.deliveryFleet.insertMany( [
   { truckID: "1", timeStamp: new Date( "2020-05-18T14:10:30Z" ), miles: 1295.1 },
   { truckID: "1", timeStamp: new Date( "2020-05-18T14:11:00Z" ), miles: 1295.63 },
   { truckID: "1", timeStamp: new Date( "2020-05-18T14:11:30Z" ), miles: 1296.25 },
   { truckID: "1", timeStamp: new Date( "2020-05-18T14:12:00Z" ), miles: 1296.76 },
   { truckID: "2", timeStamp: new Date( "2020-05-18T14:10:30Z" ), miles: 10234.1 },
   { truckID: "2", timeStamp: new Date( "2020-05-18T14:11:00Z" ), miles: 10234.33 },
   { truckID: "2", timeStamp: new Date( "2020-05-18T14:11:30Z" ), miles: 10234.73 },
   { truckID: "2", timeStamp: new Date( "2020-05-18T14:12:00Z" ), miles: 10235.13 }
] )

This example uses $derivative in the $setWindowFields stage to obtain the average speed in miles per hour for each truck, and the $match stage to filter the results to trucks whose speed exceeded 50 miles per hour:

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db.deliveryFleet.aggregate( [
   {
      $setWindowFields: {
         partitionBy: "$truckID",
         sortBy: { timeStamp: 1 },
         output: {
            truckAverageSpeed: {
               $derivative: {
                  input: "$miles",
                  unit: "hour"
               },
               window: {
                  range: [ -30, 0 ],
                  unit: "second"
               }
            }
         }
      }
   },
   {
      $match: {
         truckAverageSpeed: {
            $gt: 50
         }
      }
   }
] )

In the example:

The $setWindowFields stage obtains the average speed in miles per hour for each truck:
- partitionBy: "$truckID" partitions the documents in the collection by truckID.
- sortBy: { timeStamp: 1 } sorts the documents in each partition by timeStamp in ascending order (1), so the earliest odometer reading is first.
- output sets the miles derivative value in a new field called truckAverageSpeed using $derivative that is run in a range window.
  - The input expression is set to "$miles", which is used in the numerator for the derivative calculation.
  - The $derivative unit is set to "hour" for the timeStamp field, which is used in the denominator for the derivative calculation.
  - The window contains the range between a lower limit of -30 seconds (the previous 30 seconds from the current document in the output) and 0 seconds (matches the current document’s timeStamp value in the output). This means $derivative returns the average speed for each truck in miles per hour in the 30 second window.
The $match stage uses the greater than operator $gt to filter the results to trucks whose speed exceeded 50 miles per hour.

In the following example output, the speed for truck 1 is shown in the truckAverageSpeed field. The speed for truck 2 is not shown because truck 2 did not exceed 50 miles per hour.

{ "_id" : ObjectId("60cb8a7e833dfeadc8e6285c"), "truckID" : "1",
  "timeStamp" : ISODate("2020-05-18T14:11:00Z"), "miles" : 1295.63,
  "truckAverageSpeed" : 63.60000000002401 }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60cb8a7e833dfeadc8e6285d"), "truckID" : "1",
  "timeStamp" : ISODate("2020-05-18T14:11:30Z"), "miles" : 1296.25,
  "truckAverageSpeed" : 74.3999999999869 }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("60cb8a7e833dfeadc8e6285e"), "truckID" : "1",
  "timeStamp" : ISODate("2020-05-18T14:12:00Z"), "miles" : 1296.76,
  "truckAverageSpeed" : 61.199999999998916 }

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