Storing multidimensional data in MongoDB

Question

I am attempting to convert a large MySQL database of product information (dimensions, specifications, etc) to MongoDB for flexibility and to move away from the restriction of a column based table. I like the freedom of being able to add a new key-value, without making an update to table structure.

An example of my data is here: http://textuploader.com/9nwo . I envisioned my collection being "Products", with a nested collection for each product type (ex. Hand Chain Hoists), and a nested collected manufacturer (ex. Coffing & Harrington). Basically one large multidimensional array. I am learning that nested collections are not allowed in MongoDB, so I'm at a dead end.

How would you store this kind of dataset? Is NoSQL the right choice for this?

Answer 1

If the nested structure is not necessary, you can "flatten" your data by having each document in the collection be a specific product and each product can have manufacturer product type as fields. You can index these fields so you can still query them quickly without a nested structure.

If you need to preserve the hierarchy, mongodb actually has a tutorial on designing a product hierarchy model here: http://docs.mongodb.org/ecosystem/use-cases/category-hierarchy/ . Essentially, each product has an ancestors array. It is a bit trickier keeping the hierarchy up to date on inserts and updates