$ne

Syntax: {field: {$ne: value} }

$ne selects the documents where the value of the field is not equal (i.e. !=) to the specified value. This includes documents that do not contain the field.

Consider the following example:

db.inventory.find( { qty: { $ne: 20 } } )

This query will select all documents in the inventory collection where the qty field value does not equal 20, including those documents that do not contain the qty field.

Consider the following example which uses the $ne operator with a field from an embedded document:

db.inventory.update( { "carrier.state": { $ne: "NY" } }, { $set: { qty: 20 } } )

This update() operation will set the qty field value in the documents that contains the embedded document carrier whose state field value does not equal “NY”, or where the state field or the carrier embedded document does not exist.