mongodb - How to remove duplicate entries from an array?

Question

In the following example, "Algorithms in C++" is present twice.

The $unset modifier can remove a particular field but how to remove an entry from a field?

{
  "_id" : ObjectId("4f6cd3c47156522f4f45b26f"), 
  "favorites" : {
    "books" : [
      "Algorithms in C++",    
      "The Art of Computer Programming", 
      "Graph Theory",      
      "Algorithms in C++"
    ]
  }, 
  "name" : "robert"
}

Answer 1

As of MongoDB 2.2 you can use the aggregation framework with an $unwind, $group and $project stage to achieve this:

db.users.aggregate([{$unwind: '$favorites.books'},
                    {$group: {_id: '$_id',
                              books: {$addToSet: '$favorites.books'},
                              name: {$first: '$name'}}},
                    {$project: {'favorites.books': '$books', name: '$name'}}
                   ])

Note the need for the $project to rename the favorites field, since $group aggregate fields cannot be nested.