AWS documentdb documentation change

Service: documentdb · 2026-03-31 · Documentation low

File: documentdb/latest/developerguide/maxDistance.md

Summary

Added new documentation page for the $maxDistance operator in Amazon DocumentDB, including detailed explanation, MongoDB shell example, and code examples in Node.js and Python

Security assessment

This change adds documentation for a geospatial query operator ($maxDistance) used with $nearSphere. The content focuses on functionality and usage examples without addressing any security vulnerabilities or weaknesses. The code examples include standard TLS connection parameters (tls=true, tlsCAFile=global-bundle.pem) which are standard security practices for DocumentDB connections, but these are not new security features being documented - they're part of the standard connection string template. No evidence of addressing a specific security issue.

Diff

diff --git a/documentdb/latest/developerguide/maxDistance.md b/documentdb/latest/developerguide/maxDistance.md
index 8b1378917..21a44c197 100644
--- a//documentdb/latest/developerguide/maxDistance.md
+++ b//documentdb/latest/developerguide/maxDistance.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[](/pdfs/documentdb/latest/developerguide/developerguide.pdf#maxDistance "Open PDF")
@@ -1,0 +3,133 @@
+[Documentation](/index.html)[Amazon DocumentDB](/documentdb/index.html)[Developer Guide](what-is.html)
+
+Example (MongoDB Shell)Code examples
+
+# $maxDistance
+
+The `$maxDistance` operator in Amazon DocumentDB is used to specify the maximum distance (in meters) from a GeoJSON point that documents must be within to be included in the query results. This operator is used in conjunction with the `$nearSphere` operator to perform geospatial queries.
+
+**Parameters**
+
+  * `$maxDistance`: The maximum distance (in meters) from the reference point that documents must be within to be included in the query results.
+
+
+
+
+## Example (MongoDB Shell)
+
+The following example demonstrates how to use the `$maxDistance` operator in Amazon DocumentDB to find all state capitals within 100 kilometers of Boston.
+
+**Create sample documents**
+    
+    
+    db.capitals.insert([
+      { state: "Massachusetts", city: "Boston", location: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-71.0589, 42.3601] } },
+      { state: "Rhode Island", city: "Providence", location: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-71.4128, 41.8239] } },
+      { state: "New Hampshire", city: "Concord", location: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-71.5383, 43.2067] } },
+      { state: "Vermont", city: "Montpelier", location: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-72.5751, 44.2604] } }
+    ]);
+
+**Query example**
+    
+    
+    db.capitals.find(
+      {
+        location: {
+          $nearSphere: {
+            $geometry: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-71.0589, 42.3601] },
+            $maxDistance: 100000
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      { state: 1, city: 1, _id: 0 }
+    );
+
+**Output**
+    
+    
+    [
+      { "state": "Rhode Island", "city": "Providence" },
+      { "state": "New Hampshire", "city": "Concord" }
+    ]
+
+## Code examples
+
+To view a code example for using the `$maxDistance` command, choose the tab for the language that you want to use:
+
+Node.js
+    
+    
+    
+    const { MongoClient } = require('mongodb');
+    
+    async function findCapitalsNearBoston() {
+      const client = await MongoClient.connect('mongodb://<username>:<password>@<cluster-endpoint>:27017/?tls=true&tlsCAFile=global-bundle.pem&replicaSet=rs0&readPreference=secondaryPreferred&retryWrites=false');
+      const db = client.db('test');
+      const capitals = db.collection('capitals');
+    
+      const result = await capitals.find({
+        location: {
+          $nearSphere: {
+            $geometry: { type: "Point", coordinates: [-71.0589, 42.3601] },
+            $maxDistance: 100000
+          }
+        }
+      }, {
+        projection: { state: 1, city: 1, _id: 0 }
+      }).toArray();
+    
+      console.log(result);
+      await client.close();
+    }
+    
+    findCapitalsNearBoston();
+
+Python
+    
+    
+    
+    from pymongo import MongoClient
+    
+    def find_capitals_near_boston():
+        client = MongoClient('mongodb://<username>:<password>@<cluster-endpoint>:27017/?tls=true&tlsCAFile=global-bundle.pem&replicaSet=rs0&readPreference=secondaryPreferred&retryWrites=false')
+        db = client.test
+        capitals = db.capitals
+    
+        result = list(capitals.find(
+            {
+                "location": {
+                    "$nearSphere": {
+                        "$geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [-71.0589, 42.3601] },
+                        "$maxDistance": 100000
+                    }
+                }
+            },
+            {"state": 1, "city": 1, "_id": 0}
+        ))
+    
+        print(result)
+        client.close()
+    
+    find_capitals_near_boston()
+
+![Warning](https://d1ge0kk1l5kms0.cloudfront.net/images/G/01/webservices/console/warning.png) **Javascript is disabled or is unavailable in your browser.**
+
+To use the Amazon Web Services Documentation, Javascript must be enabled. Please refer to your browser's Help pages for instructions.
+
+[Document Conventions](/general/latest/gr/docconventions.html)
+
+$geoWithin
+
+$minDistance
+
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+
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+
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+
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