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Query String Query

Steve Yen edited this page Apr 22, 2015 · 9 revisions

The query language query allows humans to describe complex queries using a simple syntax.

Terms

Plain terms without any other syntax are interpreted as a match query for the term in the default field. The default field is _all unless overridden in the index mapping.

Example: water will perform a [Match Query](Match Query) for the term water.

Phrases

Phrase queries can be accomplished by placing the phrase in quotes.

Example: "light beer" will peform a [Match Phrase Query](Match Phrase Query) for the phrase light beer.

Field Scoping

You can qualify the field for these searches by prefixing them with the name of the field separated by a colon.

Example: description:water will perform a [Match Query](Match Query) for the term water, in the description field.

Required, Optional, and Exclusion

When your query string includes multiple items, by default these are placed into the SHOULD clause of a [Boolean Query](Boolean Query).

You can change this by prefixing your items with a + or '-'.

  • '+' Prefixing with plus places that item in the MUST portion of the boolean query.
  • '-' Prefixing with a minus places that item in the MUST NOT portion of the boolean query.

Example: +description:water -light beer will perform a [Boolean Query](Boolean Query) that MUST satisfy the Match Query for the term water in the description field, MUST NOT satisfy the Match Query for the term light in the default field, and SHOULD satisfy the Match Query for the term beer in the default field. Result documents satisfying the SHOULD clause will score higher than those that do not.

Boosting

You can influence the relative importance of the clauses by suffixing clauses with the ^ operator followed by a number.

Example: description:water name:water^5 will perform Match queries for water in both the name and description fields, but documents having the term in the name field will score higher.

Numeric Ranges

You can perform numeric ranges by using the >, >=, <, and <= operators, followed by a numeric value.

Example: abv:>10 will perform an [Numeric Range Query](Numeric Range Query) on the abv field for values greater than ten.

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