# Behavior of multi field query\_string query doesn't seem to match documentation **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [February 4, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/behavior-of-multi-field-query-string-query-doesnt-seem-to-match-documentation/10618 "2013-02-04T16:35:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leonardo\_Souza](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/leonardo_souza/32/2503_2.png) [@Leonardo\_Souza](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Leonardo_Souza)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/behavior-of-multi-field-query-string-query-doesnt-seem-to-match-documentation/10618/1 "2013-02-04T16:35:56Z")
Hey guys, While doing some tests related to searching across multiple fields I stumbled upon a behavior with multi field query\_string query that seems to contradict what is stated in the official documentation. Below is what the documentation says on this matter: "The idea of running the query\_string query against multiple fields is by > internally creating several queries for the same query string, each with > default\_field that match the fields provided." > [Elasticsearch Platform — Find real-time answers at scale | Elastic](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/query-dsl/query-string-query.html) So, given the information above, I expected that the following multi field query: curl -XGET 'localhost:9200/testgroupquery/\_search?pretty' -d '{ "query": { "query\_string": { "fields": [ "title", "address" ], "auto\_generate\_phrase\_queries": true, "boost": 1.0, "default\_operator": "and", "use\_dis\_max" : true, "query": "hotel praha" } } }' Would translate into a dis\_max query like this: curl -XGET 'localhost:9200/testgroupquery/\_search?pretty' -d '{ "query": { "dis\_max" : { "tie\_breaker" : 0.0, "queries" : [ { "query\_string": { "default\_field": "title", "auto\_generate\_phrase\_queries": true, "boost": 1.0, "default\_operator": "and", "query": "hotel praha" } }, { "query\_string": { "default\_field": "address", "auto\_generate\_phrase\_queries": true, "boost": 1.0, "default\_operator": "and", "query": "hotel praha" } } ] } } }' But apparently it doesn't. I first noticed this because the resultset returned is different between these two queries: while the multi field query\_string query matches all documents containing both "hotel" and "praha" in the title and/or address fields (_including cross matching between the fields_ - e.g. "hotel" in title and "praha" in address), the dis\_max query above returns just documents that contain both terms "hotel" and "praha" in the _same field_ (either title or address). Looking at the final query for these two distinct requests using the Validate API, I can see that the output is quite different indeed: _multi field query\_string query_ curl -XGET 'localhost:9200/testgroupquery/\_validate/query?pretty&explain=true' -d '{ "query\_string": { "fields": [ "title", "address" ], "auto\_generate\_phrase\_queries": true, "boost": 1.0, "default\_operator": "and", "use\_dis\_max" : true, "query": "hotel praha" } }' { "valid" : true, "\_shards" : { "total" : 1, "successful" : 1, "failed" : 0 }, "explanations" : [ { "index" : "testgroupquery", "valid" : true, "explanation" : "_+(title:hotel | address:hotel) +(title:praha | address:praha)_" } ] } _dis\_max query_ \* \* curl -XGET 'localhost:9200/testgroupquery/\_validate/query?pretty&explain=true' -d '{ "dis\_max" : { "tie\_breaker" : 0.0, "queries" : [ { "query\_string": { "default\_field": "title", "auto\_generate\_phrase\_queries": true, "boost": 1.0, "default\_operator": "and", "query": "hotel praha" } }, { "query\_string": { "default\_field": "address", "auto\_generate\_phrase\_queries": true, "boost": 1.0, "default\_operator": "and", "query": "hotel praha" } } ] } }' { "valid" : true, "\_shards" : { "total" : 1, "successful" : 1, "failed" : 0 }, "explanations" : [ { "index" : "testgroupquery", "valid" : true, "explanation" : "_((+title:hotel +title:praha) | (+address:hotel +address:praha))_" } ] } The reason I'm pointing out this difference is that I've been trying to configure my application to work in precisely the way the multi field query\_string query works, allowing users to search for multiple terms allowing matches across multiple fields. So that's exactly the behavior I want, but it seems to contradict what is in the documentation, so I want to make sure this matching across multiple fields is an expected behavior and not some anomaly that will be _corrected_ at some point. In case it helps, the attached document contains all the requests to create the index and populate it with sample data, along with my query requests+response for each of the tests I did. Thank you in advance for your help. Best, Leo -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Clinton\_Gormley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Clinton\_Gormley](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Clinton_Gormley)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/behavior-of-multi-field-query-string-query-doesnt-seem-to-match-documentation/10618/2 "2013-02-04T18:51:06Z")
Hi Leo > The reason I'm pointing out this difference is that I've been trying > to configure my application to work in precisely the way the multi > field query\_string query works, allowing users to search for multiple > terms allowing matches across multiple fields. So that's exactly the > behavior I want, but it seems to contradict what is in the > documentation, so I want to make sure this matching across multiple > fields is an expected behavior and not some anomaly that will be > corrected at some point. It is expected behaviour and is unlikely to change. The multi\_match query on the other hand DOES work the way you thought query\_string works, in other words: { multi\_match: { query: "foo bar", operator: "and", fields: ["one", "two"] }} does translate into: "one:(+foo +bar) two:(+foo +bar)" clint -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Leonardo\_Souza](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/leonardo_souza/32/2503_2.png) [@Leonardo\_Souza](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Leonardo_Souza)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/behavior-of-multi-field-query-string-query-doesnt-seem-to-match-documentation/10618/3 "2013-02-04T20:16:27Z")
Thank you very much for your confirmation of this behavior, Clint! Now one question still remains: is the documentation incorrect then, since it gives a different idea about the final query that will be generated? Thanks, Leo On Monday, February 4, 2013 1:51:06 PM UTC-5, Clinton Gormley wrote: > Hi Leo > > > The reason I'm pointing out this difference is that I've been trying > > to configure my application to work in precisely the way the multi > > field query\_string query works, allowing users to search for multiple > > terms allowing matches across multiple fields. So that's exactly the > > behavior I want, but it seems to contradict what is in the > > documentation, so I want to make sure this matching across multiple > > fields is an expected behavior and not some anomaly that will be > > corrected at some point. > > It is expected behaviour and is unlikely to change. > > The multi\_match query on the other hand DOES work the way you thought > query\_string works, in other words: > > { multi\_match: { > query: "foo bar", > operator: "and", > fields: ["one", "two"] > }} > > does translate into: "one:(+foo +bar) two:(+foo +bar)" > > clint -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Clinton\_Gormley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Clinton\_Gormley](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Clinton_Gormley)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/behavior-of-multi-field-query-string-query-doesnt-seem-to-match-documentation/10618/4 "2013-02-04T20:21:27Z")
On Mon, 2013-02-04 at 12:16 -0800, Leonardo Souza wrote: > Thank you very much for your confirmation of this behavior, Clint! > > Now one question still remains: is the documentation incorrect then, > since it gives a different idea about the final query that will be > generated? I'd say that the docs are, at best, ambiguous... clint > Thanks, > Leo > > On Monday, February 4, 2013 1:51:06 PM UTC-5, Clinton Gormley wrote: > Hi Leo > > ``` > > > > The reason I'm pointing out this difference is that I've > been trying > > to configure my application to work in precisely the way the > multi > > field query_string query works, allowing users to search for > multiple > > terms allowing matches across multiple fields. So that's > exactly the > > behavior I want, but it seems to contradict what is in the > > documentation, so I want to make sure this matching across > multiple > > fields is an expected behavior and not some anomaly that > will be > > corrected at some point. > > It is expected behaviour and is unlikely to change. > > The multi_match query on the other hand DOES work the way you > thought > query_string works, in other words: > > { multi_match: { > query: "foo bar", > operator: "and", > fields: ["one", "two"] > }} > > does translate into: "one:(+foo +bar) two:(+foo +bar)" > > clint > > ``` > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "elasticsearch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/behavior-of-multi-field-query-string-query-doesnt-seem-to-match-documentation/10618/5 "2017-07-06T02:53:03Z")