# Boolean field **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [February 28, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071 "2014-02-28T12:44:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sidpao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@sidpao](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sidpao)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/1 "2014-02-28T12:44:54Z")
When updating a field with a script, ES allows me to set a field mapped as boolean with any string. So far, this seems to be the only scenario where is possible to update a field with a different type than the one defined in the mapping. Anyone encountered this issue before? Thanks in advance -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/ef269806-3fe8-4f52-8d10-f68e849b466a%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/ef269806-3fe8-4f52-8d10-f68e849b466a%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Binh\_Ly\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@Binh\_Ly\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Binh_Ly_2)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/2 "2014-02-28T13:32:11Z")
Yup, 0 or false is false. Everything else is true. I do agree it is "odd". -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/59cb17be-a99e-4719-b8bd-ef3e53b212bb%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/59cb17be-a99e-4719-b8bd-ef3e53b212bb%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![brian\_yoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@brian\_yoder](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/brian_yoder)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/3 "2014-02-28T14:37:03Z")
But be careful: the docs for the Java 7 Boolean.parseBoolean[http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Boolean.html#parseBoolean(java.lang.String)](http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Boolean.html#parseBoolean(java.lang.String))say that: The boolean returned represents the value true if the string argument is not null and is equal, ignoring case, to the string"true". And by implication, everything else is false. Brian On Friday, February 28, 2014 8:32:11 AM UTC-5, Binh Ly wrote: > Yup, 0 or false is false. Everything else is true. I do agree it is "odd". -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/0dca2278-1c4f-4d72-ab90-88fcc7bc697f%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/0dca2278-1c4f-4d72-ab90-88fcc7bc697f%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![sidpao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@sidpao](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sidpao)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/4 "2014-02-28T14:50:48Z")
Good point. So Java's logic is completely opposite to ES. That's going to make life a bit difficult when using Java client. Anyone knows if this is intended behaviour or a oversight? In my case, it's making my updates extremely difficult. I don't know, in the moment of the update, the type of field being updated. So, i don't know if the field being updated is a boolean or not. As of now, the only solution i'm able to think of is to query for the index/type mappings, check which fields are mapped as boolean, store those fields and cross-match them with the fields being updated... For any other fields, i rely on the exceptions thrown by ES for type mismatch. On Friday, February 28, 2014 2:37:03 PM UTC, InquiringMind wrote: > But be careful: the docs for the Java 7 Boolean.parseBoolean[http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Boolean.html#parseBoolean(java.lang.String)](http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Boolean.html#parseBoolean(java.lang.String))say that: > > The boolean returned represents the value true if the string argument is > not null and is equal, ignoring case, to the string"true". > > And by implication, everything else is false. > > Brian > > On Friday, February 28, 2014 8:32:11 AM UTC-5, Binh Ly wrote: > > > Yup, 0 or false is false. Everything else is true. I do agree it is "odd". -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/833d9c93-ebcd-4bb4-bf7d-99b094f30eb6%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/833d9c93-ebcd-4bb4-bf7d-99b094f30eb6%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Binh\_Ly\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@Binh\_Ly\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Binh_Ly_2)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/5 "2014-02-28T14:54:49Z")
Brian, the interesting part is the ES boolean is actually a T/F field and is parsed internally in a different way (not like the Java boolean). I just looked in the code and the values "", "0", "false", "off", "no" are all false. Everything else is true. 🙂 -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/8a51a641-6666-4619-bfd4-2f20f44cdb4c%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/8a51a641-6666-4619-bfd4-2f20f44cdb4c%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![brian\_yoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@brian\_yoder](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/brian_yoder)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/6 "2014-02-28T16:38:09Z")
Binh, It's even more interesting. The behavior you describe matches the configuration and REST parsing rules. But the document \_source is JSON and a boolean value must be either _true_ or _false_. So my recommendation is to use the configuration and REST interface as a forgiving practice to get used to specifying only true or false for boolean parameters, and then you'll be comfortably set when you start adding real data. And it's one more reason to lock down Elasticsearch to prevent it from automatically detecting field types, and then explicitly map all of the fields you need. For example, the pretty= HTTP REST parameter is a boolean. And here are the results: brian@liberator:~$ curl -XGET '[http://localhost:9200/\_nodes/process](http://localhost:9200/_nodes/process)? _pretty=false_&human=true' && echo {"cluster\_name":"brian-liberator","nodes":{"wY-tmDrATweDeltdz9xCiQ":{"name":"liberator","transport\_address":"inet[/192.168.1.70:9300]","host":"liberator","ip":"127.0.1.1","version":"1.0.0","build":"a46900e","http\_address":"inet[/192.168.1.70:9200]","attributes":{"max\_local\_storage\_nodes":"1"},"process":{"refresh\_interval":1000,"id":2864,"max\_file\_descriptors":65537,"mlockall":false}}}} brian@liberator:~$ curl -XGET '[http://localhost:9200/\_nodes/process](http://localhost:9200/_nodes/process)? _pretty=true_&human=true' && echo { "cluster\_name" : "brian-liberator", "nodes" : { "wY-tmDrATweDeltdz9xCiQ" : { "name" : "liberator", "transport\_address" : "inet[/192.168.1.70:9300]", "host" : "liberator", "ip" : "127.0.1.1", "version" : "1.0.0", "build" : "a46900e", "http\_address" : "inet[/192.168.1.70:9200]", "attributes" : { "max\_local\_storage\_nodes" : "1" }, "process" : { "refresh\_interval" : 1000, "id" : 2864, "max\_file\_descriptors" : 65537, "mlockall" : false } } } } brian@liberator:~$ curl -XGET '[http://localhost:9200/\_nodes/process](http://localhost:9200/_nodes/process)? _pretty=AsPrettyDoes_&human=true' && echo { "cluster\_name" : "brian-liberator", "nodes" : { "wY-tmDrATweDeltdz9xCiQ" : { "name" : "liberator", "transport\_address" : "inet[/192.168.1.70:9300]", "host" : "liberator", "ip" : "127.0.1.1", "version" : "1.0.0", "build" : "a46900e", "http\_address" : "inet[/192.168.1.70:9200]", "attributes" : { "max\_local\_storage\_nodes" : "1" }, "process" : { "refresh\_interval" : 1000, "id" : 2864, "max\_file\_descriptors" : 65537, "mlockall" : false } } } } But JSON is not so forgiving. Here is a JSON document, followed by the output from a parser application I wrote last year: brian@liberator:~$ cat /tmp/test.json { "v1" : true, "v2" : false, "v3" : 0, "v4" : "0", "v5" : 1, "v6" : "1", _"v7" : TRUE_ } brian@liberator:~$ parse-json.sh /tmp/test.json JSON PARSED VALUES: ((NAME null)(TEXT `{') (TOKEN START_OBJECT)) ((NAME v1)(TEXT`true') (TOKEN VALUE\_TRUE)) ((NAME v2)(TEXT `false') (TOKEN VALUE_FALSE)) ((NAME v3)(TEXT`0') (TOKEN VALUE\_NUMBER\_INT)) ((NAME v4)(TEXT `0') (TOKEN VALUE_STRING)) ((NAME v5)(TEXT`1') (TOKEN VALUE\_NUMBER\_INT)) ((NAME v6)(TEXT `1') (TOKEN VALUE\_STRING)) \*JSON parse failure: org.elasticsearch.common.jackson.core.JsonParseException: Unrecognized token 'TRUE': was expecting \* - at [Source: java.io.BufferedReader@1662dc8; line: 8, column: 14]\* Brian -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/357cbf17-fab4-428f-a88d-d50cdd49110f%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/357cbf17-fab4-428f-a88d-d50cdd49110f%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![sidpao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@sidpao](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sidpao)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/7 "2014-02-28T18:53:29Z")
Regarding the mapping, i have it manually defined as boolean. I too don't like auto mapping. And yet, ES accepts any string and, when i perform a get, also returns any string instead of true/false (doesn't converte before upgrading ir fetching). Even funnier is that it accepts a real boolean (true/false without quotes) and a true/false with quotes, never throwing exceptions. Also tested it in a "doc" section instead of script, same results. It seems to fully ignore the mapping and assumes it as a string. -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/8fb0d4a6-cf24-470b-b299-8704f5e2f5a2%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/8fb0d4a6-cf24-470b-b299-8704f5e2f5a2%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![sidpao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@sidpao](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sidpao)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 10:23am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/8 "2014-03-03T10:23:38Z")
So far this issue seems unavoidable. Did some more testing / googling and did not find any suitable solution. I believe the correct behaviour here (if sending anything other than true, false or null) would be to throw a ElasticsearchException of some sorts. In the end, i circled the issue by defining a helper method that, for every key/value pair that's about to be updated checks it's mapping. The method simply receives an index name, type and field and returns either null or the type defined for that field. Back in my update method, i call that helper method for every field being updated. If any of the types defined as boolean receives a value different than true, false or null, i throw a custom-made exception. For the rest of them, i let ES do the check for me (so far the error throw for incorrect field type has been a script error) In my case, given some of my requirements (1. Can't update a field that doesn't exists in the mapping and 2. Types must be enforced), i couldn't think of any other way of circumventing the issue. If anyone finds a better solution, please let me know. Thanks for all the help On Friday, February 28, 2014 12:44:54 PM UTC, [sid...@gmail.com](mailto:sid...@gmail.com) wrote: > When updating a field with a script, ES allows me to set a field mapped as > boolean with any string. > So far, this seems to be the only scenario where is possible to update a > field with a different type than the one defined in the mapping. > Anyone encountered this issue before? > > Thanks in advance -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/3b1250b5-b7ca-420b-9a0c-600e2e812974%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/3b1250b5-b7ca-420b-9a0c-600e2e812974%40googlegroups.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, 1:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/boolean-field/16071/9 "2017-07-06T01:46:16Z")