# Definition of index-templates for whole sub-structures needed?
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/definition-of-index-templates-for-whole-sub-structures-needed/110647
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [December 7, 2017, 10:43am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/definition-of-index-templates-for-whole-sub-structures-needed/110647 "2017-12-07T10:43:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ppuschmann](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ppuschmann)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2017, 10:43am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/definition-of-index-templates-for-whole-sub-structures-needed/110647/1 "2017-12-07T10:43:42Z")
Hi,
we're currently having an interesting issue with our field-definitions and type-detection.
We have fields in our documents that sometimes contain integers, sometimes some strings.
In the documentation we find some parts regarding object datatypes: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/5.6/object.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/5.6/object.html)
Given we have this template defined:
```
PUT my_index
{
"mappings": {
"my_type": {
"properties": {
"region": {
"type": "keyword"
},
"manager": {
"properties": {
"age": { "type": "integer" },
"name": {
"properties": {
"first": { "type": "text" },
"last": { "type": "text" },
"somefield": { "type": "keyword" }
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
```
The field `somefield` is in this case our field with mixed input types.
Would this index-template be valid for documents, that don't have a field `somefield` (or `name.somefield`)?
So, is the example-template valid for all four example-documents?
Example 1:
```
PUT my_index/my_type/1
{
"region": "US",
"manager": {
"age": 30,
"name": {
"first": "John",
"last": "Doe"
}
}
}
```
Example 2:
```
PUT my_index/my_type/2
{
"region": "US",
"manager": {
"age": 35,
"name": {
"first": "Patty",
"last": "Myers",
"somefield": "Some text..."
}
}
}
```
Example 3:
```
PUT my_index/my_type/3
{
"region": "US",
"manager": {
"age": 35,
"name": {
"first": "Patrick",
"last": "McDonald",
"somefield": 42
}
}
}
```
Example 4:
```
PUT my_index/my_type/4
{
"region": "US",
"manager": {
"age": 35,
"name": {
"first": "Patrick",
"last": "McDonald",
"somefield": 42,
"somedifferentfield": 42
}
}
}
```
---
### Author:  [@abdon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/abdon)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2017, 9:14am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/definition-of-index-templates-for-whole-sub-structures-needed/110647/2 "2017-12-08T09:14:14Z")
Yes, fields are optional in Elasticsearch, so an index with your mapping will happily accept those documents. Any unmapped field that shows up in a document (like your `somedifferentfield`) will be [dynamically mapped](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/dynamic-mapping.html), in your case to a `long` type.
---
### Author:  [@ppuschmann](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ppuschmann)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/definition-of-index-templates-for-whole-sub-structures-needed/110647/3 "2017-12-12T17:31:25Z")
Thanks for the clarification.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/definition-of-index-templates-for-whole-sub-structures-needed/110647/4 "2018-01-09T17:31:26Z")
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