# Fuzzy matching against multiple fields **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [April 17, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/fuzzy-matching-against-multiple-fields/4244 "2011-04-17T08:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pcdinh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/76d3ee/32.png) [@pcdinh](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/pcdinh)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/fuzzy-matching-against-multiple-fields/4244/1 "2011-04-17T08:23:03Z")
Hi all, I want to make a fuzzy query that is expected to work on multiple fields. What is the correct way to do it? I made the following queries [https://gist.github.com/923848](https://gist.github.com/923848) but it does not work Thanks pcdinh ---
**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:** [April 17, 2011, 9:31am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/fuzzy-matching-against-multiple-fields/4244/2 "2011-04-17T09:31:46Z")
Hi pcdinh > I want to make a fuzzy query that is expected to work on multiple > fields. What is the correct way to do it? > > I made the following queries [gist:923848 · GitHub](https://gist.github.com/923848) but it > does not work The easiest way to do it is to use the ~ operator in the query string, for instance: curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' { "query" : { "query\_string" : { "query" : "username:pcdinh~0.5 fullname\_idx:pcdinh~0.1^3", "fuzzy\_prefix\_length" : 1 } } } ' For more on the Lucene query string syntax, see: [http://lucene.apache.org/java/3\_0\_0/queryparsersyntax.html](http://lucene.apache.org/java/3_0_0/queryparsersyntax.html) The query string is a bit less configurable than a fuzzy query (for instance you can't specify a per-field fuzzy\_prefix\_length. In order to use the fuzzy query against two different fields, you need to use two fuzzy queries: ``` { "fuzzy" : { "username" : { "min_similarity" : 0.5, "boost" : 1, "value" : "pcdin", "prefix_length" : 0 } } }, { "fuzzy" : { "fullname_idx" : { "min_similarity" : 0.1, "boost" : 3, "value" : "pcdinh", "prefix_length" : 1 } } } ``` But you need to combine these two queries somehow. Your options are to wrap them in either a 'bool' query, or a 'dis\_max' query: bool:[Elasticsearch Platform — Find real-time answers at scale | Elastic](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/query-dsl/bool-query.html) curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' { "query" : { "bool" : { "should" : [ FUZZY QUERIES HERE ] } } } ' dis\_max:[Elasticsearch Platform — Find real-time answers at scale | Elastic](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/query-dsl/dis-max-query.html) curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' { "query" : { "dis\_max" : { "queries" : [ FUZZY QUERIES HERE ], "tie\_breaker" : 0.7 } } } ' The difference between bool and dis\_max is how it combines the score if both queries match. The bool query would add both their scores together. The dis\_max would return the better score. In your case, where you're searching for a matching user, it would probably make sense to use the bool query, so the full query would look like this: curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' { "query" : { "bool" : { "should" : [ { "fuzzy" : { "username" : { "min\_similarity" : 0.5, "boost" : 1, "value" : "pcdin", "prefix\_length" : 0 } } }, { "fuzzy" : { "fullname\_idx" : { "min\_similarity" : 0.1, "boost" : 3, "value" : "pcdinh", "prefix\_length" : 1 } } } ] } } } ' Alternatively, unless you have disabled it, the values for both username and fullname\_idx are also indexed in the \_all field. So, (sacrificing the per-field customizations) you could just do: curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' { "query" : { "fuzzy" : { "\_all" : { "min\_similarity" : 0.1, "value" : "pcidnh" } } } } ' Or even: curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' { "query" : { "field" : { "\_all" : "pcidnh~0.1" } } } ' clint ---
**Author:** ![pcdinh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/76d3ee/32.png) [@pcdinh](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/pcdinh)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 8:30am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/fuzzy-matching-against-multiple-fields/4244/3 "2011-04-19T08:30:04Z")
Hi Clinton, Thank a lot for your excellent answer. I will use Lucene syntax to reduce request bandwidth to ES server. Also, it is great to see your answer part of ES documentation Regards, pcdinh On 17 Tháng Tư, 16:31, Clinton Gormley [clin...@iannounce.co.uk](mailto:clin...@iannounce.co.uk) wrote: > Hi pcdinh > > > I want to make a fuzzy query that is expected to work on multiple > > fields. What is the correct way to do it? > > > I made the following querieshttps://gist.github.com/923848but it > > does not work > > The easiest way to do it is to use the ~ operator in the query string, > for instance: > > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' > { > "query" : { > "query\_string" : { > "query" : "username:pcdinh~0.5 fullname\_idx:pcdinh~0.1^3", > "fuzzy\_prefix\_length" : 1 > } > }} > > ' > > For more on the Lucene query string syntax, see:[Apache Lucene - Query Parser Syntax](http://lucene.apache.org/java/3_0_0/queryparsersyntax.html) > > The query string is a bit less configurable than a fuzzy query (for > instance you can't specify a per-field fuzzy\_prefix\_length. > > In order to use the fuzzy query against two different fields, you need > to use two fuzzy queries: > > ``` > { > "fuzzy" : { > "username" : { > "min_similarity" : 0.5, > "boost" : 1, > "value" : "pcdin", > "prefix_length" : 0 > } > } > }, > { > "fuzzy" : { > "fullname_idx" : { > "min_similarity" : 0.1, > "boost" : 3, > "value" : "pcdinh", > "prefix_length" : 1 > } > } > } > > ``` > > But you need to combine these two queries somehow. Your options are to > wrap them in either a 'bool' query, or a 'dis\_max' query: > > bool:[Elasticsearch Platform — Find real-time answers at scale | Elastic](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/query-dsl/bool-query.html) > > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' > { > "query" : { > "bool" : { > "should" : [ > FUZZY QUERIES HERE > ] > } > }} > > ' > > dis\_max:[Elasticsearch Platform — Find real-time answers at scale | Elastic](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/query-dsl/dis-max-query).... > > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' > { > "query" : { > "dis\_max" : { > "queries" : [ > FUZZY QUERIES HERE > ], > "tie\_breaker" : 0.7 > } > }} > > ' > > The difference between bool and dis\_max is how it combines the score if > both queries match. The bool query would add both their scores > together. The dis\_max would return the better score. > > In your case, where you're searching for a matching user, it would > probably make sense to use the bool query, so the full query would look > like this: > > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' > { > "query" : { > "bool" : { > "should" : [ > { > "fuzzy" : { > "username" : { > "min\_similarity" : 0.5, > "boost" : 1, > "value" : "pcdin", > "prefix\_length" : 0 > } > } > }, > { > "fuzzy" : { > "fullname\_idx" : { > "min\_similarity" : 0.1, > "boost" : 3, > "value" : "pcdinh", > "prefix\_length" : 1 > } > } > } > ] > } > }} > > ' > > Alternatively, unless you have disabled it, the values for both username > and fullname\_idx are also indexed in the \_all field. So, (sacrificing > the per-field customizations) you could just do: > > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' > { > "query" : { > "fuzzy" : { > "\_all" : { > "min\_similarity" : 0.1, > "value" : "pcidnh" > } > } > }} > > ' > > Or even: > > curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/accdev/exp/_search?pretty=1)' -d ' > { > "query" : { > "field" : { > "\_all" : "pcidnh~0.1" > } > }} > > ' > > clint ---
**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, 4:08am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/fuzzy-matching-against-multiple-fields/4244/4 "2017-07-06T04:08:06Z")