# How display documents with missing date field **URL:** \ **Category:** Kibana\ **Created:** [January 11, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-display-documents-with-missing-date-field/294065 "2022-01-11T16:59:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dandcp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/91b2a8/32.png) [@dandcp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dandcp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-display-documents-with-missing-date-field/294065/1 "2022-01-11T16:59:27Z")
I have what I think is an easy question, but for some reason I can't get a straight answer. I am using Kibana with another tool. The tool has documents in it that have 10 fields. 3 of those fields are date fields. If I export the data as dates into my index then only the documents that have the dates populated will show up. In other words if I have 100 items I want to see and 10 of them don't have dates populated (but they do have the 7 other fields) then they won't show. However, if I publish the index as strings (rather than dates) then I have the option to display missing fields - meaning I can see the 10 document that don't have the date fields. That said, not having the dates as actual dates is creating some formatting issues when I export it, so I'm curious if there is a way to have a date field as a date field, but to also show documents that are missing that field. As it is now when I have them set as date fields the "show missing" is greyed out. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Marco\_Liberati](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/marco_liberati/32/82953_2.png) [@Marco\_Liberati](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Marco_Liberati)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-display-documents-with-missing-date-field/294065/2 "2022-01-11T17:02:00Z")
Hi @dandcp could you share the mapping of your index? ---
**Author:** ![dandcp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/91b2a8/32.png) [@dandcp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dandcp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 5:56pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-display-documents-with-missing-date-field/294065/3 "2022-01-11T17:56:22Z")
@Marco_Liberati is there an easy/quick way to do this? ---
**Author:** ![dandcp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/91b2a8/32.png) [@dandcp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dandcp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-display-documents-with-missing-date-field/294065/4 "2022-01-11T18:13:27Z")
...I should add, when I say I can't see them I mean if I setup a data table visualization. In discover I see things whether or not the date fields are missing or not. ---
**Author:** ![Marco\_Liberati](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/marco_liberati/32/82953_2.png) [@Marco\_Liberati](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Marco_Liberati)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-display-documents-with-missing-date-field/294065/5 "2022-01-11T18:23:26Z")
What version of the stack do you have? When you define the index pattern/dataview for your index, did you define and a default time field for that? If the problem is that your fields are put in the `Empty fields` when in the Lens Editor, mind that it does not mean your fields are actually empty, rather that the editor sampling process didn't encounter any data with them. ---
**Author:** ![dandcp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/91b2a8/32.png) [@dandcp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dandcp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-display-documents-with-missing-date-field/294065/6 "2022-01-11T18:31:54Z")
@Marco_Liberati I probably didn't do a good job of explaining things. We have a bit of a limited deployment. I'm using a 3rd party tool that includes integration to Kibana to display dashboards. In the third party tool I have index mappings. I may mess up the nomenclature, so I'll try and explain it as simple as I can. In my tool I may have 100 objects. Those objects have 10 fields for capturing meta data (vendor, type of object, owner, etc). When I map this to Kibana and go into discover I see the index, and the objects (I think they are called documents) and the meta data that is attached shows up as different fields. So I will see something like this: Name: Object 1 Vendor: Microsoft Owner: John Doe Purchase Date: 1/1/2022 End of Life: 1/1/2024 End of Service: Name: Object 2 Vendor: Adobe Owner: Jane Doe Purchase Date: 1/1/2022 End of Life: 1/1/2024 End of Service: 1/1/2025 ...and I see all of that in discover. However - if I mappings the purchase and end of life and end of service as "dates" then when I create a visualization data table and put all 3 of those date fields in - only object two will be displayed b/c when creating that visualization I don't have the option to display missing fields if the fields are "dates". If they are strings then I can display missing fields which allows me to have a data table that shows both object 1 and object 2. Does that make sense? As for version I have 7.10.2. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-display-documents-with-missing-date-field/294065/7 "2022-02-08T18:32:26Z")
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