# How to force update the field format of kibana index pattern **URL:** \ **Category:** Kibana\ **Created:** [May 20, 2020, 7:49am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482 "2020-05-20T07:49:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wajika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@wajika](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/wajika)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 7:49am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/1 "2020-05-20T07:49:43Z")
Fields including 'pathname' are generated dynamically by apmserver. ![es mapping](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/2/127d3c6c4e0c39decd2cdf909558f52495f45134.png) "transaction.custom.pathname" is already a keyword field in the mapping, I keep creating new index patterns, "transaction.custom.pathname" is always in string format, I do n’t know why. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/e/0/e0a10308e4dcc2b373c01a0ba8670f65e6593860.png) I tried the refresh field button, nothing changed. ---
**Author:** ![flash1293](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/flash1293/32/41227_2.png) [@flash1293](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/flash1293)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 8:34am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/2 "2020-05-20T08:34:17Z")
Kibana picked up your changes correctly - in this list, both `keyword` and `text` types are under the "string" umbrella. This is indicated by the green dot in the "Aggregatable" column. ---
**Author:** ![wajika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@wajika](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/wajika)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/3 "2020-05-20T08:40:40Z")
@flash1293 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/a/4/a47dade5c99b1bb864aae76acc51e9e8d6614e3a.png) So why can't I use this field? ---
**Author:** ![flash1293](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/flash1293/32/41227_2.png) [@flash1293](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/flash1293)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 9:27am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/4 "2020-05-20T09:27:08Z")
That should indeed work. Could you export the index pattern saved object and post it here along with the complete mapping? ---
**Author:** ![wajika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@wajika](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/wajika)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/5 "2020-05-21T00:39:50Z")
@flash1293 The content of mapping is very much. [https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/kytRgCVfC2/](https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/kytRgCVfC2/) kibana index pattern [https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/KktxJQpb93/](https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/KktxJQpb93/) ---
**Author:** ![flash1293](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/flash1293/32/41227_2.png) [@flash1293](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/flash1293)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/6 "2020-05-29T13:00:19Z")
@wajika Sorry for the delay. I imported your index pattern, but for me the field shows up just fine when configuring a tag cloud visualization: ![Screenshot 2020-05-29 at 14.59.41](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/0/4/04e702bad94ff1d31e4fd5d92d6fcfe1a56ecc31.png) Which version of Kibana are you using? ---
**Author:** ![wajika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@wajika](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/wajika)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/7 "2020-06-01T00:26:10Z")
> [@flash1293](#): > > Which version of Kibana are you using? ELK: 7.6.2 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/f/f/ff2356d3e0ec08f2a9580c975101458d2ffc1c84.png) So what's the reason? The source index is also correct, but the field cannot be selected. Is there any way I can operate？ ---
**Author:** ![flash1293](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/flash1293/32/41227_2.png) [@flash1293](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/flash1293)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 7:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/8 "2020-06-03T07:16:59Z")
In your first screenshot it's `apm-*`, in the last one `apm*`, is it possible you have both index patterns (one up to date, the other one not?). They might match the same data indices, but the saved meta data (like which fields are available) can be different. ---
**Author:** ![wajika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@wajika](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/wajika)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 8:36am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/9 "2020-06-08T08:36:44Z")
Sorry, because I need to continue to work, so I keep looking for solutions. I tried to remove "apm-\*" to solve the problem. ---
**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, 2020, 8:36am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-force-update-the-field-format-of-kibana-index-pattern/233482/10 "2020-07-06T08:36:48Z")
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