# How to get Alphabetic Facet (A-Z) on name field in elasticsearch
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-get-alphabetic-facet-a-z-on-name-field-in-elasticsearch/11346
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [March 28, 2013, 8:27am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-get-alphabetic-facet-a-z-on-name-field-in-elasticsearch/11346 "2013-03-28T08:27:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Maaz\_Bin\_Tariq](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Maaz_Bin_Tariq)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2013, 8:27am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-get-alphabetic-facet-a-z-on-name-field-in-elasticsearch/11346/1 "2013-03-28T08:27:23Z")
Hi,
I have name field in my documents and I want to get facets on the base of
alphabets (first letter) instead of full name.
For example:
If I have docs with following name
1. Maaz
2. John
3. Sarah
4. Symonds
The facets response should be something like
{
"facets": {
"name": {
"\_type": "terms",
"missing": 0,
"total": 4,
"other": 0,
"terms": [
{
"term": "S",
"count": 2
},
{
"term": "M",
"count": 1
},
{
"term": "J",
"count": 1
}
}
Is it possible to doing using elastic search term facets or I have to do
it pragmatically?
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### Author:  [@spinscale](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/spinscale)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2013, 8:49am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-get-alphabetic-facet-a-z-on-name-field-in-elasticsearch/11346/2 "2013-03-28T08:49:01Z")
Hey there,
you can use a term facet with scripting, sample:
curl -X PUT localhost:9200/test/test/1 -d '{ "name":"Alex" }'
curl -X PUT localhost:9200/test/test/2 -d '{ "name":"Berta" }'
curl -X PUT localhost:9200/test/test/3 -d '{ "name":"Caesar" }'
curl -X PUT localhost:9200/test/test/4 -d '{ "name":"Andre" }'
curl -X POST 'localhost:9200/test/test/\_search?pretty' -d '{"query": {
"match\_all": {}} , "facets" : { "myName" : { "terms" : { "field":"name",
"script" : "term[0]" } } } }'
Result of the facet:
"facets" : {
"myName" : {
"\_type" : "terms",
"missing" : 0,
"total" : 4,
"other" : 0,
"terms" : [ {
"term" : "a",
"count" : 2
}, {
"term" : "c",
"count" : 1
}, {
"term" : "b",
"count" : 1
} ]
}
}
Hope it helps... Note, that scripting is of course not that fast, as if you
had stored a field, which only contains the first letter...
For more information, check out the 'Term scripts' part at
> **[Elasticsearch Platform — Find real-time answers at scale](https://www.elastic.co)**
>
> Power insights and outcomes with the Elasticsearch Platform and AI. See into your data and find answers that matter with enterprise solutions designed to help you build, observe, and protect. Try Elasticsearch free today.
--Alex
On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 9:27 AM, Maaz Bin Tariq [maaz786@gmail.com](mailto:maaz786@gmail.com) wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have name field in my documents and I want to get facets on the base of
> alphabets (first letter) instead of full name.
>
> For example:
>
> If I have docs with following name
>
> 1. Maaz
> 2. John
> 3. Sarah
> 4. Symonds
>
> The facets response should be something like
> {
> "facets": {
> "name": {
> "\_type": "terms",
> "missing": 0,
> "total": 4,
> "other": 0,
> "terms": [
> {
> "term": "S",
> "count": 2
> },
> {
> "term": "M",
> "count": 1
> },
> {
> "term": "J",
> "count": 1
> }
> }
>
> Is it possible to doing using Elasticsearch term facets or I have to do
> it pragmatically?
>
> --
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---
### Author:  [@spinscale](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/spinscale)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-get-alphabetic-facet-a-z-on-name-field-in-elasticsearch/11346/3 "2013-03-28T08:56:31Z")
Hey,
just a small, but important note on my sample. I ran this on an analyzed
field, which you should not do. Make sure you run this on a not\_analyzed
field, otherwise your facet will return values for each term.
--Alex
On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 9:49 AM, Alexander Reelsen [alr@spinscale.de](mailto:alr@spinscale.de) wrote:
> Hey there,
>
> you can use a term facet with scripting, sample:
>
> curl -X PUT localhost:9200/test/test/1 -d '{ "name":"Alex" }'
> curl -X PUT localhost:9200/test/test/2 -d '{ "name":"Berta" }'
> curl -X PUT localhost:9200/test/test/3 -d '{ "name":"Caesar" }'
> curl -X PUT localhost:9200/test/test/4 -d '{ "name":"Andre" }'
>
> curl -X POST 'localhost:9200/test/test/\_search?pretty' -d '{"query": {
> "match\_all": {}} , "facets" : { "myName" : { "terms" : { "field":"name",
> "script" : "term[0]" } } } }'
>
> Result of the facet:
>
> "facets" : {
> "myName" : {
> "\_type" : "terms",
> "missing" : 0,
> "total" : 4,
> "other" : 0,
> "terms" : [ {
> "term" : "a",
> "count" : 2
> }, {
> "term" : "c",
> "count" : 1
> }, {
> "term" : "b",
> "count" : 1
> } ]
> }
> }
>
> Hope it helps... Note, that scripting is of course not that fast, as if
> you had stored a field, which only contains the first letter...
> For more information, check out the 'Term scripts' part at
> [Elasticsearch Platform — Find real-time answers at scale | Elastic](http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/reference/api/search/facets/terms-facet/)
>
> --Alex
>
> On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 9:27 AM, Maaz Bin Tariq [maaz786@gmail.com](mailto:maaz786@gmail.com) wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I have name field in my documents and I want to get facets on the base of
> > alphabets (first letter) instead of full name.
> >
> > For example:
> >
> > If I have docs with following name
> >
> > 1. Maaz
> > 2. John
> > 3. Sarah
> > 4. Symonds
> >
> > The facets response should be something like
> > {
> > "facets": {
> > "name": {
> > "\_type": "terms",
> > "missing": 0,
> > "total": 4,
> > "other": 0,
> > "terms": [
> > {
> > "term": "S",
> > "count": 2
> > },
> > {
> > "term": "M",
> > "count": 1
> > },
> > {
> > "term": "J",
> > "count": 1
> > }
> > }
> >
> > Is it possible to doing using Elasticsearch term facets or I have to do
> > it pragmatically?
> >
> > --
> > 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).
> > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).
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---
### Author:  [@Clinton\_Gormley](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Clinton_Gormley)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2013, 10:27am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-get-alphabetic-facet-a-z-on-name-field-in-elasticsearch/11346/4 "2013-03-28T10:27:43Z")
On Thu, 2013-03-28 at 09:49 +0100, Alexander Reelsen wrote:
> Hey there,
> curl -X POST 'localhost:9200/test/test/\_search?pretty' -d '{"query":
> { "match\_all": {}} , "facets" : { "myName" : { "terms" :
> { "field":"name", "script" : "term[0]" } } } }'
While this might work, it's always more efficient to prepare your data
according to your needs, rather than trying to bolt things on
afterwards. It'll perform better and use less memory.
So if you want to sort on the first letter of a field, then index the
first letter into a different field.
You could even use multi-fields for this, eg the "name" field is
analyzed per usual, and the "name.first\_letter" just indexes the first
letter of the name.
# Create an index using the pattern tokenizer to capture just
# the first letter of each name string
# the main "name" field uses the default analyzer, and the
# "name.first\_letter" field uses our custom analyzer
curl -XPUT '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/?pretty=1)' -d '
{
"settings" : {
"analysis" : {
"analyzer" : {
"first\_letter" : {
"filter" : [
"lowercase"
],
"tokenizer" : "first\_letter"
}
},
"tokenizer" : {
"first\_letter" : {
"pattern" : "^(.).\*$",
"group" : 1,
"type" : "pattern"
}
}
}
},
"mappings" : {
"test" : {
"properties" : {
"name" : {
"fields" : {
"name" : {
"type" : "string"
},
"first\_letter" : {
"type" : "string",
"analyzer" : "first\_letter"
}
},
"type" : "multi\_field"
}
}
}
}
}
'
# Index some data
curl -XPOST '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1)' -d '
{ "name" : "Alex" }
'
curl -XPOST '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1)' -d '
{ "name" : "Berta" }
'
curl -XPOST '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1)' -d '
{ "name" : "Caesar" }
'
curl -XPOST '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1)' -d '
{ "name" : "Andre" }
'
# Facet on the "name.first\_letter" fields
curl -XGET
'[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test/\_search?pretty=1&search\_type=count](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test/_search?pretty=1&search_type=count)' -d
'
{
"facets" : {
"first\_letter" : {
"terms" : {
"field" : "name.first\_letter"
}
}
}
}
'
# {
# "hits" : {
# "hits" : ,
# "max\_score" : 0,
# "total" : 4
# },
# "timed\_out" : false,
# "\_shards" : {
# "failed" : 0,
# "successful" : 5,
# "total" : 5
# },
# "facets" : {
# "first\_letter" : {
# "other" : 0,
# "terms" : [
# {
# "count" : 2,
# "term" : "a"
# },
# {
# "count" : 1,
# "term" : "c"
# },
# {
# "count" : 1,
# "term" : "b"
# }
# ],
# "missing" : 0,
# "\_type" : "terms",
# "total" : 4
# }
# },
# "took" : 1
# }
# And search on the main "name" field:
curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test/_search?pretty=1)' -d '
{
"query" : {
"match" : {
"name" : "alex"
}
}
}
'
# {
# "hits" : {
# "hits" : [
# {
# "\_source" : {
# "name" : "Alex"
# },
# "\_score" : 0.30685282,
# "\_index" : "test",
# "\_id" : "CyJn4ixDRwy17Yl-UxSJwQ",
# "\_type" : "test"
# }
# ],
# "max\_score" : 0.30685282,
# "total" : 1
# },
# "timed\_out" : false,
# "\_shards" : {
# "failed" : 0,
# "successful" : 5,
# "total" : 5
# },
# "took" : 4
# }
clint
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### Author:  [@Maaz\_Bin\_Tariq](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Maaz_Bin_Tariq)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-get-alphabetic-facet-a-z-on-name-field-in-elasticsearch/11346/5 "2013-03-28T11:59:22Z")
Thanks alot for the help.
On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 3:27 PM, Clinton Gormley [clint@traveljury.com](mailto:clint@traveljury.com)wrote:
> On Thu, 2013-03-28 at 09:49 +0100, Alexander Reelsen wrote:
>
> > Hey there,
>
> > curl -X POST 'localhost:9200/test/test/\_search?pretty' -d '{"query":
> > { "match\_all": {}} , "facets" : { "myName" : { "terms" :
> > { "field":"name", "script" : "term[0]" } } } }'
>
> While this might work, it's always more efficient to prepare your data
> according to your needs, rather than trying to bolt things on
> afterwards. It'll perform better and use less memory.
>
> So if you want to sort on the first letter of a field, then index the
> first letter into a different field.
>
> You could even use multi-fields for this, eg the "name" field is
> analyzed per usual, and the "name.first\_letter" just indexes the first
> letter of the name.
>
> # Create an index using the pattern tokenizer to capture just
>
> # the first letter of each name string
>
> # the main "name" field uses the default analyzer, and the
>
> # "name.first\_letter" field uses our custom analyzer
>
> curl -XPUT '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/?pretty=1)' -d '
> {
> "settings" : {
> "analysis" : {
> "analyzer" : {
> "first\_letter" : {
> "filter" : [
> "lowercase"
> ],
> "tokenizer" : "first\_letter"
> }
> },
> "tokenizer" : {
> "first\_letter" : {
> "pattern" : "^(.).\*$",
> "group" : 1,
> "type" : "pattern"
> }
> }
> }
> },
> "mappings" : {
> "test" : {
> "properties" : {
> "name" : {
> "fields" : {
> "name" : {
> "type" : "string"
> },
> "first\_letter" : {
> "type" : "string",
> "analyzer" : "first\_letter"
> }
> },
> "type" : "multi\_field"
> }
> }
> }
> }
> }
> '
>
> # Index some data
>
> curl -XPOST '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1)' -d '
> { "name" : "Alex" }
> '
> curl -XPOST '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1)' -d '
> { "name" : "Berta" }
> '
> curl -XPOST '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1)' -d '
> { "name" : "Caesar" }
> '
> curl -XPOST '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test?pretty=1)' -d '
> { "name" : "Andre" }
> '
>
> # Facet on the "name.first\_letter" fields
>
> curl -XGET
> '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test/\_search?pretty=1&search\_type=count](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test/_search?pretty=1&search_type=count)' -d
> '
> {
> "facets" : {
> "first\_letter" : {
> "terms" : {
> "field" : "name.first\_letter"
> }
> }
> }
> }
> '
>
> # {
>
> # "hits" : {
>
> # "hits" : ,
>
> # "max\_score" : 0,
>
> # "total" : 4
>
> # },
>
> # "timed\_out" : false,
>
> # "\_shards" : {
>
> # "failed" : 0,
>
> # "successful" : 5,
>
> # "total" : 5
>
> # },
>
> # "facets" : {
>
> # "first\_letter" : {
>
> # "other" : 0,
>
> # "terms" : [
>
> # {
>
> # "count" : 2,
>
> # "term" : "a"
>
> # },
>
> # {
>
> # "count" : 1,
>
> # "term" : "c"
>
> # },
>
> # {
>
> # "count" : 1,
>
> # "term" : "b"
>
> # }
>
> # ],
>
> # "missing" : 0,
>
> # "\_type" : "terms",
>
> # "total" : 4
>
> # }
>
> # },
>
> # "took" : 1
>
> # }
>
> # And search on the main "name" field:
>
> curl -XGET '[http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test/\_search?pretty=1](http://127.0.0.1:9200/test/test/_search?pretty=1)' -d '
> {
> "query" : {
> "match" : {
> "name" : "alex"
> }
> }
> }
> '
>
> # {
>
> # "hits" : {
>
> # "hits" : [
>
> # {
>
> # "\_source" : {
>
> # "name" : "Alex"
>
> # },
>
> # "\_score" : 0.30685282,
>
> # "\_index" : "test",
>
> # "\_id" : "CyJn4ixDRwy17Yl-UxSJwQ",
>
> # "\_type" : "test"
>
> # }
>
> # ],
>
> # "max\_score" : 0.30685282,
>
> # "total" : 1
>
> # },
>
> # "timed\_out" : false,
>
> # "\_shards" : {
>
> # "failed" : 0,
>
> # "successful" : 5,
>
> # "total" : 5
>
> # },
>
> # "took" : 4
>
> # }
>
> clint
>
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### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-get-alphabetic-facet-a-z-on-name-field-in-elasticsearch/11346/6 "2017-07-06T02:43:55Z")