# Is it always necessary to use size attribute in DSL query? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [July 27, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-always-necessary-to-use-size-attribute-in-dsl-query/339377 "2023-07-27T05:37:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sheereen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sheereen/32/122005_2.png) [@Sheereen](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Sheereen)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-always-necessary-to-use-size-attribute-in-dsl-query/339377/1 "2023-07-27T05:37:18Z")
Hi, Is it always necessary to use the size attribute in Elasticsearch DSL query? What if there are many documents and I do not know the exact no of documents that I would need? I am trying to get the last poll data from Elasticsearch. In the last poll (time \< now-5m), I get large no of docs, sometimes \> 10,000. So how do I get the data without having to specify the size? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 10:31am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-always-necessary-to-use-size-attribute-in-dsl-query/339377/2 "2023-07-27T10:31:01Z")
It depends on what you want to do but the answer is no. > [@Sheereen](#): > > What if there are many documents and I do not know the exact no of documents that I would need? It will tell you how many docs you have and will return the first 10 by default. > [@Sheereen](#): > > So how do I get the data without having to specify the size? You can use: - the [`size` and `from` parameters](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/search-request-from-size.html) to display by default up to 10000 records to your users. If you want to change this limit, you can change `index.max_result_window` setting but be aware of the consequences (ie memory). - the [search after](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/paginate-search-results.html#search-after) feature to do deep pagination. - the [Scroll API](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/paginate-search-results.html#scroll-search-results) if you want to extract a resultset to be consumed by another tool later. (Not recommended anymore) ---
**Author:** ![Sheereen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sheereen/32/122005_2.png) [@Sheereen](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Sheereen)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 12:49pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-always-necessary-to-use-size-attribute-in-dsl-query/339377/3 "2023-07-27T12:49:32Z")
Hi, Thanks for the reply. So if I go for the first approach, using size and from parameter, let's say I have to display the results in a table. Then each time the user changes the page number or clicks on next page button, a search query with the corresponding size and from values should be sent to Elasticsearch? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-always-necessary-to-use-size-attribute-in-dsl-query/339377/4 "2023-07-27T13:23:26Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 1:24pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-always-necessary-to-use-size-attribute-in-dsl-query/339377/5 "2023-08-24T13:24:16Z")
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