# Need help to create array type field in elastic search **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [October 14, 2014, 10:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-help-to-create-array-type-field-in-elastic-search/20236 "2014-10-14T10:07:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phani\_Nadiminti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/phani_nadiminti/32/45381_2.png) [@Phani\_Nadiminti](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Phani_Nadiminti)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 10:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-help-to-create-array-type-field-in-elastic-search/20236/1 "2014-10-14T10:07:29Z")
Hi All, I have a scenario like In elastic search i want to create custom mapping.The data will be insert into index using java API . Now i have a field with multi values like "1,2,3" .Field name is categories. can you please tell me how to create a custom mapping for type array so that when i insert data in to elastic search index the categories type is need to be an string array which can hold multi values.(string array). catgories : [ "1", "2", "3" ] ``` I used river bracket notation to dynamically create array at ``` elastic search using bracket notation.but from java API how can we create custom mapping so that it can hold multi values. Thanks phani -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/22bd6f5c-2d90-4fa6-9f1d-2009ff7fda99%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/22bd6f5c-2d90-4fa6-9f1d-2009ff7fda99%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**Author:** ![brian\_yoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@brian\_yoder](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/brian_yoder)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-help-to-create-array-type-field-in-elastic-search/20236/2 "2014-10-14T18:35:44Z")
There is nothing special you need to add to your mapping to enable multiple values for a field. Just pass in an array of values instead of a single value, and all of the values are analyzed. One thing you might want to add for string fields with multiple values: "position\_offset\_gap" : _n_ When a string field is analyzed, it typically assigns a position to each token that is one greater than the position of the previous token. By setting a position offset gap value to _n_, it skips ahead that many positions, representing the number of non-matching word positions between consecutive values. What this does is that if your field contains multiple values that each has multiple words, a phrase query won't span across values unless the slop value is large enough (n or larger, I seem to recall). Hope this helps. Brian -- 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). To view this discussion on the web visit [https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/e2d2dd14-d899-4e1e-a909-ce9e305f900a%40googlegroups.com](https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elasticsearch/e2d2dd14-d899-4e1e-a909-ce9e305f900a%40googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout). ---
**Author:** ![AngeloDamato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@AngeloDamato](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/AngeloDamato)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 7:12am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-help-to-create-array-type-field-in-elastic-search/20236/3 "2014-10-15T07:12:36Z")
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**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, 12:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/need-help-to-create-array-type-field-in-elastic-search/20236/4 "2017-07-06T00:56:09Z")