# Painless: Collection.contains() not working **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [April 29, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-collection-contains-not-working/178944 "2019-04-29T13:38:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alex\_b](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@alex\_b](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/alex_b)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-collection-contains-not-working/178944/1 "2019-04-29T13:38:01Z")
I have a simple test object indexed. It has a collection "IntCollection" and the indexed object has this property set to the array {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. Here is the (simplified) indexed object: ```auto "_source": { // ... "IntCollection": [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ] } ``` The goal is to filter the indexed objects by containing a specific value in "IntCollection" using Painless. Here is my query (in Kibana): ```auto GET /testdatatype_unit_tests/_search { "size": 100, "query": { "script": { "script": { "source": "doc['IntCollection'].values.contains(1)", "lang": "painless" } } } } ``` No results are returned, although the indexed document has the searched value inside. Here is the query result: ```auto { "took": 0, "timed_out": false, "_shards": { "total": 1, "successful": 1, "skipped": 0, "failed": 0 }, "hits": { "total": 0, "max_score": null, "hits": [] } } ``` When I do the same request with a TermQuery, it works: ```auto GET /testdatatype_unit_tests/_search { "size": 100, "query": { "term": { "IntCollection": { "value": 1 } } } } ``` Any idea, what is wrong with the Painless script? Edit: ES version 6.4.2 is used. ---
**Author:** ![abdon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abdon/32/9195_2.png) [@abdon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/abdon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-collection-contains-not-working/178944/2 "2019-04-29T15:27:38Z")
Because Elasticsearch treats those numbers as Longs by default, you need to make sure that you pass a Long to the `contains` method. The following should work: ```auto GET testdatatype_unit_tests/_search { "size": 100, "query": { "script": { "script": { "source": "doc['IntCollection'].values.contains(1L)", "lang": "painless" } } } } ``` ---
**Author:** ![alex\_b](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@alex\_b](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/alex_b)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 6:28am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-collection-contains-not-working/178944/3 "2019-04-30T06:28:24Z")
> [@abdon](#): > > Because Elasticsearch treats those numbers as Longs by default, you need to make sure that you pass a Long to the `contains` method. It helped. Thank you! In the same context I have another issue. My test object contains another collection with nullable integers: ```auto "_source": { // ... "NullableIntCollection": [ 1, null, 3, 4, null ] } ``` The task is to query, if the NullableIntCollection contains a null. For such queries, I use the negated ExistsQuery for simple properties, which works fine, but it does not apply to collection items. My thought was to use a script once again, but it is not working: ```auto GET /testdatatype_unit_tests/_search { "size": 100, "query": { "script": { "script": { "lang": "painless", "source": "doc['NullableIntCollection'].values.contains(null)" } } } } ``` Is something missing in the script? ---
**Author:** ![abdon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abdon/32/9195_2.png) [@abdon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/abdon)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 9:15am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-collection-contains-not-working/178944/4 "2019-04-30T09:15:04Z")
`doc['NullableIntCollection'].values` in your script will only contain actual values. In your example it is exactly as if you had indexed the following field: ```auto "NullableIntCollection": [ 1, 3, 4 ] ``` As a solution, maybe you can define a [`null_value`](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/null-value.html) in your mappings for this field? A null\_value is a "default value" assigned to fields that have a value `null`. For example, if you know your collection will only contain positive numbers, you could define a `null_value` of `-1` and check for that value: ```auto PUT testdatatype_unit_tests { "mappings": { "_doc": { "properties": { "NullableIntCollection": { "type": "long", "null_value": -1 } } } } } PUT testdatatype_unit_tests/_doc/1 { "NullableIntCollection": [ 1, null, 3, 4, null ] } GET testdatatype_unit_tests/_search { "size": 100, "query": { "script": { "script": { "source": "doc['NullableIntCollection'].values.contains(-1L)", "lang": "painless" } } } } ``` ---
**Author:** ![alex\_b](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@alex\_b](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/alex_b)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 9:24am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-collection-contains-not-working/178944/5 "2019-04-30T09:24:20Z")
Thank you very much once again. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 9:24am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-collection-contains-not-working/178944/6 "2019-05-28T09:24:24Z")
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