# Range queries with no upper bound (Tire) **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [March 20, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064 "2012-03-20T00:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Robin\_Boutros](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/robin_boutros/32/1727_2.png) [@Robin\_Boutros](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Robin_Boutros)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064/1 "2012-03-20T00:47:21Z")
Hey, Sorry if it's not directly an elasticsearch problem... I'm tring to search for upcoming events. An event has "starts\_at" and "ends\_at" dates. The "ends\_at" date is optional. Upcoming events are defined like that: ends\_at is present AND ends\_at \> now OR ends\_at is missing AND starts\_at \> now I'm using Tire, the best I found is: should { string "_exists_:ends\_at AND ends\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]" } should { string "_missing_:ends\_at AND starts\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]" } I'm wondering if there is a way, using a query string, to do the range query without having a upper bound (1 year in this example). When I look at the Lucene doc ([http://lucene.apache.org/core/old\_versioned\_docs/versions/3\_0\_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range](http://lucene.apache.org/core/old_versioned_docs/versions/3_0_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range) Searches) it does not seem possible ☹ Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![kimchy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/kimchy/32/44952_2.png) [@kimchy](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kimchy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 10:51am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064/2 "2012-03-20T10:51:17Z")
Use \*, it should work. On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:47 AM, Robin Boutros [niuage@gmail.com](mailto:niuage@gmail.com) wrote: > Hey, > > Sorry if it's not directly an elasticsearch problem... > > I'm tring to search for upcoming events. > An event has "starts\_at" and "ends\_at" dates. The "ends\_at" date is > optional. > > Upcoming events are defined like that: > > ends\_at is present AND ends\_at \> now > OR > ends\_at is missing AND starts\_at \> now > > I'm using Tire, the best I found is: > > should { string "_exists_:ends\_at AND ends\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]" } > > should { string "_missing_:ends\_at AND starts\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]" } > > I'm wondering if there is a way, using a query string, to do the range query without having a upper bound (1 year in this example). When I look at the Lucene doc ([Apache Lucene - Query Parser Syntax](http://lucene.apache.org/core/old_versioned_docs/versions/3_0_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range) Searches) it does not seem possible ☹ > > Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Robin\_Boutros](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/robin_boutros/32/1727_2.png) [@Robin\_Boutros](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Robin_Boutros)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064/3 "2012-03-20T14:44:48Z")
Thanks! but it doesn't seem to work. Here is the ES query generated by Tire: [Edit fiddle - JSFiddle - Code Playground](http://jsfiddle.net/dJPxX/1/) And the error: nested: ParseException[Cannot parse '_exists_:to AND to:[2012-03-20 10:43:15 -0400 TO \*]': Encountered " \ "-0400 "" at line 1, column 40.\nWas expecting:\n "]" ...\n ]; On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 6:51:17 AM UTC-4, kimchy wrote: > Use \*, it should work. > > On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:47 AM, Robin Boutros \<\> wrote: > > > Hey, > > > > Sorry if it's not directly an elasticsearch problem... > > > > I'm tring to search for upcoming events. > > An event has "starts\_at" and "ends\_at" dates. The "ends\_at" date is > > optional. > > > > Upcoming events are defined like that: > > > > ends\_at is present AND ends\_at \> now > > OR > > ends\_at is missing AND starts\_at \> now > > > > I'm using Tire, the best I found is: > > > > should { string "_exists_:ends\_at AND ends\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]" } > > > > should { string "_missing_:ends\_at AND starts\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]" } > > > > I'm wondering if there is a way, using a query string, to do the range query without having a upper bound (1 year in this example). When I look at the Lucene doc ([Apache Lucene - Query Parser Syntax](http://lucene.apache.org/core/old_versioned_docs/versions/3_0_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range) Searches) it does not seem possible ☹ > > > > Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![kimchy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/kimchy/32/44952_2.png) [@kimchy](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kimchy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064/4 "2012-03-20T20:16:52Z")
I think the problem comes from the timezone in the query\_string, where it has an extra space. Try and provide it without the space? Also, you can convert the query\_string query into its counterpart query with range query in it. On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 4:44 PM, Robin Boutros [niuage@gmail.com](mailto:niuage@gmail.com) wrote: > Thanks! but it doesn't seem to work. > > Here is the ES query generated by Tire: [Edit fiddle - JSFiddle - Code Playground](http://jsfiddle.net/dJPxX/1/) > > And the error: > > nested: ParseException[Cannot parse '_exists_:to AND to:[2012-03-20 10:43:15 -0400 TO \*]': Encountered " \ "-0400 "" at line 1, column 40.\nWas expecting:\n "]" ...\n ]; > > On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 6:51:17 AM UTC-4, kimchy wrote: > > > Use \*, it should work. > > > > On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:47 AM, Robin Boutros \<\> wrote: > > > > > Hey, > > > > > > Sorry if it's not directly an elasticsearch problem... > > > > > > I'm tring to search for upcoming events. > > > An event has "starts\_at" and "ends\_at" dates. The "ends\_at" date is > > > optional. > > > > > > Upcoming events are defined like that: > > > > > > ends\_at is present AND ends\_at \> now > > > OR > > > ends\_at is missing AND starts\_at \> now > > > > > > I'm using Tire, the best I found is: > > > > > > should { string "_exists_:ends\_at AND ends\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:**lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]**" } > > > > > > should { string "_missing_:ends\_at AND starts\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:**lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]**" } > > > > > > I'm wondering if there is a way, using a query string, to do the range query without having a upper bound (1 year in this example). When I look at the Lucene doc ([http://lucene.apache.org/\*\*core/old\_versioned\_docs/\*\*versions/3\_0\_0/\*\*queryparsersyntax.html#Range](http://lucene.apache.org/ **core/old_versioned_docs/** versions/3_0_0/**queryparsersyntax.html#Range) [http://lucene.apache.org/core/old\_versioned\_docs/versions/3\_0\_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range](http://lucene.apache.org/core/old_versioned_docs/versions/3_0_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range) Searches) it does not seem possible ☹ > > > > > > Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Robin\_Boutros](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/robin_boutros/32/1727_2.png) [@Robin\_Boutros](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Robin_Boutros)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064/5 "2012-03-20T20:37:45Z")
You're right! My date was not formatted correctly, and I didn't pay attention to the error enough. Basically, I commented out this line at some point: Time::DATE\_FORMATS.update :lucene =\> "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z" and forgot to add it back when I tested your solution. Not sure how to do what you're suggesting with Tire... Is it just nicer or is it more performant? Also, when I was thinking about my problem, I was wondering if it wouldn't be better to just index the "ends\_at" date as the "starts\_at" date if the ends\_at date is not present... Do you have an opinion on this? Anyways, thanks for your help, my problem is solved. On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 4:16:52 PM UTC-4, kimchy wrote: > I think the problem comes from the timezone in the query\_string, where it > has an extra space. Try and provide it without the space? Also, you can > convert the query\_string query into its counterpart query with range query > in it. > > On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 4:44 PM, Robin Boutros \<\> wrote: > > > Thanks! but it doesn't seem to work. > > > > Here is the ES query generated by Tire: [Edit fiddle - JSFiddle - Code Playground](http://jsfiddle.net/dJPxX/1/) > > > > And the error: > > > > nested: ParseException[Cannot parse '_exists_:to AND to:[2012-03-20 10:43:15 -0400 TO \*]': Encountered " \ "-0400 "" at line 1, column 40.\nWas expecting:\n "]" ...\n ]; > > > > On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 6:51:17 AM UTC-4, kimchy wrote: > > > > > Use \*, it should work. > > > > > > On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:47 AM, Robin Boutros \<\> wrote: > > > > > > > Hey, > > > > > > > > Sorry if it's not directly an elasticsearch problem... > > > > > > > > I'm tring to search for upcoming events. > > > > An event has "starts\_at" and "ends\_at" dates. The "ends\_at" date is > > > > optional. > > > > > > > > Upcoming events are defined like that: > > > > > > > > ends\_at is present AND ends\_at \> now > > > > OR > > > > ends\_at is missing AND starts\_at \> now > > > > > > > > I'm using Tire, the best I found is: > > > > > > > > should { string "_exists_:ends\_at AND ends\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:**lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]**" } > > > > > > > > should { string "_missing_:ends\_at AND starts\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(:**lucene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]**" } > > > > > > > > I'm wondering if there is a way, using a query string, to do the range query without having a upper bound (1 year in this example). When I look at the Lucene doc ([http://lucene.apache.org/\*\*core/old\_versioned\_docs/\*\*versions/3\_0\_0/\*\*queryparsersyntax.html#Range](http://lucene.apache.org/ **core/old_versioned_docs/** versions/3_0_0/**queryparsersyntax.html#Range) [http://lucene.apache.org/core/old\_versioned\_docs/versions/3\_0\_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range](http://lucene.apache.org/core/old_versioned_docs/versions/3_0_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range) Searches) it does not seem possible ☹ > > > > > > > > Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![kimchy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/kimchy/32/44952_2.png) [@kimchy](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kimchy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 10:12am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064/6 "2012-03-25T10:12:49Z")
On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 10:37 PM, Robin Boutros [niuage@gmail.com](mailto:niuage@gmail.com) wrote: > You're right! My date was not formatted correctly, and I didn't pay > attention to the error enough. > Basically, I commented out this line at some > point: Time::DATE\_FORMATS.update :lucene =\> "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z" and > forgot to add it back when I tested your solution. > > Not sure how to do what you're suggesting with Tire... Is it just nicer or > is it more performant? You mean explicit range query? It just usually simpler to build the query then constructing the query string syntax. > Also, when I was thinking about my problem, I was wondering if it wouldn't > be better to just index the "ends\_at" date as the "starts\_at" date if the > ends\_at date is not present... Do you have an opinion on this? So you can get away with the missing part? Not sure I follow... > Anyways, thanks for your help, my problem is solved. > > On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 4:16:52 PM UTC-4, kimchy wrote: > > > I think the problem comes from the timezone in the query\_string, where it > > has an extra space. Try and provide it without the space? Also, you can > > convert the query\_string query into its counterpart query with range query > > in it. > > > > On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 4:44 PM, Robin Boutros \<\> wrote: > > > > > Thanks! but it doesn't seem to work. > > > > > > Here is the ES query generated by Tire: [http://jsfiddle.net/\*\*dJPxX/1/](http://jsfiddle.net/**dJPxX/1/)[http://jsfiddle.net/dJPxX/1/](http://jsfiddle.net/dJPxX/1/) > > > > > > And the error: > > > > > > nested: ParseException[Cannot parse '_exists_:to AND to:[2012-03-20 10:43:15 -0400 TO \*]': Encountered " \ "-0400 "" at line 1, column 40.\nWas expecting:\n "]" ...\n ]; > > > > > > On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 6:51:17 AM UTC-4, kimchy wrote: > > > > > > > Use \*, it should work. > > > > > > > > On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:47 AM, Robin Boutros \<\> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Hey, > > > > > > > > > > Sorry if it's not directly an elasticsearch problem... > > > > > > > > > > I'm tring to search for upcoming events. > > > > > An event has "starts\_at" and "ends\_at" dates. The "ends\_at" date is > > > > > optional. > > > > > > > > > > Upcoming events are defined like that: > > > > > > > > > > ends\_at is present AND ends\_at \> now > > > > > OR > > > > > ends\_at is missing AND starts\_at \> now > > > > > > > > > > I'm using Tire, the best I found is: > > > > > > > > > > should { string "_exists_:ends\_at AND ends\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(: **luce** ne)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]\*\*\*\*" } > > > > > > > > > > should { string "_missing_:ends\_at AND starts\_at:[#{Time.now.to\_s(: **lu** cene)} TO #{1.year.since.to\_s(:lucene)}]\*\*\*\*" } > > > > > > > > > > I'm wondering if there is a way, using a query string, to do the range query without having a upper bound (1 year in this example). When I look at the Lucene doc ([http://lucene.apache.org/\*\*core\*\*/old\_versioned\_docs/\*\*versions/\*\*3\_0\_0/\*\*queryparsersyntax.html#\*\*Range](http://lucene.apache.org/ **core** /old_versioned_docs/ **versions/** 3_0_0/ **queryparsersyntax.html#** Range) [http://lucene.apache.org/core/old\_versioned\_docs/versions/3\_0\_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range](http://lucene.apache.org/core/old_versioned_docs/versions/3_0_0/queryparsersyntax.html#Range) Searches) it does not seem possible ☹ > > > > > > > > > > Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Robin\_Boutros](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/robin_boutros/32/1727_2.png) [@Robin\_Boutros](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Robin_Boutros)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064/7 "2012-03-25T15:06:37Z")
If I index the ends\_at date as the starts\_at (+ X hours maybe) when it's missing, then I can always assume the ends\_date is present in my search, and I can avoid having to use this "complexe" query. That's what I ended up doing and it does what I want. ---
**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, 3:34am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/range-queries-with-no-upper-bound-tire/7064/8 "2017-07-06T03:34:53Z")