# Save field as float instead of String **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [April 19, 2018, 10:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674 "2018-04-19T10:42:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 10:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/1 "2018-04-19T10:42:59Z")
So basically, I'm doing a bulk insert for a huge amount of data. There is a field in that data called price which is of String data type by default. However, what I want is to save that field in ES as a float data type. I tried changing type = float in the mapping.; However, it's not having any effect. Do I need to do anything else? ---
**Author:** ![kartheek91](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cc9497/32.png) [@kartheek91](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kartheek91)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 11:54am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/2 "2018-04-19T11:54:34Z")
So can you show me the insert script so that we can figure out what might be the reason. ---
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 12:13pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/3 "2018-04-19T12:13:41Z")
``` var body = { "mappings": { "products": { "properties": { "price": { "type": "float", "fields": { "keyword": { "type": "keyword", "ignore_above": 256 } } } } }, } ``` } ---
**Author:** ![atira](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/atira/32/28699_2.png) [@atira](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/atira)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/4 "2018-04-19T12:18:20Z")
Does the field already exist in the index? You cannot change the mapping of an already existing field (with some exceptions), you would have to create a new index with the new mapping and reindex the data again. ---
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 12:39pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/5 "2018-04-19T12:39:15Z")
No. I first deleted the entire index that was previously created. ---
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/6 "2018-04-19T12:43:51Z")
The index is created after the mapping. And it works fine since I had many more changes that were done in the mapping structure. I wasn't able to paste the entire code due to an 8000 character limit. Hence I only mentioned the field that I was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![atira](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/atira/32/28699_2.png) [@atira](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/atira)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/7 "2018-04-19T12:58:25Z")
I'd recommend trying deleting this part: ```auto "fields": { "keyword": { "type": "keyword", "ignore_above": 256 } } ``` This is for strings. I think it's usually for creating two fields for a string, a text and a keyword type. It's the default mapping for fields when not manually defined. `keyword` doesn't make sense for a number field type. ---
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/8 "2018-04-19T15:07:59Z")
Tried it. Still, the price eventually gets saved as **"price": "100.00"** ![Screenshot%20at%20Apr%2019%2020-42-52](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/0/d/0de73f92304672b41383d4f286ad1b6d2e949622.png) ---
**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:** [April 20, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/9 "2018-04-20T02:03:30Z")
WDYM? That the \_source is still showing a String ? If so that is expected as elasticsearch never transforms the document you sent. If you want to modify \_source, have a look at [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/6.2/convert-processor.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/6.2/convert-processor.html) ---
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/10 "2018-04-20T02:16:49Z")
Yes. This is what I was looking for. Thanks @dadoonet. However, can you guide me as to how should I use the convert processor in my mapping? ---
**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:** [April 20, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/11 "2018-04-20T02:45:05Z")
It's not a mapping thing. See [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/6.2/ingest.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/6.2/ingest.html) ---
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/12 "2018-04-20T02:46:42Z")
Yes, I was just looking around for it. It's basically the [put pipeline API](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/put-pipeline-api.html). However, I'm looking for it's implementation in [Node JS](https://www.npmjs.com/package/elasticsearch). [Using Convert Processor](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/convert-processor.html) ---
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/13 "2018-04-20T02:57:25Z")
@dadoonet Can we close this thread? I do know now about the direction that I need to head over to achieve my purpose. However, since I'm using the npm's elasticsearch library, I'm specifically looking to achieve what I want using that library. I've posted a question on stackoverflow . Should I create another new post in this forum? ---
**Author:** ![Abhilash\_Sathe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/abhilash_sathe/32/28555_2.png) [@Abhilash\_Sathe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Abhilash_Sathe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/14 "2018-04-20T04:13:04Z")
I got my solution. Thanks @dadoonet You may close this post. Basically, adding the type = float did work. It was just that I wasn't able to see the changes in \_source. However, while querying, it did consider the value as a float. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/save-field-as-float-instead-of-string/128674/15 "2018-05-18T04:13:13Z")
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