# Scoring by distance

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [February 15, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141 "2017-02-15T06:47:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/1 "2017-02-15T06:47:13Z")

</div>

Hi,

I need to set score by distance and I found good example - [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/decay-functions.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/decay-functions.html) - but it looks not working in my case.

My request:

```
GET earth/destination/_search?_source=country_name,city_name,location&size=3
{
  "query": {
    "function_score": {
      "query": {
        "match_all": {}
      },
      "functions": [
        {
          "gauss": {
            "location": {
              "origin": { "lat": 0, "lon": 50 },
              "scale": "10km"
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

```

My response:

```
{
  "took": 1,
  "timed_out": false,
  "_shards": {
    "total": 4,
    "successful": 4,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "hits": {
    "total": 572,
    "max_score": 0,
    "hits": [
      {
        "_index": "earth",
        "_type": "destination",
        "_id": "450",
        "_score": 0,
        "_source": {
          "city_name": "Piran",
          "country_name": "Slovenia",
          "location": {
            "lon": "13.5682895",
            "lat": "45.528319"
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "_index": "earth",
        "_type": "destination",
        "_id": "452",
        "_score": 0,
        "_source": {
          "city_name": "Dubai",
          "country_name": "United Arab Emirates",
          "location": {
            "lon": "55.307485",
            "lat": "25.271139"
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "_index": "earth",
        "_type": "destination",
        "_id": "462",
        "_score": 0,
        "_source": {
          "city_name": "Villefranche-Sur-Mer",
          "country_name": "France",
          "location": {
            "lon": "7.311109",
            "lat": "43.703976"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

```

So, all scores are 0. What's wrong in my request?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/2 "2017-02-15T07:04:59Z")

</div>

I see scores with "scale": "1000km", but values are very strange

Sorting by distance as described in [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/sorting-by-distance.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/sorting-by-distance.html) works better, but scores are null.

I need right score value, because I have other sort options except destination and 'offset' option of decay function from [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/query-dsl-function-score-query.html#function-decay](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/query-dsl-function-score-query.html#function-decay) is really useful for me too.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![patlola](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/patlola/32/14190_2.png) [@patlola](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patlola)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:20am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/3 "2017-02-15T07:20:24Z")

</div>

1. Are you sure your location mapping is geo point ?
2. use "origin": latitude + "," + longitude this is the same as lat lon i guess.
3. you can use weight in gauss scoring function.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:34am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/4 "2017-02-15T07:34:43Z")

</div>

I tried to use custom score function as described in [https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/607](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/607), but distance function call was failed with:

```
         "reason": {
          "type": "script_exception",
          "reason": "runtime error",
          "caused_by": {
            "type": "illegal_argument_exception",
            "reason": "Unable to find dynamic method [distance] with [2] arguments for class [org.elasticsearch.index.fielddata.ScriptDocValues.GeoPoints]."
          },
          "script_stack": [
            "1/doc['location'].distance(0, 50)",
            " ^---- HERE"
          ],
          "script": "1/doc['location'].distance(0, 50)",
          "lang": "painless"
        }

```

I've found arcDistance function in [https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/blob/master/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/fielddata/ScriptDocValues.java](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/blob/master/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/fielddata/ScriptDocValues.java) and tried to use it but result was the same as "gauss" function call with "scale": "1000km", compare:

```
      {
        "_index": "wg_data",
        "_type": "destination",
        "_id": "1003",
        "_score": 7.241588e-7,
        "_source": {
          "city_name": "Zanzibar",
          "country_name": "Tanzania",
          "location": {
            "lon": "39.19793",
            "lat": "-6.16394"
          }
        }
      }

```

and:

```
      {
        "_index": "wg_data",
        "_type": "destination",
        "_id": "695",
        "_score": 1.7508285e-7,
        "_source": {
          "city_name": "Dubrovnik",
          "country_name": "Croatia",
          "location": {
            "lon": "18.09479",
            "lat": "42.65372"
          }
        }
      }

```

The question is the same: what is wring in my request or data?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:40am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/5 "2017-02-15T07:40:21Z")

</div>

> [@patlola](#):
>
> 1. Are you sure your location mapping is geo point ?

yes, my mapping is:  
"location": {  
"type": "geo\_point"  
}

> [@patlola](#):
>
> 1. use "origin": latitude + "," + longitude this is the same as lat lon i guess.

- is not possble for numbers, result is:  
"type": "json\_parse\_exception",  
"reason": "Unexpected character ('0' (code 48)) in numeric value: expected digit (0-9) to follow minus sign, for valid numeric value\n at [Source: org.elasticsearch.transport.netty4.ByteBufStreamInput@37655b2a; line: 11, column: 36]"

- is not changing result

> [@patlola](#):
>
> 1. you can use weight in gauss scoring function.

How to apply weight to 0 score? Can you show me example?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:51am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/6 "2017-02-15T07:51:56Z")

</div>

Looks like arcDistance function works wrong. I tried to see distance in response with:

```
GET wg_data/destination/_search?_source=country_name,city_name,location,distance
{
  "query": {
    "match_all": {}
  },
  "script_fields": {
    "distance": {
      "script": "doc['location'].arcDistance(0,50)"
    }
  }, 
  "sort": [
    {
      "_geo_distance": {
        "location": {
          "lat": 50,
          "lon": 0
        },
        "order": "asc"
      }
    }
  ]
}

```

results was wrong:

```
      {
        "_index": "wg_data",
        "_type": "destination",
        "_id": "4053",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "city_name": "Deauville",
          "country_name": "France",
          "location": {
            "lon": "0.074075",
            "lat": "49.357315"
          }
        },
        "fields": {
          "distance": [
            7250861.542755543
          ]
        },
        "sort": [
          71661.87714205771
        ]
      }

```

Is this a bug or distance calculation must works in another way?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![patlola](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/patlola/32/14190_2.png) [@patlola](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patlola)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:55am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/7 "2017-02-15T07:55:37Z")

</div>

doc['location'].planeDistance(0, 50)

distance is deprecated i guess.

I think function\_score is messing with your score.  
use boost\_mode="replace",  
score\_mode="sum", in function score for exact score of gauss function  
in gauss function  
"gauss": {  
"location": {  
"origin": { "lat": 0, "lon": 50 },  
"scale": "10km"  
},  
"weight":100  
}

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![patlola](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/patlola/32/14190_2.png) [@patlola](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patlola)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/8 "2017-02-15T07:56:47Z")

</div>

arcdistance will give in meters and sort will give in KM i guess.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/9 "2017-02-15T08:08:57Z")

</div>

> [@patlola](#):
>
> arcdistance will give in meters and sort will give in KM i guess.

Sorting sequence with meters and kilimeters must be the same. Are you have another opinion?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 8:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/10 "2017-02-15T08:11:50Z")

</div>

planeDistance returns the same results.

weight, boost\_mode and score\_mode can't change score 0

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![patlola](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/patlola/32/14190_2.png) [@patlola](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patlola)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 8:15am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/11 "2017-02-15T08:15:33Z")

</div>

when are doing sort, "script\_fields" unnecessary computation.  
we can get the distance value from sort.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 8:17am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/12 "2017-02-15T08:17:49Z")

</div>

"script\_fields" is example of wrong distance calculation by arcDistance/planeDistance

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 8:29am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/13 "2017-02-15T08:29:33Z")

</div>

New issue is submitted - [https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/23178](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/23178)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Clinton\_Gormley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Clinton\_Gormley](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Clinton_Gormley)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 9:08am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/14 "2017-02-15T09:08:10Z")

</div>

Your location is just too far from your query point, so the decay function results in a very low number.

Try this instead:

```auto
GET _search?explain
{
  "query": {
    "function_score": {
      "query": {
        "match_all": {}
      },
      "boost_mode": "replace", 
      "functions": [
        {
          "gauss": {
            "location": {
              "origin": { "lat": 45, "lon": 13 },
              "scale": "100km"
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 9:45am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/15 "2017-02-15T09:45:25Z")

</div>

Sorry, I simple swapped "lat" and "lon" params and this was a result of strange scores and distances

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![patlola](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/patlola/32/14190_2.png) [@patlola](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patlola)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/16 "2017-02-15T10:39:16Z")

</div>

> planeDistance is faster to compute, so on sorting planeDistance is used.

Plane Distance will not give exact distance. unlike arcDistance.

but to keep things constant across sorting and script\_fields using plane Distance is the best way.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![enp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/enp/32/3825_2.png) [@enp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/enp)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 6:36am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/17 "2017-02-17T06:36:19Z")

</div>

Sorry, I simple swapped "lat" and "lon" params and this was a result of strange scores and distances

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 6:36am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scoring-by-distance/75141/18 "2017-03-17T06:36:19Z")

</div>

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