# Struggling with 'complex' query format using Groovy API **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [June 10, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600 "2011-06-10T13:41:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jondow](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jondow/32/2111_2.png) [@Jondow](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jondow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/1 "2011-06-10T13:41:48Z")
I know this will seem quite pathetic, but I'm struggling to mentally map the json query format shown in the online docs to the equivalent Groovy syntax for the builder. I've Googled, and also looked at the test code in the master code that I downloaded, but while they give examples of fairly simple 'term' searches, none show an example of searching a more complex mapping. I have the following as an example of the JSON that I've indexed. If you take the common index example from the docs, namely: def indexR = client.index { index "test" type "type1" id "1" source { test = "value" complex { value1 = "value1" value2 = "value2" } } } How would you search for all type1's with a 'complex' value1 field containing "value1"? As in, what would the Groovy code look like? I did a: ``` def search = client.search { indices "test" types "type1" source { query { field { complex.value1 = "value1" } } } } ``` But the compiler complains that: org.codehaus.groovy.grails.web.taglib.exceptions.GrailsTagException: Tag [null] is missing required attribute [name] or [field] at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.SearchController $\_closure2\_closure6\_closure8\_closure9.doCall(SearchController.groovy: 53) at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.SearchController $\_closure2\_closure6\_closure8\_closure9.doCall(SearchController.groovy) at org.elasticsearch.groovy.common.xcontent.GXContentBuilder.handleClosureNode(GXContentBuilder.groovy: 157) at org.elasticsearch.groovy.common.xcontent.GXContentBuilder.this $2$handleClosureNode(GXContentBuilder.groovy) at org.elasticsearch.groovy.common.xcontent.GXContentBuilder$this $2$handleClosureNode.callCurrent(Unknown Source) at org.elasticsearch.groovy.common.xcontent.GXContentBuilder.invokeMethod(GXContentBuilder.groovy: 119) at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.SearchController $\_closure2\_closure6\_closure8.doCall(SearchController.groovy:52) ---
**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:** [June 10, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/2 "2011-06-10T13:47:54Z")
> How would you search for all type1's with a 'complex' value1 field > containing "value1"? As in, what would the Groovy code look like? I > did a: > > ``` > def search = client.search { > indices "test" > types "type1" > source { > query { > field { > complex.value1 = "value1" > } > } > } > } > > ``` I don't know groovy syntax, but do you not just need to put quotes around complex.value1 ? clint ---
**Author:** ![Jondow](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jondow/32/2111_2.png) [@Jondow](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jondow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/3 "2011-06-10T14:16:35Z")
Hmm, no it seems my main error is misreading the Query API ... there is no 'field' filter for queries. There is a 'fields', but that's to indicate what you want in the returned result. I need to do a 'term' query I think. Though I'm still having trouble targeting the value1 field as per the example above. So any help would still be appreciated. ☹ On Jun 10, 3:47 pm, Clinton Gormley [clin...@iannounce.co.uk](mailto:clin...@iannounce.co.uk) wrote: > > How would you search for all type1's with a 'complex' value1 field > > containing "value1"? As in, what would the Groovy code look like? I > > did a: > > > ``` > > def search = client.search { > > indices "test" > > types "type1" > > source { > > query { > > field { > > complex.value1 = "value1" > > } > > } > > } > > } > > > > ``` > > I don't know groovy syntax, but do you not just need to put quotes > around complex.value1 ? > > clint ---
**Author:** ![Jondow](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jondow/32/2111_2.png) [@Jondow](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jondow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/4 "2011-06-10T14:22:27Z")
No, that's not it. At first I thought I had found the error (and even posted a reply here that seems to have gone missing) that there was no 'field' type query - this is mainly because of how I was looking at the docs, and also because when I reduced the query to a term query, it compiled (but didn't work). Anyway, long story short, there IS a field type query which is a shorthand for the query\_term with a default field. So I'm back to square one and unable to get the Groovy incarnation to work. ☹ On Jun 10, 3:47 pm, Clinton Gormley [clin...@iannounce.co.uk](mailto:clin...@iannounce.co.uk) wrote: > > How would you search for all type1's with a 'complex' value1 field > > containing "value1"? As in, what would the Groovy code look like? I > > did a: > > > ``` > > def search = client.search { > > indices "test" > > types "type1" > > source { > > query { > > field { > > complex.value1 = "value1" > > } > > } > > } > > } > > > > ``` > > I don't know groovy syntax, but do you not just need to put quotes > around complex.value1 ? > > clint ---
**Author:** ![Jondow](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jondow/32/2111_2.png) [@Jondow](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jondow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/5 "2011-06-10T17:08:55Z")
Ok, so I figured out part of the problem. It was actually a red herring, related to the use of the 'field' keyword keywork within a Grails controller context. That part is now sorted having moved the search to a Grails service, but I'm still not able to target nested information. In this case my JSON is structured as follows: { name1 = value1 name2 = value2 software = [{'name':'Adobe Reader', 'version': '1.0'}, {'name':'Mozilla Firefox', 'version':'4.0'}] } How would I target searching for software with the name 'adobe'? What would the JSON look like for that? ---
**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:** [June 12, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/6 "2011-06-12T07:22:59Z")
The query itself can look like: { "text" : { "software.name" : "adobe" } } On Friday, June 10, 2011 at 8:08 PM, Jondow wrote: > Ok, so I figured out part of the problem. It was actually a red > herring, related to the use of the 'field' keyword keywork within a > Grails controller context. That part is now sorted having moved the > search to a Grails service, but I'm still not able to target nested > information. In this case my JSON is structured as follows: > > { > name1 = value1 > name2 = value2 > software = [{'name':'Adobe Reader', 'version': '1.0'}, > {'name':'Mozilla Firefox', 'version':'4.0'}] > } > > How would I target searching for software with the name 'adobe'? What > would the JSON look like for that? ---
**Author:** ![Jondow](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jondow/32/2111_2.png) [@Jondow](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jondow)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/7 "2011-06-13T12:56:05Z")
I still can't get this to work in Groovy. I've tried every possible permutation of the syntax to match Shay's response, but all to no avail. So for instance: ``` return client.search { indices "test" types "type1" source { text = { ["software.name": "Adobe"] } } } ``` or: ``` return client.search { indices "test" types "type1" source { query { text { ["software.name": "Adobe"] } } } } ``` to name but two options I've tried. They all fail with: SearchParseException[[test][4]: from[-1],size[-1]: Parse Failure [No parser for element [text]]]; } So Shay, any idea how to fulfill your suggestion in Groovy? ☹ This is as much for me to understand how to do things in Groovy as it is to solve this particular example. On Jun 12, 9:22 am, Shay Banon [shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com](mailto:shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com) wrote: > The query itself can look like: { "text" : { "software.name" : "adobe" } } > > On Friday, June 10, 2011 at 8:08 PM, Jondow wrote: > > > Ok, so I figured out part of the problem. It was actually a red > > herring, related to the use of the 'field' keyword keywork within a > > Grails controller context. That part is now sorted having moved the > > search to a Grails service, but I'm still not able to target nested > > information. In this case my JSON is structured as follows: > > > { > > name1 = value1 > > name2 = value2 > > software = [{'name':'Adobe Reader', 'version': '1.0'}, > > {'name':'Mozilla Firefox', 'version':'4.0'}] > > } > > > How would I target searching for software with the name 'adobe'? What > > would the JSON look like for that? ---
**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:** [June 14, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/8 "2011-06-14T09:09:23Z")
Which elasticsearch version are you using? text query was added in 0.16.1. On Monday, June 13, 2011 at 3:56 PM, Jondow wrote: > I still can't get this to work in Groovy. I've tried every possible > permutation of the syntax to match Shay's response, but all to no > avail. So for instance: > > return client.search { > indices "test" > types "type1" > source { > text = { > ["software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))": "Adobe"] > } > } > } > > or: > > return client.search { > indices ""test" > types "type1" > source {{ > query { > text { > ["software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))": "Adobe"] > } > }} > } > } > > to name but two options I've tried. They all fail with: > > SearchParseException[[test][4]: from[-1],size[-1]: Parse Failure [No > parser for element [text]]]; } > > So Shay, any idea how to fulfill your suggestion in Groovy? ☹ This > is as much for me to understand how to do things in Groovy as it is to > solve this particular example. > > On Jun 12, 9:22 am, Shay Banon \<[shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com](mailto:shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com) ([http://elasticsearch.com](http://elasticsearch.com))\> wrote: > > > The query itself can look like: { "text" : { "software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))" : "adobe" } } > > > > On Friday, June 10, 2011 at 8:08 PM, Jondow wrote: > > > > > Ok, so I figured out part of the problem. It was actually a red > > > herring, related to the use of the 'field' keyword keywork within a > > > Grails controller context. That part is now sorted having moved the > > > search to a Grails service, but I'm still not able to target nested > > > information. In this case my JSON is structured as follows: > > > > > { > > > name1 = value1 > > > name2 = value2 > > > software = [{'name':'Adobe Reader', 'version': '1.0'}, > > > {'name':'Mozilla Firefox', 'version':'4.0'}] > > > } > > > > > How would I target searching for software with the name 'adobe'? What > > > would the JSON look like for that? ---
**Author:** ![Jondow](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jondow/32/2111_2.png) [@Jondow](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jondow)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/9 "2011-06-14T21:18:17Z")
Right, that'll be the problem then. I'm limited to 0.16.0 right now because you upgraded 0.16.1 (or was it in .2) to Groovy 1.8. I'm using this within Grails 1.3.7 which isn't at 1.8 yet and I can't upgrade to Grails 1.4 (which isn't actually released yet anyway) just yet due to some unrelated issues it causes with my current app. No matter, I've reverted to just crafting straight JSON as a String and handing that to the search as its source, and that works better for me, as the documentation examples are all in JSON format so I don't have to fiddle around as much to get to the compatible Groovy builder syntax. It's fine. It's working for me for now. Thanks for your responses Shay. ES is an excellent framework and you can be very proud of your handiwork, and those that assist you. On Jun 14, 11:09 am, Shay Banon [shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com](mailto:shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com) wrote: > Which elasticsearch version are you using? text query was added in 0.16.1.On Monday, June 13, 2011 at 3:56 PM, Jondow wrote: > > > I still can't get this to work in Groovy. I've tried every possible > > permutation of the syntax to match Shay's response, but all to no > > avail. So for instance: > > > return client.search { > > indices "test" > > types "type1" > > source { > > text = { > > ["software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))": "Adobe"] > > } > > } > > } > > > or: > > > return client.search { > > indices ""test" > > types "type1" > > source {{ > > query { > > text { > > ["software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))": "Adobe"] > > } > > }} > > } > > } > > > to name but two options I've tried. They all fail with: > > > SearchParseException[[test][4]: from[-1],size[-1]: Parse Failure [No > > parser for element [text]]]; } > > > So Shay, any idea how to fulfill your suggestion in Groovy? ☹ This > > is as much for me to understand how to do things in Groovy as it is to > > solve this particular example. > > > On Jun 12, 9:22 am, Shay Banon \<[shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com](mailto:shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com) ([http://elasticsearch.com](http://elasticsearch.com))\> wrote: > > > > > The query itself can look like: { "text" : { "software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))" : "adobe" } } > > > > On Friday, June 10, 2011 at 8:08 PM, Jondow wrote: > > > > > > > Ok, so I figured out part of the problem. It was actually a red > > > > herring, related to the use of the 'field' keyword keywork within a > > > > Grails controller context. That part is now sorted having moved the > > > > search to a Grails service, but I'm still not able to target nested > > > > information. In this case my JSON is structured as follows: > > > > > { > > > > name1 = value1 > > > > name2 = value2 > > > > software = [{'name':'Adobe Reader', 'version': '1.0'}, > > > > {'name':'Mozilla Firefox', 'version':'4.0'}] > > > > } > > > > > How would I target searching for software with the name 'adobe'? What > > > > would the JSON look like for that? ---
**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:** [June 14, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/10 "2011-06-14T21:32:00Z")
Using 0.16.2 with groovy 1.7 should work well, did not use any 1.8 features (and if so, no problem fixing it in the 0.16 branch). On Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 12:18 AM, Jondow wrote: > Right, that'll be the problem then. I'm limited to 0.16.0 right now > because you upgraded 0.16.1 (or was it in .2) to Groovy 1.8. I'm using > this within Grails 1.3.7 which isn't at 1.8 yet and I can't upgrade to > Grails 1.4 (which isn't actually released yet anyway) just yet due to > some unrelated issues it causes with my current app. No matter, I've > reverted to just crafting straight JSON as a String and handing that > to the search as its source, and that works better for me, as the > documentation examples are all in JSON format so I don't have to > fiddle around as much to get to the compatible Groovy builder syntax. > It's fine. It's working for me for now. Thanks for your responses > Shay. ES is an excellent framework and you can be very proud of your > handiwork, and those that assist you. > > On Jun 14, 11:09 am, Shay Banon \<[shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com](mailto:shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com) ([http://elasticsearch.com](http://elasticsearch.com))\> wrote: > > > Which elasticsearch version are you using? text query was added in 0.16.1.On Monday, June 13, 2011 at 3:56 PM, Jondow wrote: > > > > > I still can't get this to work in Groovy. I've tried every possible > > > permutation of the syntax to match Shay's response, but all to no > > > avail. So for instance: > > > > > return client.search { > > > indices "test" > > > types "type1" > > > source { > > > text = { > > > ["software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))": "Adobe"] > > > } > > > } > > > } > > > > > or: > > > > > return client.search { > > > indices ""test" > > > types "type1" > > > source {{ > > > query { > > > text { > > > ["software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))": "Adobe"] > > > } > > > }} > > > } > > > } > > > > > to name but two options I've tried. They all fail with: > > > > > SearchParseException[[test][4]: from[-1],size[-1]: Parse Failure [No > > > parser for element [text]]]; } > > > > > So Shay, any idea how to fulfill your suggestion in Groovy? ☹ This > > > is as much for me to understand how to do things in Groovy as it is to > > > solve this particular example. > > > > > On Jun 12, 9:22 am, Shay Banon \<[shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com](mailto:shay.ba...@elasticsearch.com) ([http://elasticsearch.com](http://elasticsearch.com))\> wrote: > > > > > > > The query itself can look like: { "text" : { "software.name ([http://software.name](http://software.name))" : "adobe" } } > > > > > > On Friday, June 10, 2011 at 8:08 PM, Jondow wrote: > > > > > > > > > Ok, so I figured out part of the problem. It was actually a red > > > > > herring, related to the use of the 'field' keyword keywork within a > > > > > Grails controller context. That part is now sorted having moved the > > > > > search to a Grails service, but I'm still not able to target nested > > > > > information. In this case my JSON is structured as follows: > > > > > > > { > > > > > name1 = value1 > > > > > name2 = value2 > > > > > software = [{'name':'Adobe Reader', 'version': '1.0'}, > > > > > {'name':'Mozilla Firefox', 'version':'4.0'}] > > > > > } > > > > > > > How would I target searching for software with the name 'adobe'? What > > > > > would the JSON look like for that? ---
**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, 4:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/struggling-with-complex-query-format-using-groovy-api/4600/11 "2017-07-06T04:03:36Z")