# Using "not filter" and "match\_all" filter on nested objects
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-not-filter-and-match-all-filter-on-nested-objects/22536
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [March 5, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-not-filter-and-match-all-filter-on-nested-objects/22536 "2015-03-05T19:58:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bert\_Vanpeteghem](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Bert_Vanpeteghem)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-not-filter-and-match-all-filter-on-nested-objects/22536/1 "2015-03-05T19:58:09Z")
Hi,
I found that when looking for empty arrays of nested objects, I need to put
the not filter around the nested filter.
This is ok, but in our situation, it would be nice if we could have it the
other way around, so that we can have the nested filter as the outer level.
It works for term queries that way, but not for match\_all queries.
Note: the match\_all for finding non-empty values is a technique borrowed
from: [https://github.com/elasticsearch/elasticsearch/issues/3495](https://github.com/elasticsearch/elasticsearch/issues/3495)
Is there a way to have the nested filter as the outer one, and somehow
achieve the same results?
The following gist has curl with mappings & queries:
>
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### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/using-not-filter-and-match-all-filter-on-nested-objects/22536/2 "2017-07-06T00:28:18Z")