Sorting in elastic search based upon user entered values

Question

I want to get the products in the order of user input. Suppose if user search "Z1234","S1234","T2344", then I want products in that particular order. Where Z1234 will be the first record. How this can be achieved in the elastic search. I have tried using "script" and other ways but it does not work. Below are the example of my script usage.

'_script' => [
            'script' => "for(i:scoring) { if(doc[\"custom_44\"].value == i.id) return i.score; } return 0;",
            "type" => "number",
            'params' => [
                'scoring' => [
                    ['id'=>'3MS01',"score" => 1],
                    ['id'=>'29xcs',"score" => 2],                  
                ]
            ],
            "order" => "asc"
        ]

and my working query body is below

Array
(
[size] => 20
[from] => 0
[query] => Array
    (
        [filtered] => Array
            (
                [filter] => Array
                    (
                        [bool] => Array
                            (
                                [must] => Array
                                    (
                                        [0] => Array
                                            (
                                                [bool] => Array
                                                    (
                                                        [should] => Array
                                                            (
                                                                [0] => Array
                                                                    (
                                                                        [query] => Array
                                                                            (
                                                                                [span_near] => Array
                                                                                    (
                                                                                        [clauses] => Array
                                                                                            (
                                                                                                [0] => Array
                                                                                                    (
                                                                                                        [span_multi] => Array
                                                                                                            (
                                                                                                                [match] => Array
                                                                                                                    (
                                                                                                                        [regexp] => Array
                                                                                                                            (
                                                                                                                                [custom_44] => .*3MS01.*
                                                                                                                            )

                                                                                                                    )

                                                                                                            )

                                                                                                    )

                                                                                            )

                                                                                        [slop] => 0
                                                                                        [in_order] => 1
                                                                                    )

                                                                            )

                                                                    )

                                                                [1] => Array
                                                                    (
                                                                        [query] => Array
                                                                            (
                                                                                [span_near] => Array
                                                                                    (
                                                                                        [clauses] => Array
                                                                                            (
                                                                                                [0] => Array
                                                                                                    (
                                                                                                        [span_multi] => Array
                                                                                                            (
                                                                                                                [match] => Array
                                                                                                                    (
                                                                                                                        [regexp] => Array
                                                                                                                            (
                                                                                                                                [custom_44] => .*29xcs.*
                                                                                                                            )

                                                                                                                    )

                                                                                                            )

                                                                                                    )

                                                                                            )

                                                                                        [slop] => 0
                                                                                        [in_order] => 1
                                                                                    )

                                                                            )

                                                                    )

                                                            )

                                                    )

                                            )

                                        [1] => Array
                                            (
                                                [term] => Array
                                                    (
                                                        [deleted] => 0
                                                    )

                                            )

                                        [2] => Array
                                            (
                                                [terms] => Array
                                                    (
                                                        [publication_id] => Array
                                                            (
                                                                [0] => 35627
                                                            )

                                                    )

                                            )

                                        [3] => Array
                                            (
                                                [term] => Array
                                                    (
                                                        [custom_61] => 1
                                                    )

                                            )

                                    )

                            )

                    )

            )

    )

[sort] => Array
    (
        [0] => Array
            (
                [custom_44] => asc
            )

    )

)

Is this can be achieved in the elastic search? Do I need to sort after getting the results?

Answer 1

ElasticSearch will sort the results based on the scoring of the specific field in comparison to your input.

For example , if you search for "Z1234 S1234 T2344" it will try to find documents as close as possible to the individual inputs and the analyzer and then it will rank the results accordingly based on the proximity score.

For example , consider the following index :

POST test/doc/
{
  "product_name" : "Z1234"
}

POST test/doc/
{
  "product_name" : "Z1235"
}


POST test/doc
{
  "product_name" : "S1234"
}

POST test/doc
{
  "product_name" : "T2344"
}

If you search for "Z1234 S1234 T2344" , it will sort the results based on the score(results closer to your input) and then it will sort the remaining bellow (values such as "Z1235")

GET test/doc/_search
{
    "query": {
        "match" : {
            "product_name" : {
                "query" : "Z1234 S1234 T2344",
                "operator" : "OR",
                "fuzziness": 1
            }
        }
    }
}





"hits": {
    "total": 5,
    "max_score": 1.2476649,
    "hits": [
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWViqiCOOSSVvlNCAXVu",
        "_score": 1.2476649,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "Z1234"
        }
      },
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWViqlZ2OSSVvlNCAXV7",
        "_score": 0.6931472,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "T2344"
        }
      },
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWViqj9UOSSVvlNCAXV2",
        "_score": 0.51782775,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "S1234"
        }
      },
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWVir1UeOSSVvlNCAXpB",
        "_score": 0.23014566,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "Z1235"
        }
      },
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWVirhwlOSSVvlNCAXkQ",
        "_score": 0.23014566,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "Z1235"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Now , if you do not want to sort on the scores , but on the field name , the field of the sorting should contain doc values (default by default of Text fields)

GET test/doc/_search
{
  "query": {
    "match": {
      "product_name": {
        "query": "Z1234 S1234 T2344",
        "operator": "OR",
        "fuzziness": 1
      }
    }
  },
  "sort": [
    {
      "product_name.keyword": {
        "order": "desc"
      }
    }
  ]
}



{
  "took": 4,
  "timed_out": false,
  "_shards": {
    "total": 5,
    "successful": 5,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "hits": {
    "total": 4,
    "max_score": null,
    "hits": [
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWVitbfmOSSVvlNCAYA8",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "Z1235"
        },
        "sort": [
          "Z1235"
        ]
      },
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWVita_pOSSVvlNCAYA7",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "Z1234"
        },
        "sort": [
          "Z1234"
        ]
      },
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWVitcPKOSSVvlNCAYBA",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "T2344"
        },
        "sort": [
          "T2344"
        ]
      },
      {
        "_index": "test",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "AWVitb1GOSSVvlNCAYA_",
        "_score": null,
        "_source": {
          "product_name": "S1234"
        },
        "sort": [
          "S1234"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}