CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sql-serverfreetextfreetexttable
David Thielen
David Thielen

Reputation: 33026

How do I get synonyms in SQL Server FreeTextTable() searches?

I did a search for "GLBT" where the text in the DB has "LGBT+" in it. It did not return any rows. Same for doing a search on "cars" when the DB has "vehicles" in it.

Isn't FreeTextTable supposed to find synonyms? Or do I need to do something additional for it to find matches based on synonyms?

Upvotes: -2

Views: 150

Answers (1)

Stuck at 1337
Stuck at 1337

Reputation: 2084

By default, SQL Server supports stemmers - different forms of a verb or single/plural of a noun. It does not (and can't!) natively know that car is a type of vehicle, for example, or that one acronym is a synonym for another.

Ages ago, Microsoft promised a more comprehensive thesaurus file, but I don't think they have ever delivered one.

You can try out some from 3rd parties, like this one. I think it would be a gigantic effort to create some all-encompassing English thesaurus that suits everyone, because things that are synonyms for your application (or even for different FT indexes on the same instance, since they share a single thesaurus) might be very different from, say, mine. I might prioritize java -> coffee, for example, while you might prioritize java -> jdbc.

Upvotes: 1

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