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Elastic Docs ›Elasticsearch Guide [2.3] ›Mapping ›Mapping parameters

null_value

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null_value

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A null value cannot be indexed or searched. When a field is set to null, (or an empty array or an array of null values) it is treated as though that field has no values.

The null_value parameter allows you to replace explicit null values with the specified value so that it can be indexed and searched. For instance:

PUT my_index
{
  "mappings": {
    "my_type": {
      "properties": {
        "status_code": {
          "type":       "string",
          "index":      "not_analyzed",
          "null_value": "NULL" 
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

PUT my_index/my_type/1
{
  "status_code": null
}

PUT my_index/my_type/2
{
  "status_code": [] 
}

GET my_index/_search
{
  "query": {
    "term": {
      "status_code": "NULL" 
    }
  }
}

Replace explicit null values with the term NULL.

An empty array does not contain an explicit null, and so won’t be replaced with the null_value.

A query for NULL returns document 1, but not document 2.

The null_value needs to be the same datatype as the field. For instance, a long field cannot have a string null_value. String fields which are analyzed will also pass the null_value through the configured analyzer.

Also see the missing query for its null_value support.

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