Elasticsearch Mastering Elasticsearch Sort Functionality for Optimized Query Performance

By Opster Team

Updated: Jul 23, 2023

| 2 min read

Introduction

Elasticsearch, a highly scalable open-source full-text search and analytics engine, provides a robust sorting functionality that allows users to order their search results in a way that best suits their needs. This article delves into the intricacies of Elasticsearch sort, offering insights on how to leverage this feature for optimized query performance. If you want to learn about Elasticsearch sort: advanced techniques and best practices, check out this guide.

Understanding Elasticsearch Sort

Sorting in Elasticsearch is not just about ordering documents based on a single field. It offers a multi-level sort mechanism, where you can specify multiple fields to sort on, each with its own ascending or descending order. This is particularly useful when you want to further order your results after the primary sort field.

For instance, consider a scenario where you want to sort a list of products first by category and then by price. Here’s how you can achieve this:

json
GET /products/_search
{
  "sort": [
    { "category": "asc" },
    { "price": "desc" }
  ]
}

In this example, the `sort` parameter is an array that holds the fields to sort on. Each field is represented as a JSON object, with the field name as the key and the sort order as the value.

Sorting on Text Fields

Sorting on text fields can be a bit tricky due to the way Elasticsearch indexes text. By default, text fields are tokenized and lowercased, which makes them unsuitable for sorting. To sort on a text field, you need to enable `fielddata` or, better yet, use a `keyword` field.

However, enabling `fielddata` on a text field can consume a lot of heap space, especially for fields with many unique terms. Therefore, it’s recommended to use a `keyword` field for sorting. Here’s an example:

json
GET /products/_search
{
  "sort": { "productName.keyword": "asc" }
}

Sorting on Nested Fields

Elasticsearch also supports sorting on nested fields. However, since a nested field can contain multiple values, you need to specify how Elasticsearch should pick which value to use for sorting. This is done using the `nested` parameter, which can take one of the following options: `min`, `max`, `sum`, `avg`, or `median`.

Here’s an example of sorting on a nested field:

json
GET /products/_search
{
  "sort": {
    "reviews.rating": {
      "order": "desc",
      "nested": {
        "path": "reviews",
        "filter": {
          "term": { "reviews.reviewer": "John" }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

In this example, the `reviews.rating` field is a nested field. The `nested` parameter specifies that Elasticsearch should filter the nested objects using the provided filter and then use the `max` rating for sorting.

Sorting on Scripted Fields

Elasticsearch also allows sorting on scripted fields. A scripted field is a field that is derived from other fields. Here’s an example:

json
GET /products/_search
{
  "sort": {
    "_script": {
      "type": "number",
      "script": {
        "lang": "painless",
        "source": "doc['price'].value * doc['quantity'].value"
      },
      "order": "desc"
    }
  }
}

In this example, the sort field is a script that calculates the total price of a product based on its price and quantity.

Conclusion

Elasticsearch sort is a powerful feature that allows you to order your search results in a way that best suits your needs. By understanding how to sort on different types of fields, you can leverage this feature to optimize your query performance. Remember to use `keyword` fields for sorting on text fields and specify the `nested` parameter for sorting on nested fields. Also, consider using scripted fields for more complex sorting requirements.