Azure Cognitive Search: Cannot serach for text that contains a space that starts with a specific term

Question

I have asked a simialr question before and i though i solved it but I did not.

I'm using Azure Search with an index that includes the "EdgeNGramTokenFilterV2" to achieve "starts with" behavior for partial matches. However, I noticed that it doesn't work as expected when the search term contains spaces.

For example, if my data includes the word "Blue hall" and I search for "Blue" I get the correct results. But when I search for "Blue h," I don't get any matches.

I am using SearchMode All

Example

{
"fields": [
    {
      "name": "myField",
      "type": "Edm.String",
      "searchable": true,
      "analyzer": "myAnalyzer"
...
    }
  ],
  "analyzers": [
    {
      "name": "myAnalyzer",
      "@odata.type": "#Microsoft.Azure.Search.CustomAnalyzer",
      "tokenizer": "keyword_v2",
      "tokenFilters": [ "lowercase", "my_edgeNGram" ]
    }
  ],
  "tokenFilters": [
    {
      "@odata.type": "#Microsoft.Azure.Search.EdgeNGramTokenFilterV2",
      "name": "my_edgeNGram",
      "minGram": 1,
      "maxGram": 25,
      "side": "front"
    }
  ]

Could someone help with this please?

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 20 '23 at 07:01

I was able to get the desired starts with behaviour by adding quotes to the search term before passing it the azure cognitive search service.

"\"Blue C \""

This changes the term into a phrases query. reference link

This post further explains in detail how the query parser works and it breaks the terms down before the analyzers is applied to it https://stackoverflow.com/a/40857668/15906376

I am not sure if this is best way to go out about it but it works

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 19 '23 at 12:36

I have reproduced the issue with provided configuration. Sample data used: enter image description here

Result is empty with query: "Sample t"

To resolve this issue, you can try using the "standard_v2" tokenizer instead of the "keyword_v2" tokenizer.

Here is the updated Index Definition:

"fields": [
        {
            "name": "id",
            "type": "Edm.String",
            "key": True
        },
        {
            "name": "myField",
            "type": "Edm.String",
            "searchable": True,
            "analyzer": "myAnalyzer"
        }
    ],
    "analyzers": [
        {
            "name": "myAnalyzer",
            "@odata.type": "#Microsoft.Azure.Search.CustomAnalyzer",
            "tokenizer": "standard_v2",
            "tokenFilters": ["lowercase", "my_edgeNGram"]
        }
    ],
    "tokenFilters": [
        {
            "@odata.type": "#Microsoft.Azure.Search.EdgeNGramTokenFilterV2",
            "name": "my_edgeNGram",
            "minGram": 1,
            "maxGram": 25,
            "side": "front"
        }
    ]

With the updated Index definition, the search query able to get the required results. enter image description here

I managed to get it to work now.If you another record like "key text" in your sample_date. wouldnt that also be returned when you search for "sample t"? — Shaq, Jul 20 '23 at 07:04

Azure Cognitive Search: Cannot serach for text that contains a space that starts with a specific term

2 Answers2