Indexing

Tip: There are many examples of indexing in the LuceneIndexTests source code to use as examples/reference.

Examine will index any data you give it within a ValueSet. You can index one or multiple items at once and there’s a few different ways to do that. Each field in a ValueSet can also contain one or more values.

A ValueSet is fairly simple, it is really just:

  • Id string - unique identifier for the document
  • Category string - Required. 1st level categorization
  • ItemType string - Optional. 2nd level categorization
  • Values IDictionary<string, List<object>> - Any data associated with the document

It also has some methods that you can use to manipulate it’s data.

Single values

How to index a single ValueSet

See quickstart

Multiple values

How to index multiple ValueSet at once

With Dictionaries (default)

myIndex.IndexItems(new[]
{
    new ValueSet(
        "SKU123", 
        "Product",
        new Dictionary<string, object>()
        {
            {"Name", "Loud Headphones" },
            {"Brand", "LOUDER" }
        }),
    new ValueSet(
        "SKU987", 
        "Product",
        new Dictionary<string, object>()
        {
            {"Name", "USB-C Cable" },
            {"Brand", "Cablez-R-Us" }
        }),
});

With Objects


// For example, perhaps you looked up the product from a service
var headphones = ProductService.Get("SKU123");

myIndex.IndexItems(new[]
{
    ValueSet.FromObject(
        headphones.Id, 
        "Product",
        headphones,
    ValueSet.FromObject(
        "SKU987", 
        "Product",
        new         //Anonymous objects work too
        {
            Name = "USB-C Cable",
            Brand = "Cablez-R-Us"
        }),
});

Multiple values per field

It is possible to have multiple values for an individual field, you can just pass in an instance of IDictionary<string, IEnumerable<object>> to the ValueSet constructor.

myIndex.IndexItem(new ValueSet(
    Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
    "TestType",
    new Dictionary<string, IEnumerable<object>>()
    {
        {"Name", new object[]{ "Frank" }},
        // For example, perhaps each address part is a separate value
        {"Address", new object[]{ "Beverly Hills", "90210" } } 
    }));

Strongly typed

As you can see, the values being passed into the ValueSet are type object. Examine will determine if the object type maps to a field definition

myIndex.IndexItem(new ValueSet(
    "SKU987",
    "Product",             
    new Dictionary<string, object>()
    {
        {"Name", "USB-C Cable" },
        {"Brand", "Cablez-R-Us" },
        {"Price", 19.99}  // non-string value
    }));

Synchronously

Be default all indexing is done asynchronously. If you need to run indexing synchronously you should create a synchronous scope. This is for instance a necessary step for unit tests.

using (myIndex.ProcessNonAsync())
{
    myIndex.IndexItem(new ValueSet(
        "SKU987",
        "Product",             
        new Dictionary<string, object>()
        {
            {"Name", "USB-C Cable" },
            {"Brand", "Cablez-R-Us" },
            {"Price", 19.99}  // non-string value
        }));
}

Deleting index data

Data is easily deleted from the index by the unique identifier you provided in your ValueSet by using the DeleteFromIndex method. For example:

 indexer.DeleteFromIndex("SKU987");

Events

IIndex.IndexOperationComplete

This event is part of the base interface IIndex so it is available to use on any implementation of an Examine index. This can be useful to know when an indexing operation is completed.

IIndex.TransformingIndexValues

This event allows for customizing the ValueSet before it is passed to the indexer to be indexed. You can use this event to add additional field values or modify existing field values.

IIndex.IndexingError

This event can be used for reacting to when an error occurs during index. For example, you could add an event handler for this event to facilitate error logging.

LuceneIndex.DocumentWriting

If using Examine with the default Lucene implementation then the IIndex implementation will be LuceneIndex. This event provides access to the Lucene Document object before it gets added to the Lucene Index.

You can use this event to entirely customize how the data is stored in the Lucene index, including adding custom boosting profiles, changing the Document’s field values or types, etc…

IIndex.IndexOperationComplete

This event is part of the base interface IIndex so it is available to use on any implementation of an Examine index. This can be useful to know when an indexing operation is completed.

BaseIndexProvider.TransformingIndexValues

Most Examine index implementations will inherit from BaseIndexProvider. This event allows for customizing the ValueSet before it is passed to the indexer to be indexed. You can use this event to add additional field values or modify existing field values.

BaseIndexProvider.IndexingError

Most Examine index implementations will inherit from BaseIndexProvider. This event can be used for reacting to when an error occurs during index. For example, you could add an event handler for this event to facilitate error logging.

LuceneIndex.DocumentWriting

If using Examine with the default Lucene implementation then the IIndex implementation will be LuceneIndex. This event provides access to the Lucene Document object before it gets added to the Lucene Index.

You can use this event to entirely customize how the data is stored in the Lucene index, including adding custom boosting profiles, changing the Document’s field values or types, etc…