Thesaurus: Query pipeline feature

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Developer System Administrator

A query pipeline statement expressing the thesaurus query pipeline feature defines how certain terms or phrases appearing in the basic part (q) of the query expression should be expanded or replaced before executing the query against the index.

In general:

  • Expanding A to B means: substitute A with (A OR B).

  • Expanding A to B, C means: substitute A with (A OR B OR C).

  • Replacing A with B means: substitute A with B.

  • Replacing A with B, C means: substitute A with (B OR C).

The thesaurus feature comprises four distinct sub-features:

  • alias: expand each expression (keywords or phrases) in a list to all other expressions in that same list.

  • expand: expand each expression (keywords or phrases) in a list to all expressions in another list.

  • replace: replace each expression (keywords or phrases) in a list with all expressions in another list.

  • quote: replace each expression (keywords or phrases) in a list with its corresponding exact phrase match expression.

Example

The following table summarizes how statements using each of the different thesaurus sub-features would process the basic part (q) of the combined query expression, assuming its current value is kitty cat:

Statement definition Processed q expression

alias /kitt(y on en)/, "cat", "mouse hunter", "feline"

(kitty OR cat OR (mouse hunter) OR feline) (cat OR (mouse hunter) OR feline)

expand /kitt(y or en)/, "cat" to "mouse hunter", "feline"

(kitty OR (mouse hunter) OR feline) (cat OR (mouse hunter) OR feline)

replace /kitt(y or en)/, "cat" to "mouse hunter", "feline"

((mouse hunter) OR feline) ((mouse hunter) OR feline)

quote "kitty cat"

"kitty cat"

quote /kitt(y or en)/, "cat" to "mouse hunter"

"mouse hunter" "mouse hunter"
Tip
Leading practice

Typically, a statement expressing the thesaurus feature should only apply when a certain condition is fulfilled.

In general, you should ensure that this is the case by associating such a statement, and/or the query pipeline it’s defined in, to a global condition.
Note

In the Coveo Administration Console, you can manage statements expressing the thesaurus feature from the Thesaurus tab (see Manage thesaurus rules).

The following diagram shows the process of a query being sent to the Search API and the order of execution of query pipeline features.

Apply thesaurus statements

Syntax

Use the following query pipeline language (QPL) syntax to define a statement expressing the thesaurus feature:

alias <terms> | expand <terms> to <otherTerms> | replace <terms> to <otherTerms> | quote <terms> [to <otherTerms>]

<terms>

A comma-separated list of quoted strings and/or regular expressions, where each quoted string must contain one or more basic query terms (for example, "foo bar", "baz", /^meo+w$/).

Important

When using the alias feature, <terms> must contain at least one quoted string (that is, it can’t contain only regular expressions).

<otherTerms>

A comma-separated list of quoted strings, where each quoted string must contain one or more basic query terms (for example, "hello world", "biz").

Note

If you define a named group in a regular expression in the <terms> list, you can reference the corresponding match group in the <otherTerms> list with the syntax <name>, where <name> is the name of the group.

For example, in an empty query pipeline named Testing Match Groups, you create a statement expressing the thesaurus feature with the following definition:

expand /(?<username>[^@]+)@example\.com/ to "_username_"

The following table summarizes how the current q expression of different queries going through the Testing Match Groups query pipeline is processed when this statement is applied:

Current q expression Processed q expression

asmith@example.com

asmith@example.com OR asmith

bjones@example.com

bjones@example.com OR bjones

Using the alias sub-feature

The alias sub-feature lets you define statements that essentially make all expressions (keywords or phrases) in a set synonymous to one another. This means that whenever any of these expressions appears in the basic part (q) of the query expression, this expression expands to all other expressions in the alias set.

alias statements are evaluated in the order they’re defined. This means that when a query is sent, the alias sub-feature evaluates the terms defined in the statement in order until it finds a match with the queried keywords. Therefore, when defining alias statements that are meant to expand terms that share a single prefix, you should define more meaningful terms in the first position of the statement to avoid relevance issues.

In the Coveo Administration Console, alias statements can be defined by using the Synonym thesaurus rule type.

Example

When considering the following statement:

alias "vacation", "vacation leave", "vacation policy"

When a user queries vacation policy, their query is parsed as follows:

(vacation OR (vacation leave) OR (vacation policy)) policy

However, when defining the same statement using vacation policy in first position as follows:

alias "vacation policy", "vacation leave", "vacation"

The same vacation policy query is parsed as follows:

(vacation policy) OR (vacation leave) OR vacation
Important

An alias set of expressions must contain at least one quoted string (that is, it can’t contain only regular expressions).

This sub-feature is an optimized use of the expand sub-feature, as many statements would otherwise be required to define a set of bi-directional expansions (that is, synonyms).

Examples

  • The following statement:

      alias "foo", "bar", "qux"

    Is equivalent to:

      expand "foo" to "bar", "qux"
  expand "bar" to "foo", "qux"
  expand "qux" to "foo", "bar"

  • In an empty query pipeline named Testing Thesaurus Alias, you create a statement expressing the thesaurus feature with the following QPL definition:

      alias "car", /(dodge) \w+/, "automobile", "motor vehicle"

    The following table summarizes how current q expression of different queries going through the Testing Thesaurus Alias query pipeline is processed when this statement is applied:

    Current q expression Processed q expression

    car

    car OR automobile OR (motor vehicle)

    automobile

    car OR automobile OR (motor vehicle)

    motor vehicle

    car OR automobile OR (motor vehicle)

    dodge stratus

    car OR (dodge stratus) OR automobile OR (motor vehicle)

    dodge caravan car

    (car OR (dodge caravan) OR automobile OR (motor vehicle)) (car OR automobile OR (motor vehicle))

Using the expand sub-feature

The expand sub-feature allows you to define statements that expand each expression (keyword or phrase) in an originating set to all expressions in a destination set. Those expansions are uni-directional.

In the Coveo Administration Console, expand statements can be defined by using the One-way synonym thesaurus rule type.

Example

In an empty query pipeline named Testing Thesaurus Expand, you create a statement expressing the thesaurus feature with the following QPL definition:

expand "car", /(dodge) \w+/ to "automobile", "motor vehicle"

The following table summarizes how the current q expression of different queries going through the Testing Thesaurus Expand query pipeline is processed when this statement is applied:

Current q expression Processed q expression

car

car OR automobile OR (motor vehicle)

dodge stratus

(dodge stratus) OR automobile OR (motor vehicle)

dodge caravan car

dodge caravan) OR automobile OR (motor vehicle (car OR automobile OR (motor vehicle))

Using the replace sub-feature

The replace sub-feature allows you to define statements that replace each expression (keyword or phrase) in an originating set with all expressions in a destination set.

In the Coveo Administration Console, replace statements can be defined by using the Replace thesaurus rule type.

Example

In an empty query pipeline named Testing Thesaurus Replace, you create a statement expressing the thesaurus feature with the following QPL definition:

replace "car", /(dodge) \w+/ to "automobile", "motor vehicle"

The following table summarizes how the current q expression of different queries going through the Testing Thesaurus Replace query pipeline is processed when this statement is applied:

Current q expression Processed q expression

car

automobile OR (motor vehicle)

dodge stratus

automobile OR (motor vehicle)

dodge caravan car

(automobile OR (motor vehicle)) (automobile OR (motor vehicle))
Note

You can use the replace sub-feature along with the no-stemming operator (+) to systematically prevent the index from stemming certain keywords or phrases (that is, expanding those expressions to other terms that share the same root).

replace "dodge" to "+dodge"

This can be useful when a product name has the same root as a frequently used keyword.

Using the quote sub-feature

The quote sub-feature allows you to define statements that automatically turn all expressions (keywords or phrases) in an originating set into their corresponding exact phrase match expression, or into the corresponding exact phrase match expression of each expression in a destination set.

You could obtain the same results using the replace sub-feature, but the required syntax would be heavier.

In the Coveo Administration Console, quote statements can be defined by using the Match terms exactly thesaurus rule type.

Examples

  • The following statements:

    quote "foo bar"
quote /foo.*/

    Are respectively equivalent to:

    replace "foo bar" to "\"foo bar\""
replace /(?<fooGroup>foo.*)/ to "\"_fooGroup_\""

  • In an empty query pipeline named Testing Thesaurus Quote, you create two distinct statements, each expressing the thesaurus feature, with the following QPL definitions:

    Statement 1

    quote /(dodge) \w+/

    Statement 2

    quote "car", "automobile" to "motor vehicle"

    The following table summarizes how the current q expression of different queries going through the Testing Thesaurus Quote query pipeline is processed when these statements are applied:

    Current q expression Processed q expression

    dodge stratus

    "dodge stratus"

    dodge stratus dodge caravan

    "dodge stratus" "dodge caravan"

    car

    "motor vehicle"

    automobile

    "motor vehicle"

    dodge stratus automobile

    "dodge stratus" "motor vehicle"