Manage fields

Select the type of data that will be indexed in this field. For a field where you’ll index Boolean metadata, select String.

The possible field types are the following:

Integer 32, Integer 64, and Decimal fields are sometimes called numeric fields.

The following are not field types:

The Facet and Multi-value facet field options allow you to add a facet based on this field in your search interface. Search interface users will then be able to use this facet to filter their search results by selecting field values. These options are mutually exclusive.

If your field is a string field, you can select either option, or none. With a field of another type, Facet is mandatory and you don’t have have any decision to make.

The main difference between Facet and Multi-value facet is how Coveo interprets the metadata indexed in this field. When you select the Facet option, Coveo interprets the metadata as a single value.

Conversely, when you select the Multi-value facet option, Coveo interprets the metadata as multiple values separated by a semicolon (;).

Another difference between the two options is that fields with the Facet option enabled can be used to identify items to promote with a featured result rule.

When you select either Facet or Multi-value facet, you have the option to enable the Facet Generator option. This option lets the Facet Generator provide facets based on the input query and the content of your index.

Optionally, enter a name to display when a facet based on this field appears in your search interface. For example, if your field name is sysauthor, you can enter Author as the display name. If you don’t enter a name, the facet will display the field name.

The Sortable field option allows you to add a Sort by component based on this field to your search interface. Search interface users will then be able to use this component to sort their search results based on this field.

This option is mandatory for numeric and date fields, and irrelevant for vector fields. So, you don’t have have any decision to make in these cases.

If you expect search interface users to frequently sort their search results based on a certain field, you should enable the Use cache for sort option for this field.

At least one of these field options must be enabled.

When Search operator is enabled, search interface users can perform queries on the field. For example, they could type @author=Poe or @author=="Edgar Allan Poe" in the search box to find books whose author is Edgar Allan Poe.

When Displayable in results is enabled, the field can be used in the result templates of your search interfaces. For example, this search result displays the values of the division, title, and location fields:

Typically, when a search interface user enters keywords in the search box, items whose body contains these keywords are returned in the search results. When you enable the Free text search option for a field, the field values are also considered.

If Free text search is disabled and Search operator is enabled, the field values are only considered in queries that explicitly reference the field, such as @author=Poe.

Enable the Ranking option when you want search results whose field value matches the query to be ranked higher in the search results.

Enable the Stemming option to allow stemming on field queries.

The Use cache for sort option makes the search result sorting process faster by keeping the field values in memory. It is available when you’ve enabled the Sortable option for a field.

If you expect search page users to frequently use the sort component based on this field, you should enable the Use cache for sort option.

Enable the Use cache for computed fields option when you want to keep data in memory for computed fields. It should be enabled when you have a query function expression that references a field.

For example, you use a query function to compute the file size in kilobytes for each item at query time and store the results in a dynamically generated field called sizekb. This query function is function:"@syssize/1024" : fieldName:"@sizekb". It requires the sizekb field to use the cache.

If the option is not enabled, queries related to these fields may take over a second to return results, depending on your number of items.

Cardinality is the number of different values a field has. Cardinality has a great impact on nested query performance, especially with string fields, as Coveo must process many values. Enable the Use cache for nested queries option when using high-cardinality facets, especially if they contain strings, or when you plan on making nested queries using this field. Coveo will keep in memory the values of this field for faster processing.

Enable the Use cache for numeric queries option when you want to keep the proper information in memory to execute operations on numeric or date fields.

Enabling this option also allows you to use numeric fields for range facets, specify the number of ranges, and let the Coveo index establish the ranges.