How to Run Partial Match Atlas Search Queries

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Create the Atlas Search Index

Run a Case-Sensitive Partial Match Query

This tutorial describes how to create an index on the sample_mflix.movies collection and run partial string queries against the plot field. To return matches for partial string queries, you can use one of the following operators:

The autocomplete operator, which allows you to search for a word or phrase that contains the sequence of characters that you specify with your query.
The phrase operator, which allows you to search for documents that contain the terms in your query string at the distance you specify between the terms.
The regex operator, which allows you to search for strings using regular expression.
The wildcard operator, which allows you to search using special characters in your query to match any character.

This tutorial takes you through the following steps:

Set up an Atlas Search index on the plot field in the sample_mflix.movies collection.
Run Atlas Search query for a partial string against the plot field in the sample_mflix.movies collection using autocomplete, phrase, regex, and wildcard operators.

Before you begin, ensure that your Atlas cluster meets the requirements described in the Prerequisites.

Create the Atlas Search Index

In this section, you will create an Atlas Search index on the plot field in the sample_mflix.movies collection for running partial match queries against those fields.

Navigate to the Atlas Search page for your project.

If it is not already displayed, select the organization that contains your desired project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.
If it is not already displayed, select your desired project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.
Click your cluster's name.
Click the Search tab.

Click Create Index.

Select a Configuration Method and click Next.

For a guided experience, select Visual Editor.
To edit the raw index definition, select JSON Editor.

Enter the Index Name, and set the Database and Collection.

In the Index Name field, enter default.
Note
If you name your index default, you don't need to specify an index parameter when using the $search pipeline stage. Otherwise, you must specify the index name using the index parameter.
In the Database and Collection section, find the sample_mflix database, and select the movies collection.

Define an index on the `title` and `plot` fields.

You can use the Visual Editor or the JSON Editor in the Atlas user interface to create the index.

Visual Editor

Click Next.
Click Refine Your Index.
Click Add Field.

Configure the following fields:

UI Field Name	Configuration
Field Name	Enter `plot`.
Enable Dynamic Mapping	Toggle to Off.

Specify the data type and the settings for the operator you want to use to run the query.
Click Save Changes.
Click Create Search Index.
Note
The You're All Set! modal window appears to let you know your index is building.
Click the Close button.

JSON Editor

Replace the default index definition with the following example index definition for the operator you intend to use for running the query and click Next.
Click Create Search Index.

Wait for the index to finish building.

The index should take about one minute to build. While it is building, the Status column reads Build in Progress. When it is finished building, the Status column reads Active.

Run a Case-Sensitive Partial Match Query

➤ Use the Select your language drop-down menu on this page to set the language of the examples in this section.

You can use the autocomplete, phrase, regex, and wildcard operators to run a case-sensitive partial match query. This tutorial uses these operators to search for movies whose plot contain the specified partial string. The query uses the following pipeline stages:

$search stage to search the collection
$limit stage to limit the output to 3 results
$project stage to exclude all fields except title and plot

In this section, you will connect to your Atlas cluster and run the sample query using the operator against the plot field in the sample_mflix.movies collection.

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