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From: Alexandre Rafalovitch <arafalov@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2016 23:37:05 +0700
Message-ID: <CAEFAe-Ej12_nxVFiACfuKkaDfGTDtk5d2R7SfvRiD5PjE==WXA@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: query formulation
To: solr-user <solr-user@lucene.apache.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
archived-at: Sun, 11 Sep 2016 16:37:58 -0000

1. There are tutorials. Actually a number of them. But none of them -
as far as I remember - go very far into the query language. They kind
of stop of basic queries. I remember the first time I realized I can
get multiple subqueries working together (for
https://gist.github.com/arafalov/5e04884e5aefaf46678c I think). There
is also _a lot_ of resources on the web, but they are not easily
discoverable. I am looking into doing something about that, but it is
not public (or even alpha) yet.

2. Solr Reference Guide (not wiki) is the starting point now. It is
quite comprehensive, but it is a reference guide, not a tutorial. So,
some information is still in unexpected sections (e.g. parent/child
queries, child expansion, etc).

3. Yes and yes. I am not promising knowing all answers, but I've been
already digging into some of this for various solr-start projects and
for my upcoming presentation. Contact me off the list and let's talk.

Regards,
    Alex.
----
Newsletter and resources for Solr beginners and intermediates:
http://www.solr-start.com/


On 11 September 2016 at 23:24, John Bickerstaff
<john@johnbickerstaff.com> wrote:
> All,
>
> I've found that figuring out the subtle nuances of the query language is a
> *daunting* task for someone unfamiliar with SOLR.
>
> I'm not aware of any comprehensive documentation (in the form of a tutorial
> or similar really useful tool)
>
> It seems the information is scattered all over the place an has to be dug
> out piecemeal...  Typical for open-source projects.  Yes, I've seen the
> wiki - and it's not too far from a man page.  Everything that is possible
> (in theory) is contained in the api, but that is not the same thing as a
> large set of examples that *show* how to use it.
>
> So, three questions:
>
> 1. Is there somewhere that really dives into the use of the query language
> (like a tutorial)?
> 2. Assuming not, is there a web page that at least contains a majority of
> the links to various sources to assist someone in studying?
> 3. Is there any interest in having someone do this documentation / tutorial
> creation?
>          3a. If the answer to 3 is  yes - are the committers/solr experts
> willing to volunteer to answer questions via email if I build the tutorial?
>
> If the answer to 3 is yes and yes - I cut my teeth in the industry 20 years
> ago as a Tech Writer and Instructional Designer.  I will build and publish
> the tutorial - but I don't have the time to dig out all the info the hard
> way - which is why I asked 3a...
>
> On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 11:20 AM, Erick Erickson <erickerickson@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Background for Shawn's comments can be found here:
>>
>> https://lucidworks.com/blog/2011/12/28/why-not-and-or-and-not/
>>
>> Solr's query language is NOT strict boolean logic as explained
>> above. Although with proper grouping (parenthesizing) and tricks
>> like Shawn mentioned it can be pretty close.
>>
>> Best,
>> Erick
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 9:17 PM, Shawn Heisey <apache@elyograg.org> wrote:
>> > On 9/9/2016 9:17 PM, Prasanna S. Dhakephalkar wrote:
>> >> Further search on net got me answer
>> >>
>> >> The query to be
>> >>
>> >> a_id:20 OR (*:* NOT a_id:*)
>> >>
>> >> I don't understand this syntax
>> >
>> > The basic problem here is that negative queries don't work.  If you're
>> > going to subtract X, you have to start with something (like all docs),
>> > or the result is nothing.
>> >
>> > For simple queries (just a single "-field:X" clause), Solr is able to
>> > detect the unworkable situation and implicitly add a "*:*" starting
>> > point, so the query works.
>> >
>> > When the query has ANY complexity, Solr's negative query detection isn't
>> > possible, and the query can't be fixed automatically, so it doesn't work.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Shawn
>> >
>>