19.21. Configurable Legacy Automatic Indexing
- Create an auto index for nodes with specific configuration
- Create an auto index for relationships with specific configuration
- Get current status for autoindexing on nodes
- Enable node autoindexing
- Lookup list of properties being autoindexed
- Add a property for autoindexing on nodes
- Remove a property for autoindexing on nodes
Out of the box auto-indexing supports exact matches since they are created with the default configuration (see Section 34.12, “Automatic Indexing”) the first time you access them. However it is possible to intervene in the lifecycle of the server before any auto indexes are created to change their configuration.
Warning This approach cannot be used on databases that already have auto-indexes established. To change the auto-index configuration existing indexes would have to be deleted first, so be careful! |
Caution This technique works, but it is not particularly pleasant. Future versions of Neo4j may remove this loophole in favour of a better structured feature for managing auto-indexing configurations. |
Auto-indexing must be enabled through configuration before we can create or configure them. Firstly ensure that you’ve added some config like this into your server’s neo4j.properties
file:
node_auto_indexing=true relationship_auto_indexing=true node_keys_indexable=name,phone relationship_keys_indexable=since
The node_auto_indexing
and relationship_auto_indexing
settings turn auto-indexing on for nodes and relationships respectively. The node_keys_indexable
key allows you to specify a comma-separated list of node property keys to be indexed. The relationship_keys_indexable
does the same for relationship property keys.
Next start the server as usual by invoking the start script as described in Section 21.2, “Server Installation”.
Next we have to pre-empt the creation of an auto-index, by telling the server to create an apparently manual index which has the same name as the node (or relationship) auto-index. For example, in this case we’ll create a node auto index whose name is node_auto_index
, like so:
Create an auto index for nodes with specific configuration
Example request
-
POST
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/node/
-
Accept:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
-
Content-Type:
application/json
{ "name" : "node_auto_index", "config" : { "type" : "fulltext", "provider" : "lucene" } }
Example response
-
201:
Created
-
Content-Type:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
-
Location:
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/node/node_auto_index/
{ "template" : "http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/node/node_auto_index/{key}/{value}", "type" : "fulltext", "provider" : "lucene" }
If you require configured auto-indexes for relationships, the approach is similar:
Create an auto index for relationships with specific configuration
Example request
-
POST
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/relationship/
-
Accept:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
-
Content-Type:
application/json
{ "name" : "relationship_auto_index", "config" : { "type" : "fulltext", "provider" : "lucene" } }
Example response
-
201:
Created
-
Content-Type:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
-
Location:
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/relationship/relationship_auto_index/
{ "template" : "http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/relationship/relationship_auto_index/{key}/{value}", "type" : "fulltext", "provider" : "lucene" }
In case you’re curious how this works, on the server side it triggers the creation of an index which happens to have the same name as the auto index that the database would create for itself. Now when we interact with the database, the index thinks the index is already created so the state machine skips over that step and just gets on with normal day-to-day auto-indexing.
Caution You have to do this early in your server lifecycle, before any normal auto indexes are created. |
There are a few REST calls providing a REST interface to the AutoIndexer component. The following REST calls work both, for node
and relationship
by simply changing the respective part of the URL.
Get current status for autoindexing on nodes
Example request
-
GET
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/auto/node/status
-
Accept:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
Example response
-
200:
OK
-
Content-Type:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
false
Enable node autoindexing
Example request
-
PUT
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/auto/node/status
-
Accept:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
-
Content-Type:
application/json
true
Example response
-
204:
No Content
Lookup list of properties being autoindexed
Example request
-
GET
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/auto/node/properties
-
Accept:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
Example response
-
200:
OK
-
Content-Type:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
[ "some-property" ]
Add a property for autoindexing on nodes
Example request
-
POST
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/auto/node/properties
-
Accept:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
-
Content-Type:
application/json
myProperty1
Example response
-
204:
No Content
Remove a property for autoindexing on nodes
Example request
-
DELETE
http://localhost:7474/db/data/index/auto/node/properties/myProperty1
-
Accept:
application/json; charset=UTF-8
Example response
-
204:
No Content