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    Home Paris Now Platform Administration Now Platform administration Search administration Zing text indexing and search engine Zing indexes words Configure multiple tables for indexing and searching

    Configure multiple tables for indexing and searching

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    Configure multiple tables for indexing and searching

    Update tables to the V4 indexing format to include them in multiple table searches.

    Before you begin

    Role required: admin, ts_admin

    About this task

    Performing searches across multiple tables requires normalizing the tables first so the relevance scores mean the same thing for all tables. V4 indexing provides that normalization. Zing uses the Okapi BM25 ranking function to calculate the relevancy score of search results.

    The V4 table indexing format is optimized for documentation, such as knowledge base articles. You do not need to re-index tables using the V4 indexing format when you change the value of an indexing attribute, such as the weight of a field. If you want to use the BM25 ranking function on a single table, you can convert it to the V4 format.

    To search across multiple tables, you:
    1. Configure tables to use V4 and add them to an index group.
      Note: For new ServiceNow instances, the following tables use the V4 index format: sc_cat_item, kb_knowledge, kb_social_qa_question, sys_user. If you upgrade from a previous version of ServiceNow, the indexing format of these tables remains the same as it was in the older version.
    2. Perform the search using glideRecord.addQuery(name, value), or glideRecord.addEncodedQuery(value) where name is the special value 123TEXTINDEXGROUP321. For more information about searching, see Querying tables in script.

    Procedure

    1. Configure the tables you want to use in multiple table searches to use the V4 index format.
      1. Navigate to System Definition and click Text Index Configurations.
        The Text Index Configuration page displays.
      2. In Applies to select Table and select a table in the Table field.
      3. If Format is not disabled, select V4, click Submit, and skip to step 2.
        You can choose index formatting in this step because the table was not indexed previously.
      4. If Format is disabled, the table has already been indexed and you must explicitly update the index formatting. Click Submit.
      5. Navigate to Text Index Configurations and click <table-you-just-submitted>.
        The Text Index Configuration page displays.
      6. Under Related Links, click Show index name record.
        The Text Index page displays.
      7. Under Related Links, click Upgrade to V4.
        The indexing for the specified index is upgraded from V3 to V4, making this table a part of multiple-table indexing.
      8. Under Related Links , click Show Configuration to show the table indexing format in the Text Index Configuration form.
        Note: Upgrading from V3 to V4 is easy. Downgrading from V4 to V3 is more difficult and discouraged.
    2. Create an index group that specifies all of the tables to index together so they can be searched together.
      1. Click Text Index Groups.
        The Text Index Group form displays.
      2. In Label, enter a name for the group of tables to be indexed and searched together.
      3. In Tables, click the unlock icon and use the magnifying glass to add tables to the index group.
        You can add tables formatted with V3 and V4 to index groups. If you add V3 tables, the index group is inactive.
      4. If the Active field is unselected, make the index group active by clicking Activate Index Group under Related links.
        Activating the index group re-indexes all non-V4-formatted tables to V4.
      5. Click Submit.
        You created a collection of V4-formatted tables that can be indexed and searched together.
    3. Configure the indexing and search attributes on tables in an index group.
      1. Navigate to Text Index Configurations and click New.
        The Text Index configuration form displays. If you already have an index group in the list, skip to step d.
      2. In Applies to, select Index Group.
      3. In Index group, click the magnifying glass and select the index group you created and click Submit.
        The only index groups that display are the ones you have already created.
        The Text Index configuration form displays.
      4. Click your index group.
      5. On the Text Index Table Attribute Maps tab, click New.
        The Text Index Table Attribute Map displays. Attributes either pertain to the way Zing indexes or searches tables.
      6. In Table, select a table to define attributes for.
        Only tables in the specified index group and their child tables display.
      7. In Attribute name, click the magnifying glass and select an attribute.
        For a list of the attributes, enter <my-ServiceNow-instance>/ts_configuration_attribute_list.do. For definitions of the attributes, see Zing index and search attributes.
      8. In Value enter a value and click Submit.
        Valid values depend on the attribute. For information on valid values, see Zing index and search attributes.
      9. Repeat this procedure to define additional search engine parameters for table in the index group.
      10. Under Related Links, click Generate Text Index.
    4. Configure search parameters on individual table columns in the index group.
      1. Click Text Index Configurations > <my-group-index>.
      2. On the Text Index Column Attribute Maps tab, click New.
        The Text Index Column Attribute Map form displays.
      3. In Table, select a table to define attributes for.
        Only tables in the index group and their child tables display.
      4. In Attribute name, select a search engine parameter, enter a value for that parameter in Value, and click Submit.
        For a list of the attributes, enter <my-ServiceNow-instance>/ts_configuration_attribute_list.do. For definitions of the attributes, see Zing index and search attributes.
      5. In Column, specify the name of the column in the selected table you want to apply the search attribute to.
      6. In Value, specify the attribute's value that governs the search.
      7. Click Submit.
      8. Repeat this procedure to define additional search engine parameters for table columns in the index group.
      9. Under Related Links, click Generate Text Index.
    5. (Optional) Add a synonym dictionary.
      Specifying a dictionary enables searches on the search term and synonyms of the search term, such as car, and its synonym, auto. Zing provides a default synonym dictionary.
      1. On the Index synonym Dictionaries tab, click New.
      2. In Index, select the index to add the stop words to.
      3. In Synonym dictionary, select the dictionary to use.
        To add a dictionary, click New and follow the procedure in Create synonym dictionaries.

    What to do next

    Perform the search using glideRecord.addQuery(name, value), or glideRecord.addEncodedQuery(value). For more information about searching, see Querying tables in script.
    Related tasks
    • Enable text indexing for a table
    • Configure a single table for indexing and searching
    • Regenerate a text index for a table
    • Regenerate a corrupt index
    • Remove an index
    • Remove an index for a specific field
    • Remove an index for a child table
    • Change the query mode of an indexed table
    • Configure tables to use the Japanese tokenizer
    Related concepts
    • Zing indexes punctuation as part of some words
    • Zing indexes some HTML elements
    Related reference
    • Zing index and search dictionary attributes
    • Text indexing statistics and status

    Tags:

    Feedback
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    Release version
    Choose your release version

      Configure multiple tables for indexing and searching

      • Save as PDF Selected topic Topic & subtopics All topics in contents
      • Unsubscribe Log in to subscribe to topics and get notified when content changes.
      • Share this page

      Configure multiple tables for indexing and searching

      Update tables to the V4 indexing format to include them in multiple table searches.

      Before you begin

      Role required: admin, ts_admin

      About this task

      Performing searches across multiple tables requires normalizing the tables first so the relevance scores mean the same thing for all tables. V4 indexing provides that normalization. Zing uses the Okapi BM25 ranking function to calculate the relevancy score of search results.

      The V4 table indexing format is optimized for documentation, such as knowledge base articles. You do not need to re-index tables using the V4 indexing format when you change the value of an indexing attribute, such as the weight of a field. If you want to use the BM25 ranking function on a single table, you can convert it to the V4 format.

      To search across multiple tables, you:
      1. Configure tables to use V4 and add them to an index group.
        Note: For new ServiceNow instances, the following tables use the V4 index format: sc_cat_item, kb_knowledge, kb_social_qa_question, sys_user. If you upgrade from a previous version of ServiceNow, the indexing format of these tables remains the same as it was in the older version.
      2. Perform the search using glideRecord.addQuery(name, value), or glideRecord.addEncodedQuery(value) where name is the special value 123TEXTINDEXGROUP321. For more information about searching, see Querying tables in script.

      Procedure

      1. Configure the tables you want to use in multiple table searches to use the V4 index format.
        1. Navigate to System Definition and click Text Index Configurations.
          The Text Index Configuration page displays.
        2. In Applies to select Table and select a table in the Table field.
        3. If Format is not disabled, select V4, click Submit, and skip to step 2.
          You can choose index formatting in this step because the table was not indexed previously.
        4. If Format is disabled, the table has already been indexed and you must explicitly update the index formatting. Click Submit.
        5. Navigate to Text Index Configurations and click <table-you-just-submitted>.
          The Text Index Configuration page displays.
        6. Under Related Links, click Show index name record.
          The Text Index page displays.
        7. Under Related Links, click Upgrade to V4.
          The indexing for the specified index is upgraded from V3 to V4, making this table a part of multiple-table indexing.
        8. Under Related Links , click Show Configuration to show the table indexing format in the Text Index Configuration form.
          Note: Upgrading from V3 to V4 is easy. Downgrading from V4 to V3 is more difficult and discouraged.
      2. Create an index group that specifies all of the tables to index together so they can be searched together.
        1. Click Text Index Groups.
          The Text Index Group form displays.
        2. In Label, enter a name for the group of tables to be indexed and searched together.
        3. In Tables, click the unlock icon and use the magnifying glass to add tables to the index group.
          You can add tables formatted with V3 and V4 to index groups. If you add V3 tables, the index group is inactive.
        4. If the Active field is unselected, make the index group active by clicking Activate Index Group under Related links.
          Activating the index group re-indexes all non-V4-formatted tables to V4.
        5. Click Submit.
          You created a collection of V4-formatted tables that can be indexed and searched together.
      3. Configure the indexing and search attributes on tables in an index group.
        1. Navigate to Text Index Configurations and click New.
          The Text Index configuration form displays. If you already have an index group in the list, skip to step d.
        2. In Applies to, select Index Group.
        3. In Index group, click the magnifying glass and select the index group you created and click Submit.
          The only index groups that display are the ones you have already created.
          The Text Index configuration form displays.
        4. Click your index group.
        5. On the Text Index Table Attribute Maps tab, click New.
          The Text Index Table Attribute Map displays. Attributes either pertain to the way Zing indexes or searches tables.
        6. In Table, select a table to define attributes for.
          Only tables in the specified index group and their child tables display.
        7. In Attribute name, click the magnifying glass and select an attribute.
          For a list of the attributes, enter <my-ServiceNow-instance>/ts_configuration_attribute_list.do. For definitions of the attributes, see Zing index and search attributes.
        8. In Value enter a value and click Submit.
          Valid values depend on the attribute. For information on valid values, see Zing index and search attributes.
        9. Repeat this procedure to define additional search engine parameters for table in the index group.
        10. Under Related Links, click Generate Text Index.
      4. Configure search parameters on individual table columns in the index group.
        1. Click Text Index Configurations > <my-group-index>.
        2. On the Text Index Column Attribute Maps tab, click New.
          The Text Index Column Attribute Map form displays.
        3. In Table, select a table to define attributes for.
          Only tables in the index group and their child tables display.
        4. In Attribute name, select a search engine parameter, enter a value for that parameter in Value, and click Submit.
          For a list of the attributes, enter <my-ServiceNow-instance>/ts_configuration_attribute_list.do. For definitions of the attributes, see Zing index and search attributes.
        5. In Column, specify the name of the column in the selected table you want to apply the search attribute to.
        6. In Value, specify the attribute's value that governs the search.
        7. Click Submit.
        8. Repeat this procedure to define additional search engine parameters for table columns in the index group.
        9. Under Related Links, click Generate Text Index.
      5. (Optional) Add a synonym dictionary.
        Specifying a dictionary enables searches on the search term and synonyms of the search term, such as car, and its synonym, auto. Zing provides a default synonym dictionary.
        1. On the Index synonym Dictionaries tab, click New.
        2. In Index, select the index to add the stop words to.
        3. In Synonym dictionary, select the dictionary to use.
          To add a dictionary, click New and follow the procedure in Create synonym dictionaries.

      What to do next

      Perform the search using glideRecord.addQuery(name, value), or glideRecord.addEncodedQuery(value). For more information about searching, see Querying tables in script.
      Related tasks
      • Enable text indexing for a table
      • Configure a single table for indexing and searching
      • Regenerate a text index for a table
      • Regenerate a corrupt index
      • Remove an index
      • Remove an index for a specific field
      • Remove an index for a child table
      • Change the query mode of an indexed table
      • Configure tables to use the Japanese tokenizer
      Related concepts
      • Zing indexes punctuation as part of some words
      • Zing indexes some HTML elements
      Related reference
      • Zing index and search dictionary attributes
      • Text indexing statistics and status

      Tags:

      Feedback

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