Geo-point and geo-shape types in Elasticsearch - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is a geo-point type in Elasticsearch?

A geo-point type stores a single geographical point defined by latitude and longitude coordinates. It is used for location-based queries like distance or bounding box searches.

beginner

What kind of data does the geo-shape type store?

The geo-shape type stores complex shapes such as polygons, lines, and multi-points. It allows spatial queries like intersection, containment, and distance on these shapes.

beginner

How do you define a geo-point field in an Elasticsearch mapping?

You define it by setting the field type to "geo_point" in the mapping. For example:

{ "properties": { "location": { "type": "geo_point" } } }

beginner

Name one common query type used with geo-point fields.

The geo_distance query finds documents with geo-points within a certain distance from a given point.

intermediate

What is the difference between geo-point and geo-shape types?

Geo-point stores a single point (latitude and longitude). Geo-shape stores complex shapes like polygons or lines. Geo-shape supports more advanced spatial queries.

Which Elasticsearch type would you use to store a single location coordinate?

A geo_point

B geo_shape

C keyword

D text

The geo_point type is designed to store single latitude and longitude coordinates.

Which query is best to find documents within 10km of a location?

A geo_distance

B match

C term

D range

The geo_distance query filters documents by distance from a geo-point.

What kind of shapes can geo-shape store?

A Only points

B Numbers

C Text strings

D Polygons, lines, and multi-points

Geo-shape supports complex shapes like polygons, lines, and multi-points.

How do you specify a geo-point field in Elasticsearch mapping?

A "type": "geo_shape"

B "type": "geo_point"

C "type": "text"

D "type": "integer"

You set the field type to "geo_point" to store location coordinates.

Which type supports spatial queries like intersection and containment?

A keyword

B geo_point

C geo_shape

D date

Geo-shape supports advanced spatial queries such as intersection and containment.

Explain the difference between geo-point and geo-shape types in Elasticsearch.

Think about simple points versus polygons or lines.

Describe how you would define and query a location field using geo-point in Elasticsearch.

Start with the mapping, then how to search nearby points.