Index mappings overview in Elasticsearch - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Index mappings overview

📖 Scenario: You are setting up a simple search index for a small online bookstore. You want to organize the data so Elasticsearch knows how to handle each piece of information about books.

🎯 Goal: Create an Elasticsearch index mapping that defines the structure for storing book information, including title, author, publication year, and price.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an index mapping named bookstore.

Define fields: title as text, author as keyword, year as integer, and price as float.

Use the mappings property to specify the field types.

Ensure the mapping is valid JSON for Elasticsearch.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Index mappings help Elasticsearch understand how to store and search your data efficiently, like organizing books in a library by title, author, and year.

💼 Career

Knowing how to define index mappings is essential for roles involving search engine setup, data indexing, and backend data management.

1

Create the index mapping structure

Create a JSON object called bookstore_mapping with a mappings key containing an empty properties object.

Elasticsearch

bookstore_mapping = {
    "mappings": {
        "properties": {
            # Your code here
        }
    }
}

Need a hint?

Start by creating the basic structure for the index mapping with empty properties.

2

Add field definitions to the mapping

Inside bookstore_mapping["mappings"]["properties"], add the fields title as text, author as keyword, year as integer, and price as float.

Elasticsearch

bookstore_mapping = {
    "mappings": {
        "properties": {
            # Add fields title, author, year, price here
        }
    }
}

Need a hint?

Define each field with its correct type inside the properties object.

3

Add a setting for dynamic mapping

Add a dynamic key with value false inside bookstore_mapping["mappings"] to prevent Elasticsearch from adding fields automatically.

Elasticsearch

bookstore_mapping = {
    "mappings": {
        "properties": {
            "title": {"type": "text"},
            "author": {"type": "keyword"},
            "year": {"type": "integer"},
            "price": {"type": "float"}
        },
        # Add dynamic setting here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Place the dynamic setting alongside properties inside mappings.

4

Complete the index mapping JSON

Ensure the entire bookstore_mapping JSON object includes dynamic set to false and the properties with all four fields exactly as specified.

Elasticsearch

bookstore_mapping = {
    "mappings": {
        "dynamic": false,
        "properties": {
            "title": {"type": "text"},
            "author": {"type": "keyword"},
            "year": {"type": "integer"},
            "price": {"type": "float"}
        }
    }
}
# Finalize the mapping structure

Need a hint?

Review the entire JSON to confirm all parts are included and correct.