Does using fuzziness disable prefix search in a simple_query_string

Question

When using simple_query_string with the prefix operator * and a fuzziness value ~N on the same word the prefix search appears seems to be disabled.

{
  "query": {
    "simple_query_string": {
      "query": "Abcd*~2",
      "fields": ["name"]
    }
  }
}

It's very obvious that prefix gets disabled whenever you set the fuzziness to 0 and the query becomes Abcd*~0 then there is no prefix search and no fuzziness.

This isn't mentioned in the docs so I'm not sure if I'm doing it wrong.

I've tried:

swapping the operator order: Abcd~2* -- in _explain this introduces fuzziness variations but omits the prefix operator
using parens for precedence: (Abcd*)~2 -- in _explain this uses the prefix but omits the fuzziness operator¹
duplicating the word: (Abcd* Abcd~2) -- this works, it obviously shows the reunion of both queries instead of the composition of both effects².

¹ I'm assuming that in this case ~2 shouldn't be interpreted as the SLOP operator because there is no phrase (no quotes).

² I can understand that compositing those effects may generate too many possible variants -- fuzzy adds 50 variants then prefix searches for each of those, that

In query string it is mentioned that "Avoid mixing fuzziness with wildcards Mixing fuzzy and wildcard operators is not supported. When mixed, one of the operators is not applied" elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/…. I think this will apply to simple_query_string too — jaspreet chahal
– jaspreet chahal, Commented May 27, 2020 at 9:24
It probably shares an underlying implementation. Thank you @jaspreetchahal Can you please write your comment as an answer so I can accept it? — Mihai Stancu
– Mihai Stancu, Commented May 27, 2020 at 9:33

jaspreet chahal · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-27 10:32:52Z

2

As per query-string docs

Mixing fuzzy and wildcard operators is not supported. When mixed, one of the operators is not applied. For example, you can search for app~1 (fuzzy) or app* (wildcard), but searches for app*~1 do not apply the fuzzy operator (~1).

It considers either wildcard or fuzzy whichever is first. For Abcd~2* It is just returning all the documents

edited May 27, 2020 at 10:32

answered May 27, 2020 at 10:12

jaspreet chahal

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