Understanding Drupal Field Names in SearchStax

Learn how to interpret field names in SearchStax when using the Drupal connector. SearchStax uses Drupal machine names with added prefixes and suffixes that indicate data type and language settings.

Understanding these naming conventions helps you choose the right fields for search, faceting, and filtering in your search configuration.

Understanding Field Name Structure

SearchStax field names follow this pattern: [prefix]_[drupal_field_name]_[language_suffix]

Here are a few common examples:

SearchStax field name Decoded meaning
tm_field_summary_en English version of `field_summary`, text, multi-valued
sm_field_tags_fr French version of field_tags, string, multi-valued
tm_title_und Language-neutral title field, text, multi-valued
t_body_de German body field, tokenized text, single-valued
dt_created Date/time of creation (not language-specific)

Choosing Fields by Data Type Prefix

Different data types work better for different search features. Use the prefix to identify the best field for your needs.

For Full-Text Search

Use tokenized text fields (prefixes with t) for searching content. These fields break words into terms and support features like stemming:

  • t_: Text field (tokenized, indexed, not stored)
  • tm_: Text field (tokenized, multi-valued, stored, indexed)
  • ts_: Text field (tokenized, stored, indexed)

For Faceting and Filtering

Use string fields (prefixes with s) for exact matches in facets and filters. These fields aren't tokenized. They match complete values:

  • s_: String field (single-valued, stored, not tokenized)
  • sm_: String field (multi-valued, stored, not tokenized)
  • ss_: String field (single-valued, stored, not tokenized)

Complete Prefix Reference

Prefix Data type Best used for
ts_ Text field (tokenized, stored, indexed) Full-text search with stored content
t_ Text field (tokenized, indexed, not stored) Full-text search
tm_ Text field (tokenized, multi-valued, stored, indexed) Multi-valued full-text search
sm_ String field (multi-valued, stored, not tokenized) Multi-valued facets/filters
s_ String field (single-valued, stored, not tokenized) Single-valued facets/filters
ss_ String field (single-valued, stored, not tokenized) Single-valued facets/filters
b_ Boolean True/false filters
i_ Integer Numeric sorting/filtering
is_ Integer (multi-valued) Multi-valued numeric data
f_ Float Decimal number sorting/filtering
fs_ Float (multi-valued) Multi-valued decimal data
dt_ Date/time field Date-based sorting/filtering
dts_ Date/time field (multi-valued) Multi-valued date data

Identifying Language Suffixes

If your Drupal site has multi-language content, field names include language codes:

Language Code
English en
French fr
Spanish es
German de
Arabic ar
Traditional Chinese zh
Language-neutral und

Note: For a complete list of supported languages, see Languages.

Finding the Right Field in SearchStax

  1. In SearchStax, go to Configurations Basic Configurations Available Fields.
  2. Look for fields that start with the appropriate prefix for your use case.
  3. Check the suffix to confirm you're using the correct language version.
  4. Add the field to your search fields, results fields, or facets as needed.

Tip: Use your browser's search function (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) to quickly find specific Drupal field names in the Available Fields list.

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