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Tablestore:Terms query

Last Updated:May 07, 2026

A terms query is similar to a term query. A terms query supports multiple keywords. A row of data is returned when the column value matches at least one of the keywords. Terms queries can be used in the same manner as the IN operator in SQL statements.

API operation

You can call the Search or ParallelScan operation and set the query type to TermsQuery to perform a terms query.

Parameters

Parameter

Description

query

The type of the query. Set the query parameter to TermsQuery.

fieldName

The name of the field that you want to match.

terms

The search terms to match. You can specify up to 1,024 terms.

A row of data is returned when the column value matches at least one of the keywords.

getTotalCount

Specifies whether to return the total number of rows that meet the query conditions. The default value of this parameter is false, which specifies that the total number of rows that meet the query conditions is not returned.

If you set this parameter to true, the query performance is compromised.

weight

The weight that you want to assign to the field that you want to query to calculate the BM25-based keyword relevance score. This parameter is used in full-text search scenarios. If you specify a higher weight for the field that you want to query, the BM25-based keyword relevance score for the field is higher. The value of this parameter is a positive floating point number.

This parameter does not affect the number of rows that are returned. However, this parameter affects the BM25-based keyword relevance scores of the query results.

tableName

The name of the data table.

indexName

The name of the search index.

columnsToGet

Specifies whether to return all columns of each row that meets the query conditions. You can specify the returnAll and columns fields for this parameter.

The default value of the returnAll field is false, which specifies that not all columns are returned. In this case, you can use the columns field to specify the columns that you want to return. If you do not specify the columns that you want to return, only the primary key columns are returned.

If you set the returnAll field to true, all columns are returned.

Methods

You can use the Tablestore console, Tablestore CLI, or Tablestore SDKs to perform a terms query. Before you perform a terms query, make sure that the following preparations are made:

Use the Tablestore console

  1. Go to the Index Management tab.

    1. Log on to the Table Store console.

    2. In the top navigation bar, select a resource group and a region.

    3. On the Overview page, click the instance name or click Instance Management in the Actions column.

    4. On the Instance Details tab, in the Data Table List tab, click the data table name or click Index Management in the Actions column.

  2. On the Index Management tab, find the target Search Index and click Search in the Actions column.

  3. In the Search dialog box, specify the query conditions.

    1. By default, all columns are returned. To return specific columns, turn off Retrieve All Columns and enter the column names, separated by commas.

      Note

      By default, Table Store returns the primary key columns of the data table.

    2. Select a logical operator: And, Or, or Not.

      If you select And, the query returns data that meets all specified conditions. If you select Or, the query returns data that meets at least one of the specified conditions. If you select Not, the query returns data that does not meet the specified conditions.

    3. Select an indexed field and click Add.

    4. Set the query type of the indexed field to Terms query (TermsQuery), enter a value, and then click Add.

      To add multiple values, repeat the process of entering a Value and clicking Add.

    5. By default, sorting is disabled. To sort the results by a specific field, turn on Enable Sorting, add the sort field, and configure the sort order.

    6. By default, aggregation is disabled. To perform statistical aggregation on a specific field, turn on Enable Aggregation, add the field for aggregation, and configure the aggregation settings.

  4. Click OK.

    The query results are displayed on the Index Management tab.

Use the Tablestore CLI

You can run the search command in the Tablestore CLI to query data by using search indexes. For more information, see Search index.

  1. Run the search command to use the search_index search index to query data and return all indexed columns of each row that meets the query conditions.

    search -n search_index --return_all_indexed
  2. Enter the query conditions as prompted by the system:

    {
        "Offset": -1,
        "Limit": 10,
        "Collapse": null,
        "Sort": null,
        "GetTotalCount": true,
        "Token": null,
        "Query": {
            "Name": "TermsQuery",
            "Query": {
                "FieldName": "col_keyword",
                "Terms": ["hangzhou", "xi'an"]
            }
        }
    }

Use Tablestore SDKs

You can perform a terms query by using the following Tablestore SDKs: Tablestore SDK for Java, Tablestore SDK for Go, Tablestore SDK for Python, Tablestore SDK for Node.js, Tablestore SDK for .NET, and Tablestore SDK for PHP. In this example, Tablestore SDK for Java is used.

The following sample code provides an example on how to query the rows in which the value of the Col_Keyword column is "hangzhou" or "xi'an":

/**
 * Search the table for rows in which the value of Col_Keyword is "hangzhou" or "xi'an". 
 * @param client
 */
private static void termQuery(SyncClient client) {
    SearchQuery searchQuery = new SearchQuery();
    TermsQuery termsQuery = new TermsQuery(); // Set the query type to TermsQuery. 
    termsQuery.setFieldName("Col_Keyword"); // Specify the name of the column that you want to match. 
    termsQuery.addTerm(ColumnValue.fromString("hangzhou")); // Specify the keyword that you want to match. 
    termsQuery.addTerm(ColumnValue.fromString("xi'an")); // Specify the keyword that you want to match. 
    searchQuery.setQuery(termsQuery);
    //searchQuery.setGetTotalCount(true); //Set the GetTotalCount parameter to true to return the total number of rows that meet the query conditions. 

    SearchRequest searchRequest = new SearchRequest("<TABLE_NAME>", "<SEARCH_INDEX_NAME>", searchQuery);
    // You can use the columnsToGet parameter to specify the columns that you want to return or specify that all columns are returned. If you do not specify this parameter, only the primary key columns are returned. 
    //SearchRequest.ColumnsToGet columnsToGet = new SearchRequest.ColumnsToGet();
    //columnsToGet.setReturnAll(true); // Set the ReturnAll parameter to true to return all columns. 
    //columnsToGet.setColumns(Arrays.asList("ColName1","ColName2")); // Specify the columns that you want to return. 
    //searchRequest.setColumnsToGet(columnsToGet);

    SearchResponse resp = client.search(searchRequest);
    //System.out.println("TotalCount: " + resp.getTotalCount()); // Specify that the total number of rows that meet the query conditions instead of the number of returned rows is displayed. 
    System.out.println("Row: " + resp.getRows());
}

Billing

Querying data by using a Search Index consumes read throughput. For more information, see Search Index metering and billing.

FAQ

References