Azure Search Indexers – Index data without writing code

March 19, 2015 1:44 pm / 8 Comments /

Azure Search logo big

The Microsoft Azure Search team recently released a new preview version, which includes some exciting new features. I’ve briefly covered them in my previous Azure Search Services post but wanted to dive a bit deeper into the Indexers.

An indexer is a content crawler written for a specific data source eliminating the need for writing code responsible for extract data from your data source and feed this data within the index. The Indexer runs within the Azure context, and it’s therefore not required to create a service for hosting this process (billing details are not available yet).

NOTE: At the time of writing, it’s only possible to configure a DocumentDB and Azure SQL Database as a data source. However, this might change in the future depending on customer needs.

Azure Search Indexers – Getting started.

Before we start creating an indexer, I necessary to understand what’s involved. There are 4 parts when setting up an indexer; a supported data source (containing your data), a pointer to your data source (also called data source, storing the connection string), an index, and the Indexer.

For now, it isn’t possible to create neither the data source pointer nor the Indexer using the Azure portal/PowerShell management API. Therefore it’s required to use the REST-based API. I will be using Chrome’s Postman for creating and sending HTTP requests.

API Details can be found here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dn946891.aspx

Test Project Setup

I just wanted to keep everything very simple and therefore configured the following test setup using the Azure Management Portal.

  • Install Chrome’s Postman (or a similar tool) for creating and sending HTTP requests (getpostman.com)
  • Create a new Azure SQL Database. I’m using the AdventureWorksLT [V12] sample database for sample data.Azure Search Indexers Database
  • Open the Properties blade of the database, select “Show database connection strings” and copy the ADO.NET version of the connection string.Azure-Search-Indexers-Database-2
  • Connect to the database using SQL Server Management Studio and create the following view. This because it’s required having a column named id

    UPDATE: Eugene Shvets, who is working on the Azure Search team, informed me that you only need to have a column with the same name as index’s key field. Therefore creating a new view or altering the existing view isn’t required for this example.

  • Create a new Azure Search service
  • After completion, open the Search Service Essentials Blade and copy one of the Administration keys.
    Azure Search Indexers Key
  • Please create a new Index (I’ve named mine index1) and add the following fields
    Name: String,Searchable,Retrievable
    Description: String,Searchable,Retrievable
    Azure Search Indexers Index Fields

Creating a new Search Service Data Source

  • Open Postman and make sure change the type to POST
  • Provide the URL pointing to your Search Service endpoint including the API-version as shown below https://[servicename].search.windows.net/datasources?api-version=2015-02-28-Preview
  • Within the headers section add Content-Type : application/json and api-key : [your admin key]
  • Provide the following message body however make sure to alter the connection stringThe container value [SalesLT].[vProductAndDescriptionIndex] points to the view created earlier.

Azure Search Indexers Data Source

Creating a new Search Service Indexer

  • Open Postman and make sure to change the type to POST
  • Provide the URL pointing to your Search Service endpoint including the API-version as shown below https://[servicename].search.windows.net/indexers?api-version=2015-02-28-Preview
  • Within the headers section add Content-Type : application/json and api-key : [your admin key]In this example, index1 refers to the name of the search Index created earlier.

Run the Indexer and retrieve indexer status information

  • Within Postman and make sure to change the type to POST.
  • Provide the URL pointing to your Search Service endpoint including the API-version and name of the Indexer as shown below https://[servicename].search.windows.net/indexers/[indexer name]//run?api-version=2015-02-28-Preview
  • Within the headers section add. api-key : [your admin key]
The Get Indexer Status operation retrieves the current status and execution history of an indexer:
  • Change the type to POST.
  • Provide the URL pointing to your Search Service endpoint including the API-version and name of the Indexer as shown below https://[servicename].search.windows.net/indexers/[indexer name]/status?api-version=2015-02-28-Preview
  • Within the headers section add. api-key : [your admin key]

Testing the index

Use The following URL template  to test the index. Just keep in mind that it might take some time before the data has been indexed, depending on the amount of data and the selected tier.

https:// [servicename].search.windows.net/indexes/[index name]//docs?search=finger&api-version=2015-02-28

Working with Azure Search is straightforward. Just keep in mind that I haven’t covered options like Data Change and Deletion Detection Policies, indexing schedules and parameters, resetting an indexer, and Mapping constraints. However, the detailed documentation makes it easy to explore on your own.

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