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docs: add a section to describe scalar index (#1495)
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docs/src/guides/scalar_index.md
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docs/src/guides/scalar_index.md
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# Building Scalar Index
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Similar to many SQL databases, LanceDB supports several types of Scalar indices to accelerate search
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over scalar columns.
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- `BTREE`: The most common type is BTREE. This index is inspired by the btree data structure
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although only the first few layers of the btree are cached in memory.
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It will perform well on columns with a large number of unique values and few rows per value.
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- `BITMAP`: this index stores a bitmap for each unique value in the column.
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This index is useful for columns with a finite number of unique values and many rows per value.
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For example, columns that represent "categories", "labels", or "tags"
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- `LABEL_LIST`: a special index that is used to index list columns whose values have a finite set of possibilities.
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For example, a column that contains lists of tags (e.g. `["tag1", "tag2", "tag3"]`) can be indexed with a `LABEL_LIST` index.
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| Data Type | Filter | Index Type |
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| --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ------------ |
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| Numeric, String, Temporal | `<`, `=`, `>`, `in`, `between`, `is null` | `BTREE` |
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| Boolean, numbers or strings with fewer than 1,000 unique values | `<`, `=`, `>`, `in`, `between`, `is null` | `BITMAP` |
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| List of low cardinality of numbers or strings | `array_has_any`, `array_has_all` | `LABEL_LIST` |
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=== "Python"
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```python
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import lancedb
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books = [
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{"book_id": 1, "publisher": "plenty of books", "tags": ["fantasy", "adventure"]},
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{"book_id": 2, "publisher": "book town", "tags": ["non-fiction"]},
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{"book_id": 3, "publisher": "oreilly", "tags": ["textbook"]}
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]
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db = lancedb.connect("./db")
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table = db.create_table("books", books)
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table.create_scalar_index("book_id") # BTree by default
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table.create_scalar_index("publisher", index_type="BITMAP")
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```
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=== "Typescript"
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=== "@lancedb/lancedb"
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```js
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const db = await lancedb.connect("data");
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const tbl = await db.openTable("my_vectors");
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await tbl.create_index("book_id");
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await tlb.create_index("publisher", { config: lancedb.Index.bitmap() })
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```
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For example, the following scan will be faster if the column `my_col` has a scalar index:
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=== "Python"
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```python
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import lancedb
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table = db.open_table("books")
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my_df = table.search().where("book_id = 2").to_pandas()
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```
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=== "Typescript"
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=== "@lancedb/lancedb"
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```js
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const db = await lancedb.connect("data");
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const tbl = await db.openTable("books");
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await tbl
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.query()
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.where("book_id = 2")
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.limit(10)
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.toArray();
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```
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Scalar indices can also speed up scans containing a vector search or full text search, and a prefilter:
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=== "Python"
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```python
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import lancedb
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data = [
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{"book_id": 1, "vector": [1, 2]},
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{"book_id": 2, "vector": [3, 4]},
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{"book_id": 3, "vector": [5, 6]}
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]
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table = db.create_table("book_with_embeddings", data)
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(
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table.search([1, 2])
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.where("book_id != 3", prefilter=True)
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.to_pandas()
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)
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```
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=== "Typescript"
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=== "@lancedb/lancedb"
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```js
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const db = await lancedb.connect("data/lance");
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const tbl = await db.openTable("book_with_embeddings");
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await tbl.search(Array(1536).fill(1.2))
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.where("book_id != 3") // prefilter is default behavior.
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.limit(10)
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.toArray();
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```
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