The VTEX Master Data can be extended to configure fields such as Buscável or Filtro. But what do these settings mean? The purpose of this article is to answer this question.

First we will describe the flow of searches. There are two types:

1. Query by the ID;
2. Query a collection of documents.

This type of query is the quickest way of recovering data. The ID is the most efficient reference to give us the exact storage address. We suggest you always use the attribute id. It will always be quicker than any other method of querying the VTEX Master Data.

In this type of search the fields marked Buscável or Filtro are important. But they are not the only ones you should use. The índices are also part of this process. The best way of understanding the flow of this type of search is to look at an example.

In our example, we have the data entity Cliente, code CL. It is configured as follows:

The attribute é filtro indicates that we can use a filter via a specific field or fields. In our example, we can filter through the fields Email and Idade.

In the API, we can make the following query using the search path:

1. /dataentities/CL/search?Email=meuemail@provider.com
2. /dataentities/CL/search?Idade=18

If a filter is used in the Nome, field, which is not marked as a filter, the answer will be Bad Request indicating that the Nome field is not configured for a filter.

The attribute é buscável indicates that we can search via the _keyword attribute in the search. path. The _keyword is used in the follow circumstances: “I want all the documents containing the value maria.”

The API call, in this case will be:

/dataentities/CL/search?_keyword=maria

The asterisks are indicators for a partial query. In other words, documents with the exact value maria, will not be searched for, but only those showing this group of characters somewhere.

The result of this query would give documents with values such as the following in the attributes Nome and Email: Nome=Maria Joaquina | Email=maria@provider.com.

The index is a feature of VTEX Master Data which works as a shortcut to find documents. It does not use the search engine (technology used for queries with filters, fulltext search and aggregation).

Using this feature, the query is quicker than with a normal filter. However, the greater the number of indexes, the more slowly documents are written. Always make sure that the writing and reading process in your model is as efficient as possible in resolving problems.

Queries by indexes are made via the search. path. In the search flow, when the VTEX Master Data is interpreting a query, it asks the following question:

Esse filtro compõe um índice?

If the answer is yes (the filter is part of an index), the search is done through the index.

Reindexing is a background process that works as follows:

1. It reads the configurations of fields marked as Filtro and Buscável;
2. It updates the search engine with the new fields;
3. It searches all stored documents and updates the values in the search engine.

When the fields of a document are written in the search engine, we say that this document is indexed. This is why we talk about “reindexing”.

Note that this feature only works in cases where fields marked as é filtro or é buscável are changed.