addCollectionField()

This operation adds a new scalar field to an existing collection without recreating it. The field becomes available almost immediately with minimal delay due to internal schema synchronization.

public void addCollectionField(AddCollectionFieldReq request)

Request Syntax

addCollectionField(AddCollectionFieldReq.builder()
    .collectionName(String collectionName)
    .databaseName(String databaseName)
    .fieldName(String fieldName)
    .description(String description)
    .dataType(DataType dataType)
    .maxLength(Integer maxLength)
    .isPrimaryKey(Boolean isPrimaryKey)
    .isPartitionKey(Boolean isPartitionKey)
    .autoID(Boolean autoID)
    .dimension(int dimension)
    .elementType(DataType elementType)
    .maxCapacity(Integer maxCapacity)
    .isNullable(Boolean isNullable)
    .defaultValue(DataType dataType)
    .enableAnalyzer(Boolean enableAnalyzer)
    .enableMatch(Boolean enableMatch)
    .analyzerParams(Map<String, Object> analyzerParams)
    .typeParams(Map<String, String> typeParams)
    .multiAnalyzerParams(Map<String, Object> multiAnalyzerParams)
    .build()
)

BUILDER METHODS

• collectionName(String collectionName)

  The name of the target collection.

• databaseName(String databaseName)

  The name of an existing database that has the collection specified above.

• fieldName(String fieldName)

  The name of the field.

• description(String description)

  The description of the field.

• dataType(DataType dataType)

  The data type of the field.

  You can choose from the following options when selecting a data type for different fields:

  • Primary key field: Use DataType.Int64 or DataType.VarChar.

  • Scalar fields: Choose from a variety of options, including DataType.Bool, DataType.Int8, DataType.Int16, DataType.Int32, DataType.Int64, DataType.Float, DataType.Double, DataType.VarChar, DataType.JSON, and DataType.Array.

  • Vector fields: Select DataType.BinaryVector or DataType.FloatVector.

• maxLength(Integer maxLength)

  The maximum number of characters a value should contain.

  This is required if dataType of this field is set to DataType.VarChar.

• isPrimaryKey(Boolean isPrimaryKey)

  Whether the current field is the primary field.

  Setting this to True makes the current field the primary field.

• isPartitionKey(Boolean isPartitionKey)

  Whether the current field is the partitionKey field.

  Setting this to True makes the current field the partition key.

• autoID(Boolean autoID)

  Whether allows the primary field to automatically increment.

  Setting this to True makes the primary field automatically increment. In this case, the primary field should not be included in the data to insert to avoid errors.

  Set this parameter in the field with isPrimaryKey set to True.

• dimension(int dimension)

  The dimensionality of a vector field.

  The value should be greater than 1 and is usually determined by the embedding model in use.

  This is required if dataType of this field is set to DataType.FloatVector.

• elementType(DataType elementType)

  The data type of elements in array fields.

  This is required if dataType of this field is set to DataType.Array.

• maxCapacity(Integer maxCapacity)

  The maximum number of elements that an array field can contain.

  This is required if dataType of this field is set to DataType.Array.

• isNullable(Boolean isNullable)

  A Boolean parameter that specifies whether the field can accept null values. Valid values:

  • True: The field can contain null values, indicating that the field is optional, and missing data is permitted for entries.

  • False (default): The field must contain a valid value for each entity; missing data is not allowed, making the field mandatory.

  For more information, refer to Nullable & Default.

• defaultValue(DataType dataType)

  Sets a default value for a specific field in a collection schema when creating it. This is particularly useful when you want certain fields to have an initial value even if no value is explicitly provided during data insertion.

• enableAnalyzer(Boolean enableAnalyzer)

  Whether to enable text analysis for the specified VARCHAR field. When set to true, it instructs Milvus to use a text analyzer, which tokenizes and filters the text content of the field.

• enableMatch(Boolean enableMatch)

  Whether to enable keyword matching for the specified VARCHAR field. When set to true, Milvus creates an inverted index for the field, allowing for quick and efficient keyword lookups. enableMatch works in conjunction with enableAnalyzer to provide structured term-based text search, with enableAnalyzer handling tokenization and enableMatch handling the search operations on these tokens.

• analyzerParams(Map<String, Object>, analyzerParams)

  Configures the analyzer for text processing, specifically for DataType.VarChar fields. This parameter configures tokenizer and filter settings, particularly for text fields used in keyword matching or full text search. Depending on the type of analyzer, it can be configured in either of the following methods:

  • Built-in analyzer

    Map<String, Object> analyzerParams = new HashMap<>();
    analyzerParams.put("type", "english");
    

    • type (String) -

      Pre-configured analyzer type built into Milvus, which can be used out-of-the-box by specifying its name. Possible values: standard, english, chinese. For more information, refer to Standard Analyzer, English Analyzer, and Chinese Analyzer.

  • Custom analyzer

    Map<String, Object> analyzerParams = new HashMap<>();
    analyzerParams.put("tokenizer", "standard");
    analyzerParams.put("filter", Collections.singletonList("lowercase"));
    

    • tokenizer (String) -

      Defines the tokenizer type. Possible values: standard (default), whitespace, jieba. For more information, refer to Standard Tokenizer, Whitespace Tokenizer, and Jieba Tokenizer.

    • filter (List) -

      Lists filters to refine tokens produced by the tokenizer, with options for built-in filters and custom filters. For more information, refer to Alphanumonly Filter and others.

• typeParams(Map<String, String> typeParams)

  The parameters specific to the data type of the current field to add. For example, you can set maxLength for a VarChar field. Once specified, it overrides the corresponding parameter values specified above.

• multiAnalyzerParams(Map<String, Object> multiAnalyzerParams)

  A multi-language analyzer that allows you to configure multiple analyzers for a text field and store multilingual documents in this text field.

RETURNS:

void

EXCEPTIONS:

• MilvusClientExceptions

  This exception will be raised when any error occurs during this operation.

Example

import io.milvus.v2.client.ConnectConfig;
import io.milvus.v2.client.MilvusClientV2;
import io.milvus.v2.service.collection.request.AddCollectionFieldReq;

// 1. Set up a client
ConnectConfig connectConfig = ConnectConfig.builder()
        .uri("http://localhost:19530")
        .token("root:Milvus")
        .build();
        
MilvusClientV2 client = new MilvusClientV2(connectConfig);

// 2. Add a new field
client.addCollectionField(AddCollectionFieldReq.builder()
        .collectionName(collectionName)
        .fieldName("text")
        .dataType(DataType.VarChar)
        .maxLength(100)
        .isNullable(true) // must be nullable
        .build());