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Schema & Data Fields
Nullable & Default

Nullable & Default

Milvus allows you to set the nullable attribute and default values for scalar fields, except the primary field. For fields marked as nullable=True, you can skip the field when inserting data, or set it directly to a null value, and the system will treat it as null without causing an error. When a field has a default value, the system will automatically apply this value if no data is specified for the field during insertion.

The default value and nullable attributes streamline data migration from other database systems to Milvus by allowing handling of datasets with null values and preserving default value settings. When creating a collection, you can also enable nullable or set default values for fields where values might be uncertain.

Limits

Only scalar fields, excluding the primary field, support default values and the nullable attribute.
JSON and Array fields do not support default values.
Default values or the nullable attribute can only be configured during collection creation and cannot be modified afterward.
Fields marked as nullable cannot be used as partition keys. For more information about partition keys, refer to Use Partition Key.
When creating an index on a scalar field with the nullable attribute enabled, null values will be excluded from the index.
JSON and ARRAY fields: When using IS NULL or IS NOT NULL operators to filter on JSON or ARRAY fields, these operators work at the column level, which indicates they only evaluate whether the entire JSON object or array is null. For instance, if a key inside a JSON object is null, it will not be recognized by the IS NULL filter. For more information, refer to Basic Operators.

Nullable attribute

The nullable attribute allows you to store null values in a collection, providing flexibility when handling unknown data.

Set the nullable attribute

When creating a collection, use nullable=True to define nullable fields (defaults to False). The following example creates a collection named my_collection and sets the age field as nullable:

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

from pymilvus import MilvusClient, DataType

client = MilvusClient(uri='http://localhost:19530')

# Define collection schema
schema = client.create_schema(
    auto_id=False,
    enable_dynamic_schema=True,
)

schema.add_field(field_name="id", datatype=DataType.INT64, is_primary=True)
schema.add_field(field_name="vector", datatype=DataType.FLOAT_VECTOR, dim=5)
schema.add_field(field_name="age", datatype=DataType.INT64, nullable=True) # Nullable field

# Set index params
index_params = client.prepare_index_params()
index_params.add_index(field_name="vector", index_type="AUTOINDEX", metric_type="L2")

# Create collection
client.create_collection(collection_name="my_collection", schema=schema, index_params=index_params)

import io.milvus.v2.client.ConnectConfig;
import io.milvus.v2.client.MilvusClientV2;
import io.milvus.v2.common.DataType;
import io.milvus.v2.common.IndexParam;
import io.milvus.v2.service.collection.request.AddFieldReq;
import io.milvus.v2.service.collection.request.CreateCollectionReq;

import java.util.*;

MilvusClientV2 client = new MilvusClientV2(ConnectConfig.builder()
        .uri("http://localhost:19530")
        .build());
        
CreateCollectionReq.CollectionSchema schema = client.createSchema();
schema.setEnableDynamicField(true);

schema.addField(AddFieldReq.builder()
        .fieldName("id")
        .dataType(DataType.Int64)
        .isPrimaryKey(true)
        .build());

schema.addField(AddFieldReq.builder()
        .fieldName("vector")
        .dataType(DataType.FloatVector)
        .dimension(5)
        .build());

schema.addField(AddFieldReq.builder()
        .fieldName("age")
        .dataType(DataType.Int64)
        .isNullable(true)
        .build());

List<IndexParam> indexes = new ArrayList<>();
Map<String,Object> extraParams = new HashMap<>();

indexes.add(IndexParam.builder()
        .fieldName("vector")
        .indexType(IndexParam.IndexType.AUTOINDEX)
        .metricType(IndexParam.MetricType.L2)
        .build());

CreateCollectionReq requestCreate = CreateCollectionReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .collectionSchema(schema)
        .indexParams(indexes)
        .build();
client.createCollection(requestCreate);

import { MilvusClient, DataType } from "@zilliz/milvus2-sdk-node";

const client = new MilvusClient({
  address: "http://localhost:19530",
  token: "root:Milvus",
});

await client.createCollection({
  collection_name: "my_collection",
  schema: [
    {
      name: "id",
      is_primary_key: true,
      data_type: DataType.int64,
    },
    { name: "vector", data_type: DataType.Int64, dim: 5 },

    { name: "age", data_type: DataType.FloatVector, nullable: true },
  ],

  index_params: [
    {
      index_name: "vector_inde",
      field_name: "vector",
      metric_type: MetricType.L2,
      index_type: IndexType.AUTOINDEX,
    },
  ],
});

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"

    "github.com/milvus-io/milvus/client/v2/column"
    "github.com/milvus-io/milvus/client/v2/entity"
    "github.com/milvus-io/milvus/client/v2/index"
    "github.com/milvus-io/milvus/client/v2/milvusclient"
)

ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
defer cancel()

milvusAddr := "localhost:19530"

client, err := milvusclient.New(ctx, &milvusclient.ClientConfig{
    Address: milvusAddr,
})
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}
defer client.Close(ctx)

schema := entity.NewSchema()
schema.WithField(entity.NewField().
    WithName("id").
    WithDataType(entity.FieldTypeInt64).
    WithIsPrimaryKey(true),
).WithField(entity.NewField().
    WithName("vector").
    WithDataType(entity.FieldTypeFloatVector).
    WithDim(5),
).WithField(entity.NewField().
    WithName("age").
    WithDataType(entity.FieldTypeInt64).
    WithNullable(true),
)

indexOption := milvusclient.NewCreateIndexOption("my_collection", "vector",
    index.NewAutoIndex(index.MetricType(entity.L2)))

err = client.CreateCollection(ctx,
    milvusclient.NewCreateCollectionOption("my_collection", schema).
        WithIndexOptions(indexOption))
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}

export pkField='{
    "fieldName": "id",
    "dataType": "Int64",
    "isPrimary": true
}'

export vectorField='{
    "fieldName": "vector",
    "dataType": "FloatVector",
    "elementTypeParams": {
        "dim": 5
    }
}'

export nullField='{
    "fieldName": "age",
    "dataType": "Int64",
    "nullable": true
}'

export schema="{
    \"autoID\": false,
    \"fields\": [
        $pkField,
        $vectorField,
        $nullField
    ]
}"

export indexParams='[
        {
            "fieldName": "vector",
            "metricType": "L2",
            "indexType": "AUTOINDEX"
        }
    ]'

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/collections/create" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{
    \"collectionName\": \"my_collection\",
    \"schema\": $schema,
    \"indexParams\": $indexParams
}"

Insert entities

When you insert data into a nullable field, insert null or directly omit this field:

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

data = [
    {"id": 1, "vector": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5], "age": 30},
    {"id": 2, "vector": [0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6], "age": None},
    {"id": 3, "vector": [0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7]}
]

client.insert(collection_name="my_collection", data=data)

import com.google.gson.Gson;
import com.google.gson.JsonObject;

import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.request.InsertReq;
import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.response.InsertResp;

List<JsonObject> rows = new ArrayList<>();
Gson gson = new Gson();
rows.add(gson.fromJson("{\"id\": 1, \"vector\": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5], \"age\": 30}", JsonObject.class));
rows.add(gson.fromJson("{\"id\": 2, \"vector\": [0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6], \"age\": null}", JsonObject.class));
rows.add(gson.fromJson("{\"id\": 3, \"vector\": [0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7]}", JsonObject.class));

InsertResp insertR = client.insert(InsertReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .data(rows)
        .build());

const data = [
  { id: 1, vector: [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5], age: 30 },
  { id: 2, vector: [0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6], age: null },
  { id: 3, vector: [0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7] },
];

client.insert({
  collection_name: "my_collection",
  data: data,
});

column, _ := column.NewNullableColumnInt64("age",
    []int64{30},
    []bool{true, false, false})

_, err = client.Insert(ctx, milvusclient.NewColumnBasedInsertOption("my_collection").
    WithInt64Column("id", []int64{1, 2, 3}).
    WithFloatVectorColumn("vector", 5, [][]float32{
        {0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5},
        {0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6},
        {0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7},
    }).
    WithColumns(column),
)
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle err
}

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/entities/insert" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "data": [
        {"id": 1, "vector": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5], "age": 30},
        {"id": 2, "vector": [0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6], "age": null}, 
        {"id": 3, "vector": [0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7]} 
    ],
    "collectionName": "my_collection"
}'

Search and query with null values

When using the search method, if a field contains null values, the search result will return the field as null:

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

res = client.search(
    collection_name="my_collection",
    data=[[0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.3, 0.128]],
    limit=2,
    search_params={"params": {"nprobe": 16}},
    output_fields=["id", "age"]
)

print(res)

# Output
# data: ["[{'id': 1, 'distance': 0.15838398039340973, 'entity': {'age': 30, 'id': 1}}, {'id': 2, 'distance': 0.28278401494026184, 'entity': {'age': None, 'id': 2}}]"]

import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.request.SearchReq;
import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.request.data.FloatVec;
import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.response.SearchResp;

Map<String,Object> params = new HashMap<>();
params.put("nprobe", 16);
SearchResp resp = client.search(SearchReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .annsField("vector")
        .data(Collections.singletonList(new FloatVec(new float[]{0.1f, 0.2f, 0.3f, 0.4f, 0.5f})))
        .topK(2)
        .searchParams(params)
        .outputFields(Arrays.asList("id", "age"))
        .build());

System.out.println(resp.getSearchResults());

// Output
//
// [[SearchResp.SearchResult(entity={id=1, age=30}, score=0.0, id=1), SearchResp.SearchResult(entity={id=2, age=null}, score=0.050000004, id=2)]]

client.search({
    collection_name: 'my_collection',
    data: [0.3, -0.6, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5],
    limit: 2,
    output_fields: ['age', 'id'],
    params: {
        nprobe: 16
    }
});

queryVector := []float32{0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.3, 0.128}

annParam := index.NewCustomAnnParam()
annParam.WithExtraParam("nprobe", 16)
resultSets, err := client.Search(ctx, milvusclient.NewSearchOption(
    "my_collection", // collectionName
    2,                    // limit
    []entity.Vector{entity.FloatVector(queryVector)},
).WithANNSField("vector").
    WithAnnParam(annParam).
    WithOutputFields("id", "age"))
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}

for _, resultSet := range resultSets {
    fmt.Println("IDs: ", resultSet.IDs.FieldData().GetScalars())
    fmt.Println("Scores: ", resultSet.Scores)
    fmt.Println("age: ", resultSet.GetColumn("age").FieldData().GetScalars())
}

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/entities/search" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "collectionName": "my_collection",
    "data": [
        [0.1, -0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5]
    ],
    "annsField": "vector",
    "limit": 2,
    "outputFields": ["id", "age"]
}'

#{"code":0,"cost":0,"data":[{"age":30,"distance":0.16000001,"id":1},{"age":null,"distance":0.28999996,"id":2}]}

When you use the query method for scalar filtering, the filtering results for null values are all false, indicating that they will not be selected.

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

# Reviewing previously inserted data:
# {"id": 1, "vector": [0.1, 0.2, ..., 0.128], "age": 30}
# {"id": 2, "vector": [0.2, 0.3, ..., 0.129], "age": None}
# {"id": 3, "vector": [0.3, 0.4, ..., 0.130], "age": None}  # Omitted age  column is treated as None

results = client.query(
    collection_name="my_collection",
    filter="age >= 0",
    output_fields=["id", "age"]
)

# Example output:
# [
#     {"id": 1, "age": 30}
# ]
# Note: Entities with `age` as `null` (id 2 and 3) will not appear in the result.

import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.request.QueryReq;
import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.response.QueryResp;

QueryResp resp = client.query(QueryReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .filter("age >= 0")
        .outputFields(Arrays.asList("id", "age"))
        .build());

System.out.println(resp.getQueryResults());

// Output
//
// [QueryResp.QueryResult(entity={id=1, age=30})]

const results = await client.query(
    collection_name: "my_collection",
    filter: "age >= 0",
    output_fields: ["id", "age"]
);

resultSet, err := client.Query(ctx, milvusclient.NewQueryOption("my_collection").
    WithFilter("age >= 0").
    WithOutputFields("id", "age"))
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}
fmt.Println("id: ", resultSet.GetColumn("id").FieldData().GetScalars())
fmt.Println("age: ", resultSet.GetColumn("age").FieldData().GetScalars())

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/entities/query" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "collectionName": "my_collection",
    "filter": "age >= 0",
    "outputFields": ["id", "age"]
}'

# {"code":0,"cost":0,"data":[{"age":30,"id":1}]}

To return entities with null values, query without any scalar filtering condition as follows:

The query method, when used without any filtering conditions, retrieves all entities in the collection, including those with null values. To restrict the number of returned entities, the limit parameter must be specified.

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

null_results = client.query(
    collection_name="my_collection",
    filter="",     # Query without any filtering condition
    output_fields=["id", "age"],
    limit=10
)

# Example output:
# [{"id": 2, "age": None}, {"id": 3, "age": None}]

QueryResp resp = client.query(QueryReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .filter("")
        .outputFields(Arrays.asList("id", "age"))
        .limit(10)
        .build());

System.out.println(resp.getQueryResults());

const results = await client.query(
    collection_name: "my_collection",
    filter: "",
    output_fields: ["id", "age"],
    limit: 10
);

resultSet, err = client.Query(ctx, milvusclient.NewQueryOption("my_collection").
    WithFilter("").
    WithLimit(10).
    WithOutputFields("id", "age"))
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}
fmt.Println("id: ", resultSet.GetColumn("id"))
fmt.Println("age: ", resultSet.GetColumn("age"))

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/entities/query" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "collectionName": "my_collection",
    "expr": "",
    "outputFields": ["id", "age"],
    "limit": 10
}'

# {"code":0,"cost":0,"data":[{"age":30,"id":1},{"age":null,"id":2},{"age":null,"id":3}]}

Default values

Default values are preset values assigned to scalar fields. If you do not provide a value for a field with a default during insertion, the system automatically uses the default value.

Set default values

When creating a collection, use the default_value parameter to define the default value for a field. The following example shows how to set the default value of age to 18 and status to "active":

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

schema = client.create_schema(
    auto_id=False,
    enable_dynamic_schema=True,
)

schema.add_field(field_name="id", datatype=DataType.INT64, is_primary=True)
schema.add_field(field_name="vector", datatype=DataType.FLOAT_VECTOR, dim=5)
schema.add_field(field_name="age", datatype=DataType.INT64, default_value=18)
schema.add_field(field_name="status", datatype=DataType.VARCHAR, default_value="active", max_length=10)

index_params = client.prepare_index_params()
index_params.add_index(field_name="vector", index_type="AUTOINDEX", metric_type="L2")

client.create_collection(collection_name="my_collection", schema=schema, index_params=index_params)

import io.milvus.v2.common.DataType;
import io.milvus.v2.common.IndexParam;
import io.milvus.v2.service.collection.request.AddFieldReq;
import io.milvus.v2.service.collection.request.CreateCollectionReq;

import java.util.*;

CreateCollectionReq.CollectionSchema schema = client.createSchema();
schema.setEnableDynamicField(true);

schema.addField(AddFieldReq.builder()
        .fieldName("id")
        .dataType(DataType.Int64)
        .isPrimaryKey(true)
        .build());

schema.addField(AddFieldReq.builder()
        .fieldName("vector")
        .dataType(DataType.FloatVector)
        .dimension(5)
        .build());

schema.addField(AddFieldReq.builder()
        .fieldName("age")
        .dataType(DataType.Int64)
        .defaultValue(18L)
        .build());

schema.addField(AddFieldReq.builder()
        .fieldName("status")
        .dataType(DataType.VarChar)
        .maxLength(10)
        .defaultValue("active")
        .build());

List<IndexParam> indexes = new ArrayList<>();
Map<String,Object> extraParams = new HashMap<>();

indexes.add(IndexParam.builder()
        .fieldName("vector")
        .indexType(IndexParam.IndexType.AUTOINDEX)
        .metricType(IndexParam.MetricType.L2)
        .build());

CreateCollectionReq requestCreate = CreateCollectionReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .collectionSchema(schema)
        .indexParams(indexes)
        .build();
client.createCollection(requestCreate);

import { MilvusClient, DataType } from "@zilliz/milvus2-sdk-node";

const client = new MilvusClient({
  address: "http://localhost:19530",
  token: "root:Milvus",
});

await client.createCollection({
  collection_name: "my_collection",
  schema: [
    {
      name: "id",
      is_primary_key: true,
      data_type: DataType.int64,
    },
    { name: "vector", data_type: DataType.FloatVector, dim: 5 },
    { name: "age", data_type: DataType.Int64, default_value: 18 },
    { name: 'status', data_type: DataType.VarChar, max_length: 30, default_value: 'active'},
  ],

  index_params: [
    {
      index_name: "vector_inde",
      field_name: "vector",
      metric_type: MetricType.L2,
      index_type: IndexType.AUTOINDEX,
    },
  ],
});

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"

    "github.com/milvus-io/milvus/client/v2/column"
    "github.com/milvus-io/milvus/client/v2/entity"
    "github.com/milvus-io/milvus/client/v2/index"
    "github.com/milvus-io/milvus/client/v2/milvusclient"
)

ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
defer cancel()

milvusAddr := "localhost:19530"

client, err := milvusclient.New(ctx, &milvusclient.ClientConfig{
    Address: milvusAddr,
})
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}

schema := entity.NewSchema()
schema.WithField(entity.NewField().
    WithName("id").
    WithDataType(entity.FieldTypeInt64).
    WithIsPrimaryKey(true),
).WithField(entity.NewField().
    WithName("vector").
    WithDataType(entity.FieldTypeFloatVector).
    WithDim(5),
).WithField(entity.NewField().
    WithName("age").
    WithDataType(entity.FieldTypeInt64).
    WithDefaultValueLong(18),
).WithField(entity.NewField().
    WithName("status").
    WithDataType(entity.FieldTypeVarChar).
    WithMaxLength(10).
    WithDefaultValueString("active"),
)

indexOption := milvusclient.NewCreateIndexOption("my_collection", "vector",
    index.NewAutoIndex(index.MetricType(entity.L2)))

err = client.CreateCollection(ctx,
    milvusclient.NewCreateCollectionOption("my_collection", schema).
        WithIndexOptions(indexOption))
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}

export pkField='{
    "fieldName": "id",
    "dataType": "Int64",
    "isPrimary": true
}'

export vectorField='{
    "fieldName": "vector",
    "dataType": "FloatVector",
    "elementTypeParams": {
        "dim": 5
    }
}'

export defaultValueField1='{
    "fieldName": "age",
    "dataType": "Int64",
    "defaultValue": 18
}'

export defaultValueField2='{
    "fieldName": "status",
    "dataType": "VarChar",
    "defaultValue": "active",
    "elementTypeParams": {
        "max_length": 10
    }
}'

export schema="{
    \"autoID\": false,
    \"fields\": [
        $pkField,
        $vectorField,
        $defaultValueField1,
        $defaultValueField2
    ]
}"

export indexParams='[
        {
            "fieldName": "vector",
            "metricType": "L2",
            "indexType": "AUTOINDEX"
        }
    ]'

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/collections/create" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{
    \"collectionName\": \"my_collection\",
    \"schema\": $schema,
    \"indexParams\": $indexParams
}"

Insert entities

When inserting data, if you omit fields with a default value or set their value to null, the system uses the default value:

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

data = [
    {"id": 1, "vector": [0.1, 0.2, ..., 0.128], "age": 30, "status": "premium"},
    {"id": 2, "vector": [0.2, 0.3, ..., 0.129]},  # `age` and `status` use default values
    {"id": 3, "vector": [0.3, 0.4, ..., 0.130], "age": 25, "status": None},  # `status` uses default value
    {"id": 4, "vector": [0.4, 0.5, ..., 0.131], "age": None, "status": "inactive"}  # `age` uses default value
]

client.insert(collection_name="my_collection", data=data)

import com.google.gson.Gson;
import com.google.gson.JsonObject;

import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.request.InsertReq;
import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.response.InsertResp;

List<JsonObject> rows = new ArrayList<>();
Gson gson = new Gson();
rows.add(gson.fromJson("{\"id\": 1, \"vector\": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5], \"age\": 30, \"status\": \"premium\"}", JsonObject.class));
rows.add(gson.fromJson("{\"id\": 2, \"vector\": [0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6]}", JsonObject.class));
rows.add(gson.fromJson("{\"id\": 3, \"vector\": [0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7], \"age\": 25, \"status\": null}", JsonObject.class));
rows.add(gson.fromJson("{\"id\": 4, \"vector\": [0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8], \"age\": null, \"status\": \"inactive\"}", JsonObject.class));

InsertResp insertR = client.insert(InsertReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .data(rows)
        .build());

const data = [
    {"id": 1, "vector": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5], "age": 30, "status": "premium"},
    {"id": 2, "vector": [0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6]}, 
    {"id": 3, "vector": [0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7], "age": 25, "status": null}, 
    {"id": 4, "vector": [0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8], "age": null, "status": "inactive"}  
];

client.insert({
  collection_name: "my_collection",
  data: data,
});

column1, _ := column.NewNullableColumnInt64("age",
    []int64{30, 25},
    []bool{true, false, true, false})
column2, _ := column.NewNullableColumnVarChar("status",
    []string{"premium", "inactive"},
    []bool{true, false, false, true})

_, err = client.Insert(ctx, milvusclient.NewColumnBasedInsertOption("my_collection").
    WithInt64Column("id", []int64{1, 2, 3, 4}).
    WithFloatVectorColumn("vector", 5, [][]float32{
        {0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5},
        {0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6},
        {0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7},
        {0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8},
    }).
    WithColumns(column1, column2),
)
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle err
}

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/entities/insert" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "data": [
        {"id": 1, "vector": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5], "age": 30, "status": "premium"},
        {"id": 2, "vector": [0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6]},
        {"id": 3, "vector": [0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7], "age": 25, "status": null}, 
        {"id": 4, "vector": [0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8], "age": null, "status": "inactive"}      
    ],
    "collectionName": "my_collection"
}'

For more information on how nullable and default value settings take effect, refer to Applicable rules.

Search and query with default values

Entities that contain default values are treated the same as any other entities during vector searches and scalar filtering. You can include default values as part of your search and query operations.

For example, in a search operation, entities with age set to the default value of 18 will be included in the results:

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

res = client.search(
    collection_name="my_collection",
    data=[[0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.3, 0.5]],
    search_params={"params": {"nprobe": 16}},
    filter="age == 18",  # 18 is the default value of the `age` field
    limit=10,
    output_fields=["id", "age", "status"]
)

print(res)

# Output
# data: ["[{'id': 2, 'distance': 0.050000004, 'entity': {'id': 2, 'age': 18, 'status': 'active'}}, {'id': 4, 'distance': 0.45000002, 'entity': {'id': 4, 'age': 18, 'status': 'inactive'}}]"]

import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.request.SearchReq;
import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.request.data.FloatVec;
import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.response.SearchResp;

Map<String,Object> params = new HashMap<>();
params.put("nprobe", 16);
SearchResp resp = client.search(SearchReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .annsField("vector")
        .data(Collections.singletonList(new FloatVec(new float[]{0.1f, 0.2f, 0.3f, 0.4f, 0.5f})))
        .searchParams(params)
        .filter("age == 18")
        .topK(10)
        .outputFields(Arrays.asList("id", "age", "status"))
        .build());

System.out.println(resp.getSearchResults());

// Output
//
// [[SearchResp.SearchResult(entity={id=2, age=18, status=active}, score=0.050000004, id=2), SearchResp.SearchResult(entity={id=4, age=18, status=inactive}, score=0.45000002, id=4)]]

client.search({
    collection_name: 'my_collection',
    data: [0.3, -0.6, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5],
    limit: 2,
    output_fields: ['age', 'id', 'status'],
    filter: 'age == 18',
    params: {
        nprobe: 16
    }
});

queryVector := []float32{0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.3, 0.5}

annParam := index.NewCustomAnnParam()
annParam.WithExtraParam("nprobe", 16)
resultSets, err := client.Search(ctx, milvusclient.NewSearchOption(
    "my_collection", // collectionName
    10,              // limit
    []entity.Vector{entity.FloatVector(queryVector)},
).WithANNSField("vector").
    WithFilter("age == 18").
    WithAnnParam(annParam).
    WithOutputFields("id", "age", "status"))
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}

for _, resultSet := range resultSets {
    fmt.Println("IDs: ", resultSet.IDs.FieldData().GetScalars())
    fmt.Println("Scores: ", resultSet.Scores)
    fmt.Println("age: ", resultSet.GetColumn("age").FieldData().GetScalars())
    fmt.Println("status: ", resultSet.GetColumn("status").FieldData().GetScalars())
}

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/entities/search" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "collectionName": "my_collection",
    "data": [
        [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5]
    ],
    "annsField": "vector",
    "limit": 10,
    "filter": "age == 18",
    "outputFields": ["id", "age", "status"]
}'

# {"code":0,"cost":0,"data":[{"age":18,"distance":0.050000004,"id":2,"status":"active"},{"age":18,"distance":0.45000002,"id":4,"status":"inactive"}]}

In a query operation, you can match or filter by default values directly:

Python Java NodeJS Go cURL

# Query all entities where `age` equals the default value (18)
default_age_results = client.query(
    collection_name="my_collection",
    filter="age == 18",
    output_fields=["id", "age", "status"]
)

# Query all entities where `status` equals the default value ("active")
default_status_results = client.query(
    collection_name="my_collection",
    filter='status == "active"',
    output_fields=["id", "age", "status"]
)

import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.request.QueryReq;
import io.milvus.v2.service.vector.response.QueryResp;

QueryResp ageResp = client.query(QueryReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .filter("age == 18")
        .outputFields(Arrays.asList("id", "age", "status"))
        .build());

System.out.println(ageResp.getQueryResults());

// Output
//
// [QueryResp.QueryResult(entity={id=2, age=18, status=active}), QueryResp.QueryResult(entity={id=4, age=18, status=inactive})]

QueryResp statusResp = client.query(QueryReq.builder()
        .collectionName("my_collection")
        .filter("status == \"active\"")
        .outputFields(Arrays.asList("id", "age", "status"))
        .build());

System.out.println(statusResp.getQueryResults());

// Output
//
// [QueryResp.QueryResult(entity={id=2, age=18, status=active}), QueryResp.QueryResult(entity={id=3, age=25, status=active})]

// Query all entities where `age` equals the default value (18)
const default_age_results = await client.query(
    collection_name: "my_collection",
    filter: "age == 18",
    output_fields: ["id", "age", "status"]
);
// Query all entities where `status` equals the default value ("active")
const default_status_results = await client.query(
    collection_name: "my_collection",
    filter: 'status == "active"',
    output_fields: ["id", "age", "status"]
)

resultSet, err := client.Query(ctx, milvusclient.NewQueryOption("my_collection").
    WithFilter("age == 18").
    WithOutputFields("id", "age", "status"))
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}
fmt.Println("id: ", resultSet.GetColumn("id").FieldData().GetScalars())
fmt.Println("age: ", resultSet.GetColumn("age").FieldData().GetScalars())
fmt.Println("status: ", resultSet.GetColumn("status").FieldData().GetScalars())

resultSet, err = client.Query(ctx, milvusclient.NewQueryOption("my_collection").
    WithFilter("status == \"active\"").
    WithOutputFields("id", "age", "status"))
if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err.Error())
    // handle error
}
fmt.Println("id: ", resultSet.GetColumn("id").FieldData().GetScalars())
fmt.Println("age: ", resultSet.GetColumn("age").FieldData().GetScalars())
fmt.Println("status: ", resultSet.GetColumn("status").FieldData().GetScalars())

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/entities/query" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "collectionName": "my_collection",
    "filter": "age == 18",
    "outputFields": ["id", "age", "status"]
}'

# {"code":0,"cost":0,"data":[{"age":18,"id":2,"status":"active"},{"age":18,"id":4,"status":"inactive"}]}

curl --request POST \
--url "${CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}/v2/vectordb/entities/query" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "collectionName": "my_collection",
    "filter": "status == \"active\"",
    "outputFields": ["id", "age", "status"]
}'

# {"code":0,"cost":0,"data":[{"age":18,"id":2,"status":"active"},{"age":25,"id":3,"status":"active"}]}

Applicable rules

The following table summarizes the behavior of nullable columns and default values under different configuration combinations. These rules determine how Milvus handles data when attempting to insert null values or if field values are not provided.

Nullable	Default Value	Default Value Type	User Input	Result	Example
✅	✅	Non-null	None/null	Uses the default value	Field: `age` Default value: `18` User input: null Result: stored as `18`
✅	❌	-	None/null	Stored as null	Field: `middle_name` Default value: - User input: null Result: stored as null
❌	✅	Non-null	None/null	Uses the default value	Field: `status` Default value: `"active"` User input: null Result: stored as `"active"`
❌	❌	-	None/null	Throws an error	Field: `email` Default value: - User input: null Result: Operation rejected, system throws an error
❌	✅	Null	None/null	Throws an error	Field: `username` Default value: null User input: null Result: Operation rejected, system throws an error

Nullable & Default
Limits
Nullable attribute
Set the nullable attribute
Insert entities
Search and query with null values
Default values
Set default values
Insert entities
Search and query with default values
Applicable rules

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Nullable & Default

Limits

Nullable attribute

Set the nullable attribute

Insert entities

Search and query with null values

Default values

Set default values

Insert entities

Search and query with default values

Applicable rules

Table of contents

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