What is the difference between phrase and term in structured queries?

Question

How are phrase and term different in a Structured query?

I have this data in my CloudSearch domain:

{
    "guid": 9,
    "operating_systems": [
        "12345", "123"
    ],
    "manufacturer": "sealand",
    "model": "gaming tree whale plum",
    "identifier": "gaming tree whale plum",
    "type": "computer",
    "created_at": "1982-10-14T14:43:54Z"
}

"model" is type text, "identifier" is type literal, "created_at" is type date.

Let's make a few queries:

(phrase field=model 'tree whale')                match
(phrase field= identifier 'tree whale')          no match
(phrase 'tree whale')                            match
(phrase field=created_at '1982-10-14T14:43:54Z') match (this shouldn't match according to docs)

(term field=model 'tree whale')                match
(term field= identifier 'tree whale')          no match
(term 'tree whale')                            match
(term field=created_at '1982-10-14T14:43:54Z') match

Is there anything I can do with phrase that I can't do with term and vice-versa?

Answer 1

There is very little difference between the syntax and usage of term VS phrase. However, search behavior in handling phrases can be customized in ways terms cannot, which can be used to improve performance:

• allowed operators
• phraseFields
• phraseSlop

Terms are intended for matching text fields, where phrases are intended for more complex searches.

Skip the web documentation, and just read all of the PDF: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudsearch/latest/developerguide/cloudsearch-dg.pdf

Answer 2

In case anyone is wondering, turns out that a phrase search matches the entire phrase while a term search matches the terms which may be a phrase but may be words spread around the document. Example:

Text:

"model": gaming tree whale plum

The following hold:

(phrase field=model 'tree whale')                match
(phrase field=model 'tree plum')                 no match

(term field=model 'tree whale')                  match
(term field=model 'tree plum')                   match