Removing empty dynamic fields from a Solr 1.4 index

[Andrew Ingram <an...@tangentlabs.co.uk>]

Hi all

(Note: this question is cross-posted on stackoverflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9327542/removing-empty-dynamic-fields-from-a-solr-1-4-index)

I have a Solr index that uses quite a few dynamic fields. I've recently changed my code to reduce the amount of data we index with Solr, significantly reducing the number of dynamic fields that are in use.

I've reindexed my data, and the doc count (as displayed in the admin schema browser) for the old fields has dropped to zero. But I'm confused as to why the fields still exist. I've done an optimize, and restarted the server, but I can't find any information on whether there's a way to get these fields to disappear.

Am I now stuck with these fields unless I recreate the index from scratch? We're talking about a significant reduction in fields (about 200 -> 30), and I'm worried about the performance impact of keeping them floating around.

Thanks, 
Andrew Ingram

Re: Removing empty dynamic fields from a Solr 1.4 index

[Erick Erickson <er...@gmail.com>]

When you say that they're still around, what
do you mean? They're listed in the schema browser?
You can search on them? ???

But in general, there's no penalty for having these
stay around, they're not consuming resources
in any documents, so I don't think you need to
worry from performance perspective.

Although it is distracting to see them still there..

Best
Erick

On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 6:50 AM, Andrew Ingram
<an...@tangentlabs.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi all
>
> (Note: this question is cross-posted on stackoverflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9327542/removing-empty-dynamic-fields-from-a-solr-1-4-index)
>
> I have a Solr index that uses quite a few dynamic fields. I've recently changed my code to reduce the amount of data we index with Solr, significantly reducing the number of dynamic fields that are in use.
>
> I've reindexed my data, and the doc count (as displayed in the admin schema browser) for the old fields has dropped to zero. But I'm confused as to why the fields still exist. I've done an optimize, and restarted the server, but I can't find any information on whether there's a way to get these fields to disappear.
>
> Am I now stuck with these fields unless I recreate the index from scratch? We're talking about a significant reduction in fields (about 200 -> 30), and I'm worried about the performance impact of keeping them floating around.
>
> Thanks,
> Andrew Ingram