DO NOT REPLY [Bug 32088] New: - Index Writer constructor flags unclear - and annoying in certain cases

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http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=32088

Index Writer constructor flags unclear - and annoying in certain cases

           Summary: Index Writer constructor flags unclear - and annoying in
                    certain cases
           Product: Lucene
           Version: 1.4
          Platform: Other
        OS/Version: Other
            Status: NEW
          Severity: Enhancement
          Priority: Other
         Component: Index
        AssignedTo: lucene-dev@jakarta.apache.org
        ReportedBy: daniel.armbrust@mayo.edu


Wouldn't it make more sense if the constructor for the IndexWriter always
created an index if it doesn't exist - and the boolean parameter should be
"clear" (instead of "create")

So instead of this (from javadoc):

IndexWriter

public IndexWriter(Directory d,
                   Analyzer a,
                   boolean create)
            throws IOException

    Constructs an IndexWriter for the index in d. Text will be analyzed with a.
If create is true, then a new, empty index will be created in d, replacing the
index already there, if any.

Parameters:
    d - the index directory
    a - the analyzer to use
    create - true to create the index or overwrite the existing one; false to
append to the existing index 
Throws:
    IOException - if the directory cannot be read/written to, or if it does not
exist, and create is false


We would have this:

IndexWriter

public IndexWriter(Directory d,
                   Analyzer a,
                   boolean clear)
            throws IOException

    Constructs an IndexWriter for the index in d. Text will be analyzed with a.
If clear is true, and a index exists at location d, then it will be erased, and
a new, empty index will be created in d.

Parameters:
    d - the index directory
    a - the analyzer to use
    clear - true to overwrite the existing one; false to append to the existing
index 
Throws:
    IOException - if the directory cannot be read/written to, or if it does not
exist.



Its current behavior is kind of annoying, because I have an app that should
never clear an existing index, it should always append.  So I want create set to
false.  But when I am starting a brand new index, then I have to change the
create flag to keep it from throwing an exception...  I guess for now I will
have to write code to check if a index actually has content yet, and if it
doesn't, change the flag on the fly.

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