Index > Composite Collections

Use the Index > Composite Collections page to create composite collections. Composite collections include collections from the secondary nodes, which the primary search appliance in a unified environment can query, and can also include collections from the primary node itself. Composite collections are configured only on the primary node in a unified environment.

When you create composite collections containing collections from both the primary and secondary nodes, you also designate logical operators governing which collections on which search appliances are searched in response to a query.

For example, you might have a search appliance with three collections, called X, Y, and Z.

• X AND Y AND Z means that a document must be present in all three collections to be found.
• X OR Y AND Z is interpreted as (X OR Y) AND Z and means that the document must be in either X or Y and also in Z to be found.

In another example, you might have two search appliances, 1 and 2, where collections X and Y are on search appliance 1 and collection Z is on search appliance two. X AND Y OR Z means that documents must be in both the X and Y collections or in the Z collection.

The AND operator can be used only with collections on the same search appliance, such as X and Y in the immediately previous example. You cannot use AND with collections on different appliances.

This help page provides information on the following topics:

• Before Starting these Tasks
• Creating Composite Collections
• Editing Composite Collections
• Deleting Composite Collections
• For More Information

Before Starting these Tasks

Before you configure composite collection, log in to the Admin Console on the secondary nodes in the unified environment and note the collections that exist on the secondary nodes.

Creating Composite Collections

To create a composite collection:

1. On the Admin Console of the primary search appliance, navigate to Index > Composite Collections.
2. Under Create New Collection in the field Composite Collection Name, type the name of a new composite collection. The name must consist of alphanumeric characters, underscore ("_") and hyphen ("-"). The name cannot start with a hyphen. The maximum length permitted is 200 characters.
3. Click Create. The new collection name appears in the list of composite collections.
4. Click the Edit Collections link corresponding to one of the secondary appliances.
5. Select the collections that you want included in the composite collection and if you are creating a collection containing collections from both the primary and remote nodes, select the AND or OR operator.
6. Click Save.
7. Navigate back to Index > Composite Collections and click Apply Changes.

Editing Composite Collections

To edit a composite collection:

1. On the Admin Console, navigate to Index > Composite Collections.
2. Click the Edit link corresponding to the composite collection you want to change. The Current Member Collections list is displayed.
3. Add or remove any collections on secondary search appliances.
4. Click Save.
5. Navigate back to Index > Composite Collections and click Apply Changes.

Deleting Composite Collections

To delete a composite collection:

1. On the Admin Console, navigate to Index > Composite Collections.
2. Click the Delete link corresponding to the composite collection you want to delete. A confirmation dialog box is displayed.
3. Click OK.
4. Click Save.
5. Navigate back to Index > Composite Collections and click Apply Changes.

For More Information

For more information on unified environments, see "Configuring Unified Environments," which is linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.