Features removed from Xapian

Native C++ API

Removed

Feature name

Upgrade suggestion and comments

1.0.0

QueryParser::set_stemming_options()

Use set_stemmer(), set_stemming_strategy() and/or set_stopper() instead:

  • set_stemming_options("") becomes set_stemming_strategy(Xapian::QueryParser::STEM_NONE)

  • set_stemming_options("none") becomes set_stemming_strategy(Xapian::QueryParser::STEM_NONE)

  • set_stemming_options(LANG) becomes set_stemmer(Xapian::Stem(LANG) and set_stemming_strategy(Xapian::QueryParser::STEM_SOME)

  • set_stemming_options(LANG, false) becomes set_stemmer(Xapian::Stem(LANG) and set_stemming_strategy(Xapian::QueryParser::STEM_SOME)

  • set_stemming_options(LANG, true) becomes set_stemmer(Xapian::Stem(LANG) and set_stemming_strategy(Xapian::QueryParser::STEM_ALL)

If a third parameter is passed, set_stopper(PARAM3) and treat the first two parameters as above.

1.0.0

Enquire::set_sort_forward()

Use Enquire::set_docid_order() instead:

  • set_sort_forward(true) becomes set_docid_order(ASCENDING)

  • set_sort_forward(false) becomes set_docid_order(DESCENDING)

1.0.0

Enquire::set_sorting()

Use Enquire::set_sort_by_relevance(), Enquire::set_sort_by_value(), or Enquire::set_sort_by_value_then_relevance() instead.

  • set_sorting(KEY, 1) becomes set_sort_by_value(KEY)

  • set_sorting(KEY, 1, false) becomes set_sort_by_value(KEY)

  • set_sorting(KEY, 1, true) becomes set_sort_by_value_then_relevance(KEY)

  • set_sorting(ANYTHING, 0) becomes set_sort_by_relevance()

  • set_sorting(Xapian::BAD_VALUENO, ANYTHING) becomes set_sort_by_relevance()

1.0.0

Stem::stem_word(word)

Use Stem::operator()(word) instead.

1.0.0

Auto::open(path)

Use the Database(path) constructor instead.

1.0.0

Auto::open(path, action)

Use the WritableDatabase(path, action) constructor instead.

1.0.0

Query::is_empty()

Use Query::empty() instead.

1.0.0

Document::add_term_nopos()

Use Document::add_term() instead.

1.0.0

Enquire::set_bias()

Use PostingSource instead (new in 1.2).

1.0.0

ExpandDecider::operator()

Return type is now bool not int.

1.0.0

MatchDecider::operator()

Return type is now bool not int.

1.0.0

Error::get_type()

Return type is now const char * not std::string. Most existing code won’t need changes, but if it does the simplest fix is to write std::string(e.get_type()) instead of e.get_type().

1.0.0

<xapian/output.h>

Use cout << obj.get_description(); instead of cout << obj;

1.0.0

Several constructors marked as explicit.

Explicitly create the object type required, for example use Xapian::Enquire enq(Xapian::Database(path)); instead of Xapian::Enquire enq(path);

1.0.0

QueryParser::parse_query() throwing const char * exception.

Catch Xapian::QueryParserError instead of const char *, and call get_msg() on the caught object. If you need to build with either version, catch both (you’ll need to compile the part which catches QueryParserError conditionally, since this exception isn’t present in the 0.9 release series).

1.1.0

xapian_version_string()

Use version_string() instead.

1.1.0

xapian_major_version()

Use major_version() instead.

1.1.0

xapian_minor_version()

Use minor_version() instead.

1.1.0

xapian_revision()

Use revision() instead.

1.1.0

Enquire::include_query_terms

Use Enquire::INCLUDE_QUERY_TERMS instead.

1.1.0

Enquire::use_exact_termfreq

Use Enquire::USE_EXACT_TERMFREQ instead.

1.1.0

Error::get_errno()

Use Error::get_error_string() instead.

1.1.0

Enquire::register_match_decider()

This method didn’t do anything, so just remove calls to it!

1.1.0

Query::Query(Query::op, Query)

This constructor isn’t useful for any currently implemented Query::op.

1.1.0

The Quartz backend

Use the Chert backend instead.

1.1.0

Quartz::open()

Use Chert::open() instead.

1.1.0

quartzcheck

Use xapian-check instead.

1.1.0

quartzcompact

Use xapian-compact instead.

1.1.0

quartzdump

Use xapian-inspect instead.

1.1.0

configure –enable-debug

configure –enable-assertions

1.1.0

configure –enable-debug=full

configure –enable-assertions –enable-log

1.1.0

configure –enable-debug=partial

configure –enable-assertions=partial

1.1.0

configure –enable-debug=profile

configure –enable-log=profile

1.1.0

configure –enable-debug-verbose

configure –enable-log

1.1.0

Database::positionlist_begin() throwing RangeError if the term specified doesn’t index the document specified.

This check is quite expensive, and often you don’t care. If you do it’s easy to check - just open a TermListIterator for the document and use skip_to() to check if the term is there.

1.1.0

Database::positionlist_begin() throwing DocNotFoundError if the document specified doesn’t exist.

This check is quite expensive, and often you don’t care. If you do, it’s easy to check - just call Database::get_document() with the specified document ID.

1.1.5

delve -k

Accepted as an undocumented alias for -V since 0.9.10 for compatibility with 0.9.9 and earlier. Just use -V instead.

1.3.0

The Flint backend

Use the Chert backend instead.

1.3.0

Flint::open()

Use Chert::open() instead.

1.3.0

xapian-chert-update

Install Xapian 1.2.x (where x >= 5) to update chert databases from 1.1.3 and earlier.

1.3.0

Default second parameter to Enquire sorting functions.

The parameter name was ascending and defaulted to true. However ascending=false gave what you’d expect the default sort order to be (and probably think of as ascending) while ascending=true gave the reverse (descending) order. For sanity, we renamed the parameter to reverse and deprecated the default value. In the more distant future, we’ll probably add a default again, but of false instead.

The methods affected are: Enquire::set_sort_by_value(Xapian::valueno sort_key) Enquire::set_sort_by_key(Xapian::Sorter * sorter) Enquire::set_sort_by_value_then_relevance(Xapian::valueno sort_key) Enquire::set_sort_by_key_then_relevance(Xapian::Sorter * sorter) Enquire::set_sort_by_relevance_then_value(Xapian::valueno sort_key) Enquire::set_sort_by_relevance_then_key(Xapian::Sorter * sorter)

To update them, just add a second parameter with value true to each of the above calls. For the methods which take a Xapian::Sorter object, you’ll also need to migrate to Xapian::KeyMaker (see below).

1.3.0

Sorter abstract base class.

Use KeyMaker class instead, which has the same semantics, but has been renamed to indicate that the keys produced may be used for purposes other than sorting (we plan to allow collapsing on generated keys in the future).

1.3.0

MultiValueSorter class.

Use MultiValueKeyMaker class instead. Note that MultiValueSorter::add() becomes MultiValueKeyMaker::add_value(), but the sense of the direction flag is reversed (to be consistent with Enquire::set_sort_by_value()), so:

MultiValueSorter sorter;
// Primary ordering is forwards on value 4.
sorter.add(4);
// Secondary ordering is reverse on value 5.
sorter.add(5, false);

becomes:

MultiValueKeyMaker sorter;
// Primary ordering is forwards on value 4.
sorter.add_value(4);
// Secondary ordering is reverse on value 5.
sorter.add_value(5, true);

1.3.0

matchspy parameter to Enquire::get_mset()

Use the newer MatchSpy class and Enquire::add_matchspy() method instead.

1.3.0

Xapian::timeout typedef

Use unsigned instead, which should also work with older Xapian releases.

1.3.0

Xapian::percent typedef

Use int instead, which should also work with older Xapian releases.

1.3.0

Xapian::weight typedef

Use double instead, which should also work with older Xapian releases.

1.3.0

Xapian::Query::unserialise() throws Xapian::SerialisationError not Xapian::InvalidArgumentError for errors in serialised data

To be compatible with older and newer Xapian, you can catch both exceptions.

1.3.2

The Brass backend

Use the Glass backend instead.

1.3.2

Xapian::Brass::open()

Use the constructor with Xapian::DB_BACKEND_GLASS flag (new in 1.3.2) instead.

1.3.4

Copy constructors and assignment operators for classes: Xapian::ExpandDecider, Xapian::FieldProcessor (new in 1.3.1), Xapian::KeyMaker, Xapian::MatchDecider, Xapian::StemImplementation, Xapian::Stopper and Xapian::ValueRangeProcessor.

We think it was a mistake that implicit copy constructors and assignment operators were being provided for these functor classes - it’s hard to use them correctly, but easy to use them in ways which compile but don’t work correctly, and we doubt anyone is intentionally using them, so we’ve simply removed them. For more information, see https://trac.xapian.org/ticket/681

1.3.5

Xapian::DBCHECK_SHOW_BITMAP

Use Xapian::DBCHECK_SHOW_FREELIST (added in 1.3.2) instead. Xapian::DBCHECK_SHOW_BITMAP was added in 1.3.0, so has never been in a stable release.

Bindings

Removed

Language

Feature name

Upgrade suggestion and comments

1.0.0

SWIG 1

Enquire::set_sort_forward()

Use Enquire::set_docid_order() instead.

  • set_sort_forward(true) becomes set_docid_order(ASCENDING)

  • set_sort_forward(false) becomes set_docid_order(DESCENDING)

1.0.0

SWIG 1

Enquire::set_sorting()

Use Enquire::set_sort_by_relevance(), Enquire::set_sort_by_value() or Enquire::set_sort_by_value_then_relevance() instead.

  • set_sorting(KEY, 1) becomes set_sort_by_value(KEY)

  • set_sorting(KEY, 1, false) becomes ``set_sort_by_value(KEY)

  • set_sorting(KEY, 1, true) becomes set_sort_by_value_then_relevance(KEY)

  • set_sorting(ANYTHING, 0) becomes set_sort_by_relevance()

  • set_sorting(Xapian::BAD_VALUENO, ANYTHING) becomes set_sort_by_relevance()

1.0.0

SWIG 1

Auto::open(path)

Use the Database(path) constructor instead.

1.0.0

SWIG 1

Auto::open(path, action)

Use the WritableDatabase(path, action) constructor instead.

1.0.0

SWIG 3

MSet::is_empty()

Use MSet::empty() instead.

1.0.0

SWIG 3

ESet::is_empty()

Use ESet::empty() instead.

1.0.0

SWIG 3

RSet::is_empty()

Use RSet::empty() instead.

1.0.0

SWIG 3

Query::is_empty()

Use Query::empty() instead.

1.0.0

SWIG 1

Document::add_term_nopos()

Use Document::add_term() instead.

1.0.0

CSharp

ExpandDecider::Apply()

Return type is now bool instead of int.

1.0.0

CSharp

MatchDecider::Apply()

Return type is now bool instead of int.

1.0.0

SWIG 1

Stem::stem_word(word)

Use Stem::operator()(word) instead. 4

1.1.0

SWIG 1

xapian_version_string()

Use version_string() instead.

1.1.0

SWIG 1

xapian_major_version()

Use major_version() instead.

1.1.0

SWIG 1

xapian_minor_version()

Use minor_version() instead.

1.1.0

SWIG 1

xapian_revision()

Use revision() instead.

1.1.0

SWIG 1

ESetIterator::get_termname()

Use ESetIterator::get_term() instead. This change is intended to bring the ESet iterators in line with other term iterators, which all support get_term() instead of get_termname().

1.1.0

Python

get_description()

All get_description() methods have been renamed to __str__(), so the normal python str() function can be used.

1.1.0

Python

MSetItem.get_*()

All these methods are deprecated, in favour of properties. To convert, just change msetitem.get_FOO() to msetitem.FOO

1.1.0

Python

Enquire.get_matching_terms

Replaced by Enquire.matching_terms, for consistency with rest of Python API. Note: an Enquire.get_matching_terms method existed in releases up-to and including 1.2.4, but this was actually an old implementation which only accepted a MSetIterator as a parameter, and would have failed with code written expecting the version in 1.0.0. It was fully removed after release 1.2.4.

1.1.0

SWIG 1

Error::get_errno()

Use Error::get_error_string() instead.

1.1.0

SWIG 2

MSet::get_document_id()

Use MSet::get_docid() instead.

1.2.0

Python

mset[i][xapian.MSET_DID] etc

This was inadvertently removed in 1.2.0, but not noticed until 1.2.5, by which point it no longer seemed worthwhile to reinstate it. Please use the property API instead, e.g. mset[i].docid, mset[i].weight, etc.

1.2.5

Python

if idx in mset

This was nominally implemented, but never actually worked. Since nobody seems to have noticed in 3.5 years, we just removed it. If you have uses (which were presumably never called), you can replace them with: if idx >= 0 and idx < len(mset)

1.3.0

Python

Non-pythonic iterators

Use the pythonic iterators instead.

1.3.0

Python

Stem_get_available_languages

Use Stem.get_available_languages instead (static method instead of function)
1(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12)

This affects all SWIG generated bindings (currently: Python, PHP, Ruby, Tcl8 and CSharp)

2

This affects all SWIG-generated bindings except those for Ruby, support for which was added after the function was deprecated in Xapian-core.

3(1,2,3,4)

This affects all SWIG generated bindings except those for Ruby, which was added after the function was deprecated in Xapian-core, and PHP, where empty is a reserved word (and therefore, the method remains “is_empty”).

4

Python handles this like C++. Ruby renames it to ‘call’ (idiomatic Ruby). PHP renames it to ‘apply’. CSharp to ‘Apply’ (delegates could probably be used to provide C++-like functor syntax, but that’s effort and it seems debatable if it would actually be more natural to a C# programmer). Tcl8 renames it to ‘apply’ - need to ask a Tcl type if that’s the best solution.

Omega

Removed

Feature name

Upgrade suggestion and comments

1.0.0

$freqs

Use $map{$queryterms,$_:&nbsp;$nice{$freq{$_}}} instead.

1.0.0

scriptindex -u

-u was ignored for compatibility with 0.7.5 and earlier, so just remove it.

1.0.0

scriptindex -q

-q was ignored for compatibility with 0.6.1 and earlier, so just remove it.

1.1.0

scriptindex index=nopos

Use indexnopos instead.

1.3.0

OLDP CGI parameter

Use xP CGI parameter instead (direct replacement), which has been supported since at least 0.5.0.