The `convert` processor converts a field in a document to a different type, for example, a string to an integer or an integer to a string. For an array field, all values in the array are converted. The following is the syntax for the `convert` processor:
```json
{
"convert": {
"field": "field_name",
"type": "type-value"
}
}
```
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## Configuration parameters
The following table lists the required and optional parameters for the `convert` processor.
Parameter | Required | Description |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|
`field` | Required | The name of the field that contains the data to be converted. Supports template snippets. |
`type` | Required | The type to convert the field value to. The supported types are `integer`, `long`, `float`, `double`, `string`, `boolean`, `ip`, and `auto`. If the `type` is `boolean`, the value is set to `true` if the field value is a string `true` (ignoring case) and to `false` if the field value is a string `false` (ignoring case). If the value is not one of the allowed values, an error will occur. |
`description` | Optional | A brief description of the processor. |
`if` | Optional | A condition for running this processor. |
`ignore_failure` | Optional | If set to `true`, failures are ignored. Default is `false`. |
`ignore_missing` | Optional | If set to `true`, the processor does not modify the document if the field does not exist or is `null`. Default is `false`. |
`on_failure` | Optional | A list of processors to run if the processor fails. |
`tag` | Optional | An identifier tag for the processor. Useful for debugging to distinguish between processors of the same type. |
`target_field` | Optional | The name of the field in which to store the parsed data. If not specified, the value will be stored in the `field` field. Default is `field`. |
## Using the processor
Follow these steps to use the processor in a pipeline.
**Step 1: Create a pipeline.**
The following query creates a pipeline, named `convert-price`, that converts `price` to a floating-point number, stores the converted value in the `price_float` field, and sets the value to `0` if it is less than `0`:
```json
PUT _ingest/pipeline/convert-price
{
"description": "Pipeline that converts price to floating-point number and sets value to zero if price less than zero",
"processors": [
{
"convert": {
"field": "price",
"type": "float",
"target_field": "price_float"
}
},
{
"set": {
"field": "price",
"value": "0",
"if": "ctx.price_float <0"
}
}
]
}
```
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**Step 2 (Optional): Test the pipeline.**
It is recommended that you test your pipeline before you ingest documents.
{: .tip}
To test the pipeline, run the following query:
```json
POST _ingest/pipeline/convert-price/_simulate
{
"docs": [
{
"_index": "testindex1",
"_id": "1",
"_source": {
"price": "-10.5"
}
}
]
}
```
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#### Response
The following example response confirms that the pipeline is working as expected:
```json
{
"docs": [
{
"doc": {
"_index": "testindex1",
"_id": "1",
"_source": {
"price_float": -10.5,
"price": "0"
},
"_ingest": {
"timestamp": "2023-08-22T15:38:21.180688799Z"
}
}
}
]
}
```
**Step 3: Ingest a document.**
The following query ingests a document into an index named `testindex1`:
```json
PUT testindex1/_doc/1?pipeline=convert-price
{
"price": "10.5"
}
```
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**Step 4 (Optional): Retrieve the document.**
To retrieve the document, run the following query:
