The “hints” command
- Last Updated: May 13, 2026
- 2 minute read
- Semaphore
- Documentation
The “hints” command will return very brief details about concepts or concept schemes matching the supplied prefix. The prefix will match at the start of a token within a label of the concept or concept scheme.
Matching at the start of the label will cause the concept to be returned higher up the set of results, as will matching a preferred label rather than an alternative label. Otherwise the matched results will be returned in alphabetical order.
| Request | XML output | JSON output |
|---|---|---|
| REST request: | http://localhost:8983/ses/SpaceMissions/hints/arm |
http://localhost:8983/ses/SpaceMissions/hints/arm.json |
| CGI request: | http://localhost:8983/ses/?TBDB=SpaceMissions&service=prefix&term_prefix=arm |
http://localhost:8983/ses/?TBDB=SpaceMissions&service=prefix&term_prefix=arm&template=service.json |
Additional Parameter Options
Response
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
<SEMAPHORE>
<PARAMETERS>
<PARAMETER NAME="relatedconceptlimit">10000</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="fl">json_en id</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="language">en</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="language">en</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="language">en</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="language">en</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="sort">score desc, name_en_pl asc</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="rows">10</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="version">1</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="raw_query">arm</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="structure">XML</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="q">autocomplete_en_plf:arm* autocomplete_en_f:arm* autocomplete_en_pl:arm* autocomplete_en:arm*</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="pathelementlimit">10000</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="defType">edismax</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="qf">autocomplete_en_plf^100.0 autocomplete_en_f^20.0 autocomplete_en_pl^50.0 autocomplete_en^1.0</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="term_prefix">arm</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="wt">sesHintsXML</PARAMETER>
<PARAMETER NAME="rid">127.0.0.1-65</PARAMETER>
</PARAMETERS>
<TERM_HINTS total="1">
<TERM_HINT ID="01e1fb66-05c6-47c6-8907-ab6c499e27e9" NAME="Neil Armstrong">
<CLASSES>
<CLASS>Astronaut</CLASS>
</CLASSES>
<HINT ID="01e1fb66-05c6-47c6-8907-ab6c499e27e9" NATURE="PT">Neil <EM>Arm</EM>strong</HINT>
<FACET ID="bfc33274-197f-4873-a1f4-f421c8ab64aa" NAME="People"/>
</TERM_HINT>
</TERM_HINTS>
</SEMAPHORE>
JSON
{
"parameters" : {
"relatedconceptlimit" : "10000",
"fl" : "json_en id",
"language" : "\"en\", \"en\", \"en\", \"en\"",
"sort" : "score desc, name_en_pl asc",
"rows" : "10",
"version" : "1",
"raw_query" : "arm",
"structure" : "JSON",
"q" : "autocomplete_en_plf:arm* autocomplete_en_f:arm* autocomplete_en_pl:arm* autocomplete_en:arm*",
"pathelementlimit" : "10000",
"defType" : "edismax",
"qf" : "autocomplete_en_plf^100.0 autocomplete_en_f^20.0 autocomplete_en_pl^50.0 autocomplete_en^1.0",
"term_prefix" : "arm",
"wt" : "sesHintsJSON",
"rid" : "127.0.0.1-66"
},
"termHints" : [ {
"name" : "Neil Armstrong",
"id" : "01e1fb66-05c6-47c6-8907-ab6c499e27e9",
"classes" : [ "Astronaut" ],
"facets" : [ {
"name" : "People",
"id" : "bfc33274-197f-4873-a1f4-f421c8ab64aa"
} ],
"values" : [ {
"pre_em" : "Neil ",
"em" : "Arm",
"post_em" : "strong",
"nature" : "PT",
"value" : "Neil Armstrong"
} ]
} ],
"total" : 1
}