Azure Search released the following updates:
New API preview prototype
We are previewing a new API prototype. The purpose of preview versions is to allow early access to potential new features for testing and feedback. It is important to note that the functionality included in this prototype version could change before we declare the version released, so it is important that you do not create dependencies on it. This version includes our new multilanguage support, including text analysis for English (described below).For more information, see
Create Index (Azure Search Service REST API).
Note The current version for Public Preview is the only locked version, meaning that it will not change. Prototype API versions allow us to roll out new experimental capabilities and as such, they can change frequently.
Multilanguage support
We added support for 27 languages to the Azure Search API prototype. This allows Azure Search to support the unique characteristics of a given language, which enables word-breaking, text normalization (standardizing text to allow for handling characters such as é or â) to work as expected for each supported language.In addition, we have added support for stemming for relevant languages, which allows the Search service to reduce words to their word stems. For example, the words “running” and “runner” can be reduced to the word stem, “run.” Additionally, stop words (such as “I,” “to,” or “the”) can be removed from the analyzed text for the relevant languages.For more information, please visit:
When creating an index, you can choose the language to be used per-field, allowing you to use multiple languages (even in the same index) and search across them. This is accomplished by assigning a language to your String and Collection fields.
New regions: North Central US and South Central US
We have expanded our support for Azure Search from the existing four data centers (East US, West US, North Europe, and SE Asia) to include support for North Central US and South Central US.
Azure portal index creation management
Since our public preview on August 21, 2014 (
Azure previews fully-managed NoSQL database and search services), a key piece of feedback that we have received is that it is not obvious how to create an index after you create your Azure Search service. We heard that you wanted to have greater administrative capabilities from within the Azure portal instead of having to jump directly into coding. As a result, we made some enhancements to allow you to create and manage your search index from within the Azure Search portal.For more information, read this blog:
Azure Search Updates: Multilanguage, Azure Portal Index Management, and More!