The Field module ranks documents based on the search interface field with the highest priority in which it matched.

Only the best field in which a match occurs is considered. The Field module is often used in relevance ranking strategies for catalog applications, because the category or product name is typically a good match. Field assigns a score to each result based on the static rank of the dimension or property member or members of the search interface that caused the document to match the query. In Developer Studio, static field ranks are assigned based on the order in which members of a search interface are listed in the Search Interfaces view. The first (left-most) member has the highest rank.

By default, matches caused by cross-field matching are assigned a score of zero. The score for cross-field matches can be set explicitly in Developer Studio by moving the <<CROSS_FIELD>> indexator up or down in the Selected Members list of the Search Interface editor. The <<CROSS_FIELD>> indexator is available only for search interfaces that have the Field module and are configured to support cross-field matches. All non-zero ranks must be non-equal and only their order matters.

For example, a search interface might contain both Title and DocumentContent properties, where hits on Title are considered more important than hits on DocumentContent (which in turn are considered more important than <<CROSS_FIELD>> matches). Such a ranking is implemented by assigning the highest rank to Title, the next highest rank to DocumentContent, and setting the <<CROSS_FIELD>> indexator at the bottom of the Selected Members list in the Search Interface editor.