Index pattern selector is not intuitive when many indices match the pattern

[sophiec20]

Kibana version: 6.1.0-SNAPSHOT

Elasticsearch version: 6.1.0-SNAPSHOT

Server OS version: Linux amzn1.x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Browser version: Chrome

Browser OS version:

Original install method (e.g. download page, yum, from source, etc.): zip

Description of the problem including expected versus actual behavior:
There are many indices that match a certain pattern. Only the first 20 are displayed, and therefore it is not obvious to the end-user if this index exists or how to select it, unless they go into Dev Tools and run GET _cat/indices. In this example, I was searching for event_gen_rate_trend but was unable to see it as only 2 pages appear with the first 20 indices.

The above message is wrong, as I have more than 20 indices which "look similar". Whilst it is possible to change the message, I wonder if perhaps the limit of showing the top 20 only is a little restrictive.

Also, the list sometimes shows the exact match (if it exists), and sometimes shows the wildcard match. This is not intuitive.

It also feels that I ought to be able to select a specific index from the list, however this is prohibited. I have to cut and paste, or insert a wildcard.

[chrisronline]

Thanks for the great thoughts @sophiec20!

I agree that 20 might be too restrictive, but either way, I think the goal is not necessarily to show all matching indices (although, the copy might suggest otherwise), but rather show some to give the user an idea of which indices will be included in this newly created index pattern.

In your specific scenario, did you want to create an index pattern that captured all of the indices in the list (from the screenshot)? Or were you using the query to continuously filter down until you saw the exact indices you wanted to match in the list?

It also feels that I ought to be able to select a specific index from the list, however this is prohibited. I have to cut and paste, or insert a wildcard.

I agree here too. We should provide a way to interact directly with the result set.

I'll let @cjcenizal chime in with some thoughts too.

[cjcenizal]

I also think that listing all matching indices would improve the UX. @chrisronline But aren't there performance implications which would prohibit this? How high can we go?

Also, the list sometimes shows the exact match (if it exists), and sometimes shows the wildcard match. This is not intuitive.

@sophiec20 By "wildcard match" you mean when the "similar indices" are shown, right? It might make sense to show two tables side by side, one for "exact matches" and one for "similar indices". Would you find this an improvement?

++ To being able to click a row to populate the input with the index name.

CC @snide

[mattkime]

Increased to 100 by #70271 - should be possible to show more as they're being returned by the api. Likely an error in rendering logic.

[mattkime]

Closing as #70512 replaces this issue