Make default column configurable

[avleen]

Currently if no fields are selected, _source is displayed. This isn't super ideal. Especially in the Logstash use case, message is much more useful.

I tried to patch this but it didn't quite work - I ended up with no default field displayed, rather than _source or message. Maybe someone can make it work :)

diff --git a/src/kibana/plugins/discover/controllers/discover.js b/src/kibana/plugins/discover/controllers/discover.js
index d112284..d17f46d 100644
--- a/src/kibana/plugins/discover/controllers/discover.js
+++ b/src/kibana/plugins/discover/controllers/discover.js
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ define(function (require) {
     }
   });

-  app.controller('discover', function ($scope, config, courier, $route, $window, Notifier,
+  app.controller('discover', function ($scope, config, configFile, courier, $route, $window, Notifier,
     AppState, timefilter, Promise, Private, kbnUrl, highlightTags) {

     var Vis = Private(require('components/vis/vis'));
@@ -508,9 +508,9 @@ define(function (require) {
       // Make sure there are no columns added that aren't in the displayed field list.
       $state.columns = _.intersection($state.columns, fields);

-      // If no columns remain, use _source
+      // If no columns remain, use configFile.default_display_field
       if (!$state.columns.length) {
-        $scope.toggleField('_source');
+        $scope.toggleField(configFile.default_display_field);
         return;
       }

diff --git a/src/server/config/kibana.yml b/src/server/config/kibana.yml
index 3bc7102..a573b6a 100644
--- a/src/server/config/kibana.yml
+++ b/src/server/config/kibana.yml
@@ -49,3 +49,5 @@ verify_ssl: true
 # Set the path to where you would like the process id file to be created.
 # pid_file: /var/run/kibana.pid

+# The default field to use when a column isn't provided.
+default_display_field: _source

[ohTHATaaronbrown]

👍 though i'd like to see it to be a list of default fields

[wjimenez5271]

Yep this would add a lot in terms of usability. Users coming from other tools have more trouble with the transition when the default display column is _source.

[buckett]

We're seeing this issue where we would like the default fields to "identifier, logger, level, message", but instead you have the manually add them each time.

[tkuther]

+1 for the ability to set a default search in the discover app.

A default set of fields for each index pattern, or at least for the default index pattern would accomplish the same, but I think it would result in a sort of unintuitive configuration. Something like a "discover:defaultSearch" in Settings -> Advanced would be perfect.