Searching the System with DataSearch

Use the DataSearch form to search for information stored anywhere in the application. The search results are listed numerically or alphabetically by data source. For example, you could search for all instances of the text string "Young" across all data sources. The results list every data source in the system where "Young" is found, for example in customers, orders, items, vendors, purchase orders, and so on. You can expand the data source to see a list of every occurrence within that data source.

Searching

To search for a value:

1. Open the DataSearch form. To open the form, use one of these options:
   • Select the form from the Explorer.
   • Click the DataSearch icon on the toolbar.
   • Right-click in certain fields and select DataSearch.
2. Specify the search value, which can include an asterisk (*) as a wildcard.
3. Specify how to interpret the value: find any of these words, find all of these words, find words that contain this text, etc.
4. Optionally, specify which data sources to look in.

   By default, all data sources are used.

   NOTE: You can define additional custom data sources. See Configuring Data Sources for DataSearch.

5. Click the search icon to start the search. The results are displayed, initially grouped by data source. The Count field indicates how many records in the data source include the search term. Click the + button to expand any data source to view the list of results in a grid.

DataView Options

These standard DataView options are also available on this form:

• Click Layout and select Save to save the layout presentation (column order, show/hide columns, order by) of each DataSearch source for future use, or select Delete to remove the existing layout for the source.
• Click Display and select Expand All or Collapse All to expand or collapse all of the groups.
• Select Choose Columns if you want to rearrange, hide, or show columns using the Column Chooser.
• Click Print to print the results.
• Click Send To to export the results to Excel or XPS.

Customizing and Saving Layouts

To customize the display of the search results and save it for future use:

1. Change the columns of the search results by dragging and dropping columns, hiding or showing columns, and/or clicking the column headers to set the sort order.
2. When you like the layout of the results, click Layout and select Save to save the layout.
3. Set the Scope Type appropriately.
4. Save the layout record.

Notes

Each DataSearch Source has its own layout. For example, the Items DataSearch source can be grouped and sorted differently from the Customers DataSearch source.

Only one layout can be associated with each scope of a DataSearch, so users cannot have multiple, named layouts for a DataSearch source.

DataSearch source layouts do not support summaries, calculated columns, grouping or filtering.

DataSearch source layouts can also be viewed and maintained on the DataView Layouts form.

The search results (that is, the display of Source and Count) also have a layout, so you can choose how to sort the results and select the style to use when the results are displayed. This layout is saved with the other layouts for specific sources. The default vendor layout displays source by count, descending, so the source with the highest count is displayed first.

Related Topics

Configuring Data Sources for DataSearch

About DataViews