The optional Product Find program deals specifically with Product searches. All other Find programs (i.e., Author Find, Customer Find, and the standard, tradtional Product Find, etc) have the standard Find screen. The optional Product Find is the only one that is different. As such, it merits its own Help page.
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Important: |
To determine whether you want your store to use this optional Product Find program or the standard Product Find program, you must select which one you want to use. For information on how to select which Product Finder you want to use, please click here. (The system default is to use the standard Product Find program.) |
You can access the optional Product Find program in a variety of ways. The most standard way is to:
Click on the Product toolbar icon at the top of your [i] Merchant Desktop. The Find Product Query window displays.
or . . .
From the [i] Merchant Desktop Main Menu, select File-Open-Product. The Find Product Query window displays.
The Find Product Query window is where you set up (or select preexisting) guidelines that define your Product search. The first thing you need to know how to do, therefore, is create a new query from which to run a search.
To create a new query:
Click on the "Manage saved queries" button at the top right of the query window. A dropdown menu appears.
From this dropdown menu, select "Create a new query to save". A small window appears, prompting you to name the query you are about to create.
Key in the name of your new query in the blank line where the cursor displays, then click on the OK button. The name you just keyed in will display in the "Using saved query" field back in the Query window. (Choose a name that makes sense. If you want to create a query that looks at Food books, for example, you might name the query "Food.")
Now it is time to select the criteria for the new query. What do you want your query to include? Which products? Your query can be as narrow or as wide as you want it to be. Please direct your attention to the fields under the heading "Saved query".
Choose the category you want to define your query by in the Select Field field by clicking on the down arrow at the right of the field. A pulldown list of categories appears. Click on the one you want. Once selected, it displays in the Select Field field. For an example, let us say you selected Department Category.
In the Select Operation field, choose Like, equal to, greater than, less than, greater than or equal to, less than or equal to, or between.
In the Choose Value field, choose the value or values that define the selection criteria. With the Department Category example, say you chose "equal to" in the Select Operation field. If you then select "FD/Food" in the Choose Value field, the query will be run for all products with a Department Category of Food ("FD" being the code, "Food" being the description).
For applicable categories (such as Department Category), there will be a binoculars icon at the right of the Choose Value field. If you need to view information on how to select a parameter in a code-driven field, please click here.
If you selected "between" in the Select Operation field, two fields will display under Choose Value. In the top field, choose the start value. In the bottom field, select the ending value. For example, if you selected Publication Date in the Select Field field and you want to run the query for products ordered between pub dates 1/01/01 and 1/01/05, you would select "between" in the Select Operation field, key in 1/01/01 in the top Choose Value field, and key in 1/01/05 in the bottom Choose Value field.
For Date categories (such as Publication Date), a calendar will display if you click on the down arrow at the right of the Choose Value field(s). This is a convenient way for you to select a particular date, if you'd rather not key it in.
Note:
If you choose any date-related category in the Select Field field, the Choose Value field will automatically default to the current day's date.
Once you have set the query fields the way you want, click on the Add button at the right of the Query window. The query criteria you just set will display in the Selected Ranges box. For example, if you selected a Department Category of FD (Food), then "Department Category = FD (Food)" will display in the Selected Ranges box.
Note:
If you want to blank out the query fields and begin again (prior to clicking on Add), click on the Cancel button. The query fields are blanked out.
Repeat the above process as many times as you want to define the criteria for your query. Each time you establish a new set of criteria and click on the Add button, the new criteria will display in the Selected Ranges box. The more sets of criteria you select, the more specific the parameters of the query will be. So, for example, you may set criteria for multiple categories in order to run a well-defined, highly specific query. Perhaps you want to run the query with the following specifications: Department Category = Food, Publication Date between 1/01/01 and 1/01/05, and Store Number 1. Simply define these criteria, one after the other, until all are set. When the query is run, it will only display results that fall under all of these specifications. For example, if a product had been ordered from Store 1 (within the range you set) but was not published between 1/01/01 and 1/01/05 (as you defined), then the product would not display in the Find Product screen once the query has been run. To run a less-defined query, simply remove some of the criteria. There is no limit to the criteria. If you want to define 100 sets of criteria, you can.
After creating the criteria for this new query, click on the Manage saved queries button and select "Save the current query". At this point, you can run the query immediately, or you can exit the query without running it.
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If you want to run the query and add even more layers of specificity (i.e., only search products with the word "Red" in the title that fall within the parameters established in the query), define these layers using the top two fields ("Criteria to find records" fields) at the upper left of the query window. These two fields are the same Find fields you see on the standard Find programs throughout the system. So, again, if you want to search specific products that fall under the parameters of a particular field, utilize these two "Criteria to find records" fields. Here is an example. Let us say you saved a query that includes all books with the department category of FD (Food) in Store 1, after the Publication Date of 01/01/01. You can simply run your query wide open, and all such books in Store 1 will appear on the Find Product screen once the query is run. But what if you only want to see the books under these parameters written by a single author? Ah. That's what the "Criteria to find records" fields are for. Let's say, for the above books in the query, you only want to see the books written by Jane Everywoman. In one of the of the two "Criteria to find records" fields, select Author. Then key in either part of or all of the author's last name, and you have now narrowed your search accordingly. |
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Initially, when creating your new query templates, you should make one query that is completely blank and name it "All." Then, if you want to simply run a search using the two basic Find fields in the upper left of the query window ("Criteria to find records" fields) without running it against the parameters established in a specified query, you can. By running a search this way, you are running it the same as a standard Find. Setting up specific queries that define searches and can be saved is an option. You can use this option as much or as little as you like. Either way, there will be times when you simply want to run a basic search, without using a query. In these cases, use the empty "All" query, and just run the search using the two "Criteria to find records" field. |
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If you have your cursor in either of the "Criteria to find records" fields and have keyed in a value for selection, you can run the search query from there in one of two additional ways: Either press Enter on your keyboard, or press Alt-S simultaneously on your keyboard as a shortcut. You can, of course, also still simply click on the "Submit the query" button as well. |
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For information on searching for products using Keywords, please click here. |
At this point, let's take a closer look now at the other selections under the Manage saved queries button, in the top right of the query window.
Two choices allow you either to view the list of queries saved only by you or the list of queries saved by everyone on the system. This is user-definable and up to you. Choose whichever makes the most sense. You can switch back and forth anytime you like, but the system will always default to the way you left it the last time you were in the Query program.
These two selections have a direct impact on the "Using saved query" field to the left. This field has a pulldown arrow. Click on the arrow and a dropdown menu displays, listing all of the saved (existing) queries you can choose from. When you select one, that query's criteria will display in the window. At that point, you can run the query.
If you selected only to view queries you yourself created under the Manage saved queries button, then only queries you created and saved will display under the "Using saved query" field. If, however, you chose to view all queries on the system under the Manage saved queries button, then all queries (created by all the users on the system) will display under the "Using saved query" field.
The last choice under the Manage saved queries button is a "Delete the current query" option. Clicking on this will call up a dialogue box that asks you if you want to delete the query that's displayed. If you do, simply click on "Yes". The query will be deleted.
Pay attention to one more field in the Query window: "Include inactive (deleted) records that meet the selection criteria". If you check this field, records that have been deleted from [i] Merchant will be included in the product search. If you leave the field unchecked, these records will not be included, even if they fall under the query's criteria ranges.
To run the query, click on the Submit the query button at the bottom of the query window. (Click on Exit without searching if you do not wish to run the query.)
Once a query is run, a list of matching products displays on the Product Find screen. In the list (in the lower portion of the screen), only exact matching products display. For example, if a product has multiple items attached to it, only the item(s) that fall under the parameters of your query will display in the list. (FYI, at the top of this screen, you can access the Customer Order Subscriptions program by clicking on the Subscription toolbar icon.)
This is a good time to discuss how to create a new item for a product, if you want to.
To create a new item:
Highlight the desired product in the list at the bottom of the Find Product screen.
Click on the New Item toolbar icon at the top of the Find Product screen. The "Add New Item for Product" window appears. This window has an assortment of fields for the selected product. To create a new item, you need to change at least one of the fields in this window.
Once you have changed the desired field(s) in the "Add New Item for Product" window, click on the "Add Item" button at the top left of the window. (If you want to back out without creating a new item, click on the "Cancel" button.) A dialogue box tells you that the new item has been saved.
How can you tell that the new item has been added to the system? Look at the "All Items for current product" at the top right of the Find Product screen. This is an information box that lists all of the items in your system (even items that fall outside the realm of your query search) for the highlighted product in the Find Product list. When you create a new item, that new item's row will immediately appear in this box. If you double-click on an item in this box, you will be taken directly to that item's Product Properties page.
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If the box at the top right of the Find Product screen is labeled "Items for current product matching query," only items for the highlighted product that match the criteria of the query you ran will display. To have the box be the "All Items for current product" box, click on "Items for current product matching query," and it will be changed. You can shuttle back and forth between both boxes as desired, but if you want to see all items for the selected product, be sure to switch over to "All Items for current product." This box will default to the way you had it set upon exiting the previous time you were in the Find Product program. |
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Reminder: |
Remember, when you run a Product search, the products displayed in the list at the bottom of the Find Product screen correlate exactly to the parameters of the query you ran. For example, if a product has two items associated with it (one item in Store Number 1, let's say, and the other in Store Number 2), only the item that falls under the guidelines of the search query will display in the list on the Find Product screen. For example, let's say you run a search only for items in Store 1. If a product has an item for Store 1, it will display in your Find Product list. But if it has an item in Store 2, that item will not appear, because only products in Store 1 show on the list. However, if you highlight this product in the Find Product list, all of its associated items will appear in the "All Items for current product" box at the top right of the screen--even items that fall outside the parameters of the search you ran. |
Up to 200 products will display on the Find Product screen at one time. You can scroll through the list as needed, or you can scan the barcode of a product to be taken directly to that product in the list (scanning product will highlight corresponding product on list).
If your list has more than 200 products, click on the arrow at the lower right of the screen to get to the next increment of 200, and so on, until you get to the page you want.
Another portion of the screen to take note of is the "Product Item Detail for currently selected item" in the upper left corner of the screen. This is strictly informational, and, in fact, can be altered using the Screen Designer. To change the information displayed here, select File-Open from Database-Product Viewer-Product Item Find in the Screen Designer. Then alter the information the way you want it.
When you highlight a product in the Find Product list at the bottom of the screen, that item's information is what displays under "Product Item Detail for currently selected item."
Please take note of the remaining toolbar icons at the top of the Find Product window . . .
The Find button launches the query window to open, so you can run a new query.
The Properties button will take you to Product Properties for the highlighted product in the Find Product list.
You can add a new product to your system with an onhand amount. For details, please click here.
The New Product button launches the New Product message box.
The Find On List button calls up a small Search window. In the Find What field, key in a part of the product's name or the entire name, and the system will automatically highlight the closest match. In essence, this is a shortcut method for finding a product amidst a long list.
The Close button exits you from Product Find.
Another thing to note. You can use the right-clicker on your mouse as a navigational convenience tool. With products displayed in the list on the Find Products screen, highlight a specific product. (You can also highlight a specific item for a selected product in the "Items for current product" box at the upper right corner of the Find Product screen.) Once you have the desired item highlighted, right-click. A menu appears, allowing you to jump to other programs within the system. Many choices appear on this menu. For example, if you click on Properties in this menu, you will be taken directly to the Product Properties screen for the selected product. You can view the items information box for a product, too (by selecting "Show Items for Product" from the right-clicking menu). You can also create Product Lists from here. Highlight as many products as you want to include on the List, then right-click and select Product Lists from the menu that appears. There is also a selection of "Link to Website" assuming you have filled in the Product URL Link box under the Product tab in Tools-Options.