The Advanced Search option is available in many of the Find programs, such as Customer Orders, Vendors, and Purchase Orders. The Advanced Search option allows you to add, maintain, and save templates that define searches. For example, you can create a template for searching all Customer Orders during a certain month or week. The possibilities are endless and entirely user-definable.
Access the Advanced Search option from the menu at the top of the screen once you are in a Find program (such as Customer Orders). Please note, not all Search programs utilize the Advanced Search option.
The activated Advanced Seach option has four choices under its pulldown menu.
The first option--Hide/Show--determines whether the Advanced Search window is open. If left to Show, then the next time you open the Search window, the Advanced Search window is what you will see. To get rid if the Advanced Search window, simply select Hide from the Advanced Search menu. The standard Find window will now display. The system will always remember whether you selected Hide or Show the last time you were in the Search program, and it will default to the previous selection.
The second option--Filter--allows you to view Search templates only you created or templates everyone has created. A submenu will appear with your name on top and "All Users" underneath. Simply click on the one you want, and a black dot appears to the left of the selected choice. 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 Search program.
Whichever choice you select, when you click on the dropdown arrow to the right of the top field in the Advanced Search window, a dropdown list of template options appears. To select an existing Search template option from this list:
Scroll through the list.
Click on the template option you want. The name you just selected will now display in this field, and the parameters of the template will display in the Selected Ranges box.
The third option from the Advanced Search menu is called "New". This is the way you create new Search templates. To create a new template, then:
Select New from the Advanced Search menu. A message box appears, asking you to name the template.
Key in a name that makes sense and fits the search you are doing. For example, if you are setting up a new template for Customer Orders and you want to create a Search template that includes all customers with the last name of Peters who ordered products from Store 1, you might name the template, "Peters, Store 1." Then click on the OK button in the message box. The new template name now appears in the top field of the Advanced Search window.
Next, define the selection criteria for this new template, then Save the template.
To define the selection criteria for the new template:
Choose the category you want to define in the Select Field field by clicking on the down arrow at the right of the field. A pulldown list of categories appears. The list will be different depending on which Search program you're in (for example, it will be different for Customer Orders than for Services). Click on the one you want. Once selected, it displays in the Select Field field. For an example, let us say you selected Order Store.
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. Please note, greater than or equal to is the same as the operation choice "From." Likewise, less than or equal to is the same as the operation choice "To."
Additionally, there are three other operation choices: Not =, Null, and Not Null. The Not = choice works best when you choose a single paramter. For example, you can select onhand in the Select Field field, and then choose Not = here in the Select Operation field. Then, in the Choose Value field, you can key in a single onhand value--for example, 2. The search, then, would look up all products with an onhand amount that is not 2.
Null and Not Null are not widely used in [i] Merchant. They also require a good understanding of the database. If you want to use them, null field generally refer to empty date fields or database relationship fields. Again, this is a nice tool to use if you have a good understanding of the nuts and bolts of the [i] Merchant database. Otherwise, it is probably best to avoid using the Null selections.
In the Choose Value field, choose the value or values that define the selection criteria. With the Order Store example, say you chose "greater than" in the Select Operation field. If you then select Store Number 1 in the Choose Value field, the report will be run for all stores with a store number greater than 1.
For applicable search categories (such as Customer, Order Store, Order Type, etc.), 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 Order Store in the Select Field field and you want to run the search for Customer Orders taken between store numbers 1 and 5, you would select "between" in the Select Operation field, key in a 1 in the top Choose Value field, and key in a 5 in the bottom Choose Value field.
If you choose Date (or any other date category) in the Select Field field, a calendar will display if you click on the down arrow at the right of the Choose Value field. This is a convenient way for you to select a particular date.
Note:
If you choose Date (or another date category) in the Select Field field, the Choose Value field will automatically default to the current day's date. If you need to change that, in addition to accessing the calendar and choosing a new date that way, you can simply highlight the default date and rekey the desired date.
Once you have set the search fields the way you want, click on the Add button at the right of the Advanced Search window. The search criteria you just set will display in the Selected Ranges box. For example, if you selected an Order Store of 1, "Order Store = [1] 1 (store name)" will display in the Selected Ranges box.
Note:
If you want to blank out the search fields and begin again (prior to clicking on Add), click on the Cancel button. The search fields are blanked out.
Repeat the above process as many times as you want to define the search criteria for your template. Each time you establish a new set of search criteria and click on the Add button, the new criteria will display in the Selected Ranges box. The more sets of search criteria you select, the more specific the parameters of the search will be. So, for example, you may set search criteria for multiple categories in order to run a well-defined, highly specific search. Perhaps you want to run the search with the following specifications: Order Store 1, Ship Store 1, Needed By 12/28/04, Customers Anthony Murray, John Doe, and Jane Everywoman. Simply define these criteria, one after the other, until all are set. When the search is run, it will only display results that fall under all of these specifications. For example, if a Customer Order had been ordered from Store 1 (within the range you set) but was not needed on 12/28/04 (as you defined), then the Customer Order would not display in the search. To run a less-defined search, simply remove some of the search criteria. There is no limit to the search criteria. If you want to define 100 sets of search criteria, you can.
To remove a set of search criteria:
In the Selected Ranges box, highlight the criteria you want removed and click on the Remove button. The selected criteria is removed from the template.
When you are through creating the template, simply close out of it. The search criteria is automatically saved.
The fourth option under the Advanced Search menu is Delete. To delete a Search template:
Find the template you want deleted and select it.
Once the template is selected, choose Delete under the Advanced Search menu. A message box appears asking if you want to delete the template from the system.
To delete the template, click on Yes inside the message box. The template is now deleted. If you click on No, the delete is aborted.