Expert Build Filter

Starting with the Easy Build at No the next steps are the same for either method. They are:

Key:

Options:

What happens:

F6

Add New Filter

The Filter Header screen will appear, once the Filter is finished it will be saved on the Select/Maintain Filters list so that you can run it whenever you like.

OR

   

F7

Add then Run

The Filter Header screen will appear, once the Filter is finished it will be saved on the Select/Maintain Filers list and it will also be run immediately.

Filter Header Screen: This screen is used to Add a New Expert Build Filter. This method of adding a new filter is not restricted at all. You may change any or all of the defaults.

Filter Header

Filter ID:

  _____________

   

Description:

  _____________________________________

 

Files Used:

  ___

1=Contact, 2=Activity, 3=Contact/Activity 4=Contact/Contact, 5=Activity/Activity

Focus File:

  ___

1=Contact, 2=Activity

 

Filter Type:

  ___

D=Dynamic, S=Static, U=Unique

Filter Owner:

  ________

   

Security Class:

  ___

U=Unsecured, S=Secured

Last Used

     

Date

     

Time

     

User

     

Count

When you press enter the Filter Maintenance screen will be displayed.

Filter Maintenance

and /or

include if field

position /length

upper case

compare type

compare number, or "characters" or &fieldName

or %V (dept) or %T (date) or %U (user id)

 

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COMPARE TYPE ENTRIES

     

EQ equal

GT greater than

GE greater or equal

%W wildcard

%L list

NE not equal

LT less than

LE less or equal

CT contains

%R range

F3 - Exit

F4=Prompt for Field

F5=Field List

  F6=Add List Entry

  Enter=Save

F7=Filter Header

F9=Insert Line Above Cursor

 F11=Sequence

F12=Cancel

Let's use the same Filter example that we used for Easy Build Filters. The following Expert Filter example is looking for all company contact records in California. The criteria is the data in the STA (State) field found on data layout one. The data in the field is all upper case. You would therefore use these steps to add your Filter:

  1. include if field: Key STA (for State) or prompt for the field ID using F4

  2. compare type: tab to compare type, Key EQ (equals). All of the available compare types are listed at the bottom of the screen.

  3. On the 1st line under compare number: Key CA for California. The data in the database is maintained in upper case and each State is abbreviated using Postal Codes for that State. If you type the data as it appears in the database you will have no need of converting it to upper case.

You have now finished with this simple Expert Build Filter and when you Press Enter the program will place apostrophes around the data, "CA". Press Enter again to save the changes to the new Expert Build Filter. If you added the Filter using F6 the Filter will be saved on the Select/Maintain Filters list and will need to use an option 1 next to the Filter ID (Press Enter) to run it. If you added the Filter using F7, the Filter will be saved on the Select/Maintain Filters list and it will run immediately.

An active filter changes the sequence and view so that you can move forward (F) and backward (B) through all the company contact records (data layout one) that are in the State of California. The Filter ID (name) appears in the top bar on the contact record screen just to the right of Sequence. The Filtered group of California records is displayed alphabetically by PID. With an active Filter the F4 list function also changes so that the list is based only on the contact records that match the criteria of the Filter, in this case, all company contact records in the State of California. You can take a look at the statistics screen to see how many contact records are in your active filter.

The value of using Expert Build Filters is that you have many more values to choose from for selecting criteria for your filter. Suppose we wanted all the records in California and New York in our filter. We would need to use two lines and field ID's for searching and and OR in between both lines.

Expert Build Filters use Boolean logic when performing the searches. Using the And and Or values are logical conditions. You use AND if the record must meet all conditions you specify. This means the filter searches for records that meet the condition specified on the first line AND any subsequent lines with AND's. Use OR if the filter must meet one of several conditions. This means the filter searches for contact records that meet the condition specified until another OR line occurs. In our new example, a filter searching for California plus New York contact records we would require the use of the OR value between the lines for CA and NY. There is NO State called CANY and if we were to use AND for a value the filter search would be on CANY. Our expanded sample filter would look like this: 

Filter Maintenance

and /or

include if field

position /length

upper case

compare type

compare number, or "characters" or &fieldName

or %V (dept) or %T (date) or %U (user id)

 

  STA

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EQ

CA____________________________

OR

  STA

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EQ

NY____________________________

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______________________________

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______________________________

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______________________________

             
             
             

COMPARE TYPE ENTRIES

     

EQ equal

GT greater than

GE greater or equal

%W wildcard

%L list

NE not equal

LT less than

LE less or equal

CT contains

%R range

F3 - Exit

F4=Prompt for Field

F5=Field List

  F6=Add List Entry

  Enter=Save

F7=Filter Header

F9=Insert Line Above Cursor

 F11=Sequence

F12=Cancel

You would use these steps to add your Filter:

  1. include if field: Key STA (for State) or prompt for the field ID using F4

  2. compare type: tab to compare type, Key EQ (equals).

  3. On the 1st line under compare number: Key CA for California. The data in the database is maintained in upper case and each State is abbreviated using Postal Codes for that State. If you type the data as it appears in the database you will have no need of converting it to upper case.

  4. and/or, Key OR

  5. include if field: Key STA (for State) or prompt for the field ID using F4

  6. compare type: tab to compare type, Key EQ (equals). On the 2nd line under compare number: Key NY for New York.

You have now finished with this expanded Expert Build Filter and when you Press Enter the program will place apostrophes around the data, "CA" and "NY". Press Enter again to save the changes to the new Expert Build Filter. If you added the Filter using F6 the Filter will be saved on the Select/Maintain Filters list and will need to use an option 1 next to the Filter ID (Press Enter) to run it. If you added the Filter using F7, the Filter will be saved on the Select/Maintain Filters list and it will run immediately. The results of this filter will be sequential display of all contact records in California and New York, alphabetically starting with California.

Function Keys:

Key:

What happens:

F4

A list of existing filters is displayed

F5

A list of existing fields is displayed

F6

A %L value is automatically entered for add list entry

F7

The Filter Header screen is displayed

F9

One line is added for the filter

F11

The Filter Sequence screen is displayed, select sequence fields, using number 1 through 4 (up to 4 fields maximum) maybe defined.

Additional System Function Keys:

Key:

What happens:

F3

Exits out of your current procedure. Exits out of ActionWare when you are viewing the contact record screen

F12

Cancels the current procedure and returns you to the previous screen