Specification Search Window |
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Quickly finding a particular Item or Component for which only limited information is known can seem a daunting task. For example, you may recall the Vendor and a portion of the Description of a Component but cannot remember in which Project it was entered. The Specification Search Window is the perfect tool for tracking down Specifications in such a circumstance. To utilize the Specification Search Window, go to the Projects and Specifications Window and click the Search button.
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The Specification Search Window allows a user to input a variety of criteria and to display all the Specifications that satisfy such criteria. To do so, choose the desired criteria from the first Criteria Selection which is always set to Projects upon initially entering the window. Each Criteria Selection has the following options:
Projects Clients Item Selections (Information pertaining to the Item only) Item Descriptions Containing Status Locations Sales Categories Completed Inactive Active Latest Proposal Number (Proposal No.) Proposal Date Invoice Number (Invoice No.) Invoice Date Client Check Number (Client Check No.) Component Selections (Information pertaining to the Component only) Component Descriptions Containing (Comp. Descriptions Containing) Type Vendors Ship To Manufacturer's Catalog Numbers (Man. Catalog Nos.) Status/Storage Locations Ship On or Before Date CFA Required CFA Date User Date 1 User Date 2 Taxable Latest Purchase Order Number (Purchase Order No.) Ordered Date Acknowledgment Number (Acknowledgment No.) Acknowledgment Date Expected Ship Date (Exp. Ship Date) Vendor Invoice Number (Vendor Invoice No.) Vendor Invoice Date Received Date Vendor Check Number (Vendor Check No.)
Each of the options in the Criteria Selections are also included as a column in the Specification Search Grid.
Using the example from above to illustrate how fully use the Specification Search Window, select Vendors under Component Selections as the Criteria Selection. Upon doing so, you'll notice the Selection Range switches from "Project/Order Range" to "Vendor Range". Enter or select the Vendor Code of the known Vendor into the Vendor Range, Vendor "XYZ" for example. Since a portion of the Description is also known, "blue textured fabric" for instance, select Component Descriptions Containing on the second Criteria Selection and enter "blue textured fabric" into the Description Selection Range. Now, click the Find button to display all the Specifications in Design Manager with the selected Vendor Code and have a Description that contain the phrase "blue textured fabric" in the Specification Search Grid. Several actions can now be taken with the Specifications using the other buttons on the window as follows:
Clear: The Clear button will return all the Criteria Selections to <none> and remove all the Specifications from the Specification Search Grid.
Print: The Print button allows the user to print several different reports including:
Go To: Clicking the Go To button will launch the Projects and Specifications Window and position the Specifications Tree and Grid to the selected Specification on the Specification Search Grid.
Export: Choosing the Export button will allow you to save ALL fields generated by the Search as a CSV file. This file can then be opened in Excel and will show ALL columns as seen on the Spec Search window.
The example used above is fairly simplistic. The Specification Search Window can handle far more complicated queries using the Criteria Qualifiers. The Criteria Qualifiers precede each Criteria Selection. The Criteria Qualifier for the first Criteria Selection is different than all the others and has the following two options:
The other Criteria Qualifiers are somewhat more complex with the following options:
The Specification Search Window can be used for other tasks besides just locating a particular Specification. One can use the window to generate lists of Specifications satisfying complex combinations of Criteria as desired. For instance, the Vendor and Ship To Criteria with the And option can be used to show all Specifications from a particular Vendor that are to be shipped to a particular location regardless of the Project. Another example would be using the Proposal Number with a range of "0001" to "9999" and the And Not option with a Purchase Order range of "0001" to "9999". Doing so will show all Specifications that have been proposed to Clients but not yet included on Purchase Order. |