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 Project - Specifications Window and click the Specification Search (Spec Srch) button spec search button.

 

spec search window

 

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

         Specification Numbers (Specification Nos.)

         Plan Numbers (Plan Nos.)

         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.)

         Inventory Stock Numbers (Inv. Stock Nos.)

         Status/Storage Locations

         Ship On or Before Date

         CFA Required

         CFA Date

         User Date 1 (Install Date)

         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.

 

Go To:  Clicking the Go To button will launch the Specifications Window and position the Items Grid to the selected Specification on the Specification Search Grid.

 

Edit Item:  Clicking the Edit Item button will launch the Item Window for the selected Specification on the Specification Search Grid to revise or review the Item.

 

Edit Component (Edit Comp.):  Clicking the Edit Component button will launch the Component Window for the selected Specification on the Specification Search Grid to revise or review the Component.

 

Print:  The Print button allows the user to print several different reports including:

Items and Components Report which lists both Items and Components, essentially displaying all the information on the Specification Search Grid.
Items with Profit which displays the Description and Estimated and Actual Cost, Price, and Profit Amounts for the listed Items only.
Components with Profit - Item Subtotal which lists the Description, Component Type, Vendor and Estimated and Actual Cost, Price, and Profit Amounts for the listed Components but subtotaled by Item.

 

The example just used 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:

 

All:  Using the All option displays each Specification that satisfies the Selection Range for the first Criteria Selection.  This is the default option.  As example, using All with Projects as the Criteria Selection and "ABC" as the Project Code will list each Specification in the ABC Project.
Not:  The Not option will list each Specification that does NOT satisfy the Selection Range for the first Criteria Selection.  For example, using the Not option with Status as the Criteria Selection and Ordered as the Item Status will show all Specifications that do NOT have their Item Status Type set to Ordered.

 

The other Criteria Qualifiers are somewhat more complex with the following options:

 

And:  Using the And option "links" a Criteria Selection with the preceding one together indicating that BOTH the Criteria must be satisfied by the Specification in order to be displayed.  This is the default option.  In the first example, the And option was used to show Specifications that had a Vendor Code of XYZ AND had a Component Description containing "blue textured fabric".
Or:  The Or will list Specifications that satisfy either the Criteria Selection OR its predecessor.  If the Or option was used with the XYZ Vendor and the "blue textured fabric" Component Description, a Specification will be displayed if the Component has the XYZ Vendor OR has a Description containing "blue textured fabric".
And Not:  Using the And Not option "links" the Criteria Selections together indicating that a Specification must satisfy the first Criteria and does NOT satisfy the second Criteria.  Continuing the example, if And Not was utilized, Specifications would be displayed if they had a Vendor Code of XYZ but did NOT have a Component Description containing "blue textured fabric".
Or Not:  The Or Not will list Specifications that satisfy either the preceding Criteria Selection but does NOT satisfy the second Criteria.  If the Or Not was used with the XYZ Vendor and the "blue textured fabric" Component Description, a Specification will be displayed if the Component has the XYZ Vendor OR has a does NOT have a Description containing "blue textured fabric".
Note:  If multiple conditions are present with combinations of both And (Not) and Or (Not), all of the And conditions will be evaluated as a single condition while each Or will be evaluated separately.  For example, a query is created with 3 And conditions and 2 Or conditions.  A specification will be displayed if it satisfies all of the And conditions or if it satisfies either of the Or conditions.  This logic is independent of the order of the conditions as Design Manager will always place all of the And conditions first followed by all of the Or conditions.

 

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.