Searching, Filtering and Querying Registers

This page outlines the tools for searching and retrieving records efficiently within each register. This overview provides a concise summary of the key search techniques.

You can use the search and CQL (Crisisworks Query Language) to perform anything from basic text based searches to advanced multiple field queries.

Filter/Counter Menu

The Filter/Counter menu contains some handy preconfigured queries which you can use to generate lists of items.

Filter/Counter menu

Main and Assignments are shown at all times and indicates the number of items retrieved by the filter on the right. Urgent or overdue counters are indicated in red, all others are in blue. Open any filter/counter to view the list of matching items. The current query is displayed in the blue search bar which you can use to manually refine the set of items.

To view more filters, use the three dots icon . This will open the full set of available filters/counters menus which you can expand to show the full set of filters/counters.

The counter totals stay be up to date, however if you know items have very recently been added or changed and you suspect that the numbers are not up-to-date you can update them using the Refresh icon .

Register Filters

To query an individual register:

  1. Open/expand the register to access the search box for that register.

  2. Use the Filter icon to open the search

The Register search is activated using the filter icon

Register Search enables you to filter the lists with a combination of filters including text searching​ using the Contains field or by data field, for example Date, Name or ID​.

Contains works best for specific content such as reference numbers and names.

Filters menu for a register

An alternative way to search is th Search bar is located in the Navigation bar. It also displays any currently applied filters.

You can run a custom query using the magnifying class icon

The Search bar will only search within the currently active Register.

To search, enter a CQL query into the white box that opens. The search field supports advanced querying (including wildcards and other search operators)​ across almost any field in the Register.

Search activated in the Navigation bar

Sharing Search Results

Collaboration is made easy with the ability to share search results:

  1. After conducting a search, copy the URL from the browser's address bar.

  2. Share the URL via emails, documents, or bookmark it for future use.

  3. Colleagues can click the shared link to access and resurrect the same search results.

By following these steps, users can efficiently navigate the system and retrieve the information they need.

Clearing the search is important so that your datagrid does not display unexpected results.

To clear a search, use the Clear button. This will return you to the filter/counter menu.

Search syntax and concepts

This section contains some of the types of searches you can perform on standard fields.

Keyword and phrase matching

You can perform keyword queries on any field by entering the field as a prefix with a colon. The Contains field provides a simple way of performing searches across all fields.

Search for the word "clean" in all text fields:

clean

Use double quotes to search for records that contain phrases with spaces. For example, to search for the phrase "clean up" in all text fields:

"clean up"

Searching within specific fields

You can reference specific fields by prefixing them with a colon. Consult the technical specification for a full list of field names.

Search for records where the title must equal the word clean

title:clean

Wildcard searches are available using the * symbol. This will search the title field where the first word is “water”. This would return results such as “water”, “waterfall”, “water-pump” or phrases such as “water is needed”.

title:water*

Search for records where the word water is anywhere within the title. This would return results with titles such as “I need water”, “Water is required”, “Property water is needed”

title:*water*

Search for an empty title field:

title:none

Search for whether the title field has a value

title:any

The ~ symbol performs SOUNDS LIKE searches. For example, in the contacts register a search such as the one below would return records that sound like “Smith” such as Smyth, Smith, Smath.

lastName:~Smith

AND, OR and NOT searches

By default, when can combine multiple search terms they are combined with an “AND” logic — that is, the results will only contain records that match all search terms.

If you want to change this behaviour, you can explicitly specify the way the search should logical combine the terms by using the words AND, OR and NOT.

This will return records that have both the words water and clean in the title field:

title:*water* AND title:*clean*

This will return records that have either the word water or clean in the title field:

title:*water* OR title:*clean*

Return items that have the word water in the title but not the word clean in the title:

title:*water* NOT title:*clean*

“is” Searches

Shorthand search syntax has been developed to help simplify some common search queries.

Returns all active items:

is:active

Returns active and non-active items:

is:any

You can also use the NOT syntax to find all inactive items:

NOT is:active

Using parentheses

Parentheses can be used to group together search terms in a logical way.

For contacts this search below will find records with the first name of Rick and last name of O’Shea OR any user:

(firstName:Rick AND lastName:O'Shea) OR (isUser:true)

Testing if a field contains a value

You can test whether a field is set or unset using the following syntax.

To search for a field containing a value:

fieldname:any

to search for a field NOT containing a value

fieldname:none

You can also test whether a sub-record has been added for a register. For example in Recovery Case you can return items with no Private Assets:

privateAssets:none

You can also search for cases that have one or more private assets added.

privateAssets:any

Operators and Wildcards

The search also supports operators and wildcards. ​

Some useful examples for beginners are:

Operator
Usage
Examples

?

Substitutes a single character​

b?tter returns 'butter', 'bitter', 'batter' etc​

*

Substitutes multiple characters​

clean* returns 'clean', 'cleans', 'cleaning' etc​

~

Sounds like​

~smith returns 'smith', 'smyth' etc​

none

finds fields without data

title:none

any

finds fields with any data

title:any

Textual Data and Complex Searches

For searches involving names or textual data, consider the following:

  1. Use quotes for multi-word values.

  2. Use "Sounds Like" searches by placing the tilde (~) character before the search term

  3. Use asterisks (*) for wildcard searches (e.g., searching for names starting with a specific letter).

  4. Implement boolean logic for complex searches using brackets ( and ), as well as AND, OR and NOT keywords.

Examples using fields:

  • firstName:"Cameron Smith" — will find a field containing a phrase

  • firstName:~April — will find April and Apryl using a sounds-like search

  • firstName:Sc* — finds all records beginning with Sc, such as Scott, Scot, Scod

  • firstName:Scott or firstName:April — finds records with a first name of either Scott or April

  • (firstName:Ashley lastName:G*) OR (firstName:Apryl lastName:D*) — looks for records Ashley G* and Apryl D*.

Soundex, phrase and boolean searches can also be performed on full text searches.

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