Function

Description

The <root> line provides a condition placed on all group contained within. 

Figure 5: Filter option menu

The options available at this level include the following:

Add Condition

This option inserts a new, top-level group to the bottom of the listing.

Add Group

This option inserts a group with “AND” operator and a new condition below it.

Clear All

Remove all groups and conditions within the screen with this option.

Users have a choice of conditional operators to base groupings on.

The following options are available:

AND

Use this operator to select records when all conditions under the “AND” are met.  For example, if two conditions exist below the “AND” operator then a record must match both of these conditions to list.

OR

Use this operator to select records when any of the conditions below the “OR” operator are met.

NOT AND

Use this operator to select records that do not qualify for the condition(s) listed below the “NOT AND” operator.

NOT OR

Use this operator to select records that do not qualify for any of the condition(s) listed below the “NOT AND” operator.

The following options are available for all rows.

Figure 6: Row option menu

Add Condition

Inserts a row based on the first data element in the list.

Add Group

Inserts a group based on a conditional operator  such as “AND” and “OR.”

Remove Row

Removes the corresponding row without prompting the user for confirmation.

Data Field

These are the data fields available to filter upon will appear in a drop-down menu when a user presses on an existing field name, e.g. “Date.” 

Figure 7: Data field selector

All fields available within the data grid will be present within this drop down.

Comparison Operator

Clicking on the Comparison Operator will produce a menu of operators to base the selection on when comparing the Data Field to the Comparison Value.

Figure 8: Operator selector

The menu is dynamically built based on the type of field selected, date fields, for example, will not have “like” and “not like” in their list. 

The following is a complete list of available row operators.

Most relevant for comparing numbers and dates:

equals

does not equal

is less than

is less than or equal to

is greater than

is greater than or equal to

The most relevant for comparing text:

like

not like

is blank

is not blank

These work very well for all data types:

between

not between

in

not in

The following are available for date type fields:

is yesterday

is today

is tomorrow

is last 7 days

is last week

is last 14 days

is last two weeks

is last 30 days is last month

is last year

is past is this week

is future

The operators “like” and “not like” are the most relevant to search through a character string such as the Shipper Name.  These two operators work with the wildcards of “%” and “_” (underscore).  The “%” replaces text that may be missing while the “_” replaces a single character.  To find all Shipper Name values for “Smith” for example, use “Smith%” which will return all records starting with “Smith.”

Comparison Value

Enter the actual value that will be compared to the seleceted Data field.   For date field comparisions, a drop-down calendar will appear allowing the user to select a date.  Further, the application will display more values when a range is needed, such as when the “between” operator is specified.

The comparision operation ignores case, therefore “SMITH” is treated the same as “smith.”

Add New Condition

This function inserts a row based on the first data element defined in the list.

Open (Alt+O)

This function opens a Microsoft Explorer window prompting the user to search and select a File name with a Filters (*.flt) file extension.

Save As (Alt+S)

This function opens a Microsoft Explorer window prompting the user to save the filter with a File name amd a Filters (*.flt) file extension.

OK

This function closes the screen and applies the filter to the data grid.

Cancel

Cancel closes the screen and does not apply the filter to the data grid.

Apply (Alt+A)

Use this function to apply the filter to data grid with still working within the Filter Builder.