Home → Star Bill of Lading → Operations → Database Lookup Filtering and Selection Process
6.1. Database Lookup Filtering and Selection Process
When you perform a database lookup to fill a selected field on the screen, there is a filter bar at the top of the screen that is used to filter down the displayed values of the presented grid below. Using this filter bar can speed up the process and help you find what you are looking for if the underlying database has a large number of records. Below are screen shots of how to use the filter bar to reduce the displayed values.
To perform a search/lookup for a field, it must first contain an ellipsis (...) to the right of the field. These are the only fields that are available to perform a lookup on. If your screen does not have all the ones that are displayed below, you can turn on the options under the Displayed/Options Fields screen. This is accessible from the main screen under the Edit menu.
To activate a search/lookup you can click on the ellipsis or the easier way is to press the F2 key when you are in the actual field to be looked up.
When the lookup is activated, you will be displayed the lookup screen with the
available values to load into the field you are in. The cursor or focus is
placed in the associated calling field as displayed below. You can start keying
in a value to lookup or filter.
As you key in a value, the number of records in the displayed grid is reduced
based on the value you key in. When you see the value you want to select, you
can quickly press the down arrow key to highlight it, then press Enter to select
it. If there is only one record displayed, then just press Enter to select it.
Or, you can use your mouse to dbl-click on the record to select it. Whichever
way works best for you.
During the filter process, you can use wildcards to find values that are within the column fields. What this means is if you are looking for a Consignee and you cannot remember exactly what the name is, but you know it has the value of FARM somewhere in the name, you can use the wildcard (*) which is an asterisk and key it into the filter bar field, then follow it with the value of FARM. This will filter all the records and display any of them that contain the word/characters FARM. Then you can select based on the records shown.
You can also use multiple wildcards if there are multiple filter fields/columns
available. Key in multiple wildcards as displayed below.
To quickly reset and clear out the filter entries because you entered the
incorrect filter values, press the Esc (Escape Key) and it will clear out what
you have already keyed in. Or you can use the menu option Edit, then
Clear Filter.
After you have selected the value to be loaded to the original field, the lookup
screen will disappear and the value will be loaded.
There are multiple lookup fields throughout the application that you can perform
searches to make keying in values much faster. They all will contain the
aforementioned ellipsis box to the right of the field. Below is a markup of the
available fields on the main screen. If your screen does not match exactly the
number of available fields, that is because you do not have all the database
lookup files activated. These can be found under the Setup Menu,
Displayed/Options Fields, and then the Field Settings. There you can turn on
the Database lookups for the different available fields.
Here is where you can turn these lookup fields on or off by placing a check mark
in the appropriate row.