Learning About Object Queries on the EDM

Before you can view or update object information, you need to perform a search for the object. There are several different search capabilities within the EDM. You can perform lookups for specific object profiles using unique identifiers, such as the EUID or local ID, and you can perform broader searches using data from the parent or child objects as criteria.

The following topics provide information about working with EDM searches and the types of searches that are defined by default.

• About the EDM Search Function

• Types of EDM Searches

• Searching by Ranges on the EDM

• Required Fields on the EDM

About the EDM Search Function

By default, the Search tab includes three different search pages: Lookup, Search, and Comparison Lookup. The design of the search functionality provides flexibility in designing database queries. You can narrow a search for a specific object or a range of objects using various search fields located on the search pages and then view your search results on the Search Result page. When you select a specific object from the Search Result page, detailed information for that object appears on the View/Edit page.

The Lookup Page

The Lookup page of the Search function allows you to perform lookups using unique identifiers to find a specific object profile. By default, the unique identifiers you can use as search criteria include the EUID or local ID and system. When you perform this type of search, the Search Result page is generally bypassed and the View/Edit page appears displaying information about the matching profile

The Search Page

The Search page allows you to perform various types of searches against the database using a combination of fields as criteria. By default, you can perform three types of searches on this page. You specify the search type by selecting the appropriate option button in the upper portion of the Search page.

• Alphanumeric Search – This type of search is an exact match search, meaning it only returns profiles that exactly match the criteria you specify. Most fields in this search allow wildcard characters if the exact value is unknown.

• Phonetic Search – This type of search compares the phonetic values of certain fields entered as criteria. The object profiles returned by a phonetic search are assigned a matching probability weight to indicate how closely they match the search criteria. Phonetic searches are not exact match searches and allow for misspellings or data entry errors.

• Blocker Search – This type of search allows you to perform searches against the database using predefined combinations of fields as criteria. The object profiles returned by these searches are assigned a matching probability weight to indicate how closely they match the search criteria. For information about the predefined field combinations, see your system administrator.

The Comparison Lookup Page

The Comparison Lookup page of the Search function allows you to perform a search for multiple object profiles by entering their EUIDs. You can then select two of the resulting records to view on the Comparison page. Use this type of search if you want to compare object profiles and you know the EUIDs of the object profiles to compare.

The Search Result Page

The Search Result page of the Search function displays a list of object profiles found in the database that closely match the search criteria you entered. The results list appears in a table, with the number of profiles returned for the search displayed above the table. This page displays information to help you identify the object profile, such as the EUID or address information. This page also displays a list of the search criteria entered for the search that returned the displayed list. For more information about search results and the Search Result page, see Working with Search Results on the EDM.

Types of EDM Searches

There are several different methods of searching for objects, depending on the search criteria you enter. The search pages of the Search function are organized into different sections that allow you to perform different types of searches based on specific categories of criteria. On the Simple Lookup page, you can only perform one type of search at a time, using the fields from only one search section.

EUID Lookup

You can perform an EUID Lookup using the field in the Enterprise Unique ID section of the Simple Lookup page. Enter the object’s EUID number to perform an exact match search against the database.

Local ID Lookup

The Local ID section of the Simple Lookup page consists of two required fields, System and Local ID. To increase search accuracy, you can only select a system listed in the drop-down list and the Local ID field is case-sensitive. The name of this section is configurable and might have been modified for your implementation. See your system administrator for more information.

Advanced Search

On the Search page, you can perform three different types of advanced searches: alphanumeric, phonetic, and blocking. The fields displayed on the Search page are configured by the system administrator. You can enter as much information as needed to narrow down the search appropriately. For blocking searches (and some phonetic searches), certain combinations of criteria are required to perform a search. The search is only carried out for the combinations that have complete data.

For example, a blocking search might be configured to search on the following combinations:

• Company Name and Sales Region

• Company Name and Address Line1

• Tax Payor ID

• Stock Symbol and Address Line1

If Company Name, Address Line1, and Stock Symbol are entered as criteria, only the second and fourth combinations are carried out. The returned result set would include any records that match on Company Name and Address Line1 or that match on Stock Symbol and Address Line1. If only Company Name is entered as criterion, no records are returned since it does not fulfill any of the combination requirements.

Comparison Lookup

The Comparison Lookup function provides a simple way to search for two or more records to compare in a side-by-side comparison. You can enter up to five EUIDs as search criteria, and all records matching any of the specified EUIDs are returned.

Searching by Ranges on the EDM

Your system administrator can configure the search pages to allow you to enter a range by which to search for certain fields. For example, you might want to search for profiles with a specific name, but with a date that falls within a five-year range. If a field is defined for searching by a user-defined range, the EDM displays a ”from’ field and a ”to’ field so you can specify the range (for example, “Date From” and “Date To”). If you only enter a value in the ”from’ field, the EDM searches for profiles with a value greater than or equal to that value. If you only enter a value in the ”to’ field, the EDM searches for profiles with a value less than or equal to that value.

Ranges can also be defined as the entered value plus or minus a specific value. For example, a date field can be configured to search for dates that fall within a range five years earlier than the date you enter and five years later than the date you enter. Finally, ranges can be defined as specific upper and lower limits. These limits are used when no value is entered. For example, if you perform a search without the date, the EDM searches between the defined lower and upper limits. If you enter only a ”from’ date, the EDM searches between the date you entered and the defined upper limit. For more information about how your system has been configured for range searching, see your system administrator.

Required Fields on the EDM

Certain fields might be required for the searches on the EDM. If a field is marked with an asterisk (*), it is required. If multiple fields are marked with daggers (†), at least one of those fields must be populated in order to perform the search. The required fields can vary depending on the type of search you are performing.