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Getting Started > Working with Records > Finding Records > Searching for Records in Lookup Windows

Searching for Records in Lookup Windows

You use Lookup windows to search for and select records that you want to associate with the record you are working with. You usually open a Lookup window by clicking the Lookup icon next to a field. Depending on the record types that you are working with, you can also open Lookup windows by clicking Add in certain related information sections of Record Detail pages. Also, if smart associations are enabled, then Lookup windows open automatically in certain cases. For more information about smart associations, see About Smart Associations and the Auto-Resolve Functionality.

The appearance and behavior of Lookup windows depend on the following:

• The type of search that is enabled for your company. Depending on the type of search your company administrator selects for your company, either keyword search or targeted search, Lookup windows are affected as follows:
  • If keyword search is enabled. A single text field is displayed in the Lookup window. You can enter search criteria and press Enter, or click Go to refine the list of records.

    NOTE: Some record types do not support keyword search. For such record types, if keyword search is the default search type for the company, then you can perform a targeted search in the Lookup window.

  • If targeted search is enabled. Quick Filter search fields are displayed in the Lookup window. You can enter search criteria, and press Enter, or click Go to refine the list of records. An Advanced link is also displayed. This link is similar to Using Advanced Search. If your company uses books, then a Book selector is also displayed. The Book selector enables you to narrow the search to the records belonging to a particular user or book. For more information, see Using the Book Selector.

    Targeted search is the recommended search type. For more information about targeted search and keyword search, see About Targeted Search and About Keyword Search.

• The type of association in the Lookup window. Lookup windows are either single-association windows, where you can select one record to link to the record that you are working with, or multi-association Lookup windows, where you can select multiple records to link to the record that you are working with. For example, you can link contacts to a task in the following ways:
  • In the Task Detail page, if you want to add a primary contact for the task, then you click the lookup icon in the Primary Contact field. In this case, a single-association Lookup window opens, and you can select a single contact as the primary contact for the task.
  • You can link multiple contacts to a task in the Contacts related information section of the Task Detail page. In this case, you click Add in the Contacts related information section. A multi-association Lookup window opens, and you can select one or more contacts to link to the task.
  • If your company administrator adds the Contacts field to the Task Detail page, then you can link multiple contacts to the task by clicking the lookup icon in that field. A multi-association Lookup window opens, and you can select multiple contacts. The contacts that you select are listed in the Contacts field and are also listed in the Contacts related information section on the Task Detail page.
• The search layouts that your company administrator sets up for the record types. For example, when you use a Lookup window to find an account record that you want to link to a contact record, the appearance of the Lookup window depends on the search layout for the Account record type for your user role.
• The Record-Type Lists in Lookup Windows setting on the company profile. This setting determines whether you can restrict a search in a Lookup window to a predefined list of records. The setting has the value Enabled by default, allowing you to restrict searches in Lookup windows. For more information, see the Lists for Restricting Searches section of this topic.

Lookup Window Features Controlled by Search Layouts

The search layouts that your company administrator sets up and assigns to user roles determine the behavior of Lookup windows, as described in the following sections.

Quick Filter Fields

If targeted search is enabled for your company, then the search layout for the record type for your user role determines how you can use the Quick Filter fields in the Lookup window, as follows:

• If your company administrator does not make any search fields available in the search layout, then you cannot use the Quick Filter.
• Generally, you can filter the list of records shown in the Lookup window on any of the fields that your company administrator makes available as search fields in the search layout.

  However, if the search criteria for the list of records shown in the Lookup window include a field that is not one of the search fields defined in the search layout, then you cannot use the Quick Filter. For example, if you are searching for an account record, and your company setup allows you to restrict your search to a predefined list of records, then you might decide to search the All Customer Accounts list in the Lookup window. However, the search field for the All Customer Accounts list is the Account Type field. If the Account Type field is not available as a search field for your role, then you cannot filter the list of records in the Lookup window. For more information about selecting predefined lists of records in Lookup windows, see the Lists for Restricting Searches section of this topic.

• In the standard application, the default search field in the Quick Filter is preconfigured for each Lookup window. However, if your administrator selects the First Targeted Search Field as Default Search in Lookups check box in the search layout for the record type for your user role, then the first field in the list of targeted search fields in the search layout is used as the default search field in the Quick Filter, unless you enter a value in the field on the record Edit or Detail page before you open the Lookup window; in that case, the default search field that is preconfigured for the Lookup window is used.
• An additional check box, Configure Lookup Window with Division as the Default Search Field, is available in the search layout for the Product record type only. The setting in this check box overrides the setting in the First Targeted Search Field as Default Search in Lookups check box. The following table shows how the settings in these check boxes determine the default search field for the Quick Filter in the Lookup window for the Product record type.

  Configure Lookup Window with Division as the Default Search Field	First Targeted Search Field as Default Search in Lookups	Default Search Field in Quick Filter	Notes
  Selected	Not selected Or Selected	Division	If a primary division is specified on your user record, then the filter value field in the Quick Filter is populated with your primary division. If a primary division is not specified for you, then it is recommended that you select a division from the Product Lookup window to search for products within a specific division. If you do not select a division, then when you click Go to complete the search, Oracle CRM On Demand displays all products in the search results.
  Not selected	Not selected	Product Name	The Division field is not available in the Quick Filter unless your administrator chooses it as a search field in the product search layout.
  Not selected	Selected	The first field in the list of targeted search fields in the search layout.	The Division field is not available in the Quick Filter unless your administrator chooses it as a search field in the product search layout.

For more information about how the search layout settings affect the Lookup window for the Product record type, see Considerations When Creating Product Search Layouts.

Prepopulated Lists of Records

If your company administrator selects the Show Search Results When Lookup Window Opens option on the search layout for a record type, then the Lookup window is populated with a list of records when the window opens. If this option is not enabled, then no records are displayed when the Lookup window opens, and you must specify the search criteria to find the record you want.

Context-Sensitive Lists

If the Record-Type Lists in Lookup Windows setting on the company profile has the value Enabled, then your company administrator can configure the search layout for a record type to specify whether any available context-sensitive lists appear before the system lists and custom lists in the record type List field in the upper-left corner of Lookup windows for the record type. Context-sensitive lists are predefined sets of records that are most likely to include the record that you want. For more information about the record type List field in Lookup windows, see the Lists for Restricting Searches section of this topic.

Displayed Columns

In most cases, the search layout determines which fields display as columns in the list of records in the Lookup window. However, there are some preconfigured Lookup windows that are not affected by the search layout.

Lists for Restricting Searches

Depending on your company setup, you might be able to restrict a search in a Lookup window to a predefined list of records. Also, depending on the context in which you are searching for a record, you might be able to restrict your search to a context-sensitive list. The ability to restrict a search to a list of records is determined by the Record-Type Lists in Lookup Windows setting on the company profile. If the Record-Type Lists in Lookup Windows setting is Enabled on the company profile, then a set of predefined lists that you can use to restrict your search is available in the record type List field in all Lookup windows for top-level record types, where record type is the name of the type of record that you are searching for. The set of predefined lists that is available to you in the record type List field can include standard lists and custom lists, and it also includes any available context-sensitive lists.

By default, all of the standard lists and custom lists that are available in the List pages and in the Homepage for a top-level record type are also available in the Lookup windows for that record type. However, your company administrator can determine which lists are available for your user role, and you can choose which of the available lists appear in your set of lists. For more information, see Changing Sets of Lists for Record Types.

NOTE: If the record type List field is available in Lookup windows, then the first list in the set of lists in the record type List field is active by default when a Lookup window opens. If some context-sensitive lists are available in the Lookup window, and the search layout for your user role specifies that the context-sensitive lists appear at the top of the set of lists in the record type List field in the Lookup window, then the first available context-sensitive list is active by default when the Lookup window opens. If the record type List field is not available in Lookup windows, then the initial search for a record of a given record type in a Lookup window is performed on all records of that record type that you can access.

The list that is active in the Lookup window determines the filter for the set of records that is searched in the Lookup window, even if the records are not displayed in the Lookup window. Any additional filters that you apply in the Lookup window are applied to the set of records in the selected list. For example, assume that you have the following setup:

• The Record-Type Lists in Lookup Windows setting on the company profile has the value Enabled so that the set of predefined lists is available in the Lookup windows.
• You have a custom list called All My Contacts in California that shows all contacts where the value in the State field is California.
• The All My Contacts in California list is the first list in your set of lists for the record type.
• In the search layout for the Contact record type for your role, your company administrator specified that the Lookup window is not populated when it opens, and that context-sensitive lists are not shown at the top of the set of lists.

In this case, when you open a Lookup window for the Contact record type, the All My Contacts in California list is active, even though the records are not displayed in the Lookup window. If you enter Jane in the First Name filter field and click Go, then all contacts where the value in the State field is California and the value in the First Name field is Jane are returned in the Lookup window. If you decide to search a different list of records for contacts whose first name is Jane, then you can select that list in the record type List field, and click Go.

NOTE: When you open a Lookup window to search for a contact to link to a record of another record type, the Favorite Contacts list is available in the record type List field. You can select a favorite contact to link that contact to the parent record.

About Context-Sensitive Lists

The following are some of the context-sensitive lists that might be available to you in the Lookup window:

• In the Task Edit page, if you select a valid value in the Account field and you open the Lookup window for the Primary Contact field, then the following lists might be available as context-sensitive lists:
  • The Contacts with Related Account as Primary list. This list includes all of the contacts for which the selected account is the primary account.

    NOTE: In releases earlier than Release 25, the Contacts with Related Account as Primary list was named Contacts for Related Account.

  • The All Contacts for Related Account list. This list includes all of the contacts that are linked to the selected account, irrespective of whether the selected account is the primary account for the contact.

    NOTE: The All Contacts for Related Account list is available in all Lookup windows where the Contacts with Related Account as Primary list is available, except in the case of multi-association Lookup windows. If the Lookup window is a multi-association window, then the Contacts with Related Account as Primary list is available, but the All Contacts for Related Account list is not available.

• In the Task Edit page, if you select a valid value in the Contact field and you open the Lookup window for the Service Request field, then the Service Requests for Related Contact list might be available as a context-sensitive list.
• In the Service Request Edit page, if you select a valid value in the Contact field and you open the Lookup window for the Financial Account field, then the Financial Accounts for Related Contact list might be available as a context-sensitive list.
• In the Lead Edit page, if you select a valid value in the Account field and you open the Lookup window for the Financial Account field, then the Financial Accounts for Related Account list might be available as a context-sensitive list.

Searching for and Selecting a Record in a Lookup Window

This procedure describes how to search for and select a record.

To search for and select a record in a Lookup window

1. In the Lookup window, search for the record or records that you want in some or all of the following ways, depending on the record type and on how your company administrator sets up the search features:
   • In the Lookup window, in the record type List field, select a predefined list to restrict your search to the records in that list, and then click Go.
   • Use the Quick Filter fields to filter the list.

     NOTE: Each time that you apply a filter to a list of records in the Lookup window, only the records that are currently in the list are searched. So, if you apply a second filter to a list that you already filtered, then only the records that were returned by the first filter are searched when you apply the second filter. If you want to clear all of the filters, then click the Clear button. When you click Clear, all of the filters you applied to the list that you originally selected are removed from the list, and the Quick Filter fields are reset to blank. You can then apply new filters to the list, as necessary.

   • If targeted search is enabled, click the Advanced link to filter the list, which is similar to Using Advanced Search.
   • Click the navigation icons at the top or bottom of the list page to move to the next page, previous page, first page, or last page in the list.

     NOTE: For some record types, you can also click New to create a new record. The new record will be added to the list.

2. Select the records that you want, as follows:
   • If the Lookup window is a single-association window, click Select for the record that you require.
   • If the Lookup window is a multiassociation window, click Select for each of the records that you require. The records are moved from the Available Records list to the Selected Records list. When you have selected all of the records that you want, click OK.

     NOTE: In the Lookup window, you can click Clear Current Value to remove already-selected information and leave the field blank. However, the Clear Current Value button is not available if smart associations are turned on. For more information about smart associations, see About Smart Associations and the Auto-Resolve Functionality.