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Getting Started > Working with Records > Finding Records > About Targeted Search

About Targeted Search

You can perform two types of search in Oracle CRM On Demand: targeted search and keyword search. Your company administrator determines which type of search is used by default for your company, by selecting the search type on the company profile page. Targeted search is the recommended search type. For information about keyword search, see About Keyword Search.

You can use targeted search in several places in Oracle CRM On Demand, as follows:

• The Search section of the Action bar. Depending on the type of search that your company administrator selects for your company, either keyword search or targeted search is used in the Search section of the Action bar for your company. For more information about searching for records in the Action bar, see Searching for Records in the Action Bar.
• Lookup windows. Depending on the type of search that your company administrator selects for your company, either keyword search or targeted search is used in the Lookup windows where you search for records to link to the record that you are working with. For more information about searching for records in Lookup windows, see Searching for Records in Lookup Windows.
• The Advanced Search page in Oracle CRM On Demand. In the Advanced Search page, the type of search depends on the options that you select, as follows:
  • If you search multiple record types, then the search is a keyword search.
  • If you search a single record type, then the search is a targeted search.

    For more information about using advanced search, see Using Advanced Search.

• Quick Filter fields in List pages. Searches using the Quick Filter fields in List pages are always targeted searches even if keyword search is selected as the default search type for your company.

For targeted searches, your user role determines which record types you can search and which fields you can search on each record type, as follows:

• If your company administrator does not make any search fields available in the search layout that is assigned to your user role for a record type, then the following happens:
  • You cannot search for records of that type in the Search section of the Action bar.
  • You cannot specify any search criteria for an advanced search of that record type. Running an advanced search without any search criteria returns all of the records of that record type that your user role and access settings allow you to see.
  • You cannot use the Quick Filter fields in Lookup windows.
  • You cannot specify any search criteria for a list of records of that record type. For more information about creating and refining lists, see Creating and Refining Lists.
• For any record type, you might see multiple search fields in the Search section of the Action bar and in the Quick Filter fields in Lookup windows, depending on which fields your company administrator makes available in the search layout that is assigned to your user role for the record type.
• If the All Fields in Search and Lists privilege is enabled for your user role, then you can search all of the search fields that your company administrator makes available in the search layout that is assigned to your user role for the record type, in any of the following places:
  • Action bar
  • Lookup windows
  • Advanced search

    NOTE: It is recommended that company administrators do not enable the All Fields in Search and Lists privilege for most user roles. When the privilege is not enabled, fields that your company does not use are not visible in search and list pages. This reduces clutter and makes it easier for users to see the fields that they are most interested in.

• If the All Fields in Search and Lists privilege is not enabled for your user role, then you can search a field in the Action bar, Lookup windows, or advanced search, only if the field meets both of the following criteria:
  • The field is an available search field in the search layout that is assigned to your user role for the record type.
  • The field is displayed on the Detail page layout that is assigned to your user role for that record type. If dynamic page layouts are defined for your role, then the field must be displayed on at least one of the dynamic page layouts.

    NOTE: Dynamic layouts are page layouts that show different sets of fields for different records of the same record type, depending on the picklist value that you select in a certain field on the record.

Targeted search returns records where the values that you specify in the search fields match the corresponding values in records of the record type that you selected. It displays only those records where a match is found for each of the values you entered, which is equivalent to using an AND condition between the search fields. If you leave a search field blank, then that field is not considered in the search. However, if a check box field is present in the search layout, then the value of the check box field is always included as part of the search criteria. If you select the check box, then Oracle CRM On Demand interprets the check box value as True or Yes. If you deselect the check box, then Oracle CRM On Demand interprets the check box value as False or No.

The search layout that is assigned to your user role for a record type determines which fields display as columns in the list of records returned by a search of that record type.

NOTE: You cannot specify a null value in a field in a search from the Action bar. To specify a null value, you must use Advanced Search. For more information, see Using Advanced Search.

About Wildcards in Targeted Search

By default, every search value entered in a targeted search field is appended with a wildcard or asterisk (*) so you do not need to append a wildcard to your search string. You can prefix your search values with a wildcard, or you can use a wildcard between the search values. You cannot use the wildcard in picklists where values are predetermined. For example, in a targeted search of account records, the default search layout allows you to enter search strings for the Account Name field and the Location field. Both of these fields are case-insensitive. If you enter C in the Account Name field and Head in the Location field, then the targeted search expression is interpreted as follows:

Show all accounts where Account Name is like C* and Location is like Head*

The search returns all accounts where the account name starts with the letter C (uppercase and lowercase) and where the value in the Location field begins with the word Head (any mixture of uppercase and lowercase).

NOTE: Using the wildcard affects search performance. Searches where a search value is prefixed with a wildcard are the slowest.

The use of wildcards is restricted when you search for exact matches as described in the following section.

About Searching for Exact Matches

If you know the exact value in a field on the record that you are searching, then you can search for exact matches by prefixing the search string with an equal sign (=). When you prefix a search string with an equal sign, targeted search behaves as follows:

• A wildcard is not appended to the end of the search string.

  If the search field is a case-sensitive field, then the search returns exact matches for the search string. If the search field is a case-insensitive field, then the search returns matches including mixed-case matches.

  For example, if you enter =Acme as the search value in the Account Name field, the search returns all account records where the account name is Acme or ACME, or other mixed-case variations, because Account Name is a case-insensitive field. The search does not return any record where the account name contains the word Acme but also contains other characters, for example, Acme Inc, Acme Incorporated, or Acme SuperStore.

• If you explicitly use a wildcard in the search string, then the wildcard is treated as text.

  For example, assume that there are two account records with the account names: Acme* and Acme Super Store. If you enter =Acme* in the Account Name search field, then the search returns the record where the account name is Acme*. The search does not return the record where the account name is Acme Super Store.

• If the field value in a record starts with an equal sign, then only the second equal sign that you enter in the search field is treated as part of the search string.

  For example, assume that there are two account records with the account names: =Acme Super Store and Acme Super Store. If you enter ==Acme Super Store in the Account Name field, then the search returns the record where the account name is =Acme Super Store. The search does not return the record where the account name is Acme Super Store.

The following restrictions apply to the use of the equal sign as a prefix:

• The prefixed equal sign is not supported for search fields of the Phone field type.
• You cannot prefix a value in a picklist search field with the equal sign.