Search Business Objects

You can use the Search (Finder) page to perform the following tasks:

Perform a search for Business Objects and Power Data using flexible search criteria.
Create a new business object/Power Data record, if applicable.
Create and edit Saved Queries that store search criteria for re-use.
Perform Actions for all business objects or those that result from a Saved Query.

Most menu options display a Search page that lets you query the database for specific business objects using flexible selection criteria. You can define as much search criteria as you like based on the data fields that appear on each tab of the Search page. Alternatively, you can display all records by leaving the Search page blank and executing the query. You can also perform actions from the Search page for the records that result from a query.

Note: Search pages are configured to display up to 1,000 records as the result of any search. This limit can be changed by your System Administrator. This limit does not apply (unlimited number of records) when you perform an action from the Search page.

After you conduct a search, the resulting records appear on a Results page by default (however, you can configure the Results page to appear first).

From the Results page, you can modify records, delete records, view printable report pages for the record, and perform actions or SmartLinks. For example, you can create a shipment for an order release from the Order Release Results page. You can also navigate to other managers for a specific business object.

The property glog.finder.max_sessions controls the maximum number of finders that can be open at the same time If you have more than that, the last finder opened will overwrite the first.

Note: If you have adjusted the font sizes in Windows and are using Internet Explorer 7, the scroll bars on the results page may not display correctly.

Create Search Query

To create a search query, complete the fields by which you want to search. The search fields that you can complete depend on the type of data that is available for the area in which you are working. For example, if you are using the Location Manager, you can search by specific location attributes such as location ID, name, address information, zones, equipment group and service provider profiles, role and calendar, accessorial code, communications method, reference number, and so on. If you are using the Order Manager, the search criteria data is more specific to orders. The categories of data that can be searched appear as tabs on the Search page. Click the tabs to display the data for the category that you want.

You can also search using wild card characters, such as * and _.

Conditional Operators

Most search fields have conditional operators that you can use to specify search conditions. The operators that appear depend on the field. For most fields, they appear in the drop-down list box to the right of the search field. Following is a list of conditional operators:

Note: You can configure a default operator for any field by editing the appropriate Screen Set.

Note: If the finder page you are using contains an Object ID field, you must enter the GID, not the ID when using the "same as", "begins with", "one of", "not one of", or "not same as" operators. For example, if your object ID is 5203, you would have to use "Guest.5203" (presuming you are in the Guest domain) if your selected conditional operator was one of "same as", "begins with", "one of", "not one of", or "not same as".

Conditional Operator	Function
Contains	Searches for records with field text that appears anywhere within a text string. Note: Using this operator can result in slow operation when dealing with large amounts of data, due to the fact that Oracle Transportation Management is searching inside the fields to find the results.
Same As	Searches for records with field text that is an exact match.
Not Same As	Eliminates field text to be considered in the search.
Not Same As, Include Null Values	Eliminates field text, including null values, to be considered in the search.
Begins With (default on all Search pages)	Searches for records with field text that appears at the beginning of the text string.
Ends With	Searches for records with field text that appears at the end of the text string.
Is Null	Searches for records with field text that is blank.
Not Null	Searches for records with field text that not blank.
One Of	Finds a series of specific values. For example, you can enter several order IDs to find those specific orders. If you are searching by Status, you can select multiple values when you use this operator. To control whether the series of values must be comma separated or space separated, use the logic configuration parameter of ONE OF SEARCH INCLUDE SPACE. When you select the One Of operator, an icon appears to the right of the operator. Click this icon to display a page showing the field you are searching by. You can perform a query from this field and select multiple values that result from the search. Click save and these values are listed on the page. You can delete values or click OK to populate the values in the original search field and then continue to perform the search.
Not One Of	Eliminates a series of specific values from the search.

Search by Unit of Measure

Some fields can be searched based on specific units of measure such as weight, volume, temperature, numbers, currencies, and size in length/width. In these cases, you can control your search by selecting a unit of measure and then selecting one of the following operators.

= Equal to
< Less than
> Greater than
<= Less than or equal to
>= Greater than or equal to
<> Not equal to
Between: When you select "between", another field and UOM selector appear so you can enter a range. The numbers that define the range are inclusive.

Search by Date

Date/Time fields on a Search page display the Calendar icon () at the end of the field that provides a calendar that you can use to select a date and/or time. You can select a date to find records for a specific date or also mark the Use Time check box and enter a time to find records by both a date and time. The query property glog.query.asDateColumns. indicates which columns should be treated as a date instead of a date/time when querying the system.

Sometimes the user preference is displayed next to the date field so you can see which time zone will be searched. For example, on the Online Booking/Tendering page (accessed via Shipment Management Online/Booking Tendering), you see Respond By with the user preference. Respond By (America/Chicago) indicates that the time zone is Central Time in the US.

Note: If you specify a date and time, Oracle Transportation Management queries the database in the local time zone of the user as defined in user preferences. If the time is not specified and just a date is used, Oracle Transportation Management queries based on GMT time.

Date Parameter	Function
Same As	Searches for records with a date and/or time that is an exact match. If you search by date only, records between 00:00 and 23:59 of the user preference are queried.
Before	Searches for records with a date match that is before the date that you entered. If you search by date only, records to 00:00 of the user preference are queried.
After	Searches for records with a date match that is after the date that you entered. If you search by date only, records to 23:59 of the user preference are queried.
Between	Searches for records between two dates and/or times. Enter a date/time in the fields before this parameter and after it.
Before Today	Searches for records with a date match that is before the current system date (on the Oracle database server). If you search by date only, records to 00:00 of the user preference are queried.
After Today	Searches for records with a date match that is after the current system date (on the Oracle database server).
Range To/From Today	Searches for records with a date match between the current system date and a user-specified number of days. For example, if you select this option the Invoice Due Date and enter 5 into the Due Date field, Oracle Transportation Management displays all Invoices which are due in the next 5 days. You could also enter -5 for the past 5 days. If you search by date only, records between 00:00 and 23:59 of the user preference are queried.
Relative Hours	Searches for records within a time period relative to the current time. When this option is selected, a second field appears. The field to the left of the parameter field is for defining how many hours less than the current time you want to search for. This field can be left blank if you only want to search into the future. The field to the right of the parameter field is for defining how many hours greater than the current time you want to search for. If this field is left blank, then it will do an open ended search into the future. For example, if you select Relative Hours and type -5 in the left hand field and 5 in the right hand field, then it will search for items between 5 hours less than the current time and 5 hours greater than the current time.
Is Null	Searches for records with a date that is blank.
Is Not Null	Searches for records with a date that is not blank.

Search by True/False Condition

Some search fields display the following check boxes: Yes, No, Both. These can be selected or not. For example, several Search pages display a Compatible field that can be used as search criteria. The search works as follows:

Yes: Oracle Transportation Management searches for records that have the field selected.
No: Oracle Transportation Management searches for records that do not have the field selected.
Both: (either) Oracle Transportation Management searches for any records regardless of if this field is selected.

Search by Status

Business objects that have statuses, such as orders, order releases, shipments, invoices, and bills allow you to search by status type and status value. The Search pages in these managers typically have an additional tab called Status that you can use to search for records using up to three combinations of status type and status value.

There are three Status ID fields that appear on the Status tab. The first drop-down list box displays the value status types and the second drop-down list box displays the status values for the status type that you selected. Use the Same As qualifier to limit your search to one status value or select One Of to create a query using multiple status values. If you use the One Of qualifier, records must match all status values that you select. Use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select multiple values.

Advanced Search by Status (Orders)

The Advanced tab on the Order Base Search page allows you to search for orders based on the following status conditions:

order base status
order release status or if order release exists for order base
shipment status or if shipment exists for order release that was created from the order base

To search by order, order release, or shipment status, enter up to 3 status types and corresponding values. If you enter more than one, Oracle Transportation Management searches for records with all statuses that you entered.

Use the Same As parameter to limit your search to one status value or select One Of to create a query based on multiple status values. If you use the One Of parameter, select one or more status values and then click Search. Records must match all status values that you select.
Use the Any Releases check box to find orders that either have or do not have order releases.
Use the Any Shipments check box to find orders that are either on at least one shipment or no shipments.

Search Field Icons

Some search fields display icons that you can use to perform sub-searches, add new records, list records, and view record details.

Search by Favorites

You can search for user favorites using: Yes, No, Both. These can be selected or not. The search works as follows:

Yes: Oracle Transportation Management searches for records that are user favorites.
No: Oracle Transportation Management searches for records that are not user favorites.
Both: (either) Oracle Transportation Management searches for any records regardless of if they are user favorites.

Calculated Field

If the manager has a tab named Calculated, you can use calculated fields to further narrow down your search.

Audit Tab

The Audit tab is a default tab on finders. Use it to find records based on database changes, such as the insert date, update date, insert user, and update user columns.

New Business Object

The Search and Results pages display a New icon/button for creating new business objects and power data.

Use the following generic steps to add a new business object.

Click New and enter data for the fields that are presented. Refer to help for the appropriate business object for details
Click Next to move from tab to tab. The Finished button appears at the top of the page when all tabs with required fields have been passed.
Click Finished to save the business object to the database.

Oracle Transportation Management saves the records and displays a confirmation page showing that records were successfully added. For each record you added, you can view or edit details from the Confirmation page. You can also create a completely new record.

New Power Data Record

Some Power Data pages contain detail sections that appear below the main entry fields. You can enter details as you define the specific Power Data or add details later. After you define them, the details display in a list below the fields where you enter them.

To define particular details, enter values in the appropriate detail fields.
Click Finished to save the record.

For each detail you want to define, repeat steps 1 and 2.

Sort Order

You can control the order of the data that appears on the Results page by defining a sort order for up to three columns. The default sort order is typically by the ID of the data for which you are conducting a query. In this case, specifying a second or third sort order does not make sense since IDs are unique. To define a meaningful sort, you should change the default sort for the first column and then proceed to specify a sort by a second or third column.

Note: If the field you select for the sort criteria is a grid flattening field, the system will not sort on that field. It will instead use the default sort criteria.

Click Sort order.
Select a sort parameter for the first, second, or third column depending on how you want to order the data. Each Sort field displays a list of the data attributes that you can select for sorting.
For each column that you selected a sort parameter, decide whether to sort in ascending or descending order.
Click OK to save the sort criteria and return to the Search page.
Click Search to execute the query and display the data in the order that you have specified.

If you save a search query, the sorting that you define is saved in addition to the selection parameters you have defined.

Actions

Most business object Search pages display an Actions button that you can use to perform specific functions such as Build Direct Shipments, Unassign Order, Generate Invoice, etc. These actions can be performed from both the Search page and the Results page; however, there are differences in how these actions are initiated on these two pages. This section documents how to perform actions on the Search page. Refer to the Results page help for instructions on how to perform actions on the Results page.

There are two Actions buttons that appear at the bottom of the Search page. The first Actions button executes a selected action for the objects that result from the search criteria you enter on the Search page. The second Actions button (within the Saved Query section) executes a selected action for the active Saved Query. These Actions buttons are not constrained by the 1,000 record default limit.

Note: Some actions cannot be performed for more than one object.

Execute Actions for Search Query

Enter search criteria on the Search page tabs of your choice.
Click Actions and select one action from the list. If you know that your search will produce multiple records, make sure you select an action that supports multiple records (you will get a message otherwise). A results page appears listing the number of records that resulted from your query. The resulting number of records can exceed the 1,000 default limit since this Actions button does not use that constraint.
Click Ok to proceed or click Cancel to cancel the transaction.

Execute Action for Saved Query

Select a Saved Query from the list.
Click Actions and select one action from the list. If you know that your search produces multiple records, make sure you select an action that supports multiple records (you will get a message otherwise). A page appears listing the number of records that resulted from your query. The resulting number of records can exceed the 1,000 default limit since this Actions button does not use that constraint.
Click Ok to proceed or click Cancel to cancel the transaction.

Export (to Microsoft Excel)

Use the Export button to display the results of your query in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The total number of records appears first as a result of the search criteria entered. Click Ok to display those records in spreadsheet format.

You can then open the file in Microsoft Excel. The spreadsheet is a .xls file and if you have a later version of Microsoft Excel, you will see a warning message when opening the document. The column headings are the same as those that would appear on the Results page (as defined in the active Screen Set) if you performed a standard search.

Saved Query

You can save the search criteria that you define as a query that can be re-used over and over.

Note: If you create a saved query (in a finder) in your current domain, you must log into that same domain to edit the saved query. You cannot edit a saved query in a different domain even if you have write access to that domain via domain grants.

The saved query contains both the selection and sort criteria and is domain-specific.

Enter the search criteria on the Search page tabs.
Click Save.
Enter a Query Name.
Click Save again and the query name appears in the Saved Query list box on the Search and Results pages.
Note: You can also create a new saved query by choosing fields or using native SQL statements.

Using a Saved Query

On any Search page, select a saved query from the list at the bottom of the page and click Execute Query.

Editing a Saved Query

On any Search page, select a saved query from the list at the bottom of the page.
Click Edit. Oracle Transportation Management refreshes the Search page with the criteria that was entered for the saved query. You can modify the criteria and select one of the following options:

- Click Search to initiate the query with your modifications.
- Click Save to save the changes and either keep the existing name or enter a new name to create a new saved query.

Deleting a Saved Query

You can delete (and edit) a saved query by navigating to Business Process Automation > Power Data > Event Management > Saved Queries.

Configure Default Search Criteria

For each Search page, you can create a user-defined Screen Set for which you can configure default search criteria. For example, you may want to pre-configure a Search Screen to always search for orders of a specific type or specific origin location or customer.

Configure Search/Results Pages

You can configure the following attributes of each Search page associated with a business object:

You can also configure Results page attributes.

Note: All Search pages provide the ability to query by the creation and/or update date/time for any business object. However, the default Screen Sets do not include these fields. If you want to search by these parameters, you must configure the appropriate Screen Sets with the Insert Time (date/time the object was created) and Last Update Time (date/time the object was last modified) fields.