The filtering of parts offers an effective option for limiting the number of parts displayed, increasing ease of use. You can filter in parts management in two ways:
- text-based
- field-based.
The text-based filter shows in the left-hand side of the window only those parts for which an arbitrary field in the field contains the text specified by the filter. The field-based filter performs the search only in particular record fields (e.g., for the field Type number). In this filter, the entire field contents are checked to ensure that they match the search text.
Note:
The filtering of records is possibly only in part-specific databases. This means that no filtering can be performed in the "manufacturer / supplier" and "customer" databases!
Preconditions:
- You have opened the parts management: Utilities > Parts > Management.
- You have opened a parts database using [Extras] > Settings in the Parts management dialog.
Filter based on fields
- Click [...] in the Field-based filter field.
- In the Filter dialog, select a Scheme from the drop-down list and edit it as needed, or click (New) to create a new scheme.
- Click (New) on the toolbar for the filter criteria in order to insert a new criterion.
- In the Criteria selection dialog, select the property to be used as a filter criterion, or select the "OR" entry in order to specify an OR operation.
- Click [OK].
- Repeat these steps in order to specify additional filter criteria and further limit the selection of parts. If multiple fields are selected, they are logically combined with AND (by default), but you can force an OR operation by selecting OR from the Criteria selection dialog.
- Click [OK].
For a field-based filter, the text entered is checked to ensure that it corresponds exactly to the data field contents. If you filter the parts databases by the manufacturer short name HER, for example, then parts that have HER1 entered in the corresponding data field will not be found.
Warning:
If data with units are used as filter criteria, e.g., the "Mounting clearance" or the "Weight" (Mounting data tab), you must enter the corresponding value without the units if it should be used for filtering. If you filter on the basis of file names, such as the name for a graphical macro, each file name must be entered with file path and file extension.
If you filter on the basis of an external document, please note that there may still be text in this field after the filename that you selected via [...] in the File / Hyperlink field. (You can define this in the Designation field on the Documents tab.) In order for the filter to function correctly in this case, you must ensure that a "*" placeholder character lies after the file name. Without this placeholder, only parts without descriptive text will be filtered. You can for example enter "*Documentation_FES.123060_En.pdf*Test123*" to filter by the field content "Documentation_FES.123060_En.pdf??_??@Test123;".
Once a filter is used, the entire parts database is filtered, i.e., the number of parts will be reduced and the name of the scheme displayed in the drop-down list on the left beside the [...] button. The evaluation of filtration takes only those parts into account which contain all the fields selected.
In parts management, the following filter is defined:
Criterion Part: Designation 1 = Power circuit breaker
Criterion Voltage type = AC.
In this case, only parts are found for which the text Power circuit breaker has been entered in the Designation 1 field and which have the AC entry in the Voltage type field.
Text-based filtering
- Enter the text for the search in the Full-text filter field. In this case, the text entered can also be only a part of the term to be searched: If you filter by the text "capacitor", for example, then parts containing the text "Power capacitor" will also be displayed.
Please note that the full-text filter in tree view also evaluates the main nodes "Accessory list", "Accessory placement", "Drilling pattern", and "Connection point pattern". In the List and Combination tabs, however, only parts data is considered. - Click (Find).
The display in the tree / list is updated and only shows those parts that contain the entered text in a field.
The search text can be extended with logic operators (for the syntax of AND / OR logic operators please refer to the Full-text filter). When parts management is closed, text-based filters are deleted.
See also