5.6 KiB
Autocomplete lists
Autocomplete lists are used to select and / or search for a value on forms. For example a Part on a Workorder form.
They can be customized for each object type to display (and search in) one or multiple fields from that object type.
By default the Name of an object (or equivalent) will always be present in that object type's autocomplete list template in addition to any other fields selected for that object type's autocomplete list template.
They are also used to open the record selected in them or a new record if no selection has been made.
Selecting
A maximum of 100 items are returned by the server for any autocomplete list and clicking on a autocomplete list will cause it to drop down and by default fetch the first 100 records found for that type of object in the AyaNova database. For objects that there are less than 100 of this is often all that is required to select the item you need. However for larger lists searching by entering a few characters that match the item desired will be necessary.
No selection item
Autocomplete lists have a special item represented by a single dash character - which indicates that no selection has been made for that item.
The no selection '-' item can also be used to quickly "re-set" a list by selecting it, clicking off the list then dropping it down again to refetch the first 100 items.
Searching
AyaNova is designed to work with very large amounts of data and usually the fastest way to select an item is by searching by entering text into the control.
A valid search consists of a single text search a single Tag search or both separated by a space.
If a search is invalid the control will show an error message with a help link to this page of documentation.
By default the Name field is always present and searchable but other fields can be added for selection and searching via template. Tags will only display if added to the template but you can always search for them.
Case sensitivity
By default AyaNova searches are case in-sensitive. This can be changed in the Adminstration -> Global settings form Filtering is case sensitive checkbox. Setting this to checkmarked (true) means that all searches will be treated as case sensitive so for example seaarching a list for "group" will NOT match to "Group".
Search by text
A single string of text with no spaces can be entered into the control to bring back results that contain anywhere in their name or templated fields that text entered.
Multiple separate text queries are not supported, so for example this search paul pero is not valid.
The server will search all the fields that are specified in the autocomplete list template for that type of object. By default searches are not case sensitive however that can be adjusted via Global settings if required.
Searching, sort order and case sensitivity are affected by your Server locale setting
For example if you want to quickly select a Customer named "Paul's Perogies" you could type pau and up to 100 of the Customers with "pau" anywhere in their autocomplete list template would be returned for selection. You could also type per which would also match to "Paul's Perogies" and any other Customers with "per" anywhere in their template.
Search by tag
A tag query is a string of text with no spaces that starts with two consecutive periods, i.e. ..north will search for all objects tagged with tags that contain the text "north".
You can always search for an object by Tag even if it's not set to display in the autocomplete list template for that object type. If the autocomplete list template has had tags added to it they will display in the autocomplete list as a comma separated list of all tags e.g. "Paul's Perogies zone1,north,etc" but even if they are not added to the template they will still be searched when a tag query is entered.
Just like text searches, tag searches will match to any position in the tag name, so for example if you were searching for an object tagged with "outside-service" you could enter ..side and it would match all tags that contain those letters.
Combined search
You can also search by tag and by text combined, for example entering aul ..side indicates you want to search all text for the letters "aul" and all tags for the letters "side" which is useful to narrow down the search quickly to very specific records.
Item not appearing in results?
Inactive records are not valid for selection in many forms so if you are searching for an item that is set to Active=false it likely will not appear in your results on most forms by default.
Opening selected record
If the autocomplete list is displaying objects that you are able to open for editing, an edit icon will appear beside the control and clicking on that icon will directly open the edit form for that record or a new empty record if the special "-" no selection item has been selected.
This is a quick way to get to the object from another object's edit form. You will be prompted to save changes first before the new form opens if you have any unsaved changes.
Clear button
The autocomplete list has a clear button that can be used to quickly erase the contents of the autocomplete list to save a step when you want to enter a new search.
Customizing pick list template
The choice of fields displayed and searchable in the autocomplete list can be customized.