Filters

It is not necessary to define a Filter for all reports. If there is No filter the report will return ALL data depending on the Display Fields and Entities chosen.

For example report on ALL circulation data for the Display Fields of Borrower Barcode and Item Title

Report on the Cost of ALL items

However it can be very useful to define Filters to narrow down the Search – for example, only report on those Loans overdue for more than 3 months, within a Date Range, only Students etc.

1. From the Entities / Data Fields selection list the Entity – for example Borrower
2. Highlight the Field from the Table and Drag and drop into the Filter Table to show how the data will be filtered for display
3. Set the Conjunction to Or if necessary (it defaults to And)

Depending on the Filter choice and whether it is a String, Text, Code List or Date Field, the Operation can be one of the following:

EQUAL: should only be chosen if it’s against coded fields when you know EXACTLY what you want. Often the codes chosen for the Filter display as a Checkbox. For example Borrower History Type EQUAL to READING

Equal is not often used for dates or free text fields as no results will be returned if it does not find an EXACT match with the whole field or date (there may be time stamps included in the Date field)

NOT EQUAL TO: should only be chosen if it’s against coded fields when you know EXACTLY which codes you do not want. Often the codes chosen for the Filter display as a Checkbox. For example Borrower History Type EQUAL to READING

EMPTY: To report on situations where a field or code is null. For example finding all Borrowers that have not been allocated an Email Address but have the Borrower Use Email set to Y

NOT EMPTY: To report on situations where a field or code is NOT null. For example finding all Borrowers who have an Email account and the Borrower Use Email is set to N

BEGINS WITH: Used when choosing free text into a field as a filter. For example, Surname begins with A

ENDS WITH: Used when choosing free text into a field as a filter. For example, Search Key ends with S

GREATER THAN: Useful for Number or Letter fields, Money Values and Dates. Filter by more than the number, date or letter entered

GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO: Useful for Number of Letter fields, Money Values and Dates. Filter by more as well as equal to the number, date or letter entered

LESS THAN: Useful for Number fields and Dates. Filter by less than the number, date or letter entered

LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO: Useful for Number fields and Dates. Filter by less as well as equal to the number, date or letter entered

CONTAINS: The term entered is found anywhere within the Data Field. For example Title contains mischief to find that term anywhere in the Title