Search by Topic

Owned by John Kostakos
Last updated: Jul 17, 2023 by Will Rensmith
3 min read

Overview

Search Pages are used to perform queries for data across the system. Search pages are accessed by clicking the global search field to reveal a list of pages under the heading “Search by Topic.”

 

Search Pages

Upon selecting a search page from the global Search By Topic menu, the search page is displayed. Search pages support both searching and filtering of records; searching queries the nVIRO database to retrieve a set of records and filtering is used to further refine that set of records for data appearing in a particular column in the results list.

The image below shows the My Tasks page, which implements both a search box at the top of the page and a filter row at the top of the search results list.

My Tasks - Searching and Filtering Options

Searching

Each search page in nVIRO contains a drop-down search panel that interacts with the nVIRO database to retrieve records that match the search criteria provided by the user. When a search is executed, thousands of rows of records might match the provided search criteria.

Search Result Limits

To ensure acceptable system performance, nVIRO limits the number of rows displayed in a given search. When the number of rows in the database exceeds the specified limit for the search page, a warning message is displayed, indicating that not all matching records are displayed and search criteria may need to be refined.

Remembering Your Most Recent Search

nVIRO uses a concept called “sticky filters” to remember the last search criteria entered, even after navigating to another page. To reset the search criteria, click the Search Reset button located at the top right of the page.

My Program Areas

For users whose work focuses on, or is limited to, specific program areas, nVIRO provides an option to configure program areas as preferences for searching. To specify program areas:

Configuring preferred program areas has two effects:

  1. Search pages that contain program areas as search criteria display the selected program areas as defaults when searching.

  2. Site list pages that contain program-area-related data contain a “Program Areas” toggle. The toggle may be set to “Mine” to show programs listed in the profile as “My Program Areas” or “All” to show all records.

On search pages, if the program area search criteria is changed by the user, the selected values will stick until the Search Reset button has been clicked.

Filtering

Wherever search results are displayed on a page in nVIRO, the first row below the column heading displays column filters. The search results are filtered instantly to match the text entered into one or more column filters.

Note: A common mistake is to search for a value using the column filters without first using the drop-down search panel to acquire the correct set of data. For example, a user might attempt to search for a specific permit by entering a permit number in the Permit Number column filter and then, upon finding that no results appear, conclude that the permit record does not exist. But column filters only refine the set of records that have been returned from a search; they do not search the nVIRO database. If a term typed into one of the column filters does not yield the expected results, revise the search criteria in the search panel to ensure that the appropriate set of records is returned, and then filter the results as needed.

The nVIRO sticky filter feature includes column filters. Thus, when navigating back to a page or performing a new search, if records that the user expects to see are not displayed, the user should check whether filter criteria have also been applied to the page. Note that the Search Reset button does not clear column filters; they must be cleared individually by the user.