Search Work Orders

The instructions in this article relate to Search Work Orders. The icon may be located on your StrataMax Desktop or found using the StrataMax Search.

Search Work Orders can be used to find specific statuses, for example, unfinalised Work Orders. Another example, searching by Contractor Industry (if populated from Creditor Maintenance) which can be used to analyse data and exported to Excel. Using these areas will also assist in keeping the Dashboard for outstanding Work Orders current.

Search Work Order | Security

To access the Search Work Orders, the user must have permission set to 'Allow' for Search Work Orders under the 'Menus' category in Security Setup.

Using Search Work Orders offers a search window that can be tailored to include relevant TaskMax fields of restriction, such as Status not equal to Finalised, to determine how many outstanding work orders there might be. Another example includes using the Creditor Name field to determine how many work orders have been sent to a contractor.

The columns and sort order displays can also be helpful to include relevant information for the scenario required. These can also be saved for a Saved Search, which will allow this to be used at a later time and can be made available for a User or Group.

Search or select Search Work Orders.

The 'Search' screen will open with a table of all relevant data to the specific search screen you're in.
Click the Refresh button to display the data. Each time you change, add, or remove a filter, you will have to click the Refresh button to apply the new filters and see the new set of data. There are also a number of default Fields that act as filters - which fields appear will depend on which 'Search' screen you're using, and these fields can be managed in the 'Restrict To' tab (see below).
Click the Export button to export the current table of data to an Excel sheet.
Click the Advanced button to display the tabs on the left; 'Restrict To', 'Columns', 'Sort Order', and 'Advanced'. Each of these tabs are explained in their own sections below.
Click the Load/Edit/Delete Search button to manage Saved Search. See the 'Saved Searches' section below.
The Save Search button is only visible available when a Saved Search is loaded. This is to quickly save any changes made to the current Saved Search.
Click Save Search As to bring up the 'Save Search' screen where the current search can be saved for future use. See the 'Saved Searches' section below.

Restrict To

In the 'Restrict To' tab you can manage the filters

To add fields, click the green plus button or remove them with the red minus button.
Click the Field drop-down to select the item you want to include in your filter.
- Which items are available to choose will depend on the 'Search' screen you're in.
- You cannot add more items to the list as these are hard coded into the StrataMax database.
The Condition drop-down options will change based on the type of item you select in Field drop-down. For example:
- If you selected a date related item, the Condition drop-down will contain options that lend themselves to dates, like 'is on', 'is after', 'is tomorrow', 'is in the last 30 days', etc.
The Value drop-down options will also change based on the items you choose as a Field and a Condition. For example:
- If you selected a date related item as a Field, and the Condition selected is 'is tomorrow', then the Value will disappear.
- If the Condition selected is 'is in the range' then a tick box for 'Specific Dates' appears along with two date drop-down menus.

Columns

Add more columns by selecting the column name in the 'Available Columns' list on the left, then clicking the Add> button, which moves the column name to the 'Displayed Columns' list on the right.
Remove columns by selecting the name in the 'Displayed Columns' list on the right, then clicking the < Remove button, which moves the column name to the 'Available Columns' list on the left.
Change the order of the columns by selecting a column in the 'Displayed Columns' list on the right, and clicking the up or down arrow buttons. The column at the top of the list will be the first column to display in the table.

Sort Order

The Sort Order tab shows the order in which the data is displayed. The default sort order with depend on which 'Search' screen you are using.

Add more columns to sort by, by clicking the column name in the 'Available Columns' list on the left, then clicking the Add> button, which moves the column name to the 'Sorted Columns' list on the right.
Remove columns by selecting the name in the 'Sorted Columns' list on the right, then clicking the <Remove button, which moves the column name to the 'Available Columns' list on the left.
Change the sort order of the search results by selecting a column name in the 'Sorted Columns' list on the right, and clicking the up or down arrow buttons, and then clicking the button next to each item. The sort order will then be reflected in the column headings of the search results.
The heading will be highlighted, and an arrow will indicate the direction of the sort (A to Z; 0 to 9; earliest to latest, etc.), and can be changed by clicking a column header.
If the search results are restricted and you click a column header, the displayed data will refresh and the results re-listed in the selected sort order.

Advanced

The options in the 'Advanced' tab are there to assist if you are experiencing degraded performance with retrieving data in the 'Search' screen. In most cases you shouldn't need to use these settings.

Select a figure into 'Maximum Number of Records to Retrieve' to help with speeding up the display of the data - the smaller the number, the faster the data will be retrieved. In most cases you won't need to amend this figure, but it can be used if you are experiencing delays in displaying large amounts of data.
Tick the 'Read Uncommitted' box to include data that has been entered on-screen by users, but may yet to be saved.
Enter a number of seconds in the 'Database Timeout' field if you are experiencing slow performance when displaying large amounts of data. If the data doesn't display within the amount of seconds entered, a timeout will happen and stop the process so that you can amend your filters to narrow down the data.

Search Work Orders | Saved Searches

'Saved Searches' are designed for convenience so that you can save a selection of fields, columns, and a specific sort order so that it can be loaded later.

'Saved Searches' can also be set as the 'default' search for the selected screen. This means that the selection of fields, columns, and specific sort order will be the one chosen whenever the menu screen/icon is selected.

'Saved Searches' can be saved for the current user, globally (accessible to all users), or for a specific user group.

If a Saved Search is loaded/opened this will be noted at the top of the search screen.

Saved Searches | Security Setup Permissions

A security permission will either allow or deny individual Users or User Groups access to create or delete a search. The permission is called ‘Save Group and Saved Searches’ under the 'Menus' category in Security Setup. You can also type the word ‘Search’ into the filter field and click the Filter button to see the permission.

If the User or User Group do not have the permission set to 'Allow' then the ability to save a search for all users or a user group will be inactive.

Saved Searches | Set up a new Saved Search

Configure the required fields and click the Refresh button to display the required data.
- Optionally click the Advance button to also configure the displayed columns, and specific sort order.
Click the Refresh button to display the data.
Click the Save Search As button, and the 'Save Search' window will appear.
Enter a 'Name'.
Select one of the three radio buttons, depending on your requirement:
- Available to current user only will save the search for the current user only.
- Available to users in security group will save the search for the User Group selected from the drop-down (this radio button is only available if you have the right permission, and the User Groups available in this list are limited to the User Groups that you are a member of).
- Available to all users will save the search for all StrataMax users (this radio button is only available if you have the right permission).
Optionally tick the Save as default box to load this 'Saved Search' whenever the menu screen/icon is opened.

Saved Searches | Load or Delete a Saved Search

At the bottom of the screen, click the Load/Delete Search button.
In the 'Load Search' window, click the blue Load button to load the Saved Search, or click the red cross button to delete the Saved Search.
If you click the Load button, the 'Load Search' window will disappear, and the screen will refresh automatically and load the Saved Search data.
If you click the Delete button, a confirmation pop-up will appear; Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

When a Saved Search is loaded/opened, the Saved Search name will be noted at the top of the search screen.

Saved Searches | Edit a Saved Search

If the Saved Search you want to edit has been set as the default search, it should be on screen already, and you can proceed to the next step. Otherwise click the Load/Delete Search button.
In the 'Load Search' window, click the blue Load button.
Now make any changes required to the required fields, and optionally click the Advance button to also configure the displayed columns, and specific sort order.
Click the Refresh button to display and check the data.
Click the Save Search button to save the applied changes.

Saved Searches | Add To My Dashboard

As of StrataMax version 5.6.98, there is the option to add certain searches to your own Dashboard. This is limited to your own Dashboard only (you cannot add it to the Dashboard of another user or group), and only available in these specific 'Search' screens:

Follow the steps to set up a new Saved Search, or edit a Saved Search (see the two relevant sections above).
In the 'Save Search' window, click the Add To My Dashboard button.
The 'Dashboard Configuration' window will then appear.
The Report drop-down menu cannot be changed from 'Saved Search'.
The Display Title can be changed to whatever is required.
Choose the Display Type that is preferred. See Display Types for more information.
Tick Show On Desktop if preferred.
Depending on which Display Type was chosen, the fields for the different number values will change. Observe the Preview to assist with picking the right number values suited to the Display Type.
Click the Save button.
Back in the 'Save Search' screen, there are now buttons to Edit Dashboard and Delete Dashboard.
Click the Close buttons on any remaining screens.

Examples of Searches for Dashboard

The below are some examples of saved searches that can be used as a dashboard to either prompt based on particular dates or to provide quick access to information & reporting. Examples are reliant on fields being populated with data and information as part of your processes and your particular setup of Restrict To, Display Columns and Sort Order may vary to suit your requirements.