Finding Data with an Advanced Search

Use the Advanced Search to find files, channel groups, or channels containing specified property values. You can combine search conditions with logical operators to define complex search queries and to limit the search results. You cannot search for non-optimized custom properties.

1. In Data Navigation, select the DataFinder or the Federation instance you want to search with and click .
   

   Note  

   To search in the search areas of a DataFinder or Federation instance, the instance requires web access permissions. An authorized user can assign web access permissions by clicking »Manage»Remote Access»Web Access.

2. Click Advanced Search if the advanced search is not already enabled.
3. Click Add to create a search condition.

   Goal	Solution
   Find parts of search terms with wildcards	Enter wildcards (* and ?) at the end of a search term, for example, exa*. The advanced search uses wildcards only when searching for text properties.
   Combine several search conditions	In the Value cell you combine the search conditions with AND or OR. If you click the ... button several times and double-click a further value, Data Navigator combines the values with an OR.
   Find a search term containing the text OR or AND	Replace the text OR with the text/OR or replace the text AND with the text /AND in the search term.
   Find case-sensitive search terms	Not possible because the advanced search is not case-sensitive.

4. Select the Level at which you want to search for the value of a property.
5. Select the Property in which you want to search for a value.
6. Select an Operator.
7. Enter the property value you are searching for. Click ... to obtain a list of the values contained in the properties of the indexed data. Double-click a value to insert it into the search condition.
8. Click OK to add a search condition.
9. Add further search conditions.
   

   Note  

   Data Navigation enters the logical operators according to the search conditions in the search input area. The names C1, C2, C3, ... refer to the individual search conditions. You can combine several search conditions with AND or OR. Use parentheses to specify the order of the evaluation.

10. Click Search.
    

    Note  

    The search results list always contains the search results of the previous search.

11. Optional: Select a file, group, or channel found in the search and click Properties Display on the right side of the window to display its properties. The Properties Display window shows all standard and custom properties. Non-optimized custom properties are highlighted in gray.
12. Optional: Open the Channel Preview to display channel data in a chart. Move the cursor to view single channel values.
13. Optional: Click »Export File (Original Format) or »Export File As to export the selected files to zip files. You can export the files in every format for which you have registered a writing DataPlugin.
14. Optional: Click »Add to Data Cart to copy the selected files to the clipboard and to make them available for analysis with Data Analysis.