Getting Started

Searching All Object Kinds

If you select All Object Kinds, the search results will be organized into tabs to make it easier to find information.

Predictive Search

If you select the ID and you type in your search criteria, a drop-down menu will be displayed showing the available results. It is very useful because it shows the object ID and its description.

Searching by ID or using Full text

By using the ID or Full text search you can search by typing the object’s ID or text, like an item description or a document title.

Searching by using the Revisions filter

The Revisions filter enables you to define which revisions you are searching for. You can filter the search by:

• All revisions: this selection will display all available revisions.
• Latest revisions: this selection will display the last available revision, independently of its state.
• Current revisions: it shows the latest released revision.
• Current or newer revisions: this selection will display the latest released revision and the following ones.

Searching by Configurations

Use the Configurations search if you are searching for a master item or a configuration of it. You can choose from the following different options:

• All: this selection will search for all configuration options.
• No configurations: this selection will search for individual master items from the product configurable model.
• Configurations: this selection will search for configured items which have been run with the configurator.
• Configuration roots: this selection will search for top-level configuration items of the product configurable model.

Refining your search results

VariSuite allows you to refine your search criteria, to export the results and the documents associated with the selected objects.

Tabs

Search results are organized in tabs. Click on the tab corresponding to the kind of object you are searching for.

Actions

You can perform several actions to the selected objects:

• Change state (Group Update): this action promotes the objects to the next lifecycle state: ready, checked, released.
• Set Attribute Values (Group Update): this action updates the value of an attribute for all the selected objects.
• All Documents to Zip file: this action exports all the documents connected to the objects into a zip file.
• PDF files of all documents to ZIP file: this action makes the same as the previous action but exporting only the PDF document type.
• Export to Excel: this action exports the objects into an Excel document. It is the same action as clicking on the Excel button placed on the right side of the toolbar.

Select

Click on “Select” and the “Select All” to mark all the required results. You can also click on the individual check-boxes placed on the left side of the objects.

The Excel button

The Excel button on the right exports the information shown in the table into an Excel spreadsheet.

The Left-side Menu Search

The left-side Menu provides you with different search options which affect the search and the information populated into the search results table. You can select and deselect columns and export the information into a compressed ZIP folder.

Basic Search

To perform a basic search, follow the next steps:

1. Fill in the information you know, such as description, ID, current state, etc.
2. Click on the three dots button to see the possible values for that attribute.
3. Click on the “Save query as” button to save your query.
4. Click on “Find” to run the search.

Note: the basic search and its results can be edited in the VariClient.

Advanced search

To perform an advanced search, follow the next steps:

1. Select the object’s type and revision.
2. Select the configuration criteria.
3. Click on the “Result Options” button to hide or unhide columns from the search results table.
4. Type in the object’s ID, revision or full text.
5. Click on the green plus sign to add another search criteria or on the erase button to remove it.
6. Save your query by pressing the “Save query as” if desired.
7. Click on “Find” to perform the search.

Searching within a Structure

When you want to search for a specific item in a structure you can use the Menu. Press the “Menu” button or right-click on any item in the structure to open the Menu.

Select the most suitable search function:

• Use “Find more like this” to search for more items like the one you’ve opened. This option will display a list of items.

• Use “Find inside” the structure to limit the search into the selected structure. This option will open a submenu with predefined searching criteria to search for objects inside the structure.

If you don’t see the criteria you need on the submenu, you can always click on “Find items / documents in structure with path” to define your own criteria.

Filtering information

If you are looking for a specific item, part or user but can remember only some information related to it, it may be useful to narrow down the search results by using filters. Let’s look at different ways to filter information.

Filter type

You can select what kind of criteria you want to use to filter the information from the drop-down list. For example:

• Object ID
• Description
• Image
• Validity
• Revision date
• Current state
• Revision reason
• Owner

Filter Criteria

You can use the text field to type in a word or characters you want to find. The filter will narrow down the search results to all the combinations with those characters while you are typing.

Well done, now you have learned about the different search functionalities in VariSuite!

Get back to the Getting Started knowledge area to learn more…!