Working with search results

After you complete a remote z/OS® search, the results are reported in the Remote z/OS Search view. Use this view to sort or filter the search results, edit or browse returned files, refine the search results, or add returned files to a project or subproject. ¹

You can set several search options and preferences to control the content and function of this view. For more information about these options and preferences, see the related links.

To limit the number of search results that are returned in this view, use the Search results limit field of the Remote z/OS Search window. The default setting is 1000. If you search for data sets or data set members, this option limits the number of files returned. If you search for content strings, this option limits the number of strings returned.
To control how often the search results are updated, use the Result update frequency control of the Remote z/OS Search preferences page. The search function returns search results incrementally so that you can begin working with search results before all results are returned.
To enable a preview of the files that contain a returned content string, use the Search result preview fields of the Remote z/OS Search preferences page. These options control the response time for content previews and the number of lines of content to preview.

To open the Remote z/OS Search preferences page from the Remote z/OS Search view, select Preferences from the menu on the Remote z/OS Search view.

The Remote z/OS Search view opens automatically after a search request is issued. This view reports the results of searches in z/OS systems view. ²A remote z/OS search can return two types of results:

Files: If you enter a search string in the With name field of the Remote z/OS Search window, the search results contain a list of sequential data sets, partitioned data sets, or partitioned data set members.
Content strings: If you enter a search string in the Content strings field of the Remote z/OS Search window, the search results contain a list of content strings. The results are listed under the data set or partitioned data set member that contains the strings.

How you work with search results differs according to the type of results returned.

Files

To sort the search results, click the heading of the column you want to sort the results by.
This action toggles the sort order between ascending and descending order.
To expand or collapse all search results, click the expand or collapse button.
To add or remove columns from the view, click the edit button .
To change the size of a column, select a column divider and move it to the left or right.
To filter the search results, type a string in the Filter data set or Filter member field.
This field filters the search results as you type. When the view shows the results of a file search, the filter string is compared to the value in the Name column for top-level results. Results that do not match the filter are removed from the view. The filter text is not applied to the second-level items, such as data set members of partitioned data set search results.
Filter string comparisons are not case-sensitive. If you use * in a filter string, it matches any string. Wildcard characters are not allowed in the high-level qualifier.

If your original search request returns all sequential data sets that match MYUSERID.*, for example, you can type MYUSERID.COBOL.* in this field to show only the search results that match this filter.
To view the member or data set that contains a result string in read-only mode, select the Browse action from the pop-up menu. To edit a member or data set, select Open.

Note: The Browse and Open actions appear only if you select a partitioned data set member or sequential file. They do not appear if you select a partitioned data set.
To show the results of previous searches, click the drop-down menu and select a search result set from the list.

Content strings

Expand the data set or data set member names to see the returned content strings.
To preview the file that contains the returned string, hover the mouse pointer over the string.
Several lines that precede and follow the returned string open in a window. Use the Remote z/OS Search preferences page to control the size and timing of the preview window.
To sort the search results, click the heading of the column you want to sort the results by.
This action toggles the sort order between ascending and descending order.
To expand or collapse all search results, click the expand or collapse button.
To add or remove columns from the view, click the edit button .
To change the size of a column, select a column divider and move it to the left or right.
To filter the search results, type a string in the Filter text field.
This field filters the search results as you type. When the view shows the results of a content string search, the filter string is compared to the value in the Name column for top-level and second-level items. Results that do not match the filter are removed from the view. If the filter removes all second-level items, the parent top-level item is also removed. If any second-level item matches, the parent top-level item is retained. Filter string comparisons are not case-sensitive. If you use * in a filter string, it matches any string.
If your original search request returns all file content that matches T*, for example, you can type TEST* in this field to show only the search results that match this filter.
To view the member or data set that contains a result string in read-only mode, select the Browse action from the pop-up menu. To edit a member or data set, select Open.

Note: The Browse and Open actions appear only if you select a partitioned data set member or sequential file. They do not appear if you select a partitioned data set.
To show the results of previous searches, click the drop-down menu and select a search result set from the list.

¹ For IDz users, search for Working with search results in IDz KC.

² For IDz users, this view also reports the results of searches in z/OS projects and MVS subprojects view.

³ For IDz users, if you know the content of a data set or member and a full or partial file name, you can also use Remote z/OS File Search. For more information, search for Searching remote z/OS files in IDz KC.