Adding filters to object types

Filters are specific to an object type and narrow the scope of results from a search. An administrator creates a filter for an object type by selecting which fields or tags to analyze and what data to search for. Only the objects that match the filter's specified search criteria are returned.

For filters that include long string fields, the text index for the long string field must be synchronized with the values in the field. Synchronization depends on when the index was created or the setting of scheduled synchronization. For more information about filtering on long string field content, see Utilities for filtering on long string field content in a Db2 database or Utilities for filtering on long string field content in an Oracle database.

Note: If you create a new filter that uses the character % as the value, for example Name Contains %2, the Name Contains value field appears empty after you load the filter: the % character does not appear. However, the filter runs properly.

Before you begin

Ensure that your account has the application permission for object types.

About this task

A public filter definition specifies the following types of criteria:

  • Base object criteria that consist of conditions on the object type that is displayed in the Grid View.
    • If you define multiple conditions on the object type, all the conditions must be met. To override this rule, define advanced logic to combine the condition in a specific way.

      For example, if you define three conditions, the default logic is to retrieve objects that match all three conditions: 1 and 2 and 3. However, if you define advanced logic, you can use the condition numbers together with the operators and, or, not, and parentheses to build a more refined statement. For example, a statement can be 1 or 2 or 3 or a statement can be 1 and (2 or 3).

  • Related object criteria that consist of conditions on the parents, children, ancestors, and descendants of the object type that is displayed in the Grid View.

    For example, on a Grid View for Risks, a parent-based filter can narrow the list of Risk objects to only those Risks that have a Process object as a parent. However, you must add at least one condition. For example, you can add a condition to show only Risks where the parent Process object has a status of Awaiting Approval. You can also limit the relationship paths to use in the filter through the primary parent tree.

    Public filters with related object criteria can be used only in grid pages, not in relationship fields.

If a filter has both types of criteria, both must be met to display an object in the Grid View.

Procedure

  1. Click Open Administration menu Administration menu > Solution Configuration > Object Types.
  2. View the list of available object types and select an object type.
  3. From the object configuration page, expand the Filters section and click New Filter.
  4. 9.1.2 and later If you want to create a filter by modifying an existing filter, click Copy from an existing filter and choose a filter from the list. Then do one of the following:
    • If you don't want to change anything and simply want an exact copy of the filter, give the filter a unique name, and then skip to step 13.
    • If you choose to add or modify conditions in the Base Object Criteria and Related Object Criteria sections, follow the steps below as needed.
  5. Enter the following information:
    1. Name

      Enter a unique identifier for the filter.

    2. Label

      Enter a label for the filter. The label is displayed to OpenPages® users when they are selecting filters in Grid Views.

      Click Edit to translate the label.

      If it is displayed, click Auto Translate button to populate translated values to languages. For more information, see Translation services.

    3. Description

      Enter the description of the filter.

  6. Click New Condition.
    You can create a condition by using tags or fields. You can create a filter that uses a mix of tag conditions and field conditions.
    Note: If you don't see a Tag option, tagging is not enabled. Check the system settings for tags. For more information, see Creating tags.
  7. To create a condition that uses tags, click Tag, and then select one or more tags.
    When you select multiple tags, the filter uses an OR operation.
    Note: If the list is empty, no tags are available. You need to create tags before you can use them in filters. For more information, see Creating tags.
  8. To create a condition that uses fields, click Field. Do the following steps for each field that you want to filter on.
    1. Select a Field and an Operation for the filter to apply to.
      The available operations and remaining fields depend on the field that you select. For example, the following operations are available for the Description field: Starts with, Ends with, Contains, Does not contain, Equals, Not equal to, Ends with, Is empty, and Is not empty.
      Note: Text is not case-sensitive.
      The following table describes the operations available for each field type.
      Table 1. Filter conditions
      Field type Operations
      User You can select the following operations:
      • Is empty or Is not empty
      • Matches the selected user and add one or more users in the list under Other user or you can set Me to True to set yourself as the user.
      Group Select the Includes all of the selected users operation and add one or more groups in the list under Other group. Or, you can set End User to resolve to the currently logged-on user.
      Enumerated value You can select the Is empty or the Is not empty operation, or you can select the Any of the following values operation and add enumerated values in the list under Select Values. You can also set Show hidden values.
      String value You can select the Is empty or the Is not empty operation, or you can select an operation (such as Starts with, Ends with, Contains, Does not contain, Equals, Not equal to, or Ends with) and then enter a text value. The text is not case-sensitive.
      Date Select an operation (such as In the last, In the next, On a specific date, Not on a specific date, or In the range) and then enter a value.
      Numeric value You can select the Is empty or Is not empty operation, or you can select an operation (such as Equals, Not equal to, Greater than, Less than, or In the range) and then enter a value.
      Boolean Select true or false.
      Note: Limitations exist for special characters in long string fields. For more information, see Limitations on special characters in long string fields.
    2. Click Done.
  9. Optional: Filters are automatically set to meet all listed conditions. To override this default rule, set Advanced Logic to True and write a statement in Logic.
    To write a logic statement, set the condition numbers with the operators AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses.
    The order of operations is: () then NOT then AND then OR.
    For example:
    • 1 OR 2 OR 3
    • 1 AND (2 OR 3)
    • 1 NOT (2 OR 3)

    For more information about creating more complicated logic statements, see Using advanced logic in a search filter.

  10. Optional: Expand Related Object Criteria to filter on related objects.

    To filter based on fields in related objects, do the following steps:

    1. Select a Relationship Type and an Object Type.
      The remaining fields depend on the object type that you select.
    2. Under Related Object Conditions, click New Condition.
    3. If tags have been enabled, select Tags, and expand the Tags menu to choose ones you want to add to the filter. Click Done.
      Continue to configure the filter by entering the details on the New Field panel.
    4. Click Done.

    If you chose Ancestors or Descendants for the Relationship Type, specify the relationship paths to use for the filter, and then specify a condition.

    1. Click Edit. A side panel is displayed.
    2. Use the tree to select the path between the object and its ancestors or descendants.
    3. Under Related Object Conditions, click New Condition.
      Repeat step 6 to configure the condition.

    To limit the filter to primary parents, click Primary Parent Hierarchy Only.

  11. Expand Profiles.
  12. Select at least one profile from the list. Users with the profiles you select can use the filter.
    Note: You must assign a filter to a profile to make the filter available to users.
  13. Click Done.

Results

The filter is created.

To edit the filter, click the filter name.
Tip: When you create a filter that uses Ancestors or Descendants and the relationship path uses only parents or children, the filter shows Parents or Children for the Relationship Type when you edit the filter.

To remove the filter, select the checkbox for the filter name and click Delete.