Searching and Locating

There are two methods to finding things within BaseElements : the built in Find functions and the integrated fmSearchResults that is tied to the QuickFind.

Built in Find options

The built in Find mechanisms in BaseElements aren't restricted at all so you have full access to all of the find functionality like in any other unlocked FileMaker file. The find options within the menu bar are available, as well as the extra options available in the contextual menus.

The ability to do normal find requests within BaseElements becomes especially handy when linked to the extra GTRR option available in the portals. So you can, for example, go to a list of scripts, and then omit some of those records. You can then do a GTRR using found set ( hold down the shift key ) to view all the steps for those scripts. You can then constrain the found set to a single step type by right clicking on the step name field. So in a couple of steps you can produce a list of all of the import script steps for a limited set of scripts. You can then see all of the fields used in all those steps.

Also when finding within BE, the related fields can be searched on, and included in the criteria.

Smart Find

There is a setting available on the Preferences Popover for "Smart Find". This checkbox is on by default. The Smart Find option will use privileges to limit your access to the items for a single Analysis. Whatever the last Analysis you viewed on the Analysis layout, it will keep track of this Analysis, and it uses privileges to automatically limit your found sets to this one Analysis.

This allows you to have many different solutions or many different versions of the one solution or even both, all within the one copy of BE and to only be working and finding in a single Analysis at a time.

If you want to search across lots of solutions, or to compare the changes within different versions of a single solution you can turn this setting off in the Preferences at any time.

fmSearchResults

The final extra options for finding in BaseElements is the integration of the excellent fmSearchResults. fmSearchResults is a solution available from SeedCode that you can integrate yourself into any FileMaker solution.

In BaseElements, fmSearchResults is built into the QuickFind field in the toolbar. We've replaced the default QuickFind options with a search linked to fmSearchResults. To do a search, just type your request into the QuickFind field in the toolbar and hit enter.

This will search for the find criteria across every part of the solution, in every area. So this includes all text on layouts and used in calculations or the names of objects. The results appear in a window like the following:

You can click on any one item to view that item in it's normal Form layout. Plus you can click on any header ( the light blue row at the top of a section ) to view all of the respective items for that type.

The fmSearchResults integration is great for locating individual items, like a section of text within a specific dialog, or for finding the use of any item quickly.

Highlighting

Also introduced in version 3.0.9 is the ability for the search text to show up in Calculations, Scripts or ScriptSteps as a yellow highlight. This is best demonstrated by the screenshot below:

Any text you put in the QuickFind box will be highlighted automatically in yellow. This makes it easy to locate text within a large calculation or script. The bonus is that you don't even have to perform a search, by just typing your highlight into the field you can then click out of the quick find in the toolbar and the highlight will display without any searching.

Overall

There is the combination of fmSearchResults, the ability to use the the powerful built in FileMaker find options, the advanced options available for GTRR inside portals, the ability to put up new windows at any time to retain a found set, and the quick back and forward, all combine to give the user lots of options for locating data within your solution.