17.8. Searching a Catalog

Engineering Knowledge Manager

User's Guide | Chapter 17: Catalogs |

17.7. Downloading a Catalog |  | 17.8.1. Saving a View
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## 17.8. Searching a Catalog

Once you have added content to a catalog, you can search the catalog for specific objects. When you search a catalog, you specify the object type that you are looking for, and then specify the criteria for the search. When the search is complete, a list of objects that meet the search criteria will appear in the file list window.

Note: If the catalog being searched includes items that are subtypes of the container and contain other objects:

- You cannot perform a search on an object in the catalog, only on the catalog itself.

- In certain tree views (for example, when picking the target of a new shortcut), a catalog item cannot be expanded. This prevents the selection of the catalog item's children.

Important: Keyword searches are case-sensitive, and there are limitations on the way certain characters can be used. For a complete list of limitations see Rules and Restrictions for Keyword Searches.

To search a catalog:

1. Select the catalog in the file list window. When a catalog is selected, the Advanced Search dialog box appears automatically (see Figure 17.4: Advanced Search - Defining a Search Expression). You can also start a search directly from the Catalog Contents tab in the file list window by clicking on the Views toolbar, as shown below.

   Figure 17.3: Starting a Search in Catalog View

2. In the Advanced Search dialog box, select the object type that you want to search for from the Select object type drop box.

3. Next you will need to define a search expression. A search expression can contain one or more conditions that you want to be met in your search. In the Property pane, select a property that you would like to use in your search. If any of the catalog objects contain other objects, and you want to be able to use the properties of those child objects in your search expressions, check the Show child properties box to update the Property list. In the figure below, the Diameter property is selected in the list. The property is added to the Expression window along with suitable operators and fields for defining the condition.

4. In the Expression pane, define a condition for the selected property. For example, if we wanted to find objects whose diameter is greater than 1.2, you would select Greater Than from the operator drop box and then type `1.2` in the value field.

   Figure 17.4: Advanced Search - Defining a Search Expression

   Note: For detailed information on defining search expressions, including the available data types and permissible characters, see Specifying Search Criteria.

5. You can define additional conditions based on any property to further narrow the search. If multiple expressions are defined, you can specify that you want all of the following or any of the following criteria to be met by making a selection from the Matches drop box.

   You can also define sub-expressions. These are expressions that are nested under existing expressions, and will be considered after the results of the first expression have been obtained. In our example we want to find all the widgets that are aluminum and have a diameter greater than 1.2. In this case, the Matches field is set to all of the following to ensure that both conditions are met. Let’s say that after those are found, we only want to find widgets that were created by either John, Susan, or Mike. We would add a sub-expression to the current expression and set the Matches field to any of the following. We would then define a Created By condition for each user, as shown below.

   Figure 17.5: Defining a Sub-expression

6. If you would like to define a sub-expression, check the Allow sub-expression box below the Expression window. An Add sub-exp link is displayed next to the Matches drop box. Click the Add sub-exp link to add a sub-expression to the list, and then specify the conditions for that expression.

7. To delete a condition, click Remove next to the condition. To delete all conditions from a search expression, click Clear All.

8. When you are ready to execute the search, click OK. The results of the search are displayed in the file list window. In our example, only one widget was found that met the search criteria:

   Figure 17.6: Catalog Contents - Search Results

   At this point you may want to save the view for future use.

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