LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Tips and Tricks with Filters Jenny Lardh
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL The Basics What are Queries and Filters? What are the difference between Queries and Filters? How to Create a Query / Filter Tips and Tricks How to create tabs in Web Access Controlling Drop down lists Direct lookup using Queries
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL What are Queries and Filters? Queries and Filters will show you information from the object they are created on. Create a Query / Filter on the Incident Object and you will get Incidents in the result. The information that you present can then be filtered using criteria so that you only see information relevant to the user. You can filter your Query and Filter to only show Incident logged “today” or “last week”. Queries and Filters can be used in different part of the product: Query Dashboard Gadgets Run from a shortcut group Default Query. Linking Actions Filter Drop down lists Tabs
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL What are the difference between Queries and Filters? A Query will allow you to base your result on one object. Any criteria added to the Query will come from an attribute on the based Object. Example: Base On: Incident Object. You can add a criteria to show all Incidents where Category is Equal to “Hardware”. A Filter will allow you to base your result on one object and Filter by another Object. Example: Base On: Incident – Note Object. Filter By: Incident Object Add this Filter as a tab on an Incident and you can see all Notes belonging to that Incident only You can “Base On” and “Filter By” the same Object
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL How to create a Query and Filter Both Queries and Filters can be created in Console within the “Query and Report Designer” Component. Click on “New Query / New Filter” Type in Title and select your Objects to Base and Filter by accordingly. Created For: Me: This is a private Query / Filter Everyone: This is a system Query / Filter
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Adding Columns This is where you decide what Columns to show. On the left you see an Attributes list with available attributes. Drag your selected Attribute on to the “Selected Attributes” area. You can right to get in to Properties. Properties will allow you to change details such as: Column Heading Sort Order Column Sizing
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Grouping (Queries Only) This will allow you to choose an attribute to Group your Query by. Drag the Attribute that you want to Group By to the Group Area In the Group pop up window you can select to Sort the Grouping, Load the Query with collapsed grouping or expanded grouping.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Adding Criteria to Queries Here you will select the filters added to your Query. This is what will determined what results you will see. Find the relevant attribute you want to filter by and drag this out to the Current Criteria area. Your Criteria pop up window will appear. Select your Condition in the “Condition” drop down list. Select your Value in the “Value” drop down list. Tick “Prompt user to specify value” if the User should be allowed to select their own value when running the Query.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Adding Criteria to Filters The Attributes list on the left will show you all attribute from the Object the Filter is “Based On”. Select the Attribute you wish to filter by and drag this out to the “Current Criteria” are. The Criteria pop up window will show Select the relevant Condition to use in the “Condition” drop down list. For the Comparison Value, you can select an Absolute value or a Runtime value. Absolute Value = Will allow you to specify an absolute value from the Attribute you selected. Runtime Value = Will allow you to select a value from the Object you are “Filtering By” and then filter this dynamically. The attribute list that you will see within the Criteria popup window are all attributes from the Object the Filter is “Filtered by”
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL General Page General Settings for Query: Will show you the Title and Description set when you first started creating your Query / Filter. Results Detail: If you want your Query to automatically refresh, you can set this here. Include soft deleted records, means that it will show records that has been marked as soft deleted in the database. No. Records Displayed: This it the number you want returned per page or to only return a certain amount of results. Prompt Options: Prompt Dialog is valid for Console Only and allows you to see a Simple prompt or a Grid prompt. Launch Action: Allows you to choose what Object you want to launch when double clicking on the record. For example, you can launch the Note or you can launch the Incident the Note belongs to.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Create a Query through Web Access Queries can also be created directly in Web Access by right clicking within the shortcut panel or on a Dashboard and select to create a query. The “Create Query” page will load. Type in a Title, select your Module and Object you want to create your query on. Add to shortcut bar? – Will add the Query you are creating to the shortcut bar where you right clicked. As system shortcut? – Query will be available to all users. Is telephony aware – Only relevant if you’re using telephony. Prevent launch of records – Stops users being able to launch any result within the Query. View list of Service Desk Queries – Allows you to select an already existing Console Query rather than creating a new Query from scratch.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Create a Query through Web Access Once you have created a Query in Web Desk you can choose to add Filters to the Query. Run the Query, then in the top right hand corner, drop the arrow down. Select “Insert Filter” In the Attribute list you get up, select the Attribute you want to filter your Query by and click OK. Select relevant Condition Type and Value. You can also choose if the user should be able to select their own value to filter by, by ticking “Show filter as prompt?”
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Create a Query through Web Access When you’re done modifying your Query, your Query will show the new results immediately according to your modifications. Note that the shortcut will still have the original Query saved, meaning it will not have any filters added to it. If you wish to save the modifications done, right click on the shortcut itself and select “Replace this shortcut with current page
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL How can I apply Filters and Queries in my setup?
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL How to create tabs in Web Access from a filter
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Decide what to “Base On” and “Filter By” Decide where you want to see the tab Decide what information you want to see within the tab Find which Objects to Base On and Filter By For example: I want to see all Incidents logged by Raise User on my Incident window. Base ON: Incident Management - Incident Filter By: Incident Management - Incident I want to see all Notes added to my Incident on my Incident window. Base On: Incident Management – Note Filter By: Incident Management - Incident I want to see all Tasks added to my Request on my Request window. Base On: Request Management – Task Filter By: Request Management - Request
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Create your Criteria Create your Filter within Query and Report Designer in Console. Add the relevant Attributes you want to see as column on your tab and set any properties, such as Sort By. Add any criteria to your filter. When adding criteria you will need to match a value from an attribute within the result you expect to see to an attribute o the record you have launched. For example: I want to see all Incidents logged by Raise User on my Incident window. We need to match Raise User within the results to Raise User on the Incident. Raise User is Equal to (Raise User) I want to see all Notes added to my Incident on my Incident window. We need to match the Incident linked to Notes to the Incident we are viewing. Incident is Equal to (Incident) I want to see all Tasks added to my Request on my Request window. We need to match The Request linked to Task to the Request we are viewing. Incident is Equal to (Incident)
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Add the Filter to your window Launch the window in Window Manager that you want to add the tab to From within the Controls section, click on the Query option and click on the window. It will appear as a collection at the bottom of the window. Highlight the Query at the bottom of the window and go to Properties. In the “Query/Filter” option, select the Filter that you have created and save your window. Make sure “Show on Window” is set to True.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Controlling Drop down lists
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Controlling Drop down lists You can filter the returned value in any drop down list. This can show a fixed result or different results depending on who’s using the drop down list For Example: If an Analyst is dropping down “Raise User” s/he will see all available End Users If an End User is dropping down “Raise User” they will only see End Users belonging to their own Company. There are two ways to create a filter for a drop down list. Query and Report Designer. Through Object Designer. Creating your filter through Object Designer will automatically select the correct Object for you and so has a lot of advantages when looking to use the filter in a drop down list. Un-filtered drop down list Filtered drop down list
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Creating a Filter through Object Designer In Object Designer, find your relevant Attribute and look in Properties. Select the […] button on the “Filter Selectors” setting. In your “Attribute Filter Selectors” pop up window, select “New Filter Rule”
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Creating a Filter through Object Designer In the “Select a filter query” drop down list, select “New” Your “New Filter” pop up window appears. Notices that your Based On and Filtered By Objects are already selected for you. Create your Filter as Normal. When the filter is created remember to Save in Object Designer
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Filter Conditions A condition will let the system know when to use the filter added to the attribute. You can have multiple filters added to the one attribute and a condition to let the system know when to use which filter. For example: Filter 1’s Condition - Incident.Category = Hardware Filter 2’s Condition - Incident.Category = Question Filter 1 and Filter 2 can be two completely different filters showing two completely different results.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Create a Condition Highlight the Filter you wish to create a Condition on and select “New Condition” The Condition Box will become read/write. In the Path section, tick the attribute you wish to add the condition on, for example: Category. In Comparison Type, select the best option for what you want to achieve. You can now either Specify an absolute value or a macro value for this attribute. Absolute Value: Type in the value you want to compare with, for example: Hardware. Macro Value: Can be used if your Path is a User or Group Attribute and can then be “Current User” or “Current Group” For example, If Incidents Latest Assignment is Assigned to Current User show me Filter 1. Filters will be applied in the order they have been entered into the Filter Selection section. The system will use the first Filter it can match up true with the Conditions.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Making drop down lists more user friendly
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Making drop down lists more user friendly Only seeing the Title Value in your drop down list might not always be the most user friendly display. To change this, you can add an Attribute Template to your drop down list, which will allow you to see more than one value in the drop down list. This will also make all showing values searchable when typing in the drop down list. For example, if phone number is showing, you can type the users phone number in and the drop down list will filter accordingly. This will make it easier to find the record you are after. From This To This
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL How to create a Template for your drop down list In Object Designer, highlight the Object that the drop down list is linked to. For Example using our “Requested For“ Attribute, this is linked to User In the Properties, select “Output Attributes” in the Templates section.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL How to create a Template for drop down lists The “Output Attribute Templates” pop up window appears. Click “New” to create a new template. Type in a Name of your template. Select all Attributes that you wish to see in your drop down list. You can change your Font Size and Style from within the “Font settings” Click OK and save Object Designer
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL How to set your Template to a window Go to Window Manager in Console Launch the window you wish to use your Attribute Template on. Highlight your Attribute In Properties, drop down “Attribute Template” and select the created Template Save your window.
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Direct lookup using Queries
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Direct lookup using Queries Did you know that you can Query any Data Connections set up in Service Desk?
LANDESK SOFTWARE CONFIDENTIAL Query Data Connections Ones you have set up a working Data Connection using the Data Connection component in Console, the Connection and Connection Type will show as a Module and Object in Object Designer. This means that we can use them the same as other Modules and Objects. When creating a new Query, you can select your Data Connection as Module and Data Connection Type as Object. This will run as a normal Query, showing you everything that the Data Connection will find. If you are using your Data Connection for a Data Import, then this is a great way of seeing what you are due to import.
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