In order to find specific items across all Web Apps, users can create queries in the admin panel and perform them using the Query generator feature, which is implemented into the following apps:
- License
- Content
- Forecast
- Programmer
- Planner
- VOD
- Campaign
The Query generator is implemented in the Connect tab of the respective apps as the second tab in the left-side menu.
The following article will illustrate the entire process of performing queries from selecting a query, to defining operators and conditions over generating the search results.
1 Select and configure a query
This chapter introduces how to select, configure and save queries and how to create new query configurations.
Configuring a query ranges from defining basic information such as query name and description to defining search-relevant information such as operators and conditions.
First of all, a query needs to be selected. The query marked with the list icon (1) is a basic configuration, which means it contains only default values.
Queries marked with star icons (2) are user-configured queries.
After selecting a query in the drop-down menu, conditions can be specified by clicking the edit button. In this example, a user-configured query is edited.
There are two mandatory fields, including title and reference number.
Name (1): The Name column indicates the data field filtered on, e.g. title.
Operator (2): This is where to choose the operator type (like, between, equals etc.). There is also an explantion of how the operator like (%) can be used to match sequences of characters in different ways.
Condition (3): Here, users can select the value or pattern to compare against.
Within a field, e. g. title, the conditions are connected with a logical operator. In this case, the system would search for titles that contain either “Harry” or “Potter” (or both).
If, however, the operator is not empty (1), it will logically be combined with the other two conditions with an and.
This is because the title cannot be empty if it contains the two words indicated.
NOTE
Conditions within a field, e. g. title, are always connected with logical operator, which can both be and or or.
Conditions across different fields, e. g. for the title and reference number are always connected with an and.
The data ticked via the checkboxes will appear as information columns in the search result (see chapter 2).
It is also possible to tick the checkbox for unspecified categories. In this example, the genre (number 11) is included to be displayed in the search results.
There is also group query feature, which is activated via a checkbox (1), that lists content with the same titles successively (see chapter 2).
The name of a query can be changed by clicking Edit (1).
Changes made to a query are saved by clicking Save (2). By clicking Save as (3), a new query configuration can be created to save the changes.
Queries can be deleted by clicking Delete (4).
When clicking the Edit button, the following menu opens to change the name and add a description.
Changes made to basic configurations, however, can only be saved as as a new query configuration.
2 Generate search results
This chapter explains in detail how to generate search results based on the set conditions and how to manage the amount of information displayed. In addition, group searches, where multiple search result variants are summarized in a structured line, will be outlined.
In addition to the conditions set previously (see chapter 1), the reference number is set as not empty (1) in this example.
By clicking Generate (2), search results will be generated according to the set conditions and be displayed on the right side under Result (3).
As explained in the previous chapter (see chapter 1). the data ticked via the checkboxes (4) will appear as information columns (5) in the search result.
It is possible to include categories that are not assigned specific conditions, e. g. content name (1).
The search results will reflect the specified categories (title and reference number), and the content name (2) is displayed for those elements no matter what the exact content name is.
NOTE
The search is not necesarily limited to the app it is performed in, depending on how the query is configured. In this example, the query searches and displays content across all apps even though the query is performed in the License App.
When creating create individual query configurations (views) in the admin panel, users can also determine which apps they are available in and which users are able to use them.
With the Group query feature (1) being activated, content with the same titles (2) is listed successively.
For further grouping, group operators can now be defined, e. g. a reference number count (1).
Now different variants are no l onger listed individually. Instead they are listed once (2), with the total number indicated (3).