Find Command

This section explains how to use the Find command to locate account and transaction records quickly.

It also explains how to use the Find, Sort, Skip and Replace All commands to put together groups of account or transaction records, so you can include them in reports and print forms, or export them to another program.

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Accounting Software | Business Management Software | Estimating Software

RELATED TOPICS
Data Entry | Printed Forms | Reports

Find Command

The find command locates all records that match the contents of any field.

For example, to find calls for a certain date, follow these steps:

Choose Contact Log from the Income menu.
Choose Find from the Edit menu.
You'll see a modified version of the data entry screen.
Click in the Contact Date field, and enter the date of the call.
Click the Find button.
You'll return to the regular data entry window, where you'll see all records for that date.

There are two numbers under the Browser Controls-- the total number of records and the number of records that are currently found (the Found Set).

If the call you want is not showing, click the right side of the browser to see the other calls for that day.

Found Records

When you use the Find command, Goldenseal remembers which records have been found, and continues to display only those items until you use the Find or Find All commands to change them.

You can use just the Found records when you create Printed Forms and Reports, or when you use the Replace All command.

HINT-- You can use the Find command to locate just some items to print or include in a report.

Finding Text

Use the Find command to locate records that have specific text in any text field.

Goldenseal uses special search characters the determine how the text is matched.

If you enter text directly, you'll see all records that start with that text.
If you put a ! (exclamation mark) before the text, you'll find all records with that text anywhere in the field.
If you put a * (asterisk) before the text, you'll also find all records with that text anywhere in the field.
If you put an = (equal sign) before the text, you'll only find records that are an exact match with that text.

For example, to find all calls that mention hogs anywhere in the description field, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Type !hog or *hog into the Description field.
Click the Find button.

To find all calls that have a blank description field, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Type = (equal sign) into the Description field, with no text after it.
Click the Find button.

Finding Ranges

Goldenseal lets you find records that are within a range of values in any text, clairvoyant, number, money, time or date field.

Goldenseal allows the following simple comparisons:
     > (greater than)
     < (less than)
     >= (greater than or equal to)
     <= (less than or equal to).

For example, to find calls made on or after October 10, 1999, follow these steps:
Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Type >=10/10/99 into the Contact Date field.
Click the Find button.

To find all items between two values, type .. or ... (two or three periods) between the values.

For example, to find calls made between October 10 and 14, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Type 10/10/99..10/14/99 into the Contact Date field.
Click the Find button.

HINT-- when you enter a range, Goldenseal finds all values that are equal to either side of the range, or between the two values.

Multiple Fields

If you type values into more than one field when setting up a find, Goldenseal will find only those records that match all of the fields.

For example, to find all contacts with a specific customer, you need to match two fields? the account type and the account. To do so, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Click in the Account Type field, and choose Customer.
Click in the Account field, and enter a name into the clairvoyant field.
Click the Find button.
You'll return to the regular data entry window, where you'll see all contacts with the entered customer.

HINT-- If you enter values in too many fields, Goldenseal may find nothing at all. In that case it's better to be less restrictive, and browse through a few records if you have to.

You can use any combination of fields when finding records. For example, you might want to see all calls from a specific person on a specific date, or all calls on a specific date that have a specific action taken.

HINT-- to match any field instead of all fields, turn on the Any Match checkbox.

Omit

Use the Omit checkbox to find all records except those of a certain type.

For example, to find calls that did not come from customers, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Click in the Account Type field, and choose Customer.
Turn on the Omit checkbox.
Click the Find button.
You will see all records that do not have Customer in the Account Type field.

Find Any Match

Use the Any Match checkbox to find all records that match values in any of several fields.

For example, to find either calls you received or calls you returned, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Click in the Contact Type field, and choose Phone Call Received.
Click in the Action Taken field, and choose Called Back.
Turn on the Any Match checkbox.
Click the Find button.
You will see all records that were a call received or that had a call back.

NOTE-- If you do not turn on the Any Match checkbox, the same find shows you records that were both a Phone Call Received and a Called Back.

Use the Any Match option for the following situations:

If you're not sure where a name was entered for a Customer account-- put the name into the Name field and the Contact Name field with Any Match turned on.
If you're not sure where an address was entered for a Customer account-- put it into the Address, Billing Address and Shipping Address fields with Any Match turned on.
If you're looking for a phone number but don't know where it was entered-- put it into the Daytime Phone, Evening Phone and Fax fields with Any Match turned on.
If you're looking for a key word but don't know where it was entered-- put it into every field where it might be, with Any Match turned on.

HINT-- use the Find Also checkbox to find records that match two different value in the same field.

Find Within

Use the Find Within checkbox to find matching items only within those that are already found.

If you've just done a Find that has found too many records, use Find Within to find fewer items within the ones already found.

HINT-- use Find Within to "refine" a search, or to continue with a search that is too complicated to do with a single Find command.

Find Also

Use the Find Also checkbox to add more items to the ones that are already found. Goldenseal will take the items that match the current find criteria, and add them to the end of the current found set.

For example, to find either calls you received or calls you made, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Click in the Contact Type field, and choose Phone Call Received.
Click the Find button.
Choose Find from the Edit menu a second time.
Click in the Contact Type field, and choose Phone Call Made.
Turn on the Find Also checkbox.
Click the Find button.
You will see all records that were a call you received or a call you made.

HINT-- use Find Also to "refine" a search, or to continue with a search that is too complicated to do with a single Find command.

From End

Turn on the From End checkbox to start the find from the last record instead of the first one.

This option is useful if you have many records, and you are looking for a recent record.

Complex Finds

To find an unusual combination of records, you may need to perform several Finds with the Omit, Find Within and Find Also options, or use the Skip commands to remove some items from the found set.

Sometimes it takes some trial and error to get exactly what you want!

Table Finds

When you find records that have a breakdown table, you can find values in any table column, the same way you'd find values in any other field.

To find values in a breakdown table, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Click in the first row in any column of the table.
Enter a value.
Click the Find button.

When you enter table values for a find, Goldenseal will include a record if any row in that record has the requested value in the selected column.

Using Flags

Use the Flag box to put any group of items into a found set-- even ones that cannot be found easily with the Find and Skip commands. The flag box is located in the lower left corner of each transaction and account window.

For example, to create a list of all phone calls made and all phone calls received, follow these steps:

Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Enter Phone Call Made into the Contact Type field.
Click the Find button. You'll see all matching items.
Click in the Flag box so it is turned on (showing a check mark).
Choose Replace All from the Edit menu, select the Flag choice, and click OK.
Repeat steps 1 through 5, but choose Phone Call Received at step 2.
Choose Find from the Edit menu for a third time.
Put a check mark into the Flag button at lower left.
Click the Find button. You'll see all phone calls made and received.

Find All

To find all items, choose Find All from the Edit menu. It will show you all records in the order in which they were originally entered.

Find Duplicates

The Find Duplicates command shows you just those records that have identical values in a field. It will help you to find duplicate check numbers or other duplicate records that may have been created accidentally.
NOTE-- The Find Duplicates command only finds duplicates within the current found set. To find all duplicate records, use the Find All command first.

To find duplicates, follow these steps:

Choose Find Duplicates from the Edit menu.
You'll see a list of fields in this type of record. Choose the field you'd like to use, then hit OK.
Only records that have a duplicate value in that field will be shown. The duplicate records are sorted into ascending order, so duplicates will be next to each other.

Finding Unique Records

To find unique (non-duplicate) records, follow these steps:

Choose Find Duplicates from the Edit menu, and enter the field you'd like to use.
You'll see a list of fields in this type of record. Choose the field you'd like to use, then hit OK.
Choose Skip from the Edit menu and choose All Found Items from the submenu.

Skip

The skip command allows you to remove some items from a found set. Use it to "tidy up" when a find gives you more items than you want to see.

To skip an item, follow these steps:

Scroll to the item that you'd like to temporarily remove.
Choose Skip from the Edit menu, then choose This Item from the submenu.
The item will be removed from the found set.

HINT-- When you skip an item, the item is not deleted. You will see it again when you use the Find All command, or when you do another find that includes it.

Skip Multiple

To skip several items, follow these steps:

Scroll to the first item you'd like to temporarily remove.
Choose Skip from the Edit menu, then choose Multiple Items from the submenu.
Enter the number of records you'd like to skip.

Skip Found Items

To skip all of the found items and show the items not found, choose Skip from the Edit menu, then choose All Found Items from the submenu.

HINT--If you want to print just a few unrelated items or combine them in a report, you can skip them, and then skip All Found Items. You can also use the Flag box to find a group of unrelated items.

Indexed Fields

Goldenseal keeps an index of some field values in account and transaction records. An index makes finds much quicker when you have large numbers of records (Goldenseal can look at the index instead of fetching thousands of records from your hard drive).

If you frequently use the Find command on some fields when you have thousands of records, you can use the Custom Layouts command to index those fields. The index makes your file slightly bigger, but it also allows you to find values in that field much more quickly.

Using Found Records

Once you have found a group of records, you can do several things with it:

You can browse through the records to find a specific record.
You can use the Print Forms command to print a form or report for the found records.
You can create a Report which includes only the found records.
You can create report Calculations which use only the found records for totals.
You can use the Replace All command to fill all found records with data from the current record.
You can Export data from the found records.

Goldenseal remembers the current set of found records-- it will remain in the that order until you do another Find, or use the Find All command to find all records.