Searching for Records

One very useful feature of Portfolio is its searching capabilities. Portfolio allows users to search catalogs for records matching a tremendous variety of criteria. There are two ways to search in Portfolio: via QuickFind and via Find.

QuickFind is by the easiest search and most readily available search feature to use. It is also far less flexible and powerful than Find. To use QuickFind, locate the blank text box at top center of the gallery window. Type a search string (also called a query) into the box and press Return or Enter. QuickFind will, by default, search the filenames, keywords, and descriptions of all records in a catalog for the word or words you typed in, and it will display the results of your search in the window from which you began the search.

To run a more detailed and precise search, use the Find function. Press the Find icon or choose Catalog > Find... to open the Find window. The Find window has two separate tabs, each allowing control over an aspect of the search function. The Criteria tab controls the parameters of your search, from number of terms and type of searches to how the results are displayed. The Catalogs tab controls which open catalogs Portfolio searches in.

• Criteria Tab: To set search parameters, use the Field menu to select a field to search in; use the match option menu to select a match option (starts with, contains, does not contain, etc.); and type a value (a query) into the blank text box to the right of the other menus. If you wish to add more terms and qualifiers to your search, press the More Choices button, located at the bottom left corner of the window. Each time you press it, you will add another row (Field menu, match option menu, and text box) to the Find window, plus a small boolean operator menu (left of additional rows of choices), from which you can choose AND or OR to link your search parameters together. Pressing the Fewer Choices button that appears to the right of the More Choices button will, of course, remove one row of choices from the window.
  
  There are three check-box options below the search criteria selection menus. When checked, Find in Gallery limits your search to the contents of the currently selected gallery. Display Results in New Gallery creates a new gallery window and puts the search results in it. Search Multiple Catalogs allows you to extend your search across several open catalogs (see Catalogs Tab instructions below).
  
  Above the search criteria options sits the Saved Finds menu. Reader-level users cannot access the functions from this menu, but Editors, Publishers, and Administrators can use it to save the fields, match options, and search values of their searches for later use. This is particularly helpful in that it allows users to dynamically collect items that share certain metadata--in contrast to saved galleries, whose content does not change unless a user changes it directly. The Save option saves the current criteria and only asks for a name for the saved find if the criteria don't already have one (i.e., if you aren't saving changes to previously saved finds). The Save As... option allows you to rename your saved find. The Save As Default option saves the current criteria as the default find, the criteria that automatically appear when you open the Find window. The Edit List... option allows you to rename, duplicate, and delete items from your collection of saved finds.



• Catalogs Tab: In this tab, users can choose which catalogs among available (open) ones Portfolio will search through when using the Search Multiple Catalogs option (see Criteria Tab). By clicking on the magnifying glass icon to the left of a name on the list, users can tell Portfolio to include or exclude that catalog from such searches. When a catalog is included in Multiple Catalog searches, the magnifying glass icon is present; when a catalog is excluded from these searches, the icon is absent.