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Advanced Search Criteria

The following options are available in the Advanced Search form, as well as the forms for Custom Reports, Time Tracking Reports, and Escalation and Business Rules (with minor differences):

Note

The names of many of the fields in FootPrints can be changed by the administrator (Title, Priority, Status, Description, etc.), as well as the name of the records (Issue).  Custom fields can also be created.  For clarity, this manual always refers to FootPrints records as “Issues,” and uses the default terms for the other field names.

1. Issue Tab-General Information
   • Title—Enter a word or phrase to for which to search. Boolean operators AND, OR, and NODATA are supported.
   • Description—If a word or phrase is entered (or multiple words using Boolean Operators), only Issues containing that word/phrase in the Description are returned.
   • Assigned to—If an assignee or assignees are selected, the search returns only Issues assigned to the selected assignee(s).
   • Advanced Assignment Controls—Clicking on the Advanced Assignment Controls link displays the following options (Click the Hide Advanced Assignment Controls link to hide the following options):
   • Advanced Assignment Controls
     • Any user selected above—Returns all Issues to which any of the users you have highlighted in the list are assignees. For example, if you highlight three users, any Issues in which any of those three are assignees are returned.
     • All users selected above—Returns all Issues to which all of the users you have highlighted in the list are assignees. If, for example, you highlight three users, only Issues for which all three are assignees are returned.
     • Add Assignee—Optionally add an assignee to the list. Enter the name in the text field, and then click the icon. The name you added is appended to the end of the list. You must still highlight the name of the added assignee if you want the search to return all Issues to which the added user is assigned.
   • Exclude Issues Assigned To—Excludes all Issues to which the user(s) you have highlighted are assigned.
   • Add Assignee—Optionally add an assignee to the list. Enter the name in the text field, then click the icon. The name you added is appended to the end of the list. You must still highlight the name of the added assignee if you want the search to exclude all Issues to which the added user is assigned.
   • Keyword—If a word or phrase is entered, any Issues containing that word/phrase in any field are returned, including Title, Description, Workspace fields, and Address Book fields, as long as the full text search conforms to full text keyword search behavior.
     • Fields Included:—The Keyword search queries the Title field, Description field, Workspace (Issue), and Address Book fields.

     NOTE

     Refer to this Knowledge Base article for details on the behavior of the keyword search function.

   • Attachment Filename—Returns all Issues in which the string matches the filename of an attachment to the Issue(s).

Note on Permissions

Access to Issues is based on a user's RoleA user type assigned to one or more users to define permissions. Both built-in roles and custom roles can be assigned to users. Examples of built-in roles include Agent, Customer Read/Submit, and Workspace Administrator..  Assignment options may be restricted based on your role. Please consult your FootPrints administrator for more information.

• Submitted by—If a user or users are selected, the search returns only Issues created by that user.
• Priority—Returns only Issues of the specified priority or priorities.  Highlight the priorities to be included; hold down the CTRL key to highlight multiple priorities.  To return all priorities, no priorities need to be selected (this has the same result as selecting all priorities).
• Status—Returns only Issues of the specified status(es).  By default, Open and any custom statuses are highlighted in the status dialog.  To select multiple statuses, hold down the CTRL key.  To return all statuses, no statuses need to be selected (this has the same result as selecting all statuses).

2. Issue Tab-Issue Information—The fields in this section differ depending on the fields in the current Workspace.  Search on as many fields as desired. Search methods vary with the field data types:
• 16. Character field—Displays a text box. Enter the word or phrase to search on (or multiple words using Boolean Operators).
  17. Number field—Displays a text box. Enter the number or part of a number for which to search.
  18. Drop-down and Multi-select field—Displays a multi-select dialog box. Highlight one or more values to search on.  To search for Issues that contain no data for the field, select No data.  If you do not want to restrict the search based on choices in a field, do not highlight any values.
  19. Date fields—Search on a date or date range. For more information, refer to Date Field Search Options.
• Note
• Date/time fields can only be searched by date, not time.
• Other field types—Email, URL, and FTP fields display a text box. Enter the word or phrase to search on (including partial addresses).
3. Contact Tab—Search by users' contact information. The fields in this section differ depending on the fields in current Address Book.  Search methods are the same as those for Issue Information fields (see above).
4. Advanced Criteria Tab
5. Issue Types to Include—Specify whether Advanced Issue types, including Subtasks and Global Issues, are returned. Options include:
6. All Issue Types—All IssueThe default name given to a FootPrints record. Each Issue is a numbered record in the FootPrints database around which all help desk and problem tracking activity centers. The name for this may be different (Ticket, Entry, etc.) depending on how your system is configured. An Issue can be opened, assigned, worked on, and closed by Agent users and Administrators. types are returned.
7. Regular Issues—Regular (non-Global or Master/Subtask) Issues are returned.     
8. Include Master Issues—Master IssuesA type of FootPrints Issue that contain Subtasks, each with a different task that must be completed before the Master Issue is Closed. The Master issue is the "parent" in a parent/child relationship between the Master Issue and its Subtasks. that contain subtasks are returned.
9. Include Subtasks—Subtasks of Master Issues are returned.            
10. Include Global Issues— Global IssuesA special FootPrints Issue type used to designate important or frequently reported Issues that will affect many users. Global Issues can be broadcast to all Agents, are displayed on the Agent Home page, and can optionally be displayed for Customers to subscribe to. Whenever a new Issue is reported with the same problem, the Agent (and optionally the Customer) can link the Issue to the known Global Issue (called GlobalLinks). Global Issues can be closed with the GlobalLinks together at one time. are returned.
11. Include GlobalLinks—All users' Issues linkedThe child or related Issue linked to a Global Issue. A Global Issue is a special FootPrints Issue type used to designate important or frequently reported Issues that will affect many users. Global Issues can be broadcast to allAgents, are displayed on the Agent Home page, and can optionally be displayed for Customers to subscribe to. Whenever a new Issue is reported with the same problem,the Agent (and optionally the Customer) can link the Issue to the known Global Issue (called GlobalLinks). Global Issues can be closed with the GlobalLinks together atone time. to a Global Issue are returned.
12. Group Master IssuesA type of FootPrints Issue that contain Subtasks, each with a different task that must be completed before the Master Issue is Closed. The Master issue is the "parent" in a parent/child relationship between the Master Issue and its Subtasks. with SubtasksA type of FootPrints issue that is a "child" of a related "parent", called a Master Issue. Multiple subtasks can be created to define different tasks to be completed for a larger Master Issue. The Master Issue cannot be closed until all Subtasks are completed./Global Issues with GlobalLinks—Available for Reports only. These options override the sort order selected in the report.
13. Date—If dates are specified, the search returns only Issues from the time period specified. For more information, refer to Date Field Search Options.

Note

It is important to understand the meaning of relative periods and aging in order to obtain accurate information, especially as the searching and reporting functions of FootPrints rely on the same types of criteria.  If a search is requested on Issues for "the previous three months," and the date is the 15th of May, then the period searched or reported on will be from February 15th through May 14th, inclusive.  That is, the report or search will exclude the current date and give the three month period prior to the current date.  This is to ensure that reports and searches yield consistent results.  If reports and searches included the current date, then the results might differ depending on the time of day at which the search or report was performed.

11. Time—Specify the time in which the Issues were created or last edited based on the 24 hour clock. Available for Reports only.
12. Age—Returns Issues created in the time specified.  Number of days and hours can be specified.  Modifiers are also provided, including “Greater Than”, “Less Than”, “Equal to”, “Greater than or Equal to”, “Less than or Equal to”, and “Not Equal to”.  As an example, to return Issues greater than 1 day old, choose “Greater than” and fill in “1” for “Days”.

Note

Age is always 24/7 and does not use the Workspace Work Schedule.

13. Advanced Action Criteria—Click the checkbox to indicate that the issue has an associated Advanced Action that requires workflow (i.e., an approval via Change Manager or some other factor) before execution on the asset. This checkbox only applies if you have the BMC FootPrints Asset Core.
14. Include Only x number of Issues found—Restrict the results to the first or last x number of Issues specified, for example, First 20 Issues. Available for Reports only.
15. Include only Issue Numbers—Restricts the search to a defined range of Issue numbers.
16. Advanced Date/Time Controls—The following "Pending Clock" options apply to the "Time to Close" and "Age" calculations (available for Reports only):
17. Don't include time outside of the Workspace Work Schedule—If this is checked, the calculations do not include after-hours time based on the work schedule for the workspace. This option only affects output fields for reports such as Age of Issue. It does not apply to criteria on which FootPrints searches (even though it appears as an option in the criteria section of the page). What that means is, for example, if you set criteria for reports that have aged five days or more, when assembling the set of reports, FootPrints will not take this option into account and will use real time to determine whether the Issue is five days old or older. When the report is displayed, however, the Age of Issue will take the Workspace Work Schedule into account.
18. Don't include time Issues spent in the following Statuses—Select one more statuses (Pending, Waiting for Customer, etc.) to exclude time spent for the "Time to Close" and "Age" calculations.

Note

These time calculations are always based on the time zone in which the server resides.

• Order Search Results by—Order the Issues returned by the specified field, descending (most recent or highest first) or ascending (oldest or lowest first).  By default, Issues returned are ordered by Issue number descending.  This overrides your preferences.

16. And/Or—If “And” is chosen, Issues must match ALL criteria chosen above (this is the default).  If “Or” is chosen, only one criterion must be met.
5. Save/Run Tab—Save the search criteria as a queue. Select “Personal” to save search for yourself.  Select “Shared/Internal” to share your search with other internal FootPrints users. “Shared/Public” is available for reports only to allow all users (including Customers) to access the report (the report will only contain data user is allowed to see).  Saved search queues appear in the Display Drop-downA dialog on the FootPrints home page that contains built-in and custom queues and searches, such as "My Assignments". By selecting an option, the list of Issues on the home page is updated to that queue. on the homepage.

For all text fields, regardless of section, entering just the % symbol finds all Issues with any data in that field.

When you are finished filling out the form, click GO to submit search. The Homepage is displayed with a list of matches.  If a name was entered for the search, it appears as a queue in the Display drop-down.

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