Record Filtering & Searching
Learn how to find, filter and sort through your data records efficiently
Introduction
As your dataset grows, finding specific records becomes increasingly important. The application provides search capabilities to help you locate specific records, and sorting options to organize your data in a meaningful way.
This guide covers the basic ways you can search and sort your records to find relevant information quickly and efficiently.
Basic Search
The quickest way to find records is using the search bar at the top of any records table:
Search Functionality
- Full-text search: Type any keywords, and the system will search across all attribute values of your records
- Case-insensitive: Searches ignore capitalization differences
- Partial matching: The search uses SQL LIKE queries, so partial words will match (e.g., searching for "sci" will find "science")
- Pagination preserved: Search results maintain pagination and will respect the current page size
Search Tips
- Use unique or distinctive terms to narrow down results quickly
- For numeric fields, try searching for the exact number (e.g., "42")
- For dates, try searching in the format your dates are stored (e.g., "2023-05-01")
- Clear the search box or click the "Clear Search" button to reset the results and view all records
When searching, think about unique identifiers or specific terms that would only appear in the records you're looking for. This will help filter out irrelevant matches.
Sorting Records
Sorting helps you arrange records in a meaningful order to identify patterns or find specific records:
Basic Sorting
- Click any column header in the records table to sort by that attribute
- Click again to toggle between ascending and descending order
- A small arrow indicator (↑ or ↓) shows the current sort direction
- You can sort by any displayed column, including standard fields (ID, creation date) and custom attributes
Sort settings are preserved in the URL, so you can bookmark or share specific sorted views of your data.
When looking for outliers or significant data points, try sorting by numeric fields in descending order to see the highest values first, or in ascending order to find the lowest values.
Performance Considerations
While the system is optimized for efficient searching and sorting, there are some best practices to keep in mind when working with large datasets:
- Be specific: More specific search terms return results faster than broad ones
- Use pagination: The system returns 25 records per page by default, which helps with performance
- Export filtered data: For complex analysis of search results, consider exporting to work with it locally
Search operations across tens of thousands of records may take longer to process. Consider being more specific with your search terms when working with very large amounts of data.