Chapter 4:  Searching

Introduction

The Search form lets you retrieve information from your BluePrince database records. To open the Search form click Search on the BluePrince Main Tool Bar. You may use this form to find a Building Permit, Code Violation, Company, Contractor, Event, Invoice, Owner, Person, Property, Project, Zoning Complaint, or Zoning Permit as shown in Figure 25. The beginning of this chapter will cover common searching operations and displays.  Following the common section, considerations and examples related to specific searches will be discussed.

Figure 24 - Find Drop-down Menu

Common Searching Operations

Begin your search by making a selection from the FIND drop-down menu. As you scroll through this menu you will see that the headings of the columns in the Results table change to show the data columns that will be returned for each selection. Once you have selected an option from the FIND drop-down menu, make a selection from the Look For drop-down menu (see

Figure 25). This menu lists the types of criteria that you can use to search. Notice in this example there are several Custom Fields (named CF-*) associated with Building Permits you may use to search.  Once you have chosen a type of search criteria from the Look For drop-down menu, the field(s) to the right will adjust so that you can enter more detailed search criteria. Enter or select the value(s) that you want to match. Depending on the selection you make, additional fields may appear to the right of the Look For drop-down menu.

 

Figure 25 – Search:  Look For Drop-down Menu

Large Search Confirmation

Searches resulting in hundreds of matches can take a long time to run. If BluePrince detects that the number of search results is large, you will receive a confirmation request before the search results are returned.  If you would like to see how many matches BluePrince will find based on the search criteria you have provided, check Show Count Only check box before clicking Search. If the resulting count is very high, you may want to enter more specific search criteria so that fewer matches will be returned.

Results Table Display

Your results may include more columns than can be displayed at one time in the Results table window, as shown in Figure 27. When this is the case, use the horizontal scroll bar located at the bottom of the Results table to see the rightmost columns. If you would prefer to change the order of the columns in the Results table, simply click and drag the column headers to move the columns left or right. You may double-click on most cells in the Results table, or single-click the desired cell and then click the Details button, to open a separate form providing details related to the cell you have highlighted, though some columns cells do not include this functionality. You may click Print to create a PDF file that allows you to print your Results table, an HTML page that allows you to display your Results table on a web page, or a CSV file that allows you to import your Results table into a spreadsheet application that accepts input in Comma Separated Value format. At any time, you may click Reset to empty the Results table and reset all the drop-down menus to their initial values. However, this is an optional step that is not required between searches. To close the Search form at any time, simply click Close.

Figure 26 - Search: Results Table

Search Criteria

Table 3 provides a summary of all of the FIND drop-down and related Look For menu selections that are available from BluePrince Search for Building Permits, Zoning Permits, Projects, Zoning Complaints, Code Enforcement Cases, and Properties. Table 4 provides a summary of all of the FIND drop-down and related Look For menu selections that are available from BluePrince Search for Companies, Contractors, Persons, Owners, Events and Invoices.  A check (P) indicates that the selection is available when Finding one of the Drop-down selections.  The remainder of this chapter will discuss examples of searching for different data records in BluePrince.

Hint:  Remember you may enter an asterisk * as a wildcard character at the beginning or end of your search value, whenever you directly type in your text rather than make a selection from a pull-down menu.

Table 3 - Search Criteria for Permits, Projects, Code Enforcements and Property

Look For Menu Selections	FIND Drop-Down Menu Selection
	Building Permit	Zoning Permit	Project	Zoning Complaint / Code Enforcement	Property
Address	P	P	P	P	P
Approvals	P	P	P	-	-
Case Number	-	-	-	P	-
Case Owner ID	-	-	-	P	-
Changed In Last (within a specific time period - last hour, day, or week)	P	P	P	-	-
Custom Fields (CF) that have been configured	P	P	P	P	P
Contractor Name	P	P	P	-	-
Contractor Phone	P	P	-	-	-
Contractor Project ID	-	-	P	-	-
GISID	P	P	P	P	P
Location	P	P	P	P	P
Owner Name	P	-	-	-	P
Owner Phone	-	-	-	-	P
Mobile Decal	P	-	-	-	-
Mobile Model	P	-	-	-	-
Mobile Owner	P	-	-	-	-
Mobile Serial	P	-	-	-	-
Permit Number	P	P	-	-	-
Permit Type	P	P	-	-	-
Permit Status	P	P	-	-	-
Permit Status by Date	P	-	-	-	-
PIN	P	P	P	P	P
Status	-	-	P	P	-
Status By Date	-	P	P	P	-
Project ID	-	-	P	-	-
Project Name	P	P	P	-	-
Project Type	-	-	P	-	-
Ready for CO Issue	P	-	-	-	-
Ready for Issue	P	P	-	-	-
Responsible Person	-	-	P	-	-
Subdivision/Lot	P	P	P	P	P
Sub Permits	P	-	-	-
Zone	-	-	-	-	P

 

Table 4 - Search Criteria for Companies, Contractors, Events, Invoices, Owners and Persons

Look For Menu Selections	FIND Drop-Down Menu Selection
	Company	Contractor	Person	Owner	Event	Invoice
Account Number (not available if BluePrince Accounting turned off)	P	P	P	P	P	-
Address	-	-	-	P	-	-
Building Permit Number	-	-	-	-	P	-
Case Number	-	-	-	-	P	-
Company Name	P	-	-	-	-	-
Company Phone	P	-	-	-	-	-
Contractor Name	-	P	-	-	P	-
Contractor Phone	-	P	-	-	-	-
Custom Fields (CF) that have been configured	P	P	P	P	P	P
Close Date	-	-	-	-	-	P
Description	P	-	-	-	-	-
Expired Licenses	P	P	-	-	-	-
Invoice Number	-	-	-	-	-	P
GIS ID	-	-	-	P	-	-
License Number	P	P	-	-	-	-
Location	-	-	-	P	-	-
Name	-	-	P	-	-	-
Open Date	-	-	-	-	-	P
Owner Name	-	-	-	P	-	-
Owner Phone	-	-	-	P	-	-
Phone Number	-	-	P	-	-	-
PIN	-	-	-	P	-	-
Project ID
Responsible Person	-	-	-	-	P	-
Status	P	P	-	-	-	-
Trade	P	-	-	-	-	-
User ID	-	-	-	-	P	-
Zoning Permit Number	-	-	-	-	P	-

 

Search for: Building Permit

Choose "Building Permit" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Example:  If you are searching for a Building Permit by its address, entering Oak* in the Street field will return all building permits attached to addresses where the street name begins with Oak. In this case, the search would return building permits attached to addresses such as 1301 Oak Street, 407 Oakwood Road, 62 Oakley Lane, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a building permit, selecting Permit Number from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the building permits in your database.

Example:  If you are searching for a Building Permit by its permit number, entering *12 in the search criteria field will return all building permits with permit numbers ending in 12. In this case, the search would return building permits with permit numbers such as 07-000012, 08-000412, 09-002212, etc.   If there are too many matches, you may see a Confirmation dialog similar to Figure 27.  If you click Yes, you will see all of the matches.

Figure 27 - Example of Search Confirmation Window matching a large number of rows

Click No to change your search criteria (e.g., to reduce the number of matches).  For this example, we changed *12 to *112 and the result is shown as Figure 28

 

Figure 28 - Search Example using Wild Card

Search for: Code Violation

Choose "Code Violations" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Example:  If you are searching for a Code Violation by its address, entering Oak* in the Street field will return all Code Violations for addresses where the street name begins with Oak. In this case, the search would return Code Violations attached to addresses such as 1301 Oak Street, 407 Oakwood Road, 62 Oakley Lane, etc.

Example:  You may search for Code Violations opened within a certain time period, such as all Code Violations opened between 3/12/2010 and 7/12/2010, as shown in Figure 29.

Figure 29 - Code Violation Search by Opened Date

Example:  You may also search for Code Violations by Subdivision and/or Lot.

Search for: Company

Choose "Company" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Hint:  Your search results will only include license numbers if you select License Number or Expired Licenses from the Look For drop-down menu (see Figure 30).

Figure 30 - Search for Companies with Expired Licenses

Hint:  If BluePrince Accounting is turned off (via your configuration settings), Account Number will not be a Look For drop-down menu item, nor will you see account numbers in your search results.

Hint:  When you select Status from the Look For drop-down menu, a list box appears to the right showing the available choices (see Figure 31). Click and highlight the type you want or press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard to select more than one.

Figure 31 - Company Search by Status

If you are searching for a company by its name, entering Oak* in the search field will return all companies where the name begins with Oak. In this case, the search would return companies with names such as Oakwood Plumbing, Oak Ridge Construction, Oakley Brothers Windows and Siding, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a company by its account number, entering *12 in the search criteria field will return all companies with account numbers ending in 12. In this case, the search would return companies with account numbers such as 24012, 10412, 52212, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a company, selecting Account Number from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the companies in your database.

Search for: Contractor

Choose "Contractor" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Hint:  When you select Status from the Look For drop-down menu, a list box appears to the right showing the available choices. Click and highlight the type you want or press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard to select more than one (see Company Search in Figure 32).

Example:  If you are searching for a contractor by his or her name, entering B* in the Last or Company Name search field will return all contractors whose Last Name begins with the letter B plus those contractors whose Company Names begin with B. In this case, the search would return contractors with names such as Jiri Babor (of company A-Line Heating & Cooling) and Adam Brooks (of company A.B. Construction) as well as B & D Farm Excavating LLC associated with contractor Don VanDierendonck, as shown in Figure 32.

Figure 32 - Search for Contractor by last Name or Company Name

Example:  If you are searching for a contractor by his or her account number, entering *12 in the search criteria field will return all contractors with account numbers ending in 12. In this case, the search would return contractors with account numbers such as 24012, 10412, 52212, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a contractor, selecting Account Number from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the contractors in your database.

Search for: Event

Choose "Event" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Example:  If you are searching for an event by contractor name, entering B* in the Last Name search field will return all events for contractors with last names beginning with the letter B. In this case, the search would return events for contractors with names such as Charles Bowman, Karen Bailey, George Burton, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for an event by permit number, entering part of the Building Permit Number in the search criteria field will return all events for that Building Permit, as shown in Figure 33.

Figure 33 - Search for Event History of Building Permit

Example:  If you want to see all of the events associated within a date range, enter User Id for the Look For drop-down menu and * in the detailed search criteria text field.  The search will return all of the events in your database that match the date or date range you have specified (see Figure 34).

Figure 34 - Events for All User IDs for a Date Range

Hint:  Except for cells in the User ID and Event columns, you may access details about any cell in the Results table by double-clicking on the cell or by single-clicking the cell and clicking the Details button.

Search for: Invoice

Choose "Invoice" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Example:  If you are searching for Invoices created within a date range, select OpenDate in the Look for drop-down menu and a start and end date for your date range (see Figure 36).

Figure 35 - Search for Invoices Created Within a Date Range

Example:  If you are searching for a specific invoice, selecting Invoice Number from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the invoices in your database.

Search for: Owner

Choose "Owner" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Hint:  When searching for an owner, the Address, Location, and PIN Look For drop-down menu items are those associated with the property (or properties) owned by the owner; these may not match the mailing address for the owner. (See Search for: Owner Section of this Chapter).

Hint:  It is possible for the Results table to return multiple rows showing different properties attached to the same owner (see Figure 36).

Figure 36 - Search by Owner with last Name of Bate*, Multiple Owned Addresses Returned

Example:  If you are searching for an owner by owner name, entering Bate* in the Last Name search fields will return all owners with last names beginning with the letter Bate. In this case, the search would return owners with names such as those shown in Figure 36.

Example:  If you are searching for an owner, selecting Account Number from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the owners in your database.

Example:  If you are searching for an owner, selecting Account Number from the Look For drop-down menu and entering *12 in the search criteria field will return all owners with account numbers ending in 12. In this case, the search would return owners with account numbers such as 4012, 60612, 522123, etc.

Hint:  If you want to view the mailing address or other contact details for an owner, double-click on the Owner Name or Owner Phone cell in the Results table or single-click the desired cell and then click the Details button to open the appropriate form.

Search for: Person

Choose "Person" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Figure 37 - Search for People using Last Name of Bate*

Example:  If you are searching for a person by his or her name, entering Bate* in the Last Name search field will return all people with last names beginning with Bate. In this case, the search would return the people shown in Figure 37.

Example:  If you are searching for a person by his or her account number, entering *12 in the search criteria field will return all people with account numbers ending in 12. In this case, the search would return people with account numbers such as 4012, 60612, 522123, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a person, selecting Account Number from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the people in your database.

Search for: Property

Choose “Property” from the FIND drop-down menu.

Example:  If you are searching for a property by its address, entering Bal* in the Street field will return all properties with addresses where the street name begins with Bal. In this case, the search would return properties with addresses such as those shown in Figure 38.  As you can see, there may be several properties even with the same Street Name and Number that may appear using this type of search, and another column such as PIN may be needed to select the correct Property.

Figure 38 - Search for Properties with Bal* as Street Name

Example:  If you are searching for a property by its PIN, entering *12 in the search criteria field will return all properties with PINs ending in 12. In this case, the search would return properties with PINs such as 212, 4412, 63212, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a property, selecting PIN from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the properties in your database.

Search for: Project

Choose “Project” from the FIND drop-down menu.

Hint:  To select projects by Project Type, select Project Type from the Look For drop-down menu, a list box appears to the right showing the available choices. Click and highlight the type you want or press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard to select more than one.

Example:  If you are searching for a project by contractor name, entering B* in the Last Name search field will return all projects associated with contractors who have last names beginning with the letter B.

Example:  If you are searching for a project by its address, entering Oak* in the Street field will return all projects where the street name starts with Oak (see Figure 39).

Figure 39 - Search for Project by Street Name

Example:  If you are searching for a project, selecting Location from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the projects in your database.

Search for: Zoning Complaint

Choose "Zoning Complaint" from the FIND drop-down menu.

Example:  If you are searching for a zoning complaint by its address, entering Oak* in the Street field will return all zoning complaints with addresses where the street name begins with Oak. In this case, the search would return zoning complaints with addresses such as 1301 Oak Street, 407 Oakwood Road, 62 Oakley Lane, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a zoning complaint by its case number, entering *12 in the search criteria field will return all zoning complaints with case numbers ending in 12. In this case, the search would return zoning complaints with case numbers such as 212, 4412, 63212, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a zoning complaint, selecting Case Number from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the zoning complaints in your database.

Search for: Zoning Permit

Choose “Zoning Permit” from the FIND drop-down menu.

Hint:  When you select Permit Type from the Look For drop-down menu, a list box appears to the right showing the available choices. Click and highlight the type you want or press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard to select more than one.

Example:  If you are searching for a Zoning Permit by contractor name, entering B* in the Last Name search field will return all zoning permits attached to contractors who have last names beginning with the letter B. In this case, the search would return zoning permits attached to contractors with names such as Charles Bowman, Karen Bailey, George Burton, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a Zoning Permit by address, entering *05 in the Street field will return all zoning permits with addresses where the street number ends with 05. In this case, the search would return zoning permits for addresses such as 1305 Main Street, 405 Ridge View Road, 4705 Dogwood Lane, etc.

Example:  If you are searching for a zoning permit, selecting Location from the Look For drop-down menu and then entering * by itself in the search criteria text field will return all of the zoning permits in your database.

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